Summer summary!!!

During a tense scene, tied up ;-)

me and Tony chillin on set

Don't mess with me!!! hehe

The poster is printed-I Love It!

Well Its been a very busy summer indeed which has been great! Filming for The Lost Generation continued and we did 2 more days of filming- the next set of filming is already being prepared that's how long its been since I did this! It was great fun and I had NOTHING to say all weekend! lots of running and emotions through the eyes etc which was great to get into!
 The film is starting to evolve and take shape so I'm very excited about getting my teeth into the juicy stuff that will soon be coming up! If your on twitter check out  Project Lost Generation to keep up with whats happening and sign up to the mailer!

My sister was on set,acting that is, not at the same time as me unfortunately as we don't have any scenes together....yet! She did the usual waiting around but walked on set and stole it! I maybe biased but that's what I was told! Well Done Sue!

My sister Sue on set!

The Manchester Monologueslam also took place in July and we moved venue to AXM nightclub. It was a great night and we had a great panelist, agent Georgina from Lime Management, Cat Lewis from Nine Lives Media, Sophie Poulston ITV casting and Kieron Richardson from Hollyoaks. They changed all the rules and gave out a 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc instead of just one winner! haha It was good fun though! The next one is September 26th at AXM and it is Movie themed so all actors have to do a piece from a film which should be fun! Its still only a fiver so if your reading this and your in Manchester come show your support or sign up to perform if your an actor ;-)  Register here

The Girls ready for the night out!

My table -both names spelt wrong but oh well

Birthday girl and boy

Celebratory drinks

My birthday was in July too! Celebrated in the only way I know how ;-) I had a night out on the Thursday with a few friends, then the Saturday (my actual birthday) I had a house BBQ with my dad (his birthday is the day before) for all the family. As always it was a massive turn out, my mum cooked up a storm and I cleaned up at 5am!!! That was painful! The following weekend me and Darren Gordon had a joint birthday party. Our 5th and final birthday bash! As always we partied hard, I had a couple of celebratory drinks ;-) hehe 

What else has happened................. Oh I was cast in an ITV Christmas film which should be on our screens either xmas eve or day! It was only a small part but a lot of fun to do! It was set in the 1940's which was interesting and where we filmed in Scarborough was being used by the public so it was very stop and start and having to do get the shots as quickly as possibly! lol  Sadly on this same day the riots in Manchester and Salford (my home town) began so took the shine off and it was on my mind! Everytime i came back to my trailer i had txts/fb/twitter msgs keeping me updated! Sad day but the support and the way the community pulled together really showed what Salford and Manchester are really about!

Me in my 1940's ;-)

Scarborough beach from my room

So that's a round up of the summer! Busy but fun and now September is here its time to push that little bit harder as September is usually a busy month in the acting world!

If you fancy keeping up then follow me on Twitter or like my facebook page! And lastly - thanks for reading :-)

Plays,films,castings,films,producing- phew!!!

Since my last blog A LOT  has been going on! It might even take 2 blogs for everything thats been going!

So the casting for The Lost Generation went well and we cast 2 characters, one supporting character played by the very talented Sophie Mercer and another character played by my talented sister Sue (runs on the family)!
I had no say in the casting decisions, I just helped with the submissions and in the auditions playing opposite the auditionee's! The decision was left to the wonderful Lee Mountjoy Casting and the Director Mark Ashmore - thank goodness because it wasn't something I would have liked to have done!

After the casting or before or during I don't know cos I've been so busy I can't keep up with myself, the play I'm in Broken Silence opened in Liverpool for two nights! Our final weekend of rehearsals we had Nona Shepherd, the associate director of RADA come up from London and do two days intense direction with us! Lee Mountjoy came and helped out with promoting, line filling but mainly to bring some things some cast members had forgot! It was good he came though because him and Nona got on really well and she was able to help him with a casting he's working on! All about networking and meeting the right people at the right time!!!

Broken Silence Cast

The performance went really well and the audience loved it! There were a few things that went wrong, but thats expected, the audience didn't notice so its all good!!!! After a great audience attendance we were all excited for the Manchester performance!!! That performance was part of the Not Part Of Festival and was at AXM Nightclub, Manchester. We did 5 shows and some were very full, others not so much but each performance went really well! I made the programmes (after 4 painful hours) and the lovely Wil Macdonald sponsoered us to print them :-) People even said they think we should do a one off again in August so will keep you informed!!!

My mum in Love is Blind

Then it was down to the films!!!! I had two in the same weekend, one I was co- producing and one I was lead in!!! The virgin Media Shorts competition is open but closes the 7th July so we had little time to decide on a piece, find time to film it, film it then edit it!!! luckily we did it and its down to the judges but...... you can watch it and leave a comment and like it! Love is Blind starring Mr Scott Taylor, Directed by the talented Darren R L Gordon.

Then there was the next part of 'The Lost Generation' which was done over a weekend a couple of weekends. I will do a seperate blog for that though as this ones long enough :-P

So now its just Manchester MonologueSlam left to organise for a couple of weeks! The actors shwocase takes place Monday 25th July, AXM Nightclub so if your an actor reading this and based in Manchester then get registered in the performers area!

Goodness, Time flies!!!

Wow, I can't believe its Mid-June already! I have slacked off with this blog, without even realising I had!

So what have the last couple of months since my last blog held............ well there was the soap awards after party, take that afterparty, rehearsals for the play, lost generation read through, monologueslams 1st birthday and more so just one or two things!!!

Scott and Carla

I'll start with the Soap awards afterparty!

I went with my friends Lee Mountjoy , Carla and my actor friend (currently in Emmerdale) Scott ( the links are there twitter just in case). Well the party was madness, too much alcohol, lots of dancing and a hang over from hell the next day! It will teach me not to over do it and drink the free drinks like they are going out of fashion! haha


The rehearsals are continuing for 'Broken Silence' which goes up at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool Tuesday 21st June and Wednesday 22nd June. They are going really well and the play is coming together really well. Changing my accent is gong to be tricky when the nerves kick in but all being well, I won't slip into my Manchester accent!! This weekend we are doing a full weekend of rehearsals so fingers crossed! Tickets are available if you want them here Broken Silence and apparently its almost sold out! woooo!

The Monologueslam 1st birthday comedy special was a blast!!! There were party games- of course, including pass the parcel with forfeits which was hilarious for the audience to be put on the spot! Then the actors performed and then Scott Taylor, our host ( and friend, same as above) performed his comedy specials on his guitar! They went down a storm and he is truly talented! You can see them here but be warned they are for 18+ audience Scott Taylor He's hilarious!!!

Then the next part of The lost Generation has been written so we had a meeting to read through it, get dates set etc and it looks like we will be filming within the next 2 weeks- right after my play! They are casting the parts too which again Lee Mountjoy is casting and I've been helping him with the submissions as there were hundreds so in theory I was his casting assistant ;-) hehe The trailer also came out which looks great- check it out and let me know what you think! The Lost Generation

Our one winning ticket!!

Then last week there was the Take That afterparty. I ended up going with my friend who is working on the tour and I ended up with a wristband which got me into the VIP section with free bar! I was very sensible too, i just drank a moderate amount and my usual tipple! haha It was great fun though and I enjoyed myself- oh and so you know, just Jason was there! haha

After the Races at Haydock

 Also I went to Haydock races for the first time, me and lee wandered round for the best part of an hour not knowing where to go or what to do but then we got into it and had a lot of fun!!!

The Reds!

Then there was the parade for Manchester United! This no doubt anger a few people me being a red but hey ho, i loved it!!!! Seeing the boys and Sir Alex and Sir bobby was a wonderful moment and brought alot of memories back from the 1999 parade!

The Champions Parade!

So all in all its been busy again and the next week few weeks are going to be busy again with the play going up and the next part of filming!

Until the next time my lovely blog readers.....................................!!!

Are you free? yes..... Great!!

So in April I did two days on a short film for a guy I know. He told me about a film a long time but the role had changed so wanted to see if I was still interested. I auditioned for him over a year ago for a completely different project, presenting and behind the scenes of a film actually, which I did get but the producer pulled the idea!! Gutted!!! but at least i got to know him and now tease him relentlessly over anything! hehe

Sophie making me look fab!

Dan the director in my sunglasses :-P

The cheeky shots 

So we begin the film at a club in Manchester in the morning. All dressed up to the nines on a week day in the morning! haha Of course it begins with make up and i meet the crew and cast and instantly feel like I've know them all ages!!! Even Dan the director Dan i didn't know all that well, only the one audition, a party and facebook!

So we begin filming and my first shot of the day is downing shots! Luckily it wasn't alcohol so i managed to get through them OK hehe the one thing they did do was give me a sugar rush!!! especially after about 12 of them! It was a fun set though, very relaxed and everyone got on really well.

Me and Jenny

Japanese relief fund cake!

The next day we were on set at a restaurant in town and a friend of mine came to set with a cake he had won in a raffle. the cake was made in honour of the japan earthquakes so he decided to sell the cake pieces and give the money to the relief fund. I completely forgot he was coming (me forgetting things is a recurring thing! haha) Luckily we were in between shots and it was getting to that point on set when a break was needed - it was perfect timing! I was only expecting me to buy a slice of cake but he made a fair few pound for the charity so turned out pretty good!

Later that day we moved onto another set and there was the last few scenes and lots of giggles and pizza!!! always good!!! There were lots of deep conversations that happened on that set, i think it was the women all being together talking about men and relationships then the men getting involved not agreeing or sharing there experiences! it was very funny now i think back. Over these conversations and the pizza etc came the name of the film........... it was just "" as it was the film with no name but after throwing some ideas around the name was found:

                                ' FOUR EIGHTY '

Now if your wondering why that name, what it means, what made us come up with that then you will have to wait for the film and watch it! hehe hopefully it will be complete in the next couple of months!!!

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter or Dan the Director !!!!

Rehearsals,easter and nonsense

Being interviewed by Jane McConnell

April has been busy again with interviews for The Lost Generation, here are a couple for you to check out if you havent seen them already............
Jane McConnell's interview
Future Artists
Second Interview on Future Artists

Jane and Mark interview

Sarah (co-producer) and Mark having a
meeting in the park about LG!

So as you can see there's been a lot of interviews and buzz around the film which is currently in post production and part 2 is being written and all being well will be shot in the next few weeks! Very excited about that!There are more things to do with the film coming up soon but will write once they have been done :-)

The beginning of this month saw the start of the rehearsals for the play 'Broken Silence' which is on at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool in June. It was the first time the 3 ladies had got together, can always be a difficult thing rehearsal one and all ladies but it was a great rehearsal and all of us get on really well. The following week we met again and we had Lee Mountjoy come in, he's a good friend of all of ours so we had alot of fun and he helped with some of the work we were doing. He works in casting and is the next big upcoming casting director so watch this space...... you heard it here first ;-)

April also saw the launch of the Liverpool MonologueSlam which was part of the Write now festival. It was in a great space and it was a great success. The actors were all at a high standard and the judges did a great job! Of course there were teething problems and things to be changed, there would be nothing to strive for if it was perfect on the first night! :-)

me and my cousin after a day in the sun!

All the bank holidays have been great aren't they?!! Unfortunately theres no more for a while and although I've been busy i dont know if i've used them to their full potential but hey, I've enjoyed the time off! Lots of fun in the sun!

I also filmed a short film during the easter break for a friend so i will do a separate blog with pictures about that one too! :-)

Hope you all had a lovely easter, enjoyed the holidays and if you saw it, enjoyed the Royal Wedding!

Events, Meetings and Joining Forces

Well the last couple opf months have been eventful and interesting in more ways than one. You know February was a busy month for my acting well March was equally as busy but for different reasons! March became the month of meetings and events and joining forces as the title suggests!

Where do I start. As you know I have been having lots of meetings about the possibility of putting on something on the stage and those meetings have been going very well but nothing has been put down yet. On the flip side I received an email from someone asking me would I be interested in being in their play. I had a lot of questions obviously but i have decided to do it and I'm very excited about it! Its a new write by two ladies, one of which I know through a friend- that old 'Not what you know, who you know' lol The play will be on in Liverpool in June at The Unity Theatre. Its the first time I will be performing in Liverpool so I'm really looking forward to it especially as all my mums side of the family live there so some who have never seen me on stage due to the distance!

Thats one positive to add to March. Next we had The MonologueSlam event which was a huge success. We had a great panelist, including Ciaran Griffiths who plays Micky in Shameless. Last month we had Ryan Thomas who plays Jason in Coronation street. Pressures on me now to find someone for our 1st Birthday Party event in May! The shows are going really well and people are being aware of them which is brilliant!!! April 19th is the launch of the Liverpool Slam, which I will be helping run on the night, so back the old scouse country again! :-)

The last force to be joined is the company SCCMediaUK. They are an American company owed by the lovely Sheree Chan who I met over twitter through Mark Ashmore. We were talking and Sheree had just launched her own company SCCMedia on twitter and Facebook and contacted me to see if i would be interested in joining her and doing it from the UK end. Its a very company and Sheree is fantastic at what she does, I'm a newbie and still finding my feet with what is expected or needed! If your on Facebook or twitter get following :-)

So April is an exciting month with rehearsals beginning, lots of time off work, MonologueSlam launch etc so I will be updating you again soon!!! :-)

The end of the beginning.

Well this is even more delayed than any of the others I've done so will begin with a round up of the rest of February before moving onto march!!
Like i said Feb was the beginning of the start of the year for me so thats where the title of this blog comes from as feb has ended-in case you didnt know that! haha

Now the film had wrapped up i began looking for other projects and was having meeetings with a couple of friends of mine (one actor and the other director) about the possibility of putting on our show. We discussed lots of ideas and came up with a format. Unfortunately thats on hold at the moment due to my friend becoming a father!!! Eonderful news and wonderful reason to wait- he's a darling!

Along with that the discussions of The Lost Generation part 2 were starting to come through due to some interest in part 1, funding coming in and the fact it was the plan all along. We didn't know how soon it would be but i can reveal Part 2 is now in pre production with the possiblity of being shot in the next month or two :-) This made me very happy as you can imagine!

I also got a call from my old tutor from college who asked me if i would go in and speak to a couple of students who were interested in studying in America (which if you didn't know i did, i studied at AADA, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts) so i obliged of course, i love speaking to actors who are passionate, grounded and realistic. That same day i was having a meeting with mark Ashmore, the director of The Lost Generation in the morning which then turned into being shown round the sharp project in Manchester.
The two students I met were Ami and jerrell and they were both first years at my old college The Manchester college, formerly Shena Simon college. Jerrell has alot of links and family in the states so was very keen to go over but also was a very good basketball player so an advantage if he wants to get out there to study. Jerrell wants to act though so after speaking to them for over an hour about the academy we then went onto acting in general and i gave them the 101 of acting (if that's what its called) from CV's to agents, to attitude to cover letters etc etc what I know and have learnt I passed on. It was really lovely to have them say I inspired them and i made them more excited and determined to follow their dreams.

The Sharp Project is a really great space based in Manchester that is home to a massive number of creatives from animators, to web developers to photographers to directors all under one huge roof. The space isn't even complete yet but its already housing and renting alot of different things in there!

Well I'm going to round up February as my busiest yet, March will hopefully be just as busy but only time will tell :-)

Day 3 of Lost generation

OK so I must apologise for the delay in Day 3,  February was a very busy month so things got in the way but here it is :-)
Today i woke up with painful hips but was raring to go. My eye was a little swollen but looking much better! I won't be putting any of those pictures up hehe

The Jib being used effectively again

I pick up Hannah on the way and we hit traffic- it was rush hour but we made a pit stop for breakfast - guess where............... McD's haha yes i went yet again but i had a bagel and cream cheese and a coffee- not too bad (i try to convince myself!)
We were at Stockport college this day, i have worked there a few times in the past and in pre production suggested them as for their studio to use. I arrived and got myself into make up, today was a bit more glamour and a nice dress so that's good. We run through the sequence quite a few times to get the shots and timings for the cut aways. Once we had done most of the shots in the studio they went to the gallery but we were left to our own devices, not a good idea!!! hehe

The screens from the studio in the gallery

The view from the gallery

Getting my make up done, well cheeky pout!

we began taking pictures, well I say we it was Laura Littlewood who got happy snappy with the camera!!! It was fun though and being in the studio was alot of fun. We brought our equipment in but used theirs as props but also for the gallery. When looking in the camera's in the studio they show in the gallery on a bunch of cameras, like to the left! It was a full day shoot and was quiet tiring, yet again i was heels and the feet were hurting. That didn't hurt the most though, funnily enough the chair i had to sit on hurt the most! It was canvas and rubbed and dug into my bare legs :-( awww pooor me I know! hehe It was getting near the end of the day the time was ticking and the shots weren't quite finished so that mad end of day panic began!!! We just began taking pictures, a little oblivious to the panic going on in the gallery to get the shots before we had to wrap! Which was probably a good thing.
So the day was almost over which also meant the end of the entire filming!!! Mark came down and he announced- well whispered until told to repeat 'ITS A WRAP'!!!!!!

Its a wrap, all done!

After we finished, the tutor of the college grabbed me said he was very pleased to see me and have me back in the studio. He asked if I would be interested in coming back to do some  presenting for the degree students final projects, of course i said yes and he fired an email out straight away and when i got home I already had one waiting! lol

Once we left i was trying to convince everyone to go for a wrap drink but i was on my own on that one, i think everyone was shattered and wanted to go home, which is fair enough i suppose! Once i got home, i was quite relieved to have not gone for a drink as I had to wind down and get myself together for work the next day which may I add was very difficult!!!

Day 2, part 2 of Lost generation

As I said previously I cut this into two parts, so here is the second part!!!

   

The BBC hasn't fully moved up-
Does mean the other B and the C are to follow?!lol

We arrive at Mediacity at salford Quays and I was in the car waiting for them to set up a shot when security came over and asked what we were doing. I thought we were on public property but apparently not. Our producer Sarah-lee had a chat with him and was using her persuasive skills to talk them round but they weren't having any of it. Without proof we had permission we weren't allowed to film there- which i suppose is fair enough if thems the rules. It was ironic when you looked at his jacket :-P

But your not allowed on the property - hehe

So the actors were allowed on the property but the camera wasn't so quick restructuring of shots and positioning of the camera (on the tarmac on the pavement) we got it!!! :-)

We then went inside The lowry Outlet and used there service yard and back corridors for the next few scenes. By this point I was really feeling it but was excited as the action shot was coming up soon enough - I won't be telling what exactly that was, you will have to wait for the film for that ;-) 

There was a shot without me so whilst they were taking that we worked on getting some stills for the poster. If you haven't seen one of the finished products, then  click here to see the poster and the interview with the director! 

Again the glamour came back and me and Meg the make up artist were in the loo again to do make up! The only problem with it this time was that this was the only toilet and the staff used it so we were out into a service corridor! The eye was playing up so more make up was being applied. the bloodshot eye came in handy for the scenes coming up so it wasn't all bad!! 

we finally wrapped about 20/30 minutes over and it was time to take off those heels!!!! I was really looking forward to it as now it had been over 9 hours in these boots and they were extremely high! As i took them off and realigned my back, hips and entire body I felt pain!!!!!!! My hips were so sore that i went back onto my tip toes to ease it!!! I was in agony and this pain actually lasted for about 3 days. it felt like a muscle strain as if i had over done it in the gym, so at least it was a bit of a work out! hehe

Because we had begun the day in the city centre and got the tram to media city, I had to get a lift back to town with some of the guys. it was very funny as it was a small car and was full! Paul got the short straw and was in the middle- funny thing was he was the tallest! hahahaha

I was a little peckish after all that time trekking round all over town and Salford Quays so because I had been extremely naughty and had Mc'D's the last couple of days I decided against getting that. I got KFC!!! I know, I know, It was no better but least it wasn't McD's twice in one day :-P 

I got home to a very excited and happy puppy who loved me to death so i took him out for a walk. I tried to get an early night- well as early as possible so got a shower and got to bed about 11.30pm. I had to be up and at Stockport college for 8.30am! 

Clearly I took this because of the name! lol

Day 2, part 1 of Lost generation

So....... day 2, part 1-it was a long day so I am going to split it in to two so its not too much to read in one go!

 Well like I said in my previous blog I had to be up early!!! Our call time was 8.15am in Manchester City Centre at a hotel which is a very large Brand with a very famous American female heiress! haha
I showered the night before today i was already getting up early enough as it was! I had to make sure I had my costumes ready, I only had 2 changes today so not as much to haul around with me. I fed my little pooch and off i went! I decided on a McD's breakfast, terrible I know but it was easy and I wanted coffee! I'm not normally a coffee drinker but at that time and thinking about the day ahead and the lack of sleep i felt it was necessary.

Luckily on a Sunday parking is free in the bays and at that time in the morning it wasn't too bad, although I was surprised how many cars were parked about, probably from the night before people driving into town and leaving their car overnight. Only one way in taxis I suppose. When we got to the hotel, I got my camera out and took some pictures as they have a glass floor you can through to the street! 23 floors up!

Breakfast one one hand, pointing at a car with the other!

They begin to rehearse the first shot, which isn't with me so I sit to get my make up done again, This time i got a picture of me being airbrushed! It feels very funny and like nothings going on just cool air! The scenes up here were nice and simple and easy to do!!! The only problem was staff walking in and out and turning the hoover on during takes. haha the joys of filming in a working space. We had to be out of the hotel for approx 11am because it then opened to the public.Luckily for us we were pretty much done inside by that time. Then it was too outside and doing exterior shots......... bbbrrrrrr it was wet, windy and chilly! The weather wasn't too bad when there wasn't wind but there was alot of wind! The jib went up outside and we did a quick shot of me walking towards the hotel, we actually stopped traffic this day, people wanting to have a nosey. We then did the dreaded street filming. I say dreaded because this is where you put your trust and faith in Joe public to walk by as if nothings happening. It worked most of the time, i did notice a couple of guys walk by the camera quite a few times, together then separately haha

The shots we got were amazing and the DOP, Mariusz did some great work. I saw one shot and it looks like something out of a blockbuster film but was just little old us in Manchester on a very low budget :-) 

Marius (DOP) and Mark Ashmore (Director) watching a playback, you can see Marius Homemade Jib Behind.

Once we got the street shots done we went to the next location which was a quieter area of the city centre which was useful. We broke for lunch and I had to have a costume and make up change, only problem was- where??!!! We didn't have trailers and things so we had to be inventive! We decided to go to a restaurant to eat and then used there disabled/baby changing toilets as a changing room whilst it was quiet. Very glamorous! haha 

We were now outside in an open area which was rather chilly and windy and My eye was extremely sore!!! Whether it was a combination of the wind, the make up and tiredness I don't know but it was sore to open sometimes, watery and blood shot! I made poor Meg, the make up artists, job a little more difficult. These shots were really fun to do and we were walking all over the place. I actually had some girl tut at me during a take, I don't think she approved of my costume?!! hahaha

Costume 2 of the day and I was in them shoes for a good 9 hours!

Mark the Director!

Apparently after one shot (i didn't know this till afterwards) it looked that good the crew all clapped and cheered after it. Not because of my acting but the quality of the shot! haha

We then had to do a scene from Manchester to media city Salford Quays via the tram! We really wanted to use one of the new yellow trams but unfortunately, of course, one didn't turn up! haha We did some filming in a great old tunnel bridge which echoed and looked so old, wouldn't want to walk down it in the dark. We waited and waited for this yellow tram but we had to have a blue one and of course it was packed!!! The plan was to go and come back a few times to get the shots but the pro's we are we got them all within the shot journey to the media city!! yay!

So the arrival at the next destination, at this point my eye is in agony and I'm not loving having to walk from the tram stop, not because I'm a diva but because it had been 5 hours already in the 5 inch heels!! haha

To be continued............................................ ;-) 

Day 1 of Lost generation

so today is Saturday 5th and its day 1 of filming on 'The lost Generation' and I'm super excited! i play the lead character which the film revolves around so was feeling like i had a lot to achieve especially as I know in this business not everyone agrees with people's casting choices.
The director, Mark Ashmore is a very talented man with great ideas and visions. Besides his passion for directing he is the co-founder of Future Artists which if your involved in the entertainments/arts in anyway get on the website and keep informed! That's how we all came together for this film! He is an innovator, a leader and thoroughly lovely man to work with and be considered a friend!

Our call time is 11am so a nice ease into the filming schedule, trust me this soon changed :-P I meet the crew and go to one of the bedrooms to sort costume and make up! I had about four costume changes that day and had brought more than one selection for each therefor resulting in ALOT of stuff! I ended up having one of the bedrooms in the apartment we were shooting in to myself with the make up artist. I was the only one she was making up that day really anyway so made sense. got to know her pretty well for the first day after my changing a million times in front of her! ha ha Her name was Meg and she 'airbrushed' me for the first time. Its a form of putting  make up which is better for when your shooting in HD-you learn something new everyday!

Oh the glamour of it all! A bedroom!! ha ha 

We began shooting and the DOP (Director of photography) had built his own track for the camera- he was a very creative man! First scene done and then onto the next scene and a costume change. I get changed then I'm told to hold, we are doing the scene again so i changed back to then be told nope, its OK we are moving on! ha ha The next the costume was a little more revealing so I was a little anxious but the Director was very courteous and told everyone to go out unless they were needed. I was fine after about 5 minutes, it was just the first moment. Like Meg (make up) said 'its like when you go swimming and you first walk out you feel nervous, then after about 5 minutes your fine' which i agreed with until someone pointed out, everyone else is in bathers and were not! ha ha
This shot was also going to be used for publicity so there was a photographer there who took some shots, I had a look and although they look great I wasn't sure i look my best but he informed me he could airbrush them :-D I was relieved to hear that!!!!
We worked on that scene for quite a while as it was all about getting the right shots. It was against a white wall which looks very bland on camera so there were numerous prop movements, light movements and we even made (well i say we, i mean Sarah-Lee our co-producer) something from paper to go in front of the lights to give a shadowing effect, it was very creative and affective! You can do anything if you put your mind to it-doesn't always need millions of pounds ;-)

we moved on to one of the dialogue scenes where we used another of Mariusz's home made contraptions and what lovely visual shots he created!!! I haven't seen much of the footage but I did get a sneaky glimpse at a couple of the playbacks.
The next scene was emotional, although to be honest there was a few of those today but i was really pushing myself and getting myself 'in the zone' as i kept saying.
Lots of people and new actors think crying on cue is important and defines an actor, IT ISN'T!!! the best of the best can act and feel upset but tears don't always come, that's why we have make up artist who own tear stick, glycerine's and all the other tricks to make things realistic. I wanted to be in an emotional state but that doesn't necessarily mean crying with full on tears. The scene felt good and I felt in it although sometimes I was in my head and thinking way too much, only natural though, it came and went! :-)

The last scene was an interesting one and one I haven't ever done before but was great fun!!! It was a shower scene but you you don't see anything!!! ha ha i was cold most of the day so to get in a hot shower was lovely!! ha ha That was the 2nd of the day so therefor i knew a 3rd was coming because i had to wash my hair for tomorrows shoot!!! ha ha It was an en suite so was really small, and we had the director, cameraman, sound operator, make up, and few other bodies squeezed in! Apparently it looked great and Mariusz (DOP) took some stills and was getting snappy happy when Mark (director) told him to stop, we had to get out the apartment!!! Good times!

oooohhhhhh- whats this then............!!!!

It was now 9pm and we had to be out of the apartment by 9pm and we had just finished when the owners came back- talk about timing!!! :-) we packed up, i blasted my hair with the hair dryer as i didn't want to get ill and it was raining!!! Its not as glamorous as people may think :-P
Like i said earlier, i got another shower ready for filming the next day and it was an 8.15 am call! By time I got home, had a shower, settled down etc it was gone midnight! eeek then i was up at 6.30 to get all my costumes together! I was naughty on the way home and had McD's and then again in the morning on the way to set!! Oh dear!
All in all Day 1 went swimmingly with no out takes to speak of or that i can remember he he so 6.30am Sunday morning is when day two on Lost Generation begins...........................!!!!

A catch up one!

So i feel there's a few things I didn't add in my previous blogs so you get two this week!!!

Before the play there was an event that I co-organise called the Monologueslam which is UK wide but I work on the Manchester version. Its a showcase for actors who compete in 1 minute and 3 minute rounds and a panel of judges chose the winner. January's introduced a celeb guest judge who was Ryan Thomas, Jason Grimshaw from Coronation Street. Ryan is an old friend of mine so luckily was able to drag him into it! He was a great judge and was really supportive to the actors performing. It gave us confidence in getting a celebrity Judge in and hopefully we will have someone every event!
After the event I got a call from a company who was interested in helping with the slam so that's great news for us, more will be revealed when its confirmed :-)

This is a little blog before I do the filming blogs so apologies if its a little short and not much info!!! Also in between filming and the play and after the Monologueslam i went back to my 'Normal Job'! ha ha I work as a teaching assistant in all different schools on supply- it gives me the freedom to do my acting but earn some money for the down times, there's a fair few down times in an actors life! I am currently working in a placement in a mainstream school with an autistic unit with 5 boys and i work one on one with a little boy who i love! he's adorable, I have been in and out of the school for over 3 years so they know me well and the school is so supportive of what I do!
and this weekend I will be attending a Masquerade ball so I will Tweet some pictures afterwards and also in my next random blog that fills in the blanks like this one!!!

I have also been sending off a few CV's, head shots and my show reel to casting directors, now the filming's done its time to focus on job number two so anyone reading this in the biz, I'm free.................. :-D lol

Meet,Greet,Perform!

OK so here goes blog number two...........
I'm going to break this blog up into more than one as I have too much to say in one go and don't want to bore people :-)

So last week I was involved in a script in hand reading of a new play by Liverpool writer Danny Start with the North West Playwrights. It was great to be asked to take part in something that was not only with other great actors but paid and via my agent.
The first day was on the Wednesday and the rehearsals were taking place at DNA performance resource which is owned by a friend of mine- just proving how small the acting world is! The day began at 10am, and 2 of us were late, me due to hitting rush hour traffic then having to find somewhere to park and the other because she went to the companies old address. The whole thing was very relaxed and the director, Ian Hastings, was a lovely guy and fun to work with.

There were six actors in total, 3 male and 3 female, one director and an 87 page script to become familiar with and block in 13 hours! Not long at all but enough to pull of a good enough performance for script in hand. We got through Act 1 of 3 by 1pm so had 5 hours to complete the last 2 Acts. We break for lunch and I go in the office to have a gab with my friends then go back to work an hour later, we begin and my character isn't in act 2 or 3 so was going to be a long afternoon. We then change everything and the blocking was scrapped and we started again so now less time! We decided to read in stage directions with it being a script in hand performance this is acceptable plus it was needed due to needing multi media and lots of props- difficult to use props with a script in your hand!!!
Now i get to open the pay but setting the scene and reading alot of the stage directions. I didn't mind this as it gave me something to do.

Straight after this I stayed around for meeting with Darren Gordon and Scott Taylor (an actor now in Emmerdale) about the possibility or working on a project together.

Thursday is show day! Not long i know and we hadn't even got through the entire script!! We blocked the last 3 scenes and then the director asks for a full run at 11.10am then we would break for lunch at 12.30! guess what time we finish the run.......................??? 12.30!!! never have I ever been working on anything and a director allocate a time and us finish bang on that time!!! ha ha

We did another run, almost completed it but had to out of the space for 3pm then we were meeting at The Lowry at 5.30pm for another run and to perform. I went home as i didn't live near and wanted to feed the dog and make sure he was OK. On the way to the Lowry I passed our estate agents and decided to run in and sort some issues that needed sorting '2 birds 1 stone'!!!
We rehearsed once and it went really well then it was show time! We started 15 minutes late, not to unusual for stage performances. There wasn't a large audience about 30 but the space was intimate so it was OK for there to that number.
The performance went well and all the actors working on the production were fantastic. It was really refreshing to work with professional, talented and genuine actors.Its been a while!
Me and two others decided to go for a drink afterwards and we sat and chatted for a long............ time!! Doing the usual of talking about other actors, what we'd worked on, who we know, what agent we're with etc etc!!! ha ha

Then it was back to work Friday morning!!! Because of the play, I hadn't done much work on the film I was filming on Saturday morning as i wanted to get the play out the way. I used Friday night to prep, shower, focus on my character and get my costumes ready. That night I had a big character breakthrough and found out her motives and reasons behind her actions. I was glad that the original shooting dates were cancelled due to the snow (December) and i had the time to refocus on her.

So that was my week last week :-) I will do another blog all about my filming over the weekend, the weather, the injuries, the giggles and the pictures!!! and also about my challenge I set for myself and also about Monologueslam Manchester which I co-organise!

I hope your still reading this and if you are let me know your thoughts at Twitter or Facebook good and bad will be read, received and understood, or send a message on my Facebook profile

Vicky
xxx xxx

Feb, the beginning of 2011 officially!

OK so I'm going to try and do blogs about my life as actor, what I do, how I do what i do, when I'm working, etc etc so i hope you enjoy. Here's the start...........................

Well for me the new year doesn't officially begin until February, why you ask? Well for a number of reasons!
Firstly because January I usually go back to work (as does everyone else) which then stops me doing anything towards my acting as getting back into one job and focusing is difficult enough!
Secondly, I help my parents with tax returns and the new year bills etc before they jet off on there 5 month Holiday- why not if you can eh! So yeah, all them affairs are dealt with, work is back and I start to get into the swing of things!
This year, it was a natural the beginning begun in February. Besides the fact its the month of love (which i am yet to find) and every one's had a pay day so therefore every one's happy, I have my first job of 2011!!!!
It begins Feb 2nd so begins the start of 2011.
I got a call from my agent in January (yes I know, the official first month of the new year) to say a company had booked me for two days- what every actor wants to hear- no auditioning, nerves, what ifs, what could. Its two days work, with a performance at The Lowry theatre which is a theatre in my home city of Salford. My debut there! Its a script in hand performance but still a paid performance and lovely little character for me to play even better, i was asked to play the role so there's my little ego boost and confidence booster!
I perform on Thursday then Saturday i begin job number two of 2011. This was meant to be done in December but snow got in the way and made its arrival on our filming dates. On a positive, it adds to 2011's jobs.

Right now I'm sat in bed thinking, what am i getting myself into attempting to everything I do as well as this but then thought, I forget everything so why not make an on-line diary but share it with everyone, or those who would like to share, read and enjoy! To see a bit more of me, who I am etc check the links!
  Acting Showreel 2010  IMDB profile
There's my first blog DONE! Tomorrow my first rehearsal for the play so.................... First job blog tomorrow!!!!