Baltimore 48HFP, adaptations and interpretation

Wow… I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I last posted. Certainly I’ve been busy, but I always like to regroup and fill people in on what I’ve been doing between updates.

I’m re-joining Running Storm Productions again to perform in their 48HFP that shoots this weekend! Dean first cast me as the lead in his short for the inaugural 29 Days Later Project, which he also co-founded. I then worked with him again on the “Crash the Superbowl” Doritos Commercial Contest which we shot in fall 2010. I’m excited to see everyone again and work together on what’s sure to be a fun project all around.

Our screening will be on Tuesday, June 22nd at 7:30pm
at the Charles Theatre
1711 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD
we are Running Storm Productions in Group A
Admission is only $9
http://www.thecharles.com/
Tickets should be available via the Charles Theatre website probably starting next week.

Later this month I’m meeting with Charles Martin Kline of The Mystery Workshop to discuss my involvement with a horror film he’s working on this summer. My involvement would include assisting with makeup and special effects as well as possibly doing some puppeteering on certain effects and monsters in the film! All details should be hammered out for the end of the month so I’ll have a better idea of what to expect, but man… I have to say I’ve always been a huge fan of horror effects (particularly animatronics and stop-motion effects featured in so many early 80s horror films), so this project should be pretty cool to be involved in!

I’ve hit up a few different auditions this month and last, and I’m in the running for a creepy-evil ghost role in a short called “The Dark,” so we’ll see what comes of that. Otherwise, I did Stonehenge this past Sunday and had the opportunity to audition for the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s mainstage season, which consists of an adaptation of “A Clockwork Orange,” which I am utterly speechless over. I will be seeing it regardless! I read the book and watched the movie endlessly when I was in high school, so I’m really interested to see it interpreted onstage.

In addition to attending the MET’s auditions, I have been looking over lines for their steampunk adaptation of “The Canterbury Tales,” for a potential fall tour of the show. I saw the production earlier this spring and was approached by writer-adapter Reiner Prochaska to perform in it. Again, an exciting opportunity to work on a very cool, stylized vision. This is the kind of work I really am drawn to.

With all these adaptations I’ve heard of/seen in the past few months, I’ve been kicking around an adaptation idea in my brain a bit and perhaps with a few more conversations and planning, I may be interested in putting up a production for next summer’s Capital Fringe Fest. It’s just an iron in the fire for now, but the past week has got me very seriously considering it as a real possibility.

Uh, so basically, acting is pretty cool! 🙂 ‘Til next time,

-Vanessa
www.vanessastrickland.net

A Day Off for Recovery & Reflection

Crowne Plaza Hotel in Timonium – this year’s locale for the Mid-Atlantic Actor/Model Expo.

‘Afternoon ladies and gents!

I’ve had a pretty busy October already and it seems my body’s paying for it today. Thankfully it’s not any kind of flu as I don’t have a fever or any aches or chills and I’ve already gotten the basic flu shot (woohoo!). This article here may give you an insight to how I (and perhaps you) may be feeling as of late.

Today’s my day off to recover and catch up on some acting-business work that I need to attend to. I spent this past weekend doing several things. On Friday night, I caught “The Game of Love and Chance” at 1st Stage Spring Hill in McLean. I’ve been watching this company grow since last August and I have to say every show has consistently impressed me. Some of the best acting and directorial work I’ve seen in the area. If you haven’t been by there for a show, I highly recommend it.

Saturday I spent rehearsing for Deviated Theatre’s “LORE,” which went wonderfully. We decided to experiment with running the show whilst incorporating a bit of mask work, something we hadn’t done yet as a cast. The results were quite interesting and forced everyone to become more innovative in their physical approach and creative in their roles. In our end of rehearsal pow-wow we shared our experiences and everyone seemed to benefit from “hiding” themselves and letting their character fully take over. It’s moments like that when performers are 100% absorbed and dedicated to being someone else that puts me intoa rapture or zone of sorts; whether I’m watching or participating. It’s what I do this for. We open in 2 and a half weeks and it’s thrilling to still be able to discover new things a year into the process.

Sunday I spent about three hours at the Mid-Atlantic Actor/Model Expo hosted by Brian Dragonuk at the Crowne Plaza in Timonium. I had been hearing about the event for the past month and thankfully my Sunday was open and I was able to attend. I prepped a bunch of resumes, cover letters, and packed a chunk of flyers for LORE as well as a stack of business cards. Let me tell you, because I was ready, I had an extremely productive three hours! I met with several casting agencies and handed them my materials; something I would probably not have been as comfortable with three years ago when I just graduated from UMBC. Since I’ve been doing my research and have a better grasp on the DC/MD/VA scene, I was happy to be able to submit myself and meet these casting directors in person.

I also said hello to some familiar faces and saw college friends as well as friends I’ve met through auditions or work in the area. Of course I made some new friends as well; I had a delightful talk with Craig Herron of Herron Designs about the 29 Days Later Film Project, animation, and puppets; including some talk about Tim Burton and Ray Harryhausen, which was awesome! I also had the chance to meet and talk with Brenna McDonough about her classes which I’ve been interested in taking for quite a while, my schedule (as busy as it is) be damned. Here’s hoping this fall/winter will be more promising. I even got to meet Joe Ripple of Time Warp Films. I had attended a workshop of his last summer at Horrorfind Weekend at UMUC (see blog post: Tips to Solve Your Issues with HORROR). I really respect his advice not only because of his film experience, but also because of his background as a cop. He really outlined last summer what actors should expect in terms of safety on the set when it comes to filming actors in vulnerable or exposing scenes.

There seemed to be a few press people wandering around the event as well, filming things, so it seemed like the event got pretty good coverage. I ended up giving some of my thoughts to William Powell of the DC Examiner for an article of his as well as giving a filmed testimonial of me geeking out over the Dragonuk Connects mailing lists. The latter may be featured on Brian’s new website and we’ll see if they keep the part where I totally nerd out at the end. 🙂

All I can say is, if you weren’t there this year, you should absolutely go next year!

Speaking of which, I’ll be taking some time now to update my contacts with all of the new connections I made. Back to the grind, but I definitely feel renewed after this weekend, loving what I do and just learning that when you embrace your opportunities and possibilities, they’re right there to embrace you back.

-Vaness.

“Broken Wings” Clip

This has been up on the video page since earlier this month, but I just thought I’d bring it to your attention here. Just below is a clip from the short film I did back in July with Running Storm Productions. This clip is an interesting one because it shows some humor that we inserted into the otherwise creepy, dramatic story. We also get a good look at the bird makeup I worked on, so give it a look-see:

Scene from Broken Wings from Regan Garcia on Vimeo.

Dean and Regan did a fantastic job in editing… I couldn’t be happier with how it looks!

-Vaness.

“Broken Wings” & the 29 Days Later Film Project

Summer’s already on it’s way out and as per usual, it seems that I’ve been busy!

At the end of June, Deviated Theatre‘s production of “LORE” went up for an evening at Bishop Ireton in Alexandria. The space was enormous and for having as short a marketing period as we did, it worked out well: we pulled in a good crowd and turned in a good amount of donations from our ever-popular baked goods & concessions table.

In July, I found myself as part of Deviated Theatre’s Mash-up project, “Token,” for the Source Festival. The short piece revolved around several characters at a bus stop who come across a special Token that gives them everything they ever wanted… but for each character, it gives them something that perhaps they weren’t bargaining for…

Of course I won’t be spoiling it for you here, as you can come check out “Token” for yourself at UMBC this October along with “LORE”. I’ll be posting more information about it here once we’re closer to opening.

I also had the great pleasure this July of FINALLY being able to make it to several productions in the Capital Fringe Festival! Of the 100+ performances that were going on in the area, I caught “Please Listen: A Musical Chaos” (Open Drawer Theatre Company), “Headscarf and the Angry Bitch” (Zehra Fazal), “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” (Nu Sass Productions) and “Skywriter” (Angry Young Theatre Company).

Dean Storm, myself, and Sutisa Storm at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson in Baltimore

Towards the end of July, I spent a weekend shooting a short film with Running Storm Productions. Dean Storm, the director, along with Dawn Campbell, are organizers of the inaugural 29 Days Later Film Project, in which filmmakers are given a specific prop and 29 days to write, cast, produce, shoot, and edit their films. This is much like the 48 hour film festival, but with more time, the filmmakers have a longer opportunity to polish their works.

Dean contacted me and formulated a script around my makeup design for “The Birds”. My character became the lead and I was happy to be able to have the opportunity to work on a longer piece of work (the abridged edit is about 22 minutes), but also I was proud to have one of my original makeup designs featured. Dean and DP Regan Garcia did a magnificent job editing and with some camera and post-production effects to make the bird look majorly creepy! Here’s a before/after look at brave model Tina Martello:

“The pretty ones always make the best monsters!” – Tina Martello before (L) and after (R)

Transformative, huh? After a few short hours, I pretty much forgot what she looked like as a normal person! Hopefully before long I can get a clip of some sort up here on the site for you all to check out.

That’s it on the homefront for now; please stay tuned for more updates as they come in!

-Vaness.
www.vanessastrickland.net