Category Archives: movie biz

I’m Done With If-Only

Written on February 6, 2012 by in movie biz, The Mo-Cap Diet

Last week when I was performing for Todd’s movie in the motion capture studio I got to see what I looked like:

This was not it.  Boy Howdy, was this not it.

This was the model that represented my real body. My body made this body dance around.  What the crew and director saw for real in the studio was hugely different.

There was no time to feel big, fat, sorry for myself because there was a LOT of work to do acting out each scene. I felt sorry for myself when I got home– for about 5 cookies. Then I decided I was done with If-Only.

I came to the conclusion that if I’m going to be the go-to actor for this movie, then I better be in shape for it.

Here is where YOU come in.

I’ve decided to go on a Motion Capture Diet and I am going to use you for accountability. Each month when I perform, I will post a picture of myself so you can see if I’ve been faithful to my exercise and new way of eating.  My plan is to lose 40 pounds of body fat replaced by appropriate muscle mass by July 1. I’m using a combination of the following for anyone who likes to know these things: Body for Life, You are Your Own Gym and Nourishing Traditions.

My favorite part?  It’s all done at home, and I have you guys to come along with me. Cheering goes a long way when you’re on an uphill climb, doesn’t it?

I wanted to show you a picture of the good ol’ days, when I was at the weight my body was used to.  A futile search for the old picture box made me realize I have the biggest picture of all up on our wall—a portrait Todd painted (funny, how you can not have eyes to see what you see everyday):

Who has more hair? 

Back when my hair was twice as big and my waist was twice as small. Back when I ate whatever I wanted because I had the metabolism to support it.

For the past 15 years I have…grown. Thankfully, my hair has shrunk. Some.

Here is what I look like today and my first Mo-Cap Diet picture. Promise not to laugh.

Promise!

I love my job! Why do you ask?

Next month there probably won’t be a visible difference as these things take time. But I promise back at you that I’ll post my progress truthfully. And at the end of this saga the director can call, “Rolling…action!” and it won’t describe my jiggly mid-section.

I’m excited! I’m finally doing it. And I’ve got you to make sure I do!

(This just in from Todd– “Are people going to want to know about your diet?”)

Are Nutter Butters brown? Is whipped cream white? Are mashed potatoes and gravy my drug of choice?

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The Plan!

Written on February 3, 2012 by in movie biz

I’ve been without internet, dear friends, thus, my lack of posts this week. I’m so sorry to leave you hanging, but I promise to be back on Monday where you shall get the skinny on my Motion Capture Madness.

And I just might, might, might, if I get brave enough….post a picture of my jiggly self in action.

It’s alive!

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Would You Let the Jello Jiggle if it Furthered the Cause?

Written on January 26, 2012 by in movie biz

I got a frightening email today. Not threatening-frightening, but the kind that makes you kick yourself because you should have been prepared.  And all the ways you should have been prepared come crashing down to haunt you.

Let me ‘splain.

You’ve heard me talk before about how Todd is directing an animated movie?  This animation requires motion capture. His studio hired professional Cirque du Soleil type clowns to come in and act. They are supposed to act out the movie scene  so animators can use that footage to animate each movie character more believably.

Today Todd sent me an emergency email saying the clowns weren’t working out.

I should be flattered, right? Apparently, while these clowns are masters at what they do (I mean, come on, have you seen their twisty selves?!)  they just aren’t the best for acting out a movie script. He needed an actor for that.

Enter me.

I am an actor. I am also on the failing end of a new 2012 diet.  The kind where you tell yourself, it’s not a diet, it’s my new way of eating!

You know that phenomena where you fail at your new way of eating and the failure leaves you worse off than before?

You know how when you have to go stand in front of a mo-cap crew wearing tight black clothing and dance around acting out movie scenes all you can really think about is how jiggly your mid-section is?

And how now it’s all being immortalized on a big screen forever?

And not just your jiggly self, but your new 2012 failed diet self, which is bigger than ever?

That. That is what came crashing down to haunt me today.  If only. If only I had stuck to my new way of eating.

I tell you, if you have failed on your 2012 weight loss goals you can not be more accountable or sorry than I am right now.

Feel safe. Feel spared.

And then get back up and start again–I may be calling on you in the next few months to be in a movie.

Scream all you want too, this will be your best motivation EVER.

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Of French Toast and Bow Strings

Written on October 24, 2011 by in kidlife, movie biz

You’ll never guess how my day started off.

“Honey, you need to record a temp track for me before I leave.  I need you to read Anna.”

When you’re married to a movie director you expect these things.

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So there’s the script, and there’s my voice.

It’s not like I haven’t been prepared for this. My major was Theatre, I love the stage!

But there is one thing my acting career didn’t prepare me for…

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An audience who only wants french toast.

“Mom, how long is this going to take, my stomach is making sounds.”

Fans can turn so quickly.

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Who knew all it took to win an audience was breakfast on time?

I feel like I’ve wasted so many anxious moments waiting in the wings all those years.

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This was the performance he’d been waiting for.

He’s happy now.

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But not as happy as Tristan.

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Because Tristan has the crowning glory of all boy weapons..

A bow and arrow set.

Minus the arrows.

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I’m not quite ready to face the flaming arrows of my public.

We’ll leave those for another day.

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How to Go Insane…

Written on August 26, 2011 by in movie biz, photography

 

Greyson is making a student film with his friend Sam.

Todd is putting them through the paces and making them do everything a real director would do.

This includes booking their locations, one of which is an Insane Asylum.

Ominous clouds, forboding architecture…

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Remember the peaceful falls?

Whenever we drive there, we pass this intriguing old abandoned building.

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But if the boys wanted to film there, they had to find the owner.

It was kind of a detective game.

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They finally tracked him down and made an appointment to see the inside.

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It’s was huge.

And it was perfect.

The owner has plans to turn it into a family fun park.

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But he has a lot of work to do.

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Unless this could be the family fun painting room.  How fast can you peel the paint?!

Ready-set- GO!

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There were nooks and crannies everywhere you looked.

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And vast spaces.  This one had already been cleaned out.

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It was hard for me to keep up with the tour.  Each door opened to such photographically rich possibilities.

I was only spurred on by the knowledge that if I tarried too long, I could look up and be alone.

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With absolutely no way to know which way was out.

It would have been a movie of its own:

Mother of four panics and loses self in abandoned paper mill.

The owner told us they used to make the paper for currency here.

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He’s had many production companies rent it out to make movies.

And now Greyson and Sam are going to be added to the list.

It’s kind of exciting.

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We’ll be sure to let you know how it all turns out.

If they don’t go insane trying to get the film together in the first place.

 

 

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Where I Can Say Nothing…

Written on March 10, 2011 by in movie biz

We went to the premiere of Todd’s first movie last night.

Since I can’t say anything about it for the sake of anonymity, I took lots of pictures of the coolest theatre in the world!

Or, at least the best one I’ve seen so far.

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I didn’t want to be the weird lady with the camera so I skulked around the edges and snapped surreptitiously.

Don’t you wish all of our entertainment was housed in places like this?

What happened to our culture?

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I want to wear a ball gown  and a tall wig and sit in that box under the arch.

You’d probably get a crick in your neck from the view, though.

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Remember the days of the balcony?

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You hardly noticed the mix of old and new, although, if I were the building owner I would have been sorely tempted to ignore current safety codes and just nix the exit sign.

Panicked Guests: “Where’s the exit? We can’t get out, we can’t get out!”

Proud Host: “Yes, but it looks so period this way, don’t you think?”

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I took this home with me as a souvenir. I’m hanging it in the breakfast nook.

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Could any movie look bad with this for a backdrop?

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The director sits in the last row, to gauge audience reaction.

Let’s sneak up and see what he’s doing.

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Ah, he’s on the phone, must be a power meeting with Hollywood.  Want to eavesdrop and see what directors talk about right after their first movie premiere…?

“No. No. No. He can’t do that! Nope. Put him on the phone with me.  Now!“

Uh-oh, this does not sound good–wait, there’s more…

“Listen, if you throw dog toys at anyone one more time then you lose computer for a week!”

Aaaand there you have it. What a director is really saying when you see him talking heatedly into a cell phone.

I always suspected they were just like us.

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