Catching Up on the Latest Acting Stuff

Hello, y'all! Got some acting-related stuff for you tonight... gird thyself. I got a lot to cover...

First, Desert Rose, the 48-Hour Film I was in at the beginning of Summer, has been released for viewing online! It's on Horacio's website, so I can't embed it here. You'd have to click THIS LINK to go there, or just click this convenient movie poster!

Just don't forget to come back and finish reading all the nonsense I'm going to share! This is the short film that my co-star Lisa Winans won the Best Actress Award for at the event, as well as the "A-List Actress" Award at the recent San Diego Film Festival. It was a great experience making the film, and I hope to participate again in 2015.

Next, filming for the BTI Webseries is proceeding smoothly. This past Saturday, (11/22), I got to film on (and fly in) a brand spankin' new 10-million dollar private jet!

I'd never been on a jet like this before. It was so much fun. First, they wheeled the jet outside the hangar, and we filmed the scene of me getting off the plane, and greeting my co-star (the illustrious Travis Osland).

Travis and I kicking back on the plane... it still had that "new plane" smell! And Travis had that "seasoned actor" smell!

When we got the last shot, I asked if I could take a selfie at the top of the stairs, and was granted permission. Love this shot. 

Then a group of us piled onto the plane and it took off and landed twice... so they could get footage of the take-off and landing, as well as footage of the plane returning to park in front of the hangar...

That's Jeff's wife Tanya in the red, and my Eldest Daughter Chris smiling next to her.

That's me in the back seat, next to resident knock-out Leslee Baker, with Lisa Winans in front of us. Man, that's a lot of perfect teeth in that photo... good thing my mouth is closed...

So when Jeff was trying to decide who would go up in the plane, he picked people for various reasons, knowing many people wouldn't be able to go, due to limited seating. It sat 9 people, I believe. In any case, other than the pilots, I was the only guy that went up. Me, Mr. Tough Russian, right? Alpha Male? lol... we taxi to the end of the runway and waited to lift off...

The captain had his own father along for the ride, in the co-pilot's seat. Turns out his dad is a retired pilot (flew passenger planes for one of the big airlines for a few decades), and so the pilot wanted to show off for his dad (I found this out afterwards), and show him what the jet could do. So we lift off, and he GUNS the engines, and we shoot way up, fast... felt like straight up. Everyone else seemed to get a kick out of it - including the 8-year old girl that went with us. Me? Mr. Tough Guy Russian? My stomach immediately drops into my lower intestinal region, and I start getting all light-headed, like I'm going to pass out... I'm like, "holy crap! I'm going to faint and/or vomit and/or soil myself, right here on this beautiful plane, in front of all these lovely women..." lol!

Seriously, if that lift-off had lasted another second or two, I don't know what would have happened... so he leveled off and we headed out over the ocean. A few (hopefully-subtle) deep breaths later and I felt ok again. Everyone was busy taking photos out the windows, but I was simply thanking God for not letting me humiliate myself...

So we circle around and come in for a landing, taxiing back around, while I'm softly singing the "Please Let Me Off This Plane" song... and the pilot turns over his shoulder and says, "Hey, is everyone OK if we take it up again?" Everyone but me enthusiastically agrees, while I try to decide if I have the balls to ruin everyone's fun... I suck it up and say, "sure, let's do this..." Did I think I could do it? Heck no... I took a few pre-emptive deep breaths and waited for the worst... we took off again... and it was super-smooth... didn't even feel it. He apparently didn't need to show off to his dad anymore... did the normal lift-off and it wasn't an issue in the least...

So this time, while in the air, I focused on taking in the view, committing the feel of the experience to memory... because I knew that later on, we'd be filming the interior shots of my character on the plane, and I'd be looking out the windows into an empty hanger... hey, I wanted it to seem realistic, yes? We landed again without issue, deplaned, and they pulled the plane back into the hangar.

Leslee watching the activity on a monitor. It was dark inside the hangar, but with the lights set up like that, inside the plane it looked like it was daytime. Very cool. 

Another shot of the plane, with all the lights set up. 

Cool shot of the plane, nose-on...

It was a long day of shooting, but exceptionally cool. Probably a once-in-a-career type of thing. Other than almost making a fool of myself on the plane (and also breaking my glasses), it was a perfect day. I'm glad I'm getting the chance to catalog it here. From what I understand, the footage we got was outstanding. Can't wait to see it, and to show you all.

Other related news: I auditioned for a part in a YMCA in-house industrial training film, and got the part! It films on December 7th. Also, the Christmas play is moving ahead smoothly. Our cast is complete and solid -- though I won't be there for either the dress rehearsal or the performance itself. But I trust Cathy O. to fill in fine. Should be fun.

Also, the Hollywood classes are continuing to amaze me and wring me out. I actually remembered to take some photos this time!

That's Lisa Winans and Kat (don't know her last name!) in class, with Rob (our instructor) silhouetted in the foreground. 

Rob#2 and Mark, not only performing their scene from American Buffalo, but also playing a game called "Sub-Text", where they say their lines while simultaneously texting to each other on a completely different topic, lol... Mark (the one on the monitor) has a small part in the recent Ben Affleck film Gone Girl...

Well, that should just about cover it for now... if I had the strength, I'd tell you about a dream I had recently which really rocked me (so much so, I got up in the middle of the night and journaled about it), which fits the "acting" theme of tonight's post... but honestly, I'm pretty spent, and I'm sure you're ready for this post to end as well...

All things considered, these are amazing times for me. And the months ahead promise more of the same... plus, I get my braces off in about ten days... awww yeah...

Adios for now,

Dave the Goof