Soapie audition

Marguerite

Active Member
I get the craziest ideas...

difficult child 3 is a very photogenic kid. He also looks a great deal like a younger Harry Potter. Total strangers call him "Harry Potter", it's so obvious. difficult child 3 deliberately chose his last pair of specs to be more square, less round, to reduce the resemblance.

So when I saw an ad on TV, a 'competition' of sorts, looking for a boy and a girl aged 12 to 18 for a big Aussie soapie, I thought, "let's give it a go for difficult child 3."
Then I thought, "Hang on - he's very dark, wears glasses - they will be looking for the classic sun-bronzed surfer dude Aussie, not a nerdy looking kid, however good-looking."
Then I thought, "What if they like what they see and go beyond the scope of the competition, and just see if they can use him in something, somewhere, anyway?"
Then I thought, "Unlikely."
Then I thought, "well, it's fun and good experience with getting organised."

I asked him what he thought of the idea. "Yeah, I'd like to have a go."

So I bought the girlie magazine ("girlie" as in "for teenage girls") and we checked out the conditions.

I didn't push it, I left it up to him. But the weeks have gone past and time is running out. Entries have to be sent by post and arrive Tuesday afternoon, interstate. The entry has to be on DVD, which means it needed to be rehearsed, memorised, filmed, then burnt to a DVD.

difficult child 3 decided he wanted to do it. NOW. So we did a deal - he could postpone his schoolwork for today (holidays begin this afternoon for two weeks) and do schoolwork over the break. A couple of hours, every other day.

I was amazed at his persistence, as I watched him rehearse. He typed the script out (it was printed in the magazine) then taught himself how to use the camera and movie software on our very new computer. He asked my opinion of how it looked and sounded, so I talked him through parts of the script. He did it again, making some changes. And again.

Some of the time he would ask my opinion but a lot of the time he would just stop and re-do it on his own decision. All the time, he was watching the clock and hoping to catch this afternoon's mail.

Then we found we didn't have any blank DVDs, so we re-thought. I rang husband - he said he would bring some home. So I worked on difficult child 3's CV, we went outside and took a photo for a head shot (I'm very pleased with how it turned out - I've watched enough head shots being taken, with easy child 2/difficult child 2 over the years). difficult child 3 even helped me with the camera settings!

Tonight, husband has burnt the film to DVD and I finally got onto the website and checked the conditions of entry. They want the headshots on photographic paper. We're out of photographic paper. Blast!
So tomorrow morning, I have to HOPE that our small village shops have photographic paper in stock. If they don't, I either have to beg some from our neighbour who is a photographer (but a ratbag - and I don't want to have to explain why I want it) or drive "to the mainland" and back, to buy photographic paper, bring it home again to print, then get the lot to the post office before they shut at midday.

The lad has come a long way, from the kid who didn't want to act in front of a small group and certainly didn't want to be in a film - then went on to have a small speaking role in a feature film and absolutely nailed his scene for every take.

I don't think he has much chance of getting past the first round. They'll be looking for more typical Aussie teens - the "After" in a Clearasil ad, not a Harry Potter lookalike nerd.

But you never know... and watching him today, going over and over the scene, making his own decisions, working the technical stuff efficiently - I was impressed AND I learnt even more about my lad.

If it goes nowhere, I don't think it will ruffle his feathers much.

But he gave me good leverage to get him to do work in the holidays! Yay!

Marg
 

Sara PA

New Member
I'm SO glad you explained the "girlie" magazine thing. LOL

Hey, maybe he's not what they are looking for in this part but there might be something else. Who knows?
 

Andy

Active Member
What a fun project to work on. IF he does not get a part from it, I hope he will realize how much he has learned through the process.

Can my difficult child and I come live with you? I hear you do have a free room unless you have converted it already.

My difficult child who grew up avoiding the "lime light" at all costs has decided he is ready for that attention. He told me, "I like being the center of attention. I want people to watch me even if I flub up." (this was in regards to pitching on the Dwarf League).

I think it is important for kids to learn to be comfortable in front of a crowd. It always surprises me to know how many people get super nervous in front of a crowd. I tell my Sunday School kids when they are in a program that what they have to say is important so say your part in confidence.

Good luck to your difficult child - Have a GREAT weekend!
 

Marguerite

Active Member
You are so right about needing to say your piece with confidence. If you stand there and look awkward or self-conscious, or - even worse - deliberately hold back on your performance so as not to seem too 'showy', you actually stand out more, and look very amateur.

The girls were involved in a dance school where some of the other girls were getting critical of classmates who "showed off" when they danced ie who danced with the full movement of arms etc as dictated by the choreography. As a result, the girls all tended to dance in a way that didn't make full use of their range of movement, they danced with an appearance of self-consciousness and held themselves back, all out of fear of being criticised. Most of this stemmed from one girl in particular, who was ambitious to be the best dancer and who did this by undermining the confidence of anyone who had more talent. This girl's parents had money which they spent on lessons etc.

Because these girls tried to not look conspicuous they actually ended up looking more obvious. And it was embarrassing to watch.

I pulled my girls out of that dance school.

I was taught, when I was a kid and learning public speaking, that if you don't draw attention to any mistakes that few people will notice them. I would be terrified, feeling sick I was so nervous, but I would go out on stage to say my piece, keep my voice steady and not fall over and be amazed at all the people who remarked to me how wonderful it was that I wasn't nervous. I mean - couldn't they see my knees shaking?
Obviously not.

We've had to hold off on posting off difficult child 3's application - I couldn't get any photographic paper in the village today. But the postmaster told me that we've got until Monday 2.30 pm to send it all off. husband bought some photographic paper this afternoon and I just printed out difficult child 3's photo. It looked great! Because I was using a page of the special paper anyway, I printed four photos (because they would fit). So I will give one to mother in law when we see her tomorrow.

I've been really pleased at how organised, and yet how calm. difficult child 3 is being over this.

And Adrianne, why do you want your son to move over here? We're very isolated here. Although maybe that would help his anxiety... and difficult child 3's drama group is designed for kids with ADHD, anxiety, autism or other problems. They all support one another and are really good friends. It's lovely to see.

difficult child 1 used to be terrified of having any attention on him. At school if called upon to speak, he would curl up in a ball and stay there, sometimes for hours. Then his class was given the job of writing, rehearsing and performing a play. difficult child 1 was given a role and on the night, he was such a ham! It was hilarious. He told us afterwards, it was because it wasn't him up there, it was the character he was playing. And the more he hammed it up, the more he felt it was someone else up on stage, so it didn't matter. Ever since then he's been a performer.

Marg
 

Andy

Active Member
Your home village sounds so peaceful - difficult child would love to live there. And you find such interesting things for your kids to try. I think difficult child would love your train club.

I think I am almost ready for an isolated life (though Wal-Mart withdrawals will be brutal).

We would probably just come for a visit - I would miss husband and easy child too much to be gone too long so a 2 - 3 year visit sounds about right. :rofl:

If I ever make it over there, I will look you up.
 
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