365 Movies Day #1 "The Prodigy"

Would you like to see a film put together with blood, sweat, tears and a few bucks that rivals nearly all the action crap out there today? What about a film that I akin to "Jason Vorhees...if he were special operations"? Then you need to check this flick out.

I first saw this film while looking for independent filmmakers to connect with on myspace. My dear friend Wendy Shepherd turned me on to Texas filmmaker Will Kaufman. I bought it at Wal-Mart when it was released and was blown away. When you hear indy and action in the same sentence you don't expect much. This film rocked. Since then, I've got to meet with so many folks that were involved with this film including Will, Holt Boggs (finally worked together on "Cut!"), Matt Beckham, Mark Hanson (the lead on "Cut!") and so many others.

Thanks to the wizardry of Ron Balicki, this film has some of the most epic and brutal fight scenes and gun battles ever captured on film. Definitely check this film out. You won't be disappointed.
THE PRODIGY ON IMDB

Your Future in the Current Scene

Another aspect of your playing a scene is what happens next? What happens ultimately? There are a couple different elements to this process of seeing the future and several different lengths to which you can go.

The first thing I'd like to address is the SUPEROBJECTIVE. Superobjective is basically what your character is trying to accomplish throughout the whole film. All objectives should build toward this superobjective. With a dayplayer role the objective and superobjective are easily married. The FIRST thing you should do in script analysis after reading through the pages a few times is to determine what your character's overall goal for the story is. What are they working toward? With that in mind, it's easier to determine goals (objectives) for individual scenes.

Another aspect of storytelling is foreshadowing, basically hints at what is coming next. You are an important part of this in any film etc. where you have more than one scene. Heck, even within a scene, you can build toward what's going to happen at the end of the scene. It's important that YOU know what's going to happen next and keep that in mind, even though it is uncertain for your character. At the same time, while providing the right elements of foreshadowing (and seeing those opportunities in dialogue and action), you have to play that uncertainty. It can be tricky, but definitely a rewarding part of the character building process.

Another fun exercise is what happens to you AFTER the story? This can be a great way to find little nuances in your character as well. If you die, you might think this is easy, but you can still ponder things like "Who misses my character?" or "Is there a funeral?" or "What changes happened in the world because of my death?". Also, where would you have ended up if you hadn't died? What was your ideal end? Where did you think it was going?

I suggest a paragraph, similar to the on your did for your back story to examine where you are headed once the credits role. It's fun and, again, can help you find something interesting to play on in your scenes. Say, in a crime drama, it's nice to have fantasies of how you are going to blow all that loot!

In the film "Cut!", I play a sheriff's deputy in the north east. Though it's never spelled out in the script, my character aspires to get a job with the FBI one day and work big cases. It completely affected the way my character looked at evidence and the events unfolding in the film. I was after the big case and saw this as my break. When I talked to the director about my thoughts, it was a spark that brought Holt Boggs into the midst and gave us a great scene together. I had only about 5 scenes in the film, but this little exercise helped mold much of my performance.

Supporting your Fellow Artists

A brief sidebar to talk about quick and easy ways you can GIVE to your fellow artists. It's also a great way to plus up the indy scene in the media. Here are a few quick tips.

1.) Go to imdb page and click 'LIKE' on the entertainer's page. Usually and actor/director will give you a great opportunity to do this by posting their imdb link on facebook or a similar source. Liking the post won't help. You have to actually go to the imdb site and click like in the right hand column. It takes about 5 seconds depending on internet speed and is a true help to the actor.

2.) If you've already 'liked' the imdb page and you see the link posted again, click on it. Even if you just let the page load and then close it and do something else, you're giving the actor a hit on their page, which helps to make them more popular (and thus more attractive to producers). Imdb IS important.

3.) Another imdb bonus for your acting pal! Go to their message board and leave a post. Even if it's just "Had a chance to work with this guy and he's very talented and a consummate professional." It's something. Even with signing up for your free account, it only takes a couple of minutes to do this.

4.) Youtube videos. Like them on youtube. Leave a quick "This rocks" comment. Click on them when they are reposted to give more hits/views. Subscribe to their channel. Even favorite them!

Notice how none of what I have told you to do includes SHARING the video or page on your wall, but ALL help the actor/director in question. None of these things cost money. Just a few seconds of your time.

The same can be applied to etsy stores, facebook posts and other websites. Hits mean a lot! It also applies to BLOGS!

For grins, here is my imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2427168/

Here is my youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/mksentinel

Here are the youtube pages for a couple of my films:

Humans Vs. Zombies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbGCNJSQFXU&tracker=False
Cut!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5thcmRxgwKU&tracker=False
Coyote County Loser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIIY-DG-mtQ