THE 46TH LOLA KENYA SCREEN FILM FORUM

"ORGANS" BY ASHA MWILU

Asha Mwilu, Director 'Organs'

Zainab Wandati, Writer/Producer 'Organs'

The 46th edition of what is quickly becoming my favorite monthly event went down at the Goethe Institut this Monday the 30th of May and as I expected, it didn't disappoint; Except perhaps in its attendance(Why don't more people know about this forum?). On exhibition was Asha Mwilu's directorial debut film 'Organs' shot as a student project in USIU in partnership with Zainab Wandati who also wrote and produced the film. Being a forum where the work of young upcoming directors is highlighted, it was Asha who was on the hot seat and the lights dimmed for 30 minutes of this story:

LEARN THE ABC's OF ACTING AND SAVE SOME MONEY!!

What would happen if every actor knew the ABC’S of acting? The Kenyan Acting scene would evolve to higher levels. All actors would be equipped for both local and international screen castings. You may be asking yourself how this could happen. Come and find out at The Casting Workshop on June 18th 2011.
Acting for Cinema Training School-ACTS- is hosting a second workshop. The Casting workshop will have key facilitator Virginia Clay, who has been acting for 17years in the media of TV, Film and Theatre in the UK and the USA.  Her passion has transformed from a niche to a need in the Kenyan Industry as she sees raw untapped talent daily. She is well versed in the ABC of Acting and will take you through the Casting Workshop, highlighting your strengths and weaknesses. She will be assisted by local stars.
The Workshop: The workshop will be divided into two sections over two days.
Day one: An intense all-day learning session on how to give powerful and effective screen auditions for a fee of KShs 1000 This will include a detailed booklet of invaluable notes sent to you via email.
Day Two: A one-to-one session with our Facilitator.  This is a unique opportunity for you to put your learning into practice. Structured like a professional screen casting, there will be an interview and the chance to read for an actual screen role.  However, the added benefit of this session is that you will receive feedback and coaching on the day.  This personal casting and coaching session is available for a fee of KShs1000. The audition will be filmed and a DVD of your work will also be available for KShs 500
Fees:  The fee structure is flexible to ensure it suits your pocket. You can come to Day One only should you choose, but it is essential that you attend the main workshop if the one-to-one casting session is to be of benefit. Pay KShs 1000 for workshop and KShs 1000 for the casting and top it up with your own DVD at KShs 2,500… or just attend the workshop.  Pick and choose!

And now FilmKenya has a deal for 10 of it's lucky fans. The first 5 actors to comment on this Facebook note and the first 5 to comment on this blogpost expressing a desire to attend will get a waiver of an entire 1500 shillings!! FilmKenya will cover your costs for the essential DAY 1 of the workshop and the very kind and understanding people at ACTS have agreed to waive the DVD fees for the ten actors from FilmKenya. So you'll only pay 1000/= for day two in order to get the DVD, which as you've just been told, will be free for you!! There's a catch by the way, FilmKenya will be shooting a short film soon after and the ten actors/actresses will get a chance(if they're willing) to show what they learned. So how about it?? GET COMMENTING!!

Date: 18th June 2011                    
Time: 8.30a.m-4.30p.m                 
Place: French Cultural Centre
E-mail: **available on request**

SHUGA: FOR YOUR PLEASURE

When I started this blog last year in December, SHUGA had just been released and exhibited on local television and to be honest, it was awesome! It was the first production that truly proved a point I had been trying to convince a few obstinate friends about for a while; that internationally competitive quality can be achieved with an all-Kenyan cast. I mentioned it HERE.

Well, the kind folks who produced the film posted it up in its entirety(all 3 parts) on VIMEO and even though I had stumbled upon the links a while earlier, it took a post by a recent friend of mine on her blog (delusionofgrandeur254.wordpress.com) to finally remind me to link you guys up with it!!

ME, MY WIFE, AND THE FILM INDUSTRY

Premiere of 'Me, My Wife, and Her Guru at Capri 7

A couple of weeks ago, 27th March to be exact, I attended the premiere of JITU Films new comedy, 'Me, My Wife, and Her Guru' at the Capri 7 Garden Bar. It would seem a little belated for me to be writing about an event that occurred that long ago but I have a compelling reason. Had I written about this event back then, I would have merely done a review of the film and that was done by two of the local dailies quite promptly the very next morning. Instead, I was interested in the making of the film and in particular, how fast the project moved from between when word about the project first got out to the time it was ready for exhibition.

PROFESSIONALISM 101

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF THE SET

I recently had the pleasure of attending the auditions for a local TV Series, 'Higher Learning' and had the good fortune of landing a role in the series. Shooting begins in the next four days and in light of this, all the cast had to attend a meeting to introduce the new members of the cast to everyone else, and to set the pace for the upcoming shoot. Most of the talk the producers gave us though was dominated by tips and (not so veiled) warnings concerning etiquette on set and during shooting. Apparently, Kenyan behavior knows no boundaries and the list of transgressions we received caution about ranged from the usual "Don't be late" to the more exotic "Don't date other crew/cast members or their boyfriends/girlfriends and cause unnecessary tension on set", imagine that!!

Being a forum that seeks to help those interested in Film and TV careers to start and succeed at what they love(and also because one of our fans requested it), I thought it was about time I put together a list of 6 things to do (or not to do) if you ever land a gig and would like to establish a good reputation as a professional in the TV/Film industry:

TIPS FROM NEIL SCHELL'S ACTING/AUDITIONING WORKSHOP

A group of editors in Russia once wanted to test the concept and level of audience participation in the telling and understanding of film narrative. They took a shot of a man seemingly looking at something off set and decided to cut it into two different scenes. The first scene was a jovial party with dancing and laughter and the usual party shenanigans. The shot of the man was inserted into the party scene and this compilation was shown to a random group of viewers. The second scene was a somber funeral and once again the shot of the man was inserted and the final reel shown to a second group of random viewers. Both groups were asked to explain what they saw and here is what the editors found out: That the first group of viewers were mostly convinced that they had seen a man having fun at a party while the second group were absolutely sure they had seen a very sad man attending a funeral. This was despite the fact that the shot of the man was completely unrelated to both of the other scenes and the man had not been reacting to anything at the time the shot was taken.

It is an eye-opening story. Most actors forget just how much of the narrative of film is controlled by the editor and the audience and tend to believe that they(or their acting) control the narrative. The most important thing for an actor to remember according to Neil is that in film, the actor mostly provides raw material for the editor to tell the story with. It is the editor who creates/forms your performance and not yourself. In Kenya where most TV/Film actors come from the theater, this is a most important thing to remember as it is perhaps the greatest disparity between acting for the stage and for the screen. For example, in theatrical rehearsals, taking a scene again means repeating action to get a certain performance exactly right. In film, taking a scene again means that an actor should try to do the scene differently from what he did the first time so as to give the editor a variety of action with which to form a performance.

Neil on the set of 'SAINTS'

These are just a few of the acting tips that Neil Schell shared with hundreds of aspiring and established actors at an acting and auditioning workshop held at Kenya National Theater on 24th February 2011. Here are other bits and pieces that Neil shared with participants at the workshop(as I understood them):