Just prior to its release “Rising Star” was accepted into the Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF) and will World Premiere on Sunday the 6th of May 2012. Things are only getting started with the film and I have to admit the emotional roller coaster has already begun.

How could there be stress? This is exciting news!

As an actor, it’s über exciting and will be good fun to read the reviews of the film. Yes, I’ve grown a thick skin to reviewers. “Hi, trolls! I <3 you too!” But, as a producer the work is almost never done and finding time to do producer work in between everything else that is going on. And boy-oh-boy do I have a number of things going on.

Phew.

Let’s go to the video tape YouTube clip!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first weekend of March 2012 I travelled with emma to New Mexico to attend the Taos Shortz Film Festival/Filmapalooza 2012.

“How was the festival?” – many people

“It was epic!” – Gary Ploski

While there I did what I do quite often, I documented stuffs, watched (so many) movies, met (tons of) peoples. Unlike in my normal day to day life I went to a party every night. I did. #pinkyswear

Without exaggeration it was one of the most amazing extended weekends of my life.

And with that tease… Let’s go to the video tape YouTube clips!

The Vlogs

Filmapalooza 2012 – Day 1… Introducing the Fest

Click here to view the embedded video.

Filmapalooza 2012 – Day 1… In the Evening

Click here to view the embedded video.

Filmapalooza 2012 – Day 2… In the Media Room

Click here to view the embedded video.

Filmapalooza 2012 – Day 3… With the Shuttle Crew

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCHc2832BNg

People. So Many People!

Film festivals generally looks like this in a math book: festival + attendance + business cards = chance at getting to know a few people well

This fest looked like this: festival + attendance = make many friends

No. I’m not kidding.

Check out this pic of the Shuttle Crew. We met on the way to the festival, a 2.5 hour drive from Albuquerque to Taos, and spent  so much time together during the fest that some of us are getting together within weeks of the fest ending. Many are planning to visit  each other and then there’s the long term plan of working together when the opportunity arrises.

This is not a typical experience for anyone.. Well, except maybe for kids who attend summer camps.

Yea, this was an adult summer camp that took place in snowy Taos, NM!

These people rock!

Click the pic + ‘Like’ the page on Facebook =

Beyond this group of amazingly nice and talented people there were more people who became friends stretching all the way to Israel, New Mexico, and even New York. Thanks to Facebook we all connected and have access to each other in a restricted Group for those who were involved in the 48 Hour Film Project. Looking to the future, I cannot wait to see what everyone creates and for the chance to work with these astoundingly talented human beings.

To my #48taos tweeps (especially @hannahemac and @tylerdotdotdot)… Thanks for making the weekend awesome in the ‘verse. Let’s keep the hashtag alive and keep the conversation going.

The Movies

Between Friday and Sunday I watched just under 100 films. You might expect that the caliber of this many films would offer a significant bell curve but that wouldn’t be accurate. Each of the Filmapalooza films had won their respective city during the 48 Hour Film Project meaning they’d all been through a gauntlet already. This meant that instead of finding the good films the challenge was to find which films one would  personally relate to during the four screenings.

The bell curve became that of an enjoyment curve. HFCIT!

Before my film, Objects of Time, played I could feel my heart pounding throughout my entire body. I was sooo nervous despite having seen the film more than, I’ve lost count times. Later on I learned that nearly every filmmaker felt the same way. Everyone felt humbled to be a part of something so good that they didn’t want their film to bring the experience for anyone down.

From what I was told by someone who attended a previous Filmapalooza the bar was raised this year and that it was unlike previous expereinces. Does this mean the indie scene is finally ‘getting it’ and that the entertainment world is on the cusp of a new breed of creator? #fingerscrossed

The best part, after every film screened there was a round of applause in the main room which seated approximately 150 people and in the auxiliary room which seated about 40 people. Every film! It was a love fest of talent supporting talent. Yep, it was that kind of  festival.

Filmapalooza 2012 Winner and You

If you’re a comic book fan you will thoroughly enjoy this film. If you like to be entertained you won’t be left wanting. Jpixx Films, the team out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, delivers a touching and beautiful film. Enjoy.

In Captivity

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP982c1bts4

If you are lucky enough to be involved in a film that wins a city during the 48 Hour Film Project I strongly recommend that you attend Filmapalooza. I know it’s not easy to attend because of layovers and long drives sometimes but tell that to the people who travelled from: Australia, China or South Africa.

The team from South Africa travelled 37 hours to be in Taos. Say that number out loud for the impact it should have on you.

What’s Next?

Like I said, I saw just under 100 films which meant I missed some of the films. >ARGH!< Thankfully the Intertubes has been invented and we have YouTube, Vimeo, and Google Docs. I threw together an open spreadsheet so all the teams that have posted their video to the web could share a link to their film with their fellow creatives.

To date 80 films have been added. The rest may be touring the film festival circuit so access won’t be available for sometime but I’d say that 80% availbility is per’ty darn amazing. =) All the filmmakers (and their teams) now have access to the other city winner films. <3 the Tubes!

Why do I bring this up if I’m not going to link to it? I can’t link to it, I’m sorry, some films have a password noted which means they shouldn’t be allowed into the wild just yet. My film, Objects of Time, is one of those films. #isorry

For me, and you I hope, the future is full of excitement.

I’m organizing a team for the New York City 2012 48 Hour Film Project and will be working with the New Haven team again. That’s right, two films in 48 hours! But it gets better and wilder. Both will take place in June of 2012. Egad, man!

Mwaahahahaha. June is going to be so much fun!

Your Turn

Now tell me, knowing what you know now, knowing what you knew then… Are you interested in helping a team create a film in 48 hours? If this helps, Filmapalooza will take place in Los Angeles, CA in 2013. (wink, wink)

The sternocleidomastoideus muscle

Stress

Last week I wrote about the pains that happen in the neck and shoulders. You’re in luck, there is another stretch you can do to relieve even more tension in your neck and it is almost the exact same stretch.

That’s right! It’s (nearly) a two for one sale, er stretch!

See that muscle to the right? It’s called the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Yep, it’s kind of large and it needs your attention. Trust me on this one.

Take a few breaths, a minute of your time, and relax this side of your neck as well. Remember, when you work out or stretch, it’s a great idea to pay attention to both sides of the body.

You can perform this stretch nearly anywhere and it will take you less time to perform than for you to read this blog.

Let’s Stretch

A note of caution, like all things muscle please do not over stretch or push yourself. It is more important to do a stretch properly than it is to do exactly what is shown in a picture or video. You might not be as flexible and that’s okay.

One more thing, take your time and remember to breath while stretching. It sounds silly but breath into the stretch, hold your breath for a count of 3-5 and then release your breath.

If you want to repeat the stretch often, go for it!

Please share this with someone you know who is struggling to find relief from headaches, tension in their jaw, tight neck, etc.

Without further ado…

Click here to view the embedded video.

How Did That Feel?

Could you feel it in your neck or jaw? Do you think you’ll incorporate this stretch into your daily routing? Will your friends look at you like you’re a stretching ninja after you show them this stretch?

The levator scapulae muscle

Stress

Ugh, stress. It’s ever present and happens to everyone every day. The worst part is that the older we get the more stress creeps into our body.

If you work in front of a computer you experience neck stiffness at some point during the day or it could be all day long. Let me share with you what I did yesterday because of a pain I’ve been experiencing for far too long.

The levator scapulae muscle. It’s connected to the scapulae which means  if you’re shoulders are closer to your ears than they should be it’s likely that this muscle is tight. Good news, there’s a super simple stretch that you can do sitting at your desk, in the dentist office or at your leisure.

Let’s Stretch

A note of caution, like all things muscle please do not over stretch or push yourself. It is more important to do a stretch properly than it is to do exactly what is shown in a picture or video. You might not be as flexible and that’s okay.

One more thing, take your time and remember to breath while stretching. It sounds silly but breath into the stretch, hold your breath for a count of 3-5 and then release your breath.

If you want to repeat the stretch often, go for it!

Please share this with someone you know who is struggling to find relief from headaches, tension in their jaw, tight shoulders.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ahh

So… How did it feel? Do you think you’ll incorporate this stretch into your daily routing?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: TO DYE FOR, a short comedy

Jumping Sleeping Giant

Going to the Extreme

You’re ugly and stupid. I’m hot and brilliant. Feathers ruffled?

You’re probably thinking “This guy is an assho”ooooold on a minute.

Let me get to the point by saying it again.

You’re Ugly and Stupid. I’m Hot and Brilliant. Oh, I forgot to add, you are worthless, can’t do anything right, should just let someone else do your job, look in the mirror and see what everybody else sees because you’re lying to yourself…

Is that Extreme?

The quick answer is, “Yes those are extreme statements you narrow minded sod, sheesh.” But more to the point, why the blue blazin’ tarheels am I asking?

First a note before I get too far, you’re not ugly and stupid. And I’m not hot and brilliant.

If you’re still upset about the hurtful and extreme words above, it’s okay, count to 10 before letting your emotions get the better of you. Breath in… Hold it… Breath out. (Repeat as often as necessary.)

Recently Ali Berman (http://aliberman.com) and I watched a fantastic film called FAT, SICK, AND NEARLY DEAD about a man (Joe Cross) who eats drinks nothing but juice for 60 days to see if it will help him with a health issue as well as to lose some weight. He called it a juice fast despite ingesting more nutrition than… Hehehe, well, yea, than most people do.

It was incredibly inspiring!

Thanks to a birthday gift juicing became a possibility for us soon after watching the documentary. We were both full of anticipation and excitement to try our own juicing fast. We chose 7 days versus his 60. Reasonable, right?

Before we started we asked ourselves: Would we like it? Would it be filling? How much would it cost?

There were so many questions we knew to ask but there was one that neither of us thought much about that really caught my attention: Can I/we live an extreme lifestyle?

I may be wrong but I believe that unless there is a need in one’s life very few people will live an extreme lifestyle. What do I mean?

I’m going to use the 60 day example because it’s a short enough period of time but not too long that it’s unreasonable, to see if the average person is extreme.

• Who works out every single day?
• Who writes a personal blog every single day?
• Who meditates every single day?
• Who takes a picture every single day?

Be honest now, if you say yes to any of the questions above you’re one of two types of people: awesome or a liar.

By our very nature we human types operate within a routine schedule. A Monday through Friday schedule and a Saturday and Sunday schedule. This works because it’s a cultural norm in the USA and other countries but it also helps to differentiate the work day versus the personal day – both of which have their own needs.

Ali kept track of our juicing experience and posted it here on Livin Veg (http://livinveg.com/2011/12/31/my-experience-with-juicing-inspired-by-fat-sick-and-nearly-dead). We <3′d and yet, grew tired of the experience because of, I think, two things:

• The weather – We decided to try juicing during the winter. Think of it, cold veggies and water in the morning and evening. Not. Fun.
• We’re not extremists – It’s that simple. I don’t even need to say more.

HA! Who am I kidding. Of course I need to say more that’s the whole point of this post.

The juicing was both good and bad which is to be expected when trying something new. REMEMBER THIS! /life-lesson

Some of the juices were great for an add-on to a meal, a few didn’t taste all that good and then there were the full on meal experience with great taste. Note: I happen to be drinking one of the last examples as I type this entry.

What I learned about juicing…

It’s definitely for me but I do not need to live the extreme and have it every day because that’s not me and it’s not needed in my life. It takes a certain kind of someone to do any sort thing in an extreme state for a long duration of time. I do my best to find ways to incorporate new things, like juicing, into my life to maintain a (my) balanced lifestyle.

My diet is now enhanced because of the attempted 7 day juice fast despite ending it 5 days early. Someone might say “Whoa. Only two days? You completely failed at that attempt.” and this is where I need you to open your eyes because it was not a failed experience.

I tried to do something with an arbitrary goal in mind – 7 days of juice fasting – and went on my merry way. During the experience I learned a number of good and bad things about juicing. After the experience I relish the idea of getting a juice when I’m out and about. Soon enough it will be incredibly easy because Starbucks acquired Evolution Juice in November 2011. HFCIT! Check it: “Latest Starbucks Concoction: Juice” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030112155716538.html

Even more, each week I anticipate a juice dinner or two or three because it’s refreshing and I feel great afterward. I still treat myself to a pastry every now and then when I’m out and about. Heck yea. I’m better for the 7 day juice fast that only lasted 2 days. My diet earned enough experience points to level up!

Failure… Not by a long shot.

Had I not attempted the juice fast I would stamp it on the web that I failed because I didn’t even try.

I don’t consider myself to be an extremest though in someone’s eyes I’m sure I am.

What do you think?

Fortunately my schedule allowed me some time to talk with ANDREA SHREEMAN (@FearlessActress) on the phone about the present state of things in my acting career.

We talked for nearly an hour but her podcast is just under 10 minutes.

Some topics in the clip include:

• staying busy
• the hi/low experience
• and giving back

What’cha think?

Original post: http://fearlessactress.podbean.com/2011/12/02/episode-31-when-youre-hot-youre-hot/

Ahhhh! GO AWAY!

This has been bothering me for a long time and I was pushed over the edge last night. Junk mail, me, and the environment.

My present state of being…

GAAAAAAH!

As the saying goes, “Time is money.”

John Muir – a Scottish born American environmentalist, naturalist, traveler, writer, and scientist (1838-1914) – said this about trees and fools: (Emphasis added – you can skip ahead after the emphasis)

Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed, chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. During a man’s life only saplings can be grown, in place of old trees — tens of centuries old — that have been destroyed. It took more than three thousand years to make some of the trees in these Western woods, — trees that are still standing in perfect strength and beauty, waving and singing in the mighty forests of the Sierra. Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries since Christ’s time — and long before that — God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods, but he cannot save them from fools — only Uncle Sam can do that.

I’m tired of the fools who continue to destroy trees in the name of… Waste. Yep, waste.

Profit, I can understand. If I’m a customer of a company and they have a product or service they want to sell me, well, they have my information on hand. Said company should make it possible for me to control how they are contacting me of course. Ahem… I prefer email. Snail mail doesn’t do it for me.

What is Waste snail mail?

Let me answer that with a question – How often do you receive snail mail for a previous resident of your address?

I’m looking at a piece of mail from Verizon for Thomas B. Jones. Who is TBJ? Verizon, yo, he’s lonnng gone. The previous owners were here for years and their name wasn’t Jones.

This is nothing but waste for me, you, and the environment. WASTE.

I hate it. It drives me over the edge. Why? You ask why?

WHY?!

I care about the fracking environment and will do what I can to stop this waste from arriving in the mailbox because it’s better for me, you, and the world. Yea, I flipping care so I spend my personal time on the phone with customer service reps, after I figure out how to reach a rep because I don’t have a gorram account number, and explain the situation so that the name(s) can be removed from the blasted mailing list.

There are organizations out there that make it easy to get rid of magazines but snail mail? Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. A big fat ‘нет’ (niet) awaits you in mother Russia. See you soon.

Uggggh!

Because I care about the egad environment I spend time, so much time!, contacting you, yea! that’s right you company XYZ, because you’re wasting not only my time but your time, your staff’s time, your money on wasted postage and paper, the USPS staff’s time in the office and out on the route. I can’t even begin to imagine how much lighter the carrier bags would be withe less waste junk mail. Heck, you’re wasting money on oil, water and other valuable resources because your flipity-flippin mailing lists aren’t accurate.

John Muir had it right.

Any fool can destroy trees but Uncle Sam can stop them! Calm down Teabaggers I’m not asking the government to grow but the marketplace isn’t sorting this kind of thing on its own so it’s going to need a push just like the credit card industry got kicked in it’s a$$ to protect the citizens of the USA.

Without a “Do Not Mail” registry, like the “Do Not Call” registry, we’re all forced to find alternative ways to stop this waste of resources and time without any certainty that it will be effective at all. I’m signed up for many but I still can stop a bunch of it. Capital argh!

How can you get rid of some of the junk?

Here are some resource to get you started :

• http://wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Junk-Mail
• http://donotmail.org/
• https://dmachoice.org/
• http://forestethics.org/
• http://volunteerguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/junk-mail.htm

There are so many sites out there trying to help people like me, and you right?!, so we can spend more time watching YouTube video of kittehs but there is still no single way… Yet!

Speaking of the National Do Not Call Registry, add your phone number here: https://www.donotcall.gov/

Ahh. Now imagine all the time you won’t spend on the phone with unsolicited callers. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the SAME option with your mailbox. Only the stuff you want will arrive. Well, that stuff plus bills, unless of course they have an ebill option.

Companies, please, PLEASE, stop wasting your money & time, my time, and most importantly, the Earth’s resources.

Right, if you’ve gotten this far you see that I don’t actually hate caring about the environment but this type of time I spend doing what I can to care for it is not lovey-dovey time.

I think I’ll end with a question…

How are you peeps and companies addressing this issue?

image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uzvards/2481348414/

Whaling City Film Project

I shot another short film! That was fast. Two films, two months. =D

Thanks to a great experience in August, I had the fortune to work with director Mehow Trzaska (Mehow Design) again. Though, this experience was a tiny bit different than the previous shoot.

“How so?”

Instead of a 2 day film competition… It was a 4 day film competition – The Whaling City Film Project based in New London, CT. Only 30 seconds of the completed film had to be shot in New London but we shot everything in and around downtown on Saturday and Sunday.

The Mayor

The Mayor follows two concerned citizens, in 1974 New London, who have the ultimate plan for a politician and his two goons.

Watch The Mayor, other shorts and clips here: http://garyploski.com/actor/media/video/

The Facial Hair

Since it was the 70′s I needed some inspiration for my facial hair. I could go with a clean shave but I wanted to give it an extra something.

After browsing the web and IMDb.com for a while (I looked at 70′s film and TV show photos) I found a pic that worked for the character and for my take on the era.

I could have gone with the ‘stache but it didn’t seem right for the character or the tone of the piece.

Thank you Dustin Hoffman. =)

What’s Next

I’ll be putting my time and focus into teaching technology to actors through Act Outside the Box, creating web content with Tango Dango, attempting to finish season 2 of Cast to Curtain (Post is full of “ARRRGHHH!”), and bopping about in the Intertubes. Say hello.

My Acting Resume...

A few years ago, I put my acting resume together for the web and I found that I was very frustrated with the presentation. It didn’t look the way an acting resume is supposed to look. So, I spent hours poking around the web looking for something that would present the unique format of an actor’s resume in a clean and simple way.

I found something but wanted nothing to do with it. Heck, I knew about it before I performed my first search. The <table> tag. There was no way I was going near that deprecated option.

If you’re a web person you’re hand is extended and I’m giving you the hi-5 you’re asking for. >SMACK!<

Tables do the job but they’re awful to screen readers and formatting the text, the columns, rows, etc. can be incredibly annoying. I needed something better, more versatile, more dynamic. I needed Cascading Style Sheets aka CSS.

What is CSS?

CSS is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics (the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language (ex: HTML). (Thank you Wikipedia.) In laymen terms, it’s the web tech (one file on your web server) that controls the color, size, font, background, etc. of your website from head to toe. Make a change in that one file and it cascades through your entire site. Hence the name.

“And then?”

Knowing I needed the code so I could apply it to my website was the easy part. There was one issue…

There was no code to be found. Why re-create the wheel if it already exists?

This meant I needed to create it. Now, I normally don’t create CSS from scratch so this took some doing and some digging. Thanks to the Google and the Intertubes I was able to make magic happen!

Here, let me show you…

Without CSS

What does text look like when there is no formatting applied to it on the web?

It looks like… Agh! My eyes! They’re bleeding! I can’t read that.

Click on the image to see how awful it looks.

Without any CSS everything is squished together. Smoosh!

With CSS

What does text look like when CSS formatting is applied to it on the web?

It looks like… Pretty! The spacing… =o Wait, this is the same text as above but with CSS? Yep.

Click on the image to see it in its full glory.

Ohh, la la. Now that is resume pr0n. Don't drool. =p

Let’s do this!

You’ve seen the before and after results so I hope you’re excited and ready to lose some weight. Some HTML weight. =D

Imagine it this way… Some time next year I’m going to redesign my website again. If I want my resume to look the way it does above all I’ll need to do is paste the CSS I made into the CSS file and voila. Once the file is saved on the server with the update the text will jump into place. It’s that fracking fast and easy!

Let’s step back to the HTML code where all my content is stored.

Sample HTML

Here is a snippet of the code from my acting resume. You can see it in the images above but it’s easier to look at only a couple line because there is a whole bunch that goes into just three lines of resume CSS bliss.

I added a space between each so you can see each of the 3 lines easier. =)

I wanted to paste the code for you so you could take it and use it by filling in your own information but my CSS kept formatting it despite my best efforts with the <code> tag and playing around with the HTML. Hey! Stop frowning! I’ll post a comment with the code so you can copy it there. Mwahahahaahaaaaa! (That didn’t work either. If you’d like the sample code leave a comment below and I’ll send it to you.)

You got it, yea?

The title of the piece, the role I played, the production company, the director and the status of the project surrounded by a bunch of HTML. Easy stuff. Right?

Actual result

This is what the code above creates when it uses the CSS I wrote:

The code above might not be pretty but the end result, mmm mmm mmm, sure is good.

“All this talk about this magical CSS you wrote? Where is it?”

Fabulous question oh Interweb traveler. Voila…

CSS

Below is the additional CSS you’ll want to include in your CSS file for your acting resume on your website.

/* Acting Resume — START */

/* Theatre */
.t1 {
display:block; width:220px; float:left; }

.t2 {
width:235px; float:left; }

.t3 {
width:220px; float:left; }

.t4 {
width:155px; float:left; }

.t5 {
clear:both;}

/* Readings, Poetry */
.r1 {
display:block; width:250px; float:left; }

.r2 {
width:150px; float:left; }

.r3 {
width:190px; float:left; }

.r4 {
width:155px; float:left;}

.r5 { }

/* Film */

.f1 {
display:block; width:220px; float:left; }

.f2 {
width:235px; float:left; }

.f3 {
width:220px; float:left; }

.f4 {
width:155px; float:left;}

.f5 { }

/* Voice-over */

.v1 {
display:block; width:375px; float:left; }

.v2 {
width:220px; float:left; }

.v3 {
width:140px; float:left; }

.v4 { }

.v5 { }

/* Credit: Created by Gary Ploski of http://garyploski.com & http://casthim.com */

/* Acting Resume — END */

Enjoy.

Wrapping things up

There you have it. There isn’t much more I can say but you might have questions.

Please take this CSS/blog and share it with your friends. All I ask is that you include the ‘Credit’ line in any instance it is used.

Techys, have at it!

“Donations are most welcome.” – me

Please use the PayPal button below.

Disclaimer(s)

There is no support included with this CSS. I wrote it for my personal site and it seemed like a good idea to share it with the acting world because we’re all strapped for cash.

At no time should anyone be charged to use this code. I am providing it for free. If you copy this code and charge for it… Shame on you. If you learn that you’ve been charged for the code demand a refund.

I’m not a web developer by day and know, with absolute certainty, that this code can be cleaner but I know it does the job.

If you write CSS regularly and would like to suggest better I am listening. Leave a comment below. =D

Are you a WordPress plugin developer and have an interest in writing a plugin that would make this easier… Oh yea! You would make the acting community über happy.

If you do not understand anything I wrote above but you want your resume to look the way it does on my site on your site, send this page to your web site developer. They’ll know what to do with it.

I hope this is helpful in some way to someone.

Until next time.

Intertube Site(s) using my code:

• http://www.miksmith.com.au/cv