reading plays and theatre in general

i don’t know why, but reading plays has been so much easier than reading screenplays. i don’t think these are that much shorter, but i run through them pretty quickly and can visualize most of it as i’m reading. i think also that i tried to read screenplays of films i’ve already seen (some many times), which kind of makes it boring. I’ve read The Matrix, V for Vendetta, Dogma, Chasing Amy …i think a few more …but maybe i should try some that I haven’t seen, who knows.

so anyway, i’ve been pounding the Neil Labute lately …a collection of short stories called A Second of Pleasure, and it was freakin’ amazing. every story is a little window into a different person’s life, and pretty every day type sh-t, but they all end up being pretty f-cked up. a guy get’s a bj from a disgustingly fat neighbor; a group of guys pick up a crackhead on the street, film the sex, kill her, leave her on the street, a go home to order pizza and watch the video over and over; a 40-year old man sexually harrasses a 14-year old girl in Barnes & Noble …that kind of stuff. but it’s usually from their perspective, so Labute creates the empathy my acting teacher says i need to understand.

This is How it Goes by Labute was another pretty amazing play that blurs the lines between truth, ficition, chronology, and race. Pretty racey race stuff in that one as it describes a weird sort-of-love-triangle between a white lady married to a black guy and another white guy they both knew in high school. it even has an m. night-type twist…haha

i dont’ know what’s going to happen with all this theatre stuff, but it’s pretty fun. we worked on our final scene for my acting last night with the T.A.’s help – which is fun, uncomfortable, and always inspiring …just have to keep at it to get better and better.

i think that’s the key to anything though. you just keep at it. each time, however successful or unsuccessful, you always learn something or find a way to think about it more or differently. then the next time, you take it to the next level, and so on and so on. film, sports, music, acting, photography, being a good person – it’s all the same. the hardest part is getting my ass up and actually starting, because once i start, the next thing i know, i’m done. well, the first attempt/draft anyway.

starving artists

this guy referred to himself today as a starving artist… who says that? i don’t want that title. i think that kind of stuff is a self-fulfilling prophecy …so if i were to call myself that or think of myself in that way, i’d be it. plus, i’m not even an artist. i’m just like everyone else trying to figure this reality thing out in my own f-cked up way.. and if making money let’s me do stuff i want to do, then i need to figure that out too… i’d want to be a hungry artist more than a starving one anyway..

then he started talking about his next film or blah blah blah. everyone always talks about what they’re doing next. i want to talk about what i just did, and what i’m doing now. what i’m doing next doesn’t exist at all.. and so far, neither does “what i just did” haha …but it’s time to change that.

thinking about it more, maybe i want to see myself that way – some glorified, romantic, anti-consumerism, elitist artist idiot. no mas.

i think that today’s artist needs to be connected. i mean, sh-t, you can’t avoid facebook or texting, so why try? i told this classmate i’d e-mail her and she looked at me the way i look at old people, haha. so f-ck it man, film and photography were created for an audience, and i have to know my audience. be a part of it. not some isolated prick doing “art for arts sake” or “for myself” and that nonsense.

i guess, simply (and i complicate damn near everything), i need to be myself – good and bad, selfless and selfish, smart and stupid, chill and erratic – and not try to be something i see somewhere else or in someone else. i’ll never be aronofsky. i’ll never be hitchcock. i’ll never be richards.

but i think those guys are pretty f-cking cool, and i want to be around them and their work. no more wanting to be them. ha that’s kind of a silly thing to think about i guess, but most of my thoughts are pretty damn silly.

festivals

apple’s insomnia 24hr film festival definitely didn’t work out the way we wanted it to, but i definitely learned a lot from the (non-)experience. a group needs a leader that knows what he/she’s doing …and definitely not just winging it. the cancellation was definitely a saving grace.

i guess i was relieved and discouraged at the same time, but it showed me something that will hopefully help from here on out – i need goals. specific goals. and festivals/competitions are awesome.. so i’m making a list of all the festivals i can find that we can submit our work too. one project could probably be sent to most of them throughout the year depending on the requirements, but we need to know what/where/when/how in order to make the most of the opportunity.

every year i talk about sundance like its a pipe-dream or i’m chasing some dragon. i did it this year with the youtube/sundance short film festival. i found out about it, looked it up, and the submission deadline’s in less than 2 weeks. that sucks. and you win a trip to sundance. that sucks even more. but whatever, we’ll submit our own original short, get it accepted to Sundance 2010, screen it there, and get a deal. or just go …whatever way it works out. WE WILL GO TO SUNDANCE 2010…believe you me, we’re going. don’t need a festival to go to a festival really, but we’ll do that next year too..haha ..

but before any of this, it’s time to know what the opportunities are. if you know of any festivals, e-mail me, i would really appreciate it. i don’t even care if it’s really specific or some b.s. festival, you never know.

but more immediately, DC SHORTS 2009 is accepting submissions until May for the festival in September. that’s the new, immediate goal.

my 37th first post

i don’t know if its my 37th, but i’ve had a lot of first posts – always starting, never finishing. i’m always trying to start a blog about movies, filmmaking, food, pictures, government conspiracy, etc., and i lose steam after a week or so (sometimes longer)…

so what now? i don’t know. even though jenny and i haven’t posted anything to our photoblog (http://nwdc.wordpress.com) in a while, i really like what it is …just pictures and comments. i don’t know what this will turn into, or if anyone reads this, but i guess i’ll figure it out as i go.

i know that i want to be honest – with myself, my friends, my family – and i guess that really does start with me. i just want to practice writing too, and this is the lowest maintenance way to do that. now that i think about it, this probably won’t be coherent enough for anyone to actually read or follow, but whatever, it’s for me.

so f-ck all the unnecessary crap – categories, tags, clouds, pingbacks, links, maybe even pictures – and just write.