Pause for Laughter

I was in a sort of sitcom pilot last week.

It was a little terrifying, as I've never acted before. I'm pleased to say, though, that I can act! I'm really quite good. I only wish that they hadn't decided to replace me with THIS* jerk, who was, somehow, a much more dynamic and entertaining actor than I.

The whole thing was a good learning experience. For example, I learned that "tired and un-emotional" comes off on-screen as "tired and un-emotional." I also learned that, when writing a pilot, you must notate where you expect laughter to happen to allow the actors to pause after those lines. Many of the lines had the note "[pause for laughter]" after them. I think that that would make a good sitcom (or dog) name.

Now to the pictures. The basic premise of the pilot is that a nice graphics artist guy named Vern has a few strange circles of friends. He's also got a straight-arrow girlfriend, Beth, who is overall nice, but kind of a pill. I played Beth. *twinkle* For the opening montage, Vern and Beth had to look like they were having a grand old time. Here [just to the right up there] is a picture of "Beth" being sweetly tolerant of "Vern"'s antics.



To the left is "Vern"'s graphical representation of the moment. I can't put my finger on it, but something seems different. Aaaanyway, you'll notice that the graphics are actually pretty darned good. That's because the fellow who wrote the pilot truly is an editorial artist for a hotshot magazine. I'll eventually link to him, once he lets me know which site to link to. He was a very nice guy and honestly, it was fun to help out. Everyone acted, shot, lit, edited, and moved equipment for free. Our friend Hugh took double duty as the videographer and editor.

I'll probably load up yesterday's show playlists later tonight [pause for laughter]. I had a good time on the air yesterday and enjoyed most of what I played. Hopefully, some of you did, too. Oh, and I finally have a show description up on the Hosts page at 91.3 WVUD's website.

*Please note that I met the box of rocks who replaced me and he was very kind. I bear no ill will towards Mr. Rocks and wish him the best in his acting career.