Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Tales of the Little Red Caboose.

Just yesterday I was discussing an interesting subject with someone on AIM: acting. I was asked if I had ever thought of becoming an actor. At that moment, my life flashed before my eyes, as I recalled the acting experiences I'd had as a child. I'm not sure if it's the same for schools in all states here, but my primary (elementary) school held a yearly concert each September. In the early years of primary school, each year level would choose a different theme and they would create a performance based on that. No matter what the theme, music was always involved. And it was always up to the teachers within that year level to determine what the theme would be. Not only did each year level perform a couple of acts, but the teachers themselves performed their own act at the very end. School concerts were always exciting, especially for a little boy (and for quite some time, I was much shorter than anyone else in my year level, so this label applied to me very well). We would spend a few hours in each week rehearsing and we'd usually create our own costumes in special classes. When the big night finally arrived, the school would usually book a large hall, complete with its own balconies. To a little boy, it was like being in another world; the rows of seats stretched as far as the eye could see (which, due to my height, wasn't very far at all). In my first year, at age five, we performed "The Little Red Caboose". I was the caboose. Afterall, I was by far the smallest carriage on the train. But at the same time, I was unique, because I got to wear a special red costume made almost entirely of cardboard. And better yet, I didn't really have to do anything; I just had to follow the rest of the train around on stage. One of the other memorable performances was in grade four, when we performed Madonna's "Material Girl". Trust my incredibly cool grade four teachers to let us perform a Madonna number! Anyway, from memory, I was dressed in a fake leather jacket and I had my hair slicked back. Oh, and I had a pair of sunglasses that were many times too big for my face (it was difficult to keep them perched on my nose). But hey, I felt cool. And I'm sure the girls thought so too (or perhaps they were just smiling because the glasses made me look like an insect). Throughout primary school, I never really had a starring role in anything. But I think this was mostly due to shyness. I was probably more well-spoken than most of my peers and I was also very good at altering my voice and accent - but I never really made use of it. There was only one occasion where I attempted to take on a starring role, but it wasn't for a school concert. Instead, it was for an in-school play (this was also in grade four and come to think of it, we did a lot of amazingly fun stuff in that year). The play was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Despite my height challenge, I auditioned to play Willy Wonka. And, to my surprise, I got the role. For a couple of weeks, I remember practicing my lines religiously. My grandparents used to help me, which was very beneficial. But unfortunately, disaster struck - a few days before the performance, I became sick and couldn't go to school. As a result, the teachers gave the role of Wonka to another boy. I was shattered. I'd had the chance to play my all-time favourite literary character and it had been taken away so suddenly! But the horror didn't end there. When I returned to school, with only days left before the show, I was given an alternative role. Can you guess what I ended up playing? That's right, I was an Oompa Loompa! I was able to sing along with the others, but I had no lines and had to "look like a busy Oompa Loompa" in the background. So you see, on that evening, my acting career had come full circle. I'd begun as the Red Caboose and I'd finished as an Oompa Loompa. Maybe God was trying to tell me something? ~_^ In high school, we never had yearly concerts...at least, not in the same vein as what we'd done in primary school. In primary school, the concerts were compulsory. In high school, we had large yearly plays, but these were optional and it was necessary to audition for them. Maybe due to my experience in primary school, I never made any attempt to participate in high school plays. And as a result, I never did any kind of performing again. Funnily enough, though, I was forced right into center stage when I began tertiary study. We'd do maybe four or five projects every couple of months and most of them had to be presented to several classes at once. Of course, this is very different to acting on a stage as a bizarre character, but I realized that it is actually more difficult in some ways. I never had anyone to back me up (except for the rare occasion where it was a group presentation). So I always had to rely on my own communication skill and for the most part, I did very well. In fact, it was the one thing I was most happy about when I was studying graphic design. I have always had some interest in acting, but not so much acting in front of a camera, though. I've always wanted to do radio or voice over especially. I have always been very good with changing my voice and accent (I can speak like many different people, including Donald Duck and even Rose Porteus - but if you ask me to speak like either of them, I may have to kill you). Still, it's always provided some laughs among people who know me. One thing I've thought about doing over recent years (mostly since finishing high school), was starting a band. Although I haven't learned an instrument since high school, I actually do know quite a few people who could fill in the gaps; I do know people who are skilled with various instruments. A few friends of mine even started a band a couple of years ago and went on tour, which was interesting. I still have their first CD, which is surprisingly good. And I have actually spent a lot of time in the past toying around with digital editing myself. In fact, I produced a few purely electronic tracks a few years ago, on my own. And I did some digital music creation last year in school, as part of a multimedia component. I have no idea if I will ever do any of these things, as I guess I regard them more as hobbies than any kind of job path. But I suppose it's interesting to think about them, nonetheless. Aaryanna: Thank you much. I think I may stick with chocolate for now, thank you for your advice. ^_^ Annsie: Cool. ShadowFaint Zero: Will do. And no worries. ~_^ DW: Thank you! Neil: I liked Wilder's Wonka too. Correction, I loved Wilder's Wonka. Brilliant performance. Without him, that film would have been pretty worthless. But I don't regard him as sinister or dark - just a little odd. Thanks for reading the article, too. I'm glad you enjoyed it! As far as paying goes, I totally understand. The cost will be a non-issue for most. Instead, payment method will be the main barrier. Juu: Is getting stoned ever truly out of the question? Doc G: Thank you. Tips/tweaks, eh? Well, the main thing is, save your work as often as you can. PSP is a buggy program. PSP9 is worse (for some unknown reason), but PSP8 still has its issues. Save frequently and you will be okay - that's my main advice to you. DDG: Ah well, enjoy the book for now I guess. I will have to wait longer than I thought - this movie comes out September 1, not August 1. Talk about disappointment! Tonykins: I would have used Flash, but I really didn't have the time. To achieve the results I wanted I'd pretty much have to get re-acquainted with it, so for my purposes, GIF was okay. But yes, it can be quite cumbersome (and needlessly so). The soundtrack is brilliant, yes. Some tracks seem very Elfman (most noteably the main titles sequence, which at the start reminds me of Batman Returns). But I do agree, much of it is quite a departure. It seems to be a good mix, which I'm very happy about. From what I can tell, the new film is definitely more dark. See Alex's examples for more clarification on that. I think it's largely due to a more accurate depiction of the children being little devils, rather than entirely being about making Wonka weirder. But I would still say that the new Wonka is not only more accurate, but more obviously disturbed (and in a slightly more twisted way). I think Gene Wilder's Wonka was not particularly dark - he was a bit odd but mostly a pretty warm character. Shinmaru-kun: See my comments above (and Alex's, too) for a response to that specific issue. As for the novel, well...I am obviously a fan of the novel first and foremost. The novel is the most important thing to me. But you know how it is, most people will tell you that the film is never as good as the novel - I think this is true. The novel is always the genuine experience. But yes, I do think these films can be compared (and they probably should be compared, too). It's just important to realize why the differences exist and what the relationship with the novel is. In reality, I think both versions can exist in concert, because both are quite different. It's almost like how you have two versions of Batman...a camp version and a darker version. Such a strong contrast does not exist with the Wonka films (so that is perhaps an extreme example), but I think you get the gist of what I'm saying. Alexus: Yeah, bingo. Even at this stage, I suspect that my suspicions will be confirmed when I see the entire thing. Sara: Thank you. I kind of had you in mind when I made this theme, actually. You always appreciate my slightly nuttier/fruitier attempts. ^_^

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