Creations #16-20

Creation #16: Salted Caramel Cheescake

Creation #17: Lemon Meringue Pie 

Creation #18: Apple Pie

Creation #19: Roast Turkey

No Photo

Creation #20: Roasted Broccoli with Candied Pecans

Creation #21: Photograph: Column of Water

Thanksgiving, thanksgiving, thanksgiving. I fell off the creation wagon a bit since my last post, but now is a time to rededicate myself.

Creation #15: A 3-Page Scene

There's a theory, I'm not sure how widely held, or scientifically founded, that says: Our dreams are a peek into our brains trying to solve problems. Basically like watching a YouTube video of a baby trying to put a peg into a hole - only it's directed by Michel Gondry.



I don't dream much. At least not that I remember. I wake every morning with little sense of the time between my head hitting the pillow and my instantaneous and strong desire to kill the electronic bird at the foot of my bed.

I'm going to assume that I don't dream (even though I probably do and just fail to remember them). I think instead of dreaming, what I do is process while I'm awake. When left with time alone and nothing to do, I think, about anything and everything. Mostly about things that might go wrong in every possible permutation of the future. That's actually a large part of what this project is: instead of worrying, or self-pitying, or self-despising, I will create! Create! CREATE! (You see the louder I get the more purpose I feel... sure.)

One of my favorite outlets seems to be writing dialog. I think I've got something of a knack for it. Assuming that all a "knack" requires is voluminous output of questionable quality. Here's the thing, all of my dialog is between the same person. Many voices, many attitudes, many perspectives, but in the end: one person. If there was a pattern to the scenes I write, it goes something like:

Person A: I hate widgets.

Person B: I love widgets.

Person A: I see why you love widgets.

Person B: I see why you hate widgets.

Person A: Can we agree that we no longer have a strong opinion about widgets.

Person B: I suppose, that is the reasonable thing to do.

Person A: I can't help thinking life would be better if I had a strong opinion about widgets.

Person B: Me too. Too bad we don't.

Person A: Once you eat the apple 'ey?

Person B: Yep, there's no going back to paradise.

Which is to say: writing is mostly a place for me to evaluate my opinion on a situation only to discover that in the end I don't have a particularly strong one. This of course also makes my writing pretty far from dramatically compelling.

Yet I persist. Creation #16: was a three page scene wherein two characters discuss the absurdity of a writer writing about the creative process. The briefest of excerpts:

TOMMY: Really, Devon? This is what our conversations have become? You might as well ask me what sort of tree I wanna be.

PS: If you haven't noticed, I've gone back to a daily update. It's easier for me, preferable for my RSS subscribers, and probably quite annoying to my email subscribers. Sorry to my email subscribers!

Creation #14: An Icky Limerick

My friend Heather is working on a project in her book arts class, so she put out a call for original limericks. The title of the book will be Limer"ICK" and it of course will be about all things icky.

There once was a fellow named Jack.

Who coughed blood into a sack.

He retched every day,

For lack of co-pay.

His insurance you see, was Aflak.

For instructions on writing your own limerick, visit: http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/limerickcontesthelp.html

Again, nothing brilliant. Also, I'm a little disturbed that the rhyming part of my brain seems absolutely fixated on respiratory ailments. That said, word play is something I really appreciate, so it's fun to play with even though I'm pretty horrendous at it (excuse: lack of practice).

Creation #13: Lemon Meringue Pie

Well, that was the goal. It turned into an over-wet half-baked pie crust, sans lemon, and sans meringue. It seems there are some projects in life that can't be rushed and that don't respond well to haphazard instruction-following. I suspect that there is more leeway in how one can operate a nuclear power plant than in how one can bake a lemon meringue pie.

4 tbs of ice water turned into 5 tbs of tap water, which turned into a sloppy pie crust that didn't come together. Matters weren't helped when I put the pie crust in the oven, and returned in 20 min to discover I had turned the oven off instead of on. What should have been a deliciously crispy golden brown crust was a soppy pile of raw dough collected at the bottom of my pie pan.

What I Learned:
-Baking anything worthwhile is an hours long process that doesn't respond well to multitasking.
-Follow instructions exactly, unless you know the mechanics of a process well enough to know what effect your deviations will have on the final result.
-Even a failed pie is better than a pie not attempted, the crust (once baked again) made for a pretty tasty snack.

Creations #6 - #12

In an effort to minimize the number of emails going out to my readers, I've bundled 6 creations into one post.


#6: A Dog House
Well, that was the goal. The end result looks like an insulated dog lean-to.

What worked:
My dog should be insulated from the worst of the elements this winter.

What I learned:
Don't undertake a project without the time and energy necessary to complete it. Being tired can lead to some pretty serious compromises. For film-making and acting: build enough time into the schedule so that you don't feel rushed into completing something.

#7: A Scene & The Outline for a Screenplay
The end of every single one of my romantic relationships has precipitated the creation of a large memorializing piece of artwork. My first girlfriend got a series of hand-drawn portraits. My second a painting. My last major breakup got about 30 monologues from different people of different ages talking about what they understood about relationships. My most recent has turned into, well... right now it's a scene and an outline for a screenplay.

But frankly, these are all incredibly embarrassing pieces. Some artwork is for the public, and some is therapeutic.They are not to be published in any form until 200 years after I kick the bucket.

#8: A Sonnet
Okay, so this turned out horribly. I think it's the first and worst sonnet ever to be written about a person who's received a lung transplant (not my original idea, but that's what forcing rhymes does). I'm finally appreciating just how astounding Shakespeare's body of work truly is.

Until sun sets ever he must contend

his life is worth its weight in borrow'd breath

these donor's lungs he fears they will rescind

So e'er more he gives at guilt's behest

Soup for the sickly and toys for the blind

Books for orphans, a shoulder to cry on

Daily genuflection before Lord divine

Planting a redwood for anon, anon

But when night draws drapes over our bright star

A dread upon him deeply does descend

Extorted goodness is in sooth a sham

And feigning saintdom pulls his bitter end

One life to live, a wicked bargain seems

The weight of two lifts only in his dreams

#9: A Comic
Okay, so I really phoned this one in. I had to create something before I passed out. I'm starting to feel just what a big commitment a daily creation really is.

#10: A Modern Dance
Okay this was really fun and totally hilarious to watch. Unfortunately me prancing around in tights, a wig and mustache is incredibly blackmail-worthy so the webcam video is not going online.


#11: A Monologue
After auditing the most intense, draining, and terrifying acting class of my life I wrote an incredibly nihilistic monologue. Then I wrote a manifesto to actors, the thesis of which was basically: stop thinking what you're doing is art, get a job, and hire a therapist. If what's happening in that class is what it takes to be an actor, I have no interest.

Honestly, I'm still reeling from all that I witnessed that night. But cooler heads have prevailed, no need to post a manifesto and blacklist myself. I take back my thesis, it's a noble profession and all that.


#12: An Abstract Painting
I really appreciate that with an abstract, there's no right and wrong. It can be incredibly relaxing, and more often than not it's the materials rather than some preconception that defines the final result.

Creation #5: Short Subject "A Shed in the Woods"

Daily Creation #5 - A Shed in the Woods from Donovan Keith on Vimeo.

Based on the standard cabin in the woods horror genre, this is an experiment in what I can accomplish in a single afternoon by myself. There's a lot that I would like to fix (Foley for one) but probably won't. The goal is to create a "complete" project in a single day, and learn from my mistakes for the next one.

What Worked:

• Location, location, location - Finding a "filmic" location is half the battle.
• Tho logo on my t-shirt and jacket were too distracting, so I turned them both inside-out and it worked.
• The "dead" shot was surprisingly successful.
• My personality came through in my one line.
• Shooting through objects can create a sense of being watched.
• Some of the cinematography is quite pretty; I'm buying a DSLR when next I have the cash.

What I Learned:

• Stories need a beginning, not just a middle and an end. If I'm going to recognize the "monster" in the end, I should know that I'm looking for him in the beginning.
• POV shots only cut, if there's a closeup of a face first.
• Shots of shoulders to feet with no head are just awkward.
• Things that feel really unnatural look fine on video.
• If an action is only implied, you can make it real with sound. So know what sounds you need to capture to create that reality.
• Long takes of long shots feel long.
• Final shots can be meditative if you've earned them, so give them time to breathe.
• If you're not fully committed, you should just play it deadpan; at least that can be interpreted as shock.

Creation #4 is Exercise #1: Performing Actions with a Physical Disability

Acting Exercise: Perform a simple physical action that is made difficult by a physical disability as if your life depended on it.


Inspiration: There is a scene in "Kill Bill Vol. II" where Uma Thurman's character is attempting to eat a bowl of rice with chopsticks. A seemingly simple task made nearly impossible by her battered hands and state of total physical exhaustion. Why doesn't she just eat the rice with her hands? To do so would disappoint her kung fu teacher Pai Mei; the consequence of which would feel worse than death. The scene is about 5 minutes long, Thurman's character never says a word, and it is absolutely gripping.

Instructions:

1. Pick a physical action to perform.
2. Pick your physical disability.
3. "Script" a high-stakes situation where this would need to occur.
4. Set a timer for 5min. - The timer is there to keep you out of your head, you no longer have to direct the scene, you can just live it.
5. Take some time to really build up the scenario, make sure you have the important relationships.
6. Begin performing your physical action, don't stop until the action is complete or the timer has gone off.

An Example:

1. The action: Make the bed perfectly
2. The disability: Shot in my dominant shoulder
3. The situation: It's 10pm. I just murdered my wife's lover and stuffed his body under the bed. My wife, who works the night shift, just called to say she forgot her work keys and that she'll be back in 5min to pick them up. She's a nurse, she's anal-retentive about having a neatly made bed. I need to be in a perfectly made bed reading a book, with my right shoulder under the blankets, before she gets home so that she won't think anything is up.

Okay, if the above example seems a bit contrived, it's because I came up with it while getting ready for bed. Nonetheless it was a plausible enough situation that by the time I finished, my heart was pumping a mile a minute and I had a very tidy looking bed.

Creation #3: Screenplay for Good Cop, Dog Cop

I am shamelessly in love with my dog, Kahana. Which should go some lengths to explain why it is I spent an hour last night writing a 2 page script for a sketch called "Good Cop, Dog Cop."

It's the worst sort of derivative hack fest, but now there's a good chance that Kahana and I will be making another short film together; so it can't be all bad. Oh wait, the final line is "Bark 'em, Danno." So I suppose it is all bad for anyone who is going to eventually have to sit through it. That said, it feels good to be creating.

And since no post is finished without multimedia, here's Will Farell's "Good Cop, Baby Cop."

Good Cop, Baby Cop from Will Ferrell

Creation #2: Sonnet 60 by Shakespeare

What did I create?

A dramatic interpretation of Shakespeare's Sonnet 60 shot on a DSLR. For those of you who don't know the canon by heart, I give you Sonnet 60:

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

So do our minutes hasten to their end;

Each changing place with that which goes before,

In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

Nativity, once in the main of light,

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d,

Crooked elipses ’gainst his glory fight,

And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth

And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow,

Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth,

And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:

And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,

Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

In short: time waits for no man, and while we may start young we'll all get old; even you Beautiful.

The process:

It was simple enough, I browsed through some of Shakespeare's more well-known sonnets and settled on one I liked. I then went about dramatizing it by making decisions about who I was talking to, where I was, and what I wanted. I setup a pillow as my scene partner, focused the camera, and did a few takes.

What went well?

Despite having no one else physically present, I managed to build a strong enough sense of who I was talking to that I was affected by the situation.

What lessons can I take from this?

My work was strongest and the least "actor-ey" when I allowed myself to let go of my preconceptions for how the scene should go and respond to what was actually happening. When I tried to recreate elements I liked from a previous take, I got stuck in my head and it showed in the final result.


To Post The Video or Not?
I'm torn about whether I should post all of my creations to this blog. I appreciate the accountability, and the organized record of my pursuits. However, if I post anything less than my best work I risk making a bad first impression. Thoughts?

Creation #1: An Ambitious Project

Today's creation is my "new" blog ActingDaily.com and its inaugural post.

Does anyone else care to join in on the challenge? Create something, anything, every day for a year.

Introducing Acting Daily

Packing on 15lbs of body fat over a winter is easy, just eat a little more than you should every day. Growing as an artist is no different, all it takes is consistent action.

"Another Actor in LA" is now "Acting Daily". For every one of the next 365 days I will take action to grow as an actor and expand my experience as a human being. I will also endeavor to create something, a product of some kind, as evidence of that growth.

Examples include:

• Learning and performing a monologue.
• Writing a scene.
• Creating a web video.
• Playing a song on my ukulele.
• Sketching.
• Painting.
• Cooking a gourmet meal.

And so it begins...

Another Day, Another Crisis

It probably doesn't help that I have a cold, but I've been feeling out of sorts for the last few days. Anyone trapped on a desert isle with me would quickly discover that I have a penchant for regular existential crises. I go through fits of feeling like I'm on the top of the world, I know what I want, I'm going after it and everything is brilliant. Then there are weeks where it's all I can do to live vicariously through "24"s Jack Bauer for days at a stretch.

My friend Prince cold comforted me by saying, "it's okay: this crisis you're having, when you get older, it NEVER ends."

This time at least, I think I can source it: I haven't had a creative outlet in two weeks. My ongoing acting class has ended, and likely won't start back up until after the holidays, and my writing partner and I are currently on break.

I feel stuck. Woefully, listlessly, hilariously stuck.

I'm led to believe there are some people who don't have these crises, or at least have the courtesy not to jabber on about them in a grossly public forum. Another friend cold comforted me, saying "this is the artist's life."

When actors sleep, do they dream they're accountants?

Parting thought: Perhaps my life is closer to Jack Bauer's than I previously thought. About once a year he lives through a 24hr terrorist crisis. About once a month I live through a 1wk existential crisis. Jack Baur meet Donovan Dour.