New Year – Almost on my merry way!

Well, a very belated HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

It’s final exam time here, so I will write this quickly.  Once I’m done with school, I keep telling myself, I will finally have enough free time to update this thing on a regular basis.  Whew.

Onwards…
– I auditioned for a conservatory in NYC in late December.  The audition went okay, not as well as I’d hoped.  I probably won’t be able to attend without a scholarship.  I feel like I probably got in but without any scholarship.  Of course, I’m probably being over-confident.  I just hope, in the very least, that I got in!

Also, I am tempted to reveal its name, but I think I am going to institute a new policy in this blog.  I’ve been following it for the most part, but now I’m going to write it down.  In the interest of not dwelling on the negative, I won’t name any names unless it reflects something positive in my acting career.  Furthermore, since I’m still building up the basis for my career (ie I’m not completely out there just yet devoting all my time to it, because I’m not done with school), I want to keep everything as anonymous as possible.  Just for my peace of mind.

– PA final scene = went wonderfully.  The best part about the PA professor is that he doesn’t hide his feelings.  If he’s disappointed with your work, you can see it on his face and hear it in his voice as he tries to give you helpful direction.  Conversely, if he’s happy with your work, you can tell right away and he will offer sincere compliments.  The latter occurred.  I was so relieved.  I bumped into him on the street the next day, and he not only said hi, but he remembered my name.  I guess that sounds silly, but since he’s kind of a big deal, he was absent for about half of our class working on something else.  Also, the class was fairly large, so we weren’t really a tight-knit group.  Anyway.  That was good.  The end.

– AA final monologue = blah.  I had trouble finding material, and I wasn’t in love with what I did.  Always bad.  The professor said that I should have chosen a stronger character instead of a vulnerable one, because I’m short and it already seems like I could do “vulnerable” given my size.  So something more feisty would be more effective, is what I understood him to say.  He kept referring to the Mamet scene I had done in September in a complimentary manner, which freaked me out, because shouldn’t I have improved from the beginning of the semester?  I’m flattered he loved my work then, but I wish I’d done a better job with the monologue or chosen a different one to show progress.  Also, I think I did well on every scene except the last, because I found Beckett so difficult.  And then not so great on the monologue.  On a positive side, he said that I’m a very economical actor, always believable, and that my gestures in the monologue were very meaningful and helped its intensity.  This is a personal feat, since I had been told in the past that I needed to work on my gestures.  The best part about it is that I had really been in the moment, and the gestures grew out of that.  So, great.

– Headshots!  I got new ones taken yesterday.  I really took a chance on this one.  I had them done in New England by professional photographers who are still looking to increase their business.  Good:  They were very willing to accommodate my needs.  The makeup artist was late, and they were cool with staying more than an hour longer than planned for the shoot.  They let me borrow a shirt for a third look and offered many great suggestions to help me look my best in how I wanted to come across in the photos.  Since they’re in New England, they weren’t too expensive.  Bad:  I’m pretty broke, so it was still a sizable hit to my bank account.    Okay, so they mainly do weddings.  I had to explain fundamental actor headshot rules to them (but they were willing to listen to, learn about, and implement my requests).  The makeup artist made me look too old, I think.  I usually look like a teenager, but I think I looked 20-something.  The photographers were so happy with the shoot (and eager to show their work), that a few hours later they posted a retouched image on their blog.  Bad for my google presence!  The picture is okayyy. I know that this isn’t the final product for me.  This was just for them to help promote their work.  I’m okay with that, I think.  I’ll get my photos in a week.  Hopefully, at least one or two good ones will help me book projects and find some representation.  Fingers crossed.  And then I’ll update my headshots with an experienced NYC headshot photographer.

– Upcoming:  two MFA auditions.  I feel conflicted about these, because I just want to get started on my career already.  There’s a 2% chance I’ll get into either one, I figure, and they’re two schools I would love to attend.  So… go team!

– Goals.  I need to rework my short- and long-term goals.  I fell a bit behind on the list I’d made over the summer.  More on goals in the next entry, hopefully!  Meanwhile, I need to study for finals, say my goodbyes, and work on my MFA audition material.  BLAHBLAHBLHABLAH

Realistically speaking… an update

Lack of updates!  School is so stressful.

So what’s new?  I’m single!

A friend of mine who is a professional photographer in NY took headshots for me.  The problem is that she took them for free but is very busy, so it will probably take a while before I see anything.  I will probably shell out real money for headshots by someone who does that specifically for a living, but I need to wait until I actually have said money!

The acting classes are going okay.  I present my second scene in advanced acting on Tuesday, and I’m nervous about that because the external work is challenging. I’m in the midst of working on my second scene for the P.A. class, but I’m having some trouble pushing myself into the action of the scene.  I think I need to tweak my as-ifs.  The professor will critique it on Tuesday, so Tuesday will be a nervous day.

As for my applications to grad school… I’m not really sure where I stand.  I e-mailed one of my professors asking for a recommendation letter, but I have yet to hear back.  I’ll see him on Tuesday, but I usually don’t have time to linger around after class to speak with him.  He’s also incredibly busy and, although I know he likes me, doesn’t know me very well.  Blah.  I suppose I can ask other professors for letters, but I thought he would be my best bet to seal the deal on the first one.  So that sucks.

I have doubts about applying.  That’s a lot of money for such small percentage acceptance rates.  And I feel like maybe my (fleeting) youth is something that be used to my advantage if I didn’t go.  Trying to obtain rec letters has been annoying.  Deadlines are creeping toward zero hour.  I don’t know.

I have all of my monologues now except for the comedic contemporary.  I was thinking of asking a professor or two to work on the monologues with me, assess which are the strongest, etc. if I end up applying.

I should be submitting to films in the local area much more often than I have been.  And I’ve been ignoring responses from areas that are annoying to get to via public transportation.  blah.

I’ve been aggressively pursuing test prep tutoring jobs (my target survival job).  One place turned me down, which I expected because my SAT math score was only in the 95%ile but they wanted people with 99%ile scores. At least I somehow managed to get an interview with them. Another interview went okay–I gave one rambling response that didn’t go over as well as I’d hoped.  A third interview (over the phone) went extremely well, and they’ve been chasing after me for an in-person interview.  The problem is that I have to find time to go to NYC again during school.  I have a fourth interview tomorrow.  It’ll be over the phone, and I’m hoping it will go well.  I think that if I somehow managed to work full-time for them, I would get health benefits (which I will probably need, since I don’t think my parents will be able to claim me as a dependent once I graduate this winter).  Annnd on top of all those interviews, I am going to submit my resume to a few more places.  I want to give myself as many options and opportunities as possible before I commit to anything.

I’ve been trying to focus on my academics, but it’s difficult since I can only think about my future.  I’m both nervous but excited.