Fisto, a character with a large metal fist covering one hand in the Masters of the Universe mythology, plays a role in a large group battle scene taking place in the MOTU Wizard of Stone Mountain fan film currently under production.  My task is to give the actor Ron a style of fighting that indicates his character’s motivation, his good nature, and his unique physical characteristics.

Created a staff for the character “Teela” meant as a fighting prop for several scenes.  Multiples were created using the same sets of materials.

Created a quick and dirty web design for MOTU: The Wizard of Stone Mountain using a logo sketch sent by the director, a basic knowledge of the mythology, and my ace skills with Drupal CMS.  View the site live

I decided to finally take the chance to work on FNL, a huge cornerstone of the extras and principle actors scene here in Austin.  I was cast as a “paying customer” by OnLocation Casting, and instructed to arrive at the shoot at 8am with three “looks.”  Based on what the casting call said, I brought a low key “club” outfit, my pin stripe suit, and the scuzzy and tattered remnants of the outfit I wore for “Machete” (to fill their “blue collar” outfit suggestion.)  When the lady from wardrobe looked at what I brought, she seemed slightly sad that my suit so closely resembled one brought by another extra… but seemed pretty excited when she saw the stained and torn jeans and shirt from the “Machete” costume.

Once I was costumed as a very grimy blue collar worker, they took our group of extras to a local gentleman’s club to film a scene related to the season 5 plot arc.  The AD placed me at a corner stage where an exotic dancer was performing acrobatic movements from the pole, and instructed me to admire her skills for the background of the main shot.

This particular day of shooting had many similarities to the other projects I’ve worked on, particularly “Beatdown” in my realization that having a conversation with the female actress I was working with helped normalize the otherwise strange situation of being asked to objectify her on camera.  Other than that, it was a combination of the same set of “stand and wait” dynamics that make up background performance.

I had deliberately avoided FNL because it is the cliche’ of the Austin acting scene, but I’m glad that I finally took the opportunity to work with this production and experience what so many other local actors had contributed to.

I recently had the opportunity to work on the set for a project called “The Suburbs” directed by Spike Jonze. While the project doesn’t appear to be listed on his IMDB page, I would guess that it will either appear under a different title, or in a short while.

I was connected with this project through Sarah Dowling, who cast me for “Beatdown,” as well.

I’m intrigued to see the final product for this project, although I’m certain I will be less than visible in the end result.  I spent most of the day bent over a boiling hot engine in the heat of a truck stop parking lot (playing a “trucker”) but I was more fascinated with the uniqueness of working with Spike Jonze and meeting members of the band Arcade Fire.  I know this project will be as visually amazing as Spike’s other music video/experiments like “Drunk Girls” (for LCD Soundsystem), “Weapon of Choice” (the Fatboy Slim video featuring a tapdancing Christopher Walkin), and the robot love story “I’m Here.”  Everything he touches has an artistic sensibility that appeals to anyone who went to a place like SCAD, and I’m just extremely happy to have been there, even for a few hours, to participate.