Vent...people....I don't get them sometimes

L

Libby

So I am trying to put together this short for the local tv...I did one already only that did not involve working with people...mainly it was touristy (beaches/shopping info ect). This one I am working on is a fictional 5 min approx. black and white thing.

So here is the vent:

A fellow who is a relative is in his mid fourties and doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. He wants to act and did when he was in high school and then again in his twenties and that was it. Fast forward twenty years later and he is talking about getting back into acting again. The director of the local theatre offered him a small role in an up and coming play...but this fellow...turned it down. He wanted the lead role! The lead role went to two vetran actors of this theatre. This fellow had a few nasty comments to make about the fact that the director is also in the play himself and how selfish he was to be in it as well as direct.
I had asked him a while back if he would be interested in helping me out with this really bit part. Its a bit part because the film is only 5min long so basically everything is a bit part. He agreed but now doesn't want to do it because it will be aired on local tv. So why was he willing to do this bit part before? He doesn't know only he is not into acting where a camera is involved.

Now, is it me or is something seriously wrong with this story I just told?

Note: This isn't a big deal because I can do this role myself...I am okay with that ... its just this whole thing with people! There are some people out there in this world that are meant to do nothing at all. Dream about things, complain about things and when something is handed to them, find reasons to turn it down.

Its a vent. Thanks.
 
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Oh yes...forget about 'em is the truth! Funny thing, this gal that teaches production at the local studio won an emmy for something she did..she did it all herself because she couldn't find anyone to commit to anything for her. Well guess what happened after she won an emmy? They all called her and BEGGED to be in her next production!

Fear. Yes that is true. I read someplace a long time ago that most people fear success than fear failure. There are some people that are so terrified of taking that baby step forward.

I am so friggen glad I am not like that.
 
Libby said:
Now, is it me or is something seriously wrong with this story I just told?
Click to expand...

Not a thing. this is how many, many people are.

I have met dozens of people just like him. I can tell
you without even knowing him that when he tried
acting in high school he wanted the lead, didn't get
it and stopped acting. Or maybe got the lean in one
play and then not in the next one, so he quit. When
he was in his twenties he was offered a small part
and turned it down. To him acting is about being fair.
And that profession has nothing to do with fairness.
He will never understand that.

And there's nothing seriously wrong with that. As
Papertwin said, he's scared so he falls back on a strong,
human emotion; anger. That keeps him from feeling bad
that he didn't even try.

I do understand that it makes you feel bad that your family
isn't looking beyond the immediate. He'll never be an actor
even though he says he wants to be. And you would like
him to pursue his interest as you are pursuing yours.
 
This same fellow doesn't vote and never has. He feels its a waste of time because the goverment is going to tax you no matter what...yet... he is the biggest whiner when it comes to politics.

I guess I just figured that he would be into doing this if at least for shits kicks and giggles. But to say he doesn't want to do it because a camera is there??? I told him I was 'filming' him...I know its a copout but I wont be bothered with him again. Its just my acting kind of sucks...oh well...a lot of Hollywood actors kind of suck at acting too.
 
If you put all that energy that you're wasting by rambling on about someone who isn't worth the effort, and put that energy into casting a new actor instead - you'd be shooting already!

Don't sweat it, and keep movin' :lol:
 
I hired myself but had to change things around a bit. I had to change the charactor from a male to a female because I couldn't hack the male voice or male gestures.
 
Papertwinproductions said:
Fear, perhaps.

Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.
Click to expand...

I prefer "Prepare for the worst, expect the best".

Anyway, yeah, that sucks, Libby. Some people can be so disappointing. I've had my share of let-downs.

I had a friend at work, wanna-be actress, gave her the lead-role in a short. We had an aggressive shooting schedule, to meet a deadline for a local festival submission. I planned the hell out of that shoot. Many people had volunteered their time, and we were all excited about it. We had one day only, in which everyone's schedule's fit, allowing us to shoot in time for me to edit before the submission deadline.

She dropped out, 15-minutes before shooting was scheduled to begin. Her reason? The script was moraly objectionable. It was a raunchy comedy, full of crass sexual references, and poopy-jokes. But she was given the script a week in advance, read it immediately, and at least claimed to really like it (and she did actually read it, as she referenced her favorite lines). In the end, I guess she got cold feet? There was absolutely no way to re-cast, at that short notice. The whole thing was killed.

She never figured out how much she let me, and all the other volunteers down. It just didn't connect with her, how much of a work of passion this was for me, and how much time I had already invested in this particular project. And it wasn't just me -- everyone else was looking forward to having fun making a movie, too.

This is but one of a handful of my tough stories I could share. For us low-budget filmmakers, so much of the struggle is just in finding the right people to work with. I feel extremely fortunate to have finally found a group of people I enjoy working with, and whom are passionate and dedicated.

It's good to vent, but don't let this frustration deter you, Libby. There are a ton of solid individuals for you to work with, out there -- it just might take some time to find them.
 
This is true...put those let down folks on the shit list and thats where they will stay.

As for Cracker Funk, that story really sucks. Especially when she had the script a week in advance.

I think some people just dream about things and thats all they will do. When the opportunity is there they get frightened and back away.

I remember watching an episode of Oprah a long time ago and the subject was about people who let their dreams slip by them. This guy was a wannabe actor and had tried for years to break into the business. His big break finally came with a speaking part in a Hollywood production (forgot the movie). Anyway the day came for shooting and he was a no show because his alarm never went off and he overslept. He kept insisting that it was the alarm clocks fault he missed his big break and so it ended with him going back to square one.

...it also reminded me of this girl I knew a long time ago. She was around 30 and had spend the last 12 years trying to become a flight attendant. She went to those cattle call interviews every time they rolled into town. She would always get as far as the one on one interview in the hub city and then get the rejection letter. Finally she landed a job with United Airlines. She went to Chicago for the interview and got the job. All she had to do when she got home was arrange a drug test within the next few weeks and then she would be scheduled for flight attendant training. She scheduled her drug test about two weeks out...and the night before her test she went out and smoked pot with her father and her brother...she failed the drug test and lost the job...and that was her last chance because at that time 30 was the max age you could start as a flight attendant.

They are the losers in life. Losers because they want to be losers.

Sometimes venting about things is good.
 
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