B Runs the Board!

Got the rest of my grades put up online the other day. Turns out I carry a B in each of my classes! The lowest one is a B- in Voice and Speech while the rest are B or B+. The school doesn't like to give out A grades very much, especially to first year students, mainly because they see A grades as no improvement needed... Like Meryl Streep work. So I'm content with my B grades.

First Two Grades!

It was a long day at school, ended well with Meisner. I decided to check to see if grades were up online, and it turns out they are! I figured a B in Movement for Actors and a B+ in Intro to the Camera is suitable for me!

Saturday Rain

New York Moments 3

Friday (Four Day)

What a great way to end the week! Had a quiz in Film Genres (which I probably could have done better on) and fun with improv in Actor's Lab (to explore motivations and goals). Afterward, I came home to finish up another lil' Garage Band project...

Thursday (Three Day)

I finally gave myself a Thursday worth remembering for the week. It started off kind of slow, but once I got myself on over to the gym, I was pumped and ready to tackle the rest of the day. Instead of going straight back to the room, I walked on over to Peas and Pickles for some simple groceries, such as bread, cereal, apple sauce and a small bottled protein shake. I did some reading for our midterm quiz in Film Genres tomorrow. I'll probably get some more cardio in at the gym tomorrow morning to make sure I'm fully energized for it. The weekend should be super fun! I'll try to get more pics up soon.

Wednesday (What Day?)

Long day, but basically a good one. We practiced using chest resonance in Voice and Speech, attempting to reach the lowest note we could hit while using breath.

Like Intro to the Camera, we are now starting to use lines a bit more in some of our other classes, such as Meisner and Actor's Lab.

After a ten-hour school day, I came home to an enthusiastic AJ who was ready to make pork chops. Now, I knew beforehand that nobody could beat Mamma's pork chops, but I decided to give a shot at his. With the help of some seasoned salt, they weren't too bad at all, actually.

....Still don't beat Mamma's...

Tuesday (Two Day)

I've finally built up the will power to get myself up at 6:30 in the morning to go to the gym! It feels pretty good, and I'm going to try to make it a habit for every morning (or whenever is convenient each day).

The day went extraordinarily well for the entire class! Actor's Lab was easy-going and super fun. We discussed the relationship between absolutes, imagination and motivation (in a script, absolutes are what the author gives us that can't be changed, i.e. a character with a gun or a shirt that is blue). Ms. Nerken helped us come to the conclusion that although we are given absolutes by the author, we as actors may very well have to create our own absolutes (by using our imagination) in order to motivate the character's actions.

We all performed our haiku poems today in Voice and Speech for a grade. Rebecca had plenty of positive comments for each one of us, followed by very helpful constructive criticism. Right after Voice and Speech, we had Movement and performed our monologues from The Secret History for a grade. Once more, we all did an astounding job in finding truth in stillness and Connie was very impressed.

Unfortunately now, I've got a head-ache. I'm going to go heat up some good ol' fashion Chicken Noodle Soup! That'll do the trick.

My two favorite quotes of the day....

"Let the emotion be a bi-product of your imagination." - Ruth Nerken

"The author writes the black. You act the white." - Charlie Fersko

Monday (One Day)

Although long and tiring, Monday proved to be one of the most beautiful days here in NY.

Our Movement class started at 1:30... Well, we left at 12:45 only to find that the entrance to the subway was blocked off. We were told there was an investigation going on and we should use the station at Borough Hall. We took our time walking there with a slight doubt that we would make it on time. While waiting for the train, an announcement came on informing us of the situation and that the 2 and 3 trains were not running - bullocks!

So, knowing for sure we had no way to get to school fast enough, we (me, Lauren, Bryce, Teya and Ben) relaxed in the park with a nice cup of Starbucks. Our good friend, Will, told us that Mr. McNabb still wanted us to be in class and he would give us all the time we needed to get there. Ultimately, we got to class with thirty minutes left.

This, of course, all happened after I had a pleasant morning workout at the gym. I started on Sunday, realizing that the lack of humidity has allowed my gut to grow back in a most unpresentable fashion.

Something else that boosted my self-esteem throughout the day... I was told by three or four separate people from our group that I looked like a dancer and thought I already was. Schweet!

The rest of the day was pretty "bleh." I tired myself out and by the time school was over at 9:00 p.m., I was ready to get home, eat some food and call it a day.

Sierra Blaze's Birthday Party Dinner!

Evenin', Chaps! So today, I spent three hours watching The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly on my laptop. I must say it was extremely epic, very amazing and wonderfully stunning. I got the ultimate goosebumps when Tuco was running through the graveyard, and even more goosebumps with the Trio shoot-out right after.

I finally got myself a little bit of a hair cut, too! It's nothin' drastic, just enough to look a little cleaner, little more presentable.

What pulled the day together was a birthday party dinner for our good friend, Sierra Blaze. She turns twenty on Monday, so we got together at the Hard Rock Cafe in Time Square. I enjoyed yet another New York Strip Steak with mashed potatoes and warm broccoli.

Relief!

Today was awesome!

Okay, so before I came to this school, I was rather skeptical about Western movies. They never particularly interested me in any sort of way, but I plead ignorance on the subject... until today. Pete finished teaching us about the history of the early Westerns and the spaghetti Western and how they originated. Very interesting stuff! Made me appreciate the genre a lot more. We then watched clips from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly... Wow... I'm definitely watching that one on Netflix this weekend, along with Unforgiven.

Afterwards, Will and Adam and I presented our War genre. Basically, we aced it. Apparently we even struck a few tears throughout the class! Pete seemed thoroughly pleased with the information we discussed.

Midterms start next week. Think I'm ready.

Scary Story!

So What's My Homework?

The day's been easy-going so far. I sure am glad I don't have to be out and about anywhere; it's been overcast with a dreary drizzle since early this morning. Just finished up some homework for tomorrow's Film Genres class. Will, Adam and I will be presenting the War genre, including Sands of Iwo Jima, Paths of Glory and Platoon. The presentation as a whole has to be about an hour long. I hope we pull it off nicely.

Meanwhile, I've finished yet another Garage Band song with electronics this time.

Ok, New Score...

So in the free time that I have had, I've been trying out different sounds for "genre-type" music. I thought back to different scores (not songs) that truly effected me and the one that hit me hardest was from a pretty controversial game for it's time - Doom 64. The music was so incredibly eerie and disturbing, I remember several times having to mute the volume just to get through the different levels. Here, I tried to recreate the same effect, using no custom loops.

It Has Begun...

Saw Paranormal Activity again last night with some friends who hadn't seen it yet. We had a load of fun discussing it afterwards. Lauren was confident she wouldn't be freaked out by it, but she was wrong... She screamed the last ten minutes of the movie and was shaking for about three hours afterwards.

On trying to get home from the movie, the 2 train was... well, not working, apparently. We got off at Chambers Street (in the south end of Manhattan) and walked the Brooklyn bridge at 1:30 in the morning. It was a beautiful little stroll with plenty of sights to scope out along the way (although Lauren didn't take too well to it as she realized how afraid of heights she was about a quarter of the way onto the bridge).

And upon entering my room last night... it began. Perhaps it was the chilly walk or the dirty subways, but I could feel my sinuses beginning to 'act up'. First time feeling the sicklies here in NY. The night was uncomfortable and this morning was hardly any better. Lauren and I went to Quizno's and got a sandwich (real food) and came back to the dorms. Sinus problems may be irritating, but the way I see it - it's just another one of those things I'm gonna have to deal with.

My First Garage Band Song

So I got my first song done in Garage Band. It ain't much and the pros would probably laugh, but I had fun with this one and took my time exploring the program.

GIRAGE BAND!!!

It's one thing after another. As the days have gone by, I've began to progressively miss my ZBrush program and the endless amounts of fun I'd have with it. Turns out I was meant to keep exploring my artistic options.

Yesterday (Sunday), I spent... probably a good eight hours on Garage Band, learning the loops, taking a stroll through the different instruments, figuring out how to record stuff, etc. I've finally got the basics of it down and have created my first score. Now, granted, the beat and the strings are custom loops from the program, but I've also been pulling up the keys and figuring out "what sounds good." Hopefully I'll be able to get the recording up on here in a few days. Will, Adam and I are presenting our War genre and films next Friday, so we gotta crack down on that baby first.

On a less energetic note... Construction has started up on the eighth floor, and soon will also be on the seventh floor. Although, I have to ask myself... "why in the world does it sound like there's a jackhammer right above us???"

Got to get to Actor's Lab in about twenty minutes or so... Might mess around a bit more with the tunes before I leave.

Positive Energies

ROBBIE - Wow! My closet has never looked so good!

AJ - Wow! My closet has never looked so good!

Past couple of days have been really great. I overcame the scariest movie of all time, cried for the first time (since November) for Meisner class, got all of my laundry done... It's the little things that boost my positive energies. Today, I found out I made a 100 on my Introduction to the Camera quiz! I was also given an actor "type" from the Ms. Eileen today (from Voice and Speech). She labeled me as the "funny, quirky character that everybody loves". I'm pretty content with that for now! She commented on my Paris monologue performance from last week; she loved how bold I was in performing it with no shirt, only my pajama pants and commented on how much it helped to see my breathing. Righteous!

Paranormal Activity

Wow... Critics weren't lying when they said it's one of the scariest movies of all time. LOTS of jumps, lots of screams and plenty of hands covering faces. But what impressed me the most was the quality of the movie! It really looked like something I could have filmed with a simple camera. The lighting was real, the actors were real, the environment was real... the hauntings were seemingly real...

Anywho, it's 1:16 a.m. over here, and I gotta be at school in twelve hours. Goodnight!

Tomorrow Night

So, tomorrow night some buddies and I are going to see Paranormal Activity at 10:00 pm! A couple attempts to capture the "paranormal activity" in their household, and... well, they do. Critics and fans all over have called it one of the scariest (if not THE scariest) movies of all time. Super excited!

Video Blog for Saturday

If I Were A Director...

Found a pair of non-perscription glasses in Sierra's room the other day. Figured I'd give 'em a try and bust out a character. I suppose this is what I'd look like if I were a director...