This stuff needs pressing, but hopefully you get the idea
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Updates May 2024
All sorts of things are coming out, tho I don't have clips.
There's an audio play called "The Count of Monte Cristo," based on the 19th century novel by Alexandre Dumas, that's starting streaming May 21 on lots of audio podcast platforms, where I play the evil Mme de Villefort. My episodes won't be out for a while. This was recorded in the fall, director Chloe Wilson.
There's a vertical mini episode series on Short Max called "The Substitute Bride" where I have a role as a witness to an attempted murder. The episodes started streaming May 2, but I don't know if my episodes are out. I believe that this may be an English language remake of a series that first came out in China. Director Xiao Ying
The week of May 6, I participated in the filming of "The Divorced Billionaire Heiress" in NJ. This is another Chinese production. Apparently, this particular vertical series was the most popular one in China. The director was again Xiao Ying. She told me I was the prettiest grandmother in New York City, which was very flattering. There was a second woman there, whose full name I didn't get, who was introduced as one of the top directors in China.
It was interesting working in vertical format. They were able to use five or six cameras at once, so there was only one or two takes for every episode. With a wide screen, they have to do these views as separate takes, because the views overlap the camera positions. In the vertical format, there is no periphery. That made filming much faster.
It seemed to me that older women have higher status in China than in the USA. In the USA, the roles are commonly "older woman with Alzheimer's" or "older woman with cancer," where the primary feature of the character is that she is sick. Here, in "The Substitute Bride," I played an important witness to a crime; and, in "The Divorced Billionaire Heiress," I played the head of a large, family business. I appreciated getting higher status roles.
Another difference I noticed was that the director was constantly urging me to act in the way that I've learned to call "big" in the acting world. "Big" means really emphasizing the emotional response. Most video directors that I've dealt with here in the USA don't like "big." They will often tell me that I'm too "theatrical." They want subtler portrayals. It's been a learning process trying to suppress those "big" responses, but this director liked them, which was more fun for me.
My sister-in-law found a clip from "Mystic Tycoon" that I filmed this year, where I play the evil grandmother, Lisa. It turns out, which I didn't realize at the time, that this production was actually a video trailer for an audio podcast series. I embedded the Facebook video into a blog, so you can watch it even if you don't have a Facebook account. I haven't recorded any audio for this series, so I guess, if the evil Lisa appears in the audio, someone else has recorded it.
I hope all this stuff will be in IMDB soon
Links to separate blogs about these gigs (in reverse chronological order of the gigs.) Some of these blogs include embedded clips or links to clips
Student film that I’m in. Most of my lines were cut out, but you can hear me briefly at around 4 minutes https://vimeo.com/957504849
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Glasses
I’ve been going kind of nuts recently buying glasses online, because they’re so cheap.
Here are a couple of pairs that I got from Vooglam
These are progressives. They are currently the
ones that wear the most
ones that wear the most
This is a pair of mono focal intermediate range glasses that I use on my computer
This pair has a monofocal reading prescription
This pair is monofocal distance
I got it because casting directors kept wanting an Iris Apfel look
This pair is monofocal distance
I use it for hiking or other outdoor activities
It's also useful for driving because it fits under my sunglasses,
which the other pairs don't.
This pair is safety glasses. I decided to get it as bifocals, which I had never tried. Since they wrap around, I thought progressives wouldn't work. I really like the improved peripheral vision that I get with the wrap arounds. Unfortunately the transition area between the near prescription and the distance prescription is not well done. There's a large blurry area at the point of transition, which is dangerous.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
The Count of Monte Cristo
This is an audio play based on the 19th century French novel by Alexandre Dumas. The first episode is supposed to become available on May 21 on numerous platforms. Other episodes will be released gradually
Director: Chloe Wilson
Production Company: Little Lucky Productions https://www.littleluckyproductions.com/
Preview & identifications of podcasters https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/thecountofmontecristo
Preview on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rsC-Njor3I
Another copy of the YouTube preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-TwSNiq1UQ
Show instagram account https://www.instagram.com/tcomcpod/
I will be playing the evil Madame de Villefort and Queen Vasiliki
My instagram post
Embedded preview from YouTube
Here is another clip -- but not including me
My director was nominated for an award
"The Count of Monte Cristo" has been recognized by:
- International Women's Podcasting Awards
- Toronto Web Fest (Best Writing Nomination)
- New Jersey Web Fest (Best Directing, Best Drama Nominations)
- Apulia Webfest
- Baltimore Next Media Webfest
- Women in Podcasting Awards
The Substitute Bride
I didn't write a blog about this show back when we were filming it, but it's out on Short Max now.
Director: Xiao Ying
Production Company: Journey Studio https://www.journeystudio.net/
Here are a couple of posts by the Director
Here are some posts that I made back at the time
The Divorced Billionaire Heiress
May 6-9 I had my first sleep away acting gig. We were shooting a vertical format web series of mini-episodes. This is a remake of a series that has been very successful in China.
Here's a promotional video for the series, my part starts shortly after 19 minutes. It's a long promotional video. These vertical series are typically viewed in an app on cell phone. This one is apparently called Short TV.
Thanks to my sister-in-law for finding this clip. She immediately remarked that the real "Raft of the Medusa" is 16'x24', much larger than the one shown in this clip.
Director: Ying Xiao
Production Studio: Paradox Films https://www.paradoxfilmsny.com/
Here are some set pix
The director gave me a nice compliment. She said I was the prettiest grandma in NYC. Swelled head.
I bought myself a little souvenir on my own. Part of the plot includes references to fake antiques. This is such a one.
The team that made this series is very impressive. Since there is vertical format, they can have multiple cameras at once, each one focused on one actor. They only had to do one or two takes of each scene. Normally they have a separate take for each view, but this way they don't have to take separate takes for different views.
****
Concerns:
The characters in this show are mostly very poorly behaved. My cast mates compared this show to a series called "Succession," which I haven't seen.
Some of the characters are depicted committing crimes such as commercial bribery and conspiracy to monopolize interstate commerce. A concern I have, as an attorney, is that viewers may not realize that these acts are white collar crimes.
If you see a murder depicted on a a show, I think you know right away that that's a crime. You immediately know that you're not supposed to do that yourself.
I'm not sure if the viewer of white collar crimes -- as shown here -- knows that they are just as much crimes as physical crimes like murder and assault.
I wish there were some kind of warning about the criminal nature of the activity depicted.
#DivorcedBillionaireHeiress #VerticalDrama #ShortTV
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