DOS Ch-4

Moving to L.A. was hectic. To start things off, we had to complete my official adoption and file the papers with the authorities. I decided to keep my original name, Troy Francis Armitage to honor my late father Frank Armitage. 

Then we had to get a passport and visa for me. As Steve was a US citizen, it wasn’t too difficult to get a visa.

At one point, Steve suggested that I give up my British citizenship and become a full-fledged American, but I was hesitant. Thankfully, Kathy supported me, being a Brit herself.

So we shelved the argument for a few years at the very least, if not more. 

Luckily for us, Steve had an apartment in Santa Monica that he had purchased from his inheritance, thus saving us the time to look for a place. The place was a walking distance from Santa Monica Pier. Even the school wasn’t too far from the place.

The best part of the apartment was the extended balcony in the living room where one could sunbathe right at home.

So here I was, lying on the balcony on a beach chair, soaking in the mid-morning sun, with a good amount of sunscreen splattered all over my body and enjoying my summer vacation.

Yup, a good life.

It was at that moment that Steve came to the balcony, “Troy! My dearest son!”

I opened a single eye lazily and deadpanned, “I’m your only son. Or am I, Dad?”

Steve chuckled nervously, “Well yes. The thing is, I am bored out of my mind writing this script and desperately need a break. So I thought, we could begin your acting classes.”

I perked up immediately after hearing that. Steve is currently working on this script he is adapting called [Wonder Boys] and works long hours in his study room. So I hadn’t disturbed him too much about my promised acting lessons.

“To begin with,” Steve began, “I might have directed a few actors who got nominated for awards but that doesn’t make me an expert on acting. Still, I’ll do my best. Let’s move inside, I have made some preparations for you.”

When I followed him in, I saw the Sony camcorder he had set up on a tripod stand.

“I used to practice filming in my college days using an old Super 8 camera but now we have better options. This will help you tons if you can work with it. Now, your first scene is this, you have to enter the room from the door, you’ll slowly come to the kitchen, pick up that bottle of water from the counter, take a sip, carry the bottle back with you, and then lightly kick the soccer ball lying there in frustration, then sit on the couch as if you are extremely tired and a little sad.”

He explained the scene in detail and pointed out the various props he had prepared in advance. He is a meticulous director, you have to give him that.

“My first goal is to get you familiar with the camera settings,” He continued his explanations, “One of the most important rules of shooting is to never look into the camera unless you are addressing the audience, like, I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Ferris Bueller. That would be the only exception.”

Hearing that name, I instantly remembered the movie where the protagonist broke the fourth wall every freaking minute. “Yeah, I’ve seen it.”

He had a thoughtful look on his face as I said that. 

“So you understood the scene or do we need to go over it again?” He asked.

“No, I’m all set.” I gave him a thumbs-up as I walked out of the door.

Luckily the door wasn’t soundproof and I clearly heard when he said the word, “Action!”

Taking a deep breath in and out to calm myself, I opened the door and walked in, doing everything in my power not to look at the camera. I slowly walked towards the kitchen, picked up the bottle, and took a sip.

All the while ignoring the camera that Steve had picked up. He was following me with a closeup. But I didn’t pay it much mind. Then I moved towards the couch but kicked the football on the way. Then I sat down tiredly as I let out a lethargic sigh. I stared at the wall in front of me as I thought sad thoughts like my favorite ice cream flavor running out or that my favorite TV show had been canceled.

That’s when I heard it, “Cut!”

I immediately relaxed and looked up at Steve for his evaluation.

“Not bad for a first-time performance, but if I see this as your audition tape, direct rejection.” He said bluntly.

I was crestfallen at his admission.

He placed a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry too much, that’s why we are here, right? Now let’s see your first scene and I’ll tell you your mistakes. Then we will reshoot, okay?”

He sat beside me on the sofa and began the replay of the scene we had just shot. The video replayed my performance from entry to the point where I casually sat down, staring into the abyss.

Instantly, I knew the biggest flaw in my performance. I tried too hard not to look at the camera. Thus my shoulders and movement come out to be very stiff. The moment I took a sip of water, there was a closeup of my face and I could see the nervousness lingering there.

Then I kicked the ball and that portion came out relatively well. The last part where I plonked down on the couch and looked sad seemed good enough to me. Then again I’m the amateur here so I have no idea if my evaluation is any good.

“You caught something?” Steve asked, his gaze fixed on my face.

So I told him of my evaluation of the performance.

“Yes, most of your points are valid. After kicking the ball your performance improves, although it can still be better. An advice for you, don’t ignore the camera, forget about it entirely. Let’s do it again from the beginning.” Steve exclaimed excitedly.

For the first time in all these months, I’ve seen the man so elated about something. This could be because this is the first father-son activity we have done together. Or this could be because he is doing something he loves. Filming.

Ignoring that line of thought, I went out of the door again and began reshoots.

We shot that same scene a total of six times before Steve passed the shot. I was so happy that my smile would be visible for anyone to see. Steve ruffled my hair affectionately seeing that.

“Okay champ, now you got the basic idea of filming. Next, we need to instill the value of emotions in your scene,” Steve explained, “For that, you have to put yourself in the character’s shoes. Before performing, think about what he is going through, and what his thought process will be. At the same time not overdoing the expressions.”

He took a pause then continued, “For example, if I tell you to act sad because you flunked your test, it is possible that as a novice you may act to an extreme level as if your dog died which will be too much emotion for such a simple scene. Do you understand that?”

I nodded as I understood what he was saying. Gauge the level of emotion while performing the scene but don’t overdo it at the same time. Subtlety is the key to good acting.

“Now consider this scenario,” Steve began. “Your character is named Mark. Mark’s parents work long hours so they are rarely home. Mark had a babysitter, Dylan, a 16-year-old boy, who was like an older brother for him. But Dylan died in a car crash last month. Mark mourned for the loss of his brother-figure, and now he’s all alone at home. He has just come back from the school and he is missing Dylan. He opened the door, hoping to see the older boy, but when he didn’t, he was disappointed. He drank some water, kicked a ball, then sat down on the couch thinking about how his life has changed since then.”

I looked at him gobsmacked, “Damn. That’s a very heavy scenario for my first scene.”

He looked me directly in the eye as he said, “The fact that you understand why this scenario is so heavy is enough for me to know about your emotional maturity. If you can understand it, you can do it. If by any chance you don’t understand I can talk you through it.”

I thought about it before shaking my head, “That won’t be necessary. I think I got it.”

“Good,” Steve nodded with a smile, “Now that you have the whole setting of the scene we will do it one more time.”

I groaned audibly, “I thought the last take was good enough.”

“Hey! Don’t be like that,” Steve chided me. “Some directors like to do one scene dozens of times before they are satisfied. If you don’t have the patience for retakes, I suggest you better become a banker or a lawyer.”

I did not complain again as I moved towards the door to reshoot.

“This time think about your character’s actions and why is he doing that,” Steve called out from behind the camera.

A few minutes later I am seeing the latest shot and I am amazed at the difference in my own performance. In all my previous shots, it could be seen that I was acting to be someone else.

This time, Mark’s movements and expressions seem more natural. The way he kicked the ball in anguish and the way he had a lost, sad, and frustrated expression as he stared into the abyss is marvelous.

“Woah.” It slipped past my lips unconsciously.

“Woah indeed. Your performance just now was perfect. If anything could be at fault, it would be my camerawork which is obviously not my specialty.” He said with a proud tone and that ever-present smile on his face.

A sense of giddiness bloomed in my gut as I heard the first true praise coming out of him that day.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Steve rebuked me gently. “Right now you haven’t even delivered any dialogue.”

Just like that, I was kicked off my pedestal again. Of course, how can I forget that? All auditions out there with any significant role include exchanging lines with the casting director or a staff member.

“For the next scene, you will be doing an improv. An improv is an improvised scene acted out on the spot by the actors themselves without any script using their own knowledge and quick wit. During many auditions, some lazy casting directors ask for an improv performance to remove those actors who are not fast enough to perform on their feet.” Steve lectured.

I nodded along though I already knew about improv.

“Your topic for improv is you as Mark explaining to the audience, or the camera, why this whole Dylan situation was messed up, and how you are coping up.”

I hummed thoughtfully, thinking about the situation Dad had presented me. It was definitely a complex one tht needed some thought.

After some thought, I nodded. “I think I have something, but I’m not sure if it would be any good.”

“What’s the harm in trying?” Steve asked. “Worst case scenario, if it turned out terrible, we’ll just reshoot it again until we get it right. Remember, you’re learning here. So it’s better if you make mistakes now.”

That was true. But I still didn’t think I was reay for anything unscripted.

Seeing my look of hesitation he said, “Oh come on. You always go on about how smart you are and how mature you are, now prove it. You know this is rather tame when it comes to improv. Doing comedy while improvising is ten times tougher, or so I’m told.”

Finally I nodded, “Alright. Let’s do it.”

“Hmm, make sure to use your alter ego, Mark, while doing it,” Dad reminded me before stepping behind the camera again.

I took a deep breath before starting the scene.