So You Want To Be A Star

There’s a never ending surprise of screams from audiences worldwide when they visit the red carpet of a premiere. Some folks have tears and jump up and down as if they were having a tantrum. That is what fans of various stars do. Let’s not forget the media though. They are just as energetic, trying to get that still shot for the photographers and the video interview for the television reporters. With that thought there’s thousands of actors waiting to get discovered or at least trying to meet the right casting directors to achieve some kind of success. So, what about you. Where do you stand as an actor? Are you willing to sacrifice all that you have to pay the price of being a professional actor. Most students are not willing to dedicate themselves totally to the art of acting. Becoming an actor requires hard study of the various techniques used to portray a character. It also requires honing your craft on stage, in high school. college or a local theater in your area. Concentrating on live stage performances will prepare you for roles for film and television. The difference here, is television, soaps for example require as much as 50 pages a day, where a film has less dialog, with scenes shot in many different angles to achieve the best look for that scene. An actor can learn a couple of lines before they go to their next scene. Television on the other hand uses multiple camera capturing a scene instantaneously. The same applies to commercials. The glorious road however to even get to this point could take many years just to be a regular working actor. So, you want to be a star. The first thing you might consider is the attitude you have for the art of acting and not the fame, nor the money. Quite frankly, loving what you do, would give you better results then looking at it from a monitory angle. Of course, you have to realize that the business of getting in front of the camera is a numbers game. The more you audition, the better your chances  are of getting casted for the role your auditioning for. Sy Richardson of ”Repo Man,” Pushing Daisies and Harrison Ford of Raiders of the Lost Ark are two actors who worked hard for many years before they became regular working actors. Richardson was a musician and Ford was a carpenter. Both have suggested that any actor entering the field of acting should have a second occupation. Although the casting today is done on Skype, actors do send in pictures and clips to the agents via email. Reels however, are not nearly used as much and bringing in pictures to an agent is almost obsolete. Another tip to consider getting connected, is your ability to network as a congenial, confident individual. Knowing casting directors, directors and producers can make a big difference, providing the actor is prepared to handle the audition, especially if it is a script where you have to read it on the spot. This is often referred to as ”cold reading.” The best suggestion offered here, would be to break into commercials first, while you’re concentrating on honing your craft. While doing this, always keep in mind to keep active in some kind of stage production or perhaps a student film project.

Talk Back at West L.A. College-Informative

West Los Angeles College is somewhat unknown to much of the community of Culver City and its surrounding areas. Yet, it has an excellent staff and curriculum . Professor Brain Olson of the Multi Media Department and Raymond Mc Daniel of ASO [Associated Students Organization] are working on exposing West L. A. to the community.

Pete Allman, a student who has produced and hosted 300 half hour television shows in Las Vegas, who is also a film producer, decided he would give back to the community by producing and directing Talk Back at West L.A. College. Filming has commenced, with guest Tom Hallick formerly of ”The Young and Restless,” Pat Vegas of the group ”Redbone” and Professor  Michael Arata, Chair of Humanity Fine Arts at  West L. A. The main reason Allman is producing 12 episodes of Talk Back is to inform students and the public about the programs offered at the college and to inform the public about the opportunities West L. A. offers with classes in Multi Media, Film, Dental Program, Music, Aviation and Dance to mention a few. Future guest include  Professor Buck Stapleton, Chair of Behavioral and Social Sciences [Psychology/Child Development and Administrative Justice, Professor Joyce Sweeney, Assistant Chair of Humanity Fine Arts at West L.A. and various directors such as Jerry Brown, the director of ”Sold” with David Arquette.

”Giving back to the community, is something that will last a lifetime and doing good will always come back to you,” Allman stated.

Talk back at West L.A. College can be seen on West L. A College Channel on You tube and on peteonthescene on you Tube. For more information email celebrityscenenewsdesk@gmail.com