Words about this past Stated Song video

by tiffanymy creative self, recordedPosted on No Comments

I realized the other day that I have not mentioned anything about my videos with the exception that I am still doing them.

This past weekend I did another Stated Song, instead of a traditional monologue. Stated Songs are the least viewed videos on my channel and I basically do them for myself. I will be doing more monologues next week. However, I felt like I needed to do it, partly because I already had it Queued up in my mind to do it and partly because it is exactly where I am right now.

The song that I turned into a monologue was “I Want To Be Something,” by Weezer. I really like Weezer’s music, which you can by the fact that this is my second video using their songs as a monologue. The first one being “The Other Way”

I hope you like it and please let me know what you think.

Also, The song  “I Want To Be Something” was written and performed by Weezer. It appears on the band’s album Hurley which was released in 2010. Although there is no music video there is a recording of this song on YouTube here :http://youtu.be/a_m4SlbUujA and the band’s channel is https://www.youtube.com/user/WeezerVEVO . The band’s website is http://www.weezer.com/.

Connecting with a Character

by tiffanymy creative self, recordedPosted on No Comments

I just recorded a video that talks about connecting with a character. I had written everything out, but I did not memorize what I wrote so the video is a bit different. I wanted to make sure I shared both though, because I believe they both have value.

First here is what I wrote. The video is below the write up.

The steps towards my goals I want to talk about is connecting with a character. It is something that I believe an actor has to do to portray a character justly. Something needs to snap in place and you the actor has to feel right with the character you have to fully get the character you are portraying.

I have struggled with this as you can see in my precious videos or at least I can see it in the stated songs and poetry readings I’ve done. Something just wasn’t clicking, the character I was trying be were just words. They had no life to them.

Well this week at my improv group a character clicked with me. I really feel like I did the character justice even if it was a silly improv game. I still made that connection, which has been a while since I could say that.

Thinking about it I wonder if I just haven’t realized it at improv before or if it’s growth. Either way it is a boost of confidence for me and reassurance that I can act. I just need to find the character in the words and figure out how to bring the scripted ones to life.

 

DreamWard Bound (week 6/22-6/28)

by tiffanyDreamward bound, LifePosted on No Comments

success

Let’s just jump right into my weekly review of my week. On Monday I wrote, “It’s only Monday and already I have done extra. Sunday I had some free time, since I got everything I needed to get down during the weekend done on Saturday. That being the case I painted and recorded it. You can find it at Heart On Fire.”

I also wrote my Palindrome poem on Monday, which was sort of fast. I thought a lot about it and finally came up with something that fit the rules. It’s not my favorite, but 6 people liked it in 2 hours, so what do I know. I also wrote For Now, which is a Katauta Poem. That poem posted on Tuesday, because I do the whole pacing my posts out thing.

My productivity was not as great the following days. I thought I would be getting a lot more done and a bunch of extra stuff posted. Yet, I do have 7 links for you to click in the “List of Stuff I did this week” list. I guess it was a pretty good week.

Now, unbeknownst to me one of my goals have changed. Well my creative goal has changed.  I’ve been thinking about “officially” changing my creative goal for a while now. I’ve been trying to figure out what I could change it to. Well on Wednesday I figured out exactly what it has turned into. It is now one post, whether poem or otherwise, a day. Every 2 months that I post a poem or other post daily I will buy something to further my artistic career. Since this is such a catch-all I can also use it to create a one of a kind super computer. I’m thinking something with a separate storage drive that is about one terabyte big and as much ram that I can possibly have. Oh and the latest video card and a bunch of editing software. Before you ask, yes I realize how much of a nerd I’m turning into. I guess nerding out comes with my job (my day job that it).

Before you click on all the exciting links, please know that I will be going on vacation this coming up week and will not be posting as much. I hope to get a few days in before I fly out, but I won’t be taking my computer. Lack of computer means lack of posting abilities. Hopefully when I come back I will have a bunch of new material to share.

List of stuff I did this week

Stated Song: Storybook

Naani

Ode to Bed

No Structure Poem

For Now

Interesting Thoughts

Palindrome Poem

Heart on Fire

Heart on Fire 003

Sated Song: Storybook

by tiffanyrecordedPosted on No Comments

This week’s Stated Song is Storybook which is from the musical Scarlet Pimpernel. When I was younger I was in voice lessons to learn how to sing and this was a song I remember very fondly  doing. I really like the dreamer’s voice and attitude. Some days I feel this same way. Some days I feel like I am just a dreamer with no real love. However, I am lucky, because I do have real love. I have a wonderful family and friends who love me. Yet, since I don’t have a ‘lover’ I do feel like I am missing what is real love, which is what this song is about.

You can listen to the actual song on youtube. It is sung by Rachel York. The musical, The Scarlet Pimpernel  is a 1997 Broadway musical composed by Frank Wildhorn and written by Nan Knighton, the production starred Douglas Sills as Sir Percy Blakeney, Christine Andreas as Marguerite Blakeney, and Terrence Mann as Citizen Chauvelin. ( I simply copied and pasted all this information from The Scarlet Pimpernel’s Wikiepedia page.)

 

The lyrics that I used for this Stated song are:

Listen to me, I have beautiful dreams I can spin you
Dreams to linger within you
Close your eyes and we’ll ride my carousel
I’ll tell you stories of lovers whose love used to fill me
And the lovers who will be
For, you see, love is one thing I do well
Come, let’s believe love can be just as sweet as it seems
Let’s live on dreams!

In my dreams such beautiful lovers have found me
Storybook lovers surround me
Nothing is real, but I’m flying, sighing
Where is my storybook ending?
Why does my golden pretending
Leave me with nothing to hold but my dreams?

Oh, is it only in dreams that we find our ideal love?
Are there lovers with real love?
If you know how to feel love, show me now
but my prince, if you can’t be as sweet as you seem
I’d rather dream

Come and wake me!
Come be the love I can hold now
Storybook love leaves me cold now
Show me the way to stop dreaming
There is only one perfect storybook ending
That is the end of pretending
That is the moment I say, love me now!

Stated Song: Cockeyed Optimist

by tiffanymy creative self, recordedPosted on One Comment

This week’s acting video is a Stated Song called Cockeyed Optimist. Cockeyed Optimist was composed byRichard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and is found in the musical South Pacific. The wikipedia page for the musical can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pacific_(musical). For a video of the actual song please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0DusO6ipLw.

The lyrics are:

When the sky is a bright canary yellow
I forget every cloud I’ve ever seen,
So they called me a cockeyed optimist
Immature and incurably green.

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow
That we’re done and we might as well be dead,
But I’m only a cockeyed optimist
And I can’t get it into my head.

I hear the human race
Is fallin’ on its face
And hasn’t very far to go,
But every whippoorwill
Is sellin’ me a bill,
And tellin’ me it just ain’t so.

I could say life is just a bowl of Jello
And appear more intelligent and smart,
But I’m stuck like a dope
With a thing called hope,
And I can’t get it out of my heart!
Not this heart…

I really had a fun time doing this monologue/ stated song. I enjoyed making this one the most, so far. Please let me know what you think.

 

DreamWard Bound (6/7-6/14/14)

by tiffanyDreamward bound, Life, recordedPosted on No Comments

I did not take notes this week. I did not do anything amazing and had to push myself to do anything productive all week, which is partly why there is no notes. It was really tough for me to do anything this week. I do not really know why, but I was just not motivated at all. I have been wondering if the lack of motivation had to do with the fact that I had the house to myself. At the beginning of the week I was excited and thought I would be doing a lot more, maybe even record my monologue early, because there would be not distraction from the other 3 people I am currently living with.

I started the week off great. Monday I did some research on acting classes and how much an acting coach around here would cost. I was really looking to figure out where I’m going with everything. Research then drifted into ‘research,’ where I watched youtube videos of actor’s being interviewed. It was still helpful hearing experienced actors and actresses talk about acting and their advice, but I think I could have used my time more wisely.

I did record a video talking about why I act on Wednesday. I had nothing planned for the night and wanted or needed to get answers to questions I’ve been asking myself for a while. The problem with asking yourself questions I am realizing is that, unless you write the answers down or say them out loud you forget.

Now I could have just wrote my answer down or record it and keep it to myself.  I did not have to post it on youtube, but I did because I am hoping that by sharing this it may bring a smile to someone’s face or help clarify  questions some one may have.

Oh and here is the video.

Thursday I did go to improv and we actually did a great new game that is focused on developing fast characters. This is a trait that

As far as my walking/ fitness goal goes, I walked 3.73 miles. I did not meet my goal for this week, but that’s why it’s a goal. I keep forgetting that these things are goals and not something I will do right away. I need to work up to the goals I set.

I just finished recording this week’s monologue, which was “to be or not to be.” Since I am writing this post while uploading it to youtube I am just going to give you the video in this blog.

I hope you guys enjoyed this blog and let me know what you think. Feedback and comments are always welcomed.

Stated Song: Carry on Wayward Son

by tiffanymy creative self, recordedPosted on No Comments

I just finished this week’s stated song. I tried a few little things different and at least I can see the difference. I realized I was not warming up and excepting to act as if I was. I also was just going and doing, forgetting why I was actually recording these videos. They are supposed to be my form of training and working the acting muscle. They are not just to get my name out there. I kept this in my mind before and after working on it. During I focused on what I was doing and had to focus on taking myself out of the equation.

You can not think about what you are doing when you are acting, because how many times in a day do you think to yourself I am doing xyz because of abc? I know when I’m in the moment I’m only thinking about that moment, so when I am acting I need to remember to forget about everything not it that moment or monologue.

One of the things that I’m changing is to put more content in the blog posts for the videos, including the lyrics that I used. So, here is the words I used.

Carry on  Wayward Son By: Kansas

Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man

Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I’m dreamin’, I can hear them say

Carry on, my wayward son
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don’t know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion

Tossed about I’m like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say

Carry on, my wayward son
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you

Carry on, my wayward son
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

 

I also want to make sure everyone has all the information on this song, because every song I do I do because I love the song and am a fan of the artist behind the song. Carry On My Wayward Son was written by Kansas in 1976 and recorded on LeftOverture under  Sony Music Entertainment . Kansas’ website is http://www.kansasband.com/index.php . There is no official music video for this song but there is a video of them playing live at http://youtu.be/D6bQ4EAduBg.

I hope you enjoyed all this information and if you have any request, suggestions, or feedback please let me know.

 

DreamWard Bound (5/18-5/24/14)

by tiffanyDreamward bound, LifePosted on No Comments

success

 

I’m going to try something new this week. Instead of trying to think of my entire week all at once, I have taken notes and editing them together. My thinking is that you will get a more detailed and dynamic post.

On Monday I finished reading the shooting script of “When Harry Met Sally.” It was really great and I loved being able to see what a real movie script looks like. I have read a lot of play scripts and my brother-in-law’s script, “Empty.” This was one that I already knew the movie to and read because of that fact. It was a great read and I could see the writer’s voice, even in the shot set ups which I really enjoyed.

I also wrote on Monday, “I am excited about picking and working on my next monologue/ stated song.” And that “I will also be starting a new challenge and facing my fears more… With the exception of escalators and birds, because come on stairs should not move and birds are evil.” As far as facing my fears goes, I did not see any fears to face. I will be keeping this fear facing in mind as I go on with my life though.

Well as you can see from the video I did work on the monologue all week. I most likely should have worked on it more, but this is a process of growth. Not Every video will be amazing. I just hope you like one or two that I do.

I also spent Monday looking for and organizing more monologue/ songs.

On Tuesday I walked around my work with some co-workers for 15 minutes. I did not do anything creative, but since I spent all night on Monday working on my monologue I was not too worried or upset.

On Wednesday I went walked again for another 15 minutes, wrote for about 10 (most likely more) and went to an open house, that ended poorly. Another thing is that I read for most of the car ride to work and part of the way home also. That was the day I started to read Self-Editing For Fiction Writer, which is the book I mentioned in  In The Diner. 

Thursday  I wrote, “I love when monologues come together and you make discoveries. I also think I figured out how to introduce the video.”

Friday I spent the night in, which let me write, work on my monologue and relax.

I’m writing this on Saturday, even though you most likely are reading it on Sunday. I would rather spread out my posts, so that they don’t get lost in your reader, twitter feed, or FB news feed. Also, I do not like getting a bunch of notices/ tweets from the same person all at once, so I won’t do that to you.

Now as far as today goes I walked for a little over half an hour, which meant I walked for 2 miles. I also weighed myself and am down about 2 lbs, which is mostly due to not eating candy or chips at work and walking a little every day. I also posted my weekly video, wrote this post, and read a bunch in my Bible.

After all that is said and written, the real question is what shall I do now?

Stated Song: Jesus, Friend Of Sinners.

by tiffanymy creative self, recordedPosted on No Comments

This week’s monologue was taken from Casting Crown’s song Jesus, Friend Of Sinners. This song was written by Casting Crowns in 2011 and recorded on Come To The Well under Provident Label Group . The link to the music video is youtube.com  and their website is castingcrowns.com.

I love the song and have heard it a bunch of times, so figured it would be a good song to do. I hope you enjoy it.

I also tried something a little different for the intro and closing, so feedback will be great appreciated.