The SixtyOne

A quick plug for something that I’m really digging lately.

TheSixtyOne calls itself “Massively Multiplayer Music Discovery”, and basically it works like this.  Musicians add their music to the site, and users can browse music, and listen via the onscreen player.  If you like something, you bump it.  The trick is, that when you start out, you only have a few points to use and each bump costs you points.  When other people bump, you get points, and can bump more. 

Yeah.  You get XP for listening to music.  And you level up and stuff.

Its like the perfect combination of music and gaming.

Through thesixtyone, I’ve discovered some great music that I never would have heard before.  Totally worth it.

Behind Closed Doors Screening

Last night was the first screening of Behind Closed Doors, the film I worked on in the Spring.   All I had seen of the product were the trailers, and so I had no idea what I was going to see.  Its one thing to shoot a film, that’s a process in itself, but the finished product can be very different from what you imagined.  Additionally, I’m one of those actors that does not enjoy watching myself, and in the past I’ve been somewhat tortured by watching video or film of my performances.

So, lets just say that I was a bit uncertain about what I might see when I viewed the film and how I might react to watching myself.

I needn’t have worried.  The film was well edited, and looked great.  The first shot was what’s called a jib shot, and it looked so amazing that I sat forward in my seat.   When I finally made my entrance on screen, I didn’t wince or flinch (a good sign).  I can say that I was relatively pleased with my performance.

One funny thing about watching a film that you were acting in (I suppose its the same if you directed it or had any other role) is remembering what it was like to shoot it, compared with how it looks on screen.  Or more specifically, how quickly it goes by in the film.  For example, I can remember the first night of shooting, in a very cold alley in London, Ontario, from sundown till 3am…and how that scene lasted less than 2 minutes in the film.  Many scenes were like that: it took far longer to film than they took to watch.  I suppose that’s the nature of film.

I do think I have a bit farther to go with my pursuit of the film acting technique.  I think I’m getting better, but I’m not quite there yet.  This is the kind of thing you can learn only by doing, so…I’ll keep doing it.  I think I need to work on my specificity.  At least, that’s what I identify as an issue when watching myself.

I think that’s enough self-criticism today.

But on the whole, I have to reiterate that I am happy with the film.  It looks great, and the cast, crew, director and producers were great.   At the screening I was given a little swag back, containing a couple of small posters for the film, a production still (I gotta get that framed and on my wall), and a DVD of the film.  Afterwards, a small party at a nearby bar, and some great compliments from people involved in the film, as well as from some perfect strangers.

Overall, a good night.

“Live” Dinosaur at a museum

This is video from a museum in LA, where they had a “live” dinosaur wandering the halls. Its not CG.  If you look closely at the dinosaur, you’ll see what’s going on.

Extinct, my ASS! from The Original Joe Fisher on Vimeo.

Keystone Theatre Fundraiser

Silent movies, Live Music, Live performances, more!

Bloor Cinema.  Doors open at 7PM

Thinking like a smoker

The last month or so, I noticed something: I seem to still think like a smoker.  What do I mean by this?  I mean that I find myself looking at Zippo lighters thinking that they look cool.  I find myself walking down the street thinking that a smoke would be really good right now.  That’s the toughest one: I still crave cigarettes.  Its actually quite annoying.  I’ll crave a smoke, and wonder “why am I wanting this?” and I have to fight the craving.  I keep wondering, when the cravings will finally go away, and I keep hoping that I won’t be fighting cravings indefinitely.

All you ex-smokers who may be reading this: Do you still get cravings?

In other news, gave the dog a much-needed bath yesterday.  Bathing a large dog is an athletic exercise, since most dogs don’t tend to enjoy baths.  Getting the dog into the tub was one battle, keeping him there is another, as he’ll try to get out of the tub every time you take your hands off him.  And so, when it was all over, the bathroom was pretty much soaked, and I was covered in all the excess hair that came off the dog, and neither of us were happy.

Finally, over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be shooting some scenes for a werewolf movie.  Its going to include a new experience for me: special effects make up. 

Silent Film Project

For a long while now, I’ve been working on a project that I haven’t spoken too much about.  This project has been in the works for over year, and is starting to gear up towards a full production.  We’ve referred to it as the “Silent Film Project” but a while back we gave our group a name: Keystone Theatre.  The goal of this project is to create on the stage the style of performance we know as the silent film comedy.

If you’re one of those poor people who hasn’t ever seen a silent film, here’s one of my favourite Buster Keaton films: Cops.

Part 2
Part 3

Of course, there’s a lot that has to go into this.   You can’t simply do what’s done on the screen.  We don’t have camera changes, can’t do close ups, can’t speed up the film.  And since its done before an audience, we have to make sure that the folks at the back of the theatre can see what’s going on.  This has necessitated the creation of a new performance style that we’re creating, in order to translate the silent style for the stage.

Why am I talking about this now?  I’m glad you asked.  Soon, I’ll be posting details about an upcoming fundraiser for this production that will take place in November.  I want to give you plenty of notice, so that you can come out and see both some great silent films, some exciting performances, and some examples of the style we’re creating.

Watch for more.

Harper and Company don’t care what you think

Writing in the News, Peter MacKay the Minister for Defence wrote about what Canadians talked to him about on Canada Day.  He says that health care for children was the first issue, and then names Bill C-61 (the Canadian DMCA Act) as the second.

Its interesting to note that he doesn’t talk about what was said, what the concerns that were brought up to him were, nor does he address them directly. What he does is over up the same official talking points that the Conservatives have been using from the introduction of this bill (and if you recall, the same talking points that Michael Geist predicted they would use).  The fact that he feels the need to bring the topic up tells me that he wasn’t exactly getting positive feedback on the topic.  The fact that all he does, given the platform to address the questions and issues that were brought up to him, is regurgitate the same lies we’ve heard over and over… well, this just reiterates what I’ve suspected all along: Stephen Harper and his Conservative government don’t care what we think.  They won’t listen t what we tell them.  Which means they won’t do what their constituents need them to do.

Time to bring them down. They certainly would if the tables were turned.

Canada Day tunage

In honour of Canada Day, here’s a selection of great Canadian music for you.

First up, Toronto’s Holy Fuck, who buck the system (fuck the system?) by giving themselves a name that can’t be pronounced on the radio, thus forcing radio & tv stations to either bleep their name every time they play them, or simply not play them at all.

Lovely Allen

Read more