Inches, Williams, and other stories

What a weekend! I had some funny idea I'd be able to post every day, but it was downright impossible. So here are the updates:

What on Earth is an inch?

On Friday, I spent a fair amount of time doing résumé feng shui (Bonnie Gillespie jargon) and converting units to the imperial system. I had to figure out how big was 8x10. I had to convert my height and weight to feet and pounds. I suppose I have American format materials now...

Williams revisited

I met up with Flavia on Saturday at five. I won't ever be able to explain how wonderful she is. We worked for two hours, with two small breaks in between. The speech never went better. At a given moment it became so natural, I was surprised at how easy it felt! I suppose I have William's brilliant writing to thank for that. I felt I could go on saying it forever. But when we finally decided to stop working, I realized I was exhausted.

We were both satisfied and happy with the results. Flavia said she realized Williams had been a good choice. She also payed me a huge compliment when she said that, after saying the speech a few times, the images I had were reflected in the words. She also pointed out that preparing the audition gave me a notion of the results I could achieve in so little time.

After that I went home, had dinner (boy, was I starved) and collapsed in bed. I can barely imagine how I would have felt if I had acted the whole play.

In the editing room

So, on Sunday, I woke up and viewed all my videos as I drunk my tea. I agreed with Flavia on which two or three were the best. But to help me decide, I asked my sister (animated film student) to look at my pre selection. After seeing the first on, she said, "It looks as if it had actually happened to you". She doesn't pay compliments too liberaly, so I was blown away. After she watched them all we decided on which to send, taking into account both the acting and the technical aspects. Then she got down to editing.

The editing didn't go as easily as I had imagined. She had to make a few attempts before she could actually get good results in changing the video format. By the end of the long hours spent at it, she was on the right track to becoming the new Thelma Schoonmaker. She slated it, burnt it to a dvd, and we checked it on all the computers at hand. By the end of the day I'd heard myself say the speech so many times that I couldn't stand it anymore. It was a relief when, after dinner, I watched the last part of the Millenium saga. It was the closest thing to unwinding I got in the whole week.

Getting it sent

You'll probably imagine that, once I had all my materials, it was only a question of putting them in an envelope and calling FedEx. No. I mean, yes, that's what I did... but when they picked it up they told me that since I was sending a dvd I needed a proforma stating it's commercial value, or I could have problems at customs. What? Why didn't they tell me over the phone? I must have been about to cry. Luckily the guy had a form I could fill in stating the contents of the package and commercial value (he told me to write $1). Anyhow, the thing is probably on its way to New York now. Wish me luck...