Student film school tours, I mean auditions

Week into 3/23
I had a fruitful week in auditions.
It is interesting because I had 3 auditions and basically did a film department tour of LA film schools lol.

So 3/20 I went to New York Film Academy. Someone tell me beforehand how hard parking is! because it took me seriously 30 minutes to find a spot 1 mile away! And walked 1 mile to the school.  The whole street was full and then it was WB studio next door so no parking there as well. It was a nightmare, especially for someone who cannot drive well like me.

The audition went horrible. First I shook hand with the wrong person who I thought was the director, because the assistant looked more like the director. But the young looking kid sitting in the back was the director! OMG she looked 18 and in super casual clothes.. Oh well.
And then she was not giving clear instruction as to what I should do. Very unclear. And her face was as if bird poop had just landed on her hair or something, for the whole duration of the audition. I hope I wasn't the cause....

The same night I went to USC. Their film school department looked better than a 5-star Cancun resort. It was so fancy, with water fountain and arches... Thanks to Mr. Lucas, I suppose. This one didn't go well either because they needed me to cry on cue. I couldn't at that point. But at least the director was a normal human who smiles and holds normal conversation.
Interestingly all the auditions this week were Chinese student film projects.

The third one I went to later in the week was at American Film Institute. No one told me it was on a hill! I took the metro because it was in the middle of Hollywood and must be hard to find parking. And I was right on! There was no parking or free/cheap parking! Props to me for going by metro!
It was at night too, everything was dark and it would make driving harder.

I had to walk a while to get to my destination. When I did, I almost doubted my google maps. Where was I? It was almost magical actually, walking past homeless people and empty bars and barren LA streets, and finding yourself looking at a castle among woods. Yes the school looks like a Harry Potter castle! Maybe it was the perfect weather for walking, maybe it was the stars and clear sky, but I had an enjoyable trip walking into the castle that was AFI. See how much happier not having to park has made me? lol

The audition was for a Mandarin student film. I played a speech teacher. At first they were like, you are too gentle. So the next time I showed them my inner evil side haha. And they were like oh girl you can be mad too.

I thought I did pretty well, and this time actually had a friendly conversation with the directors. They were nice people. That and the starry sky and the view overlooking Los Angeles completed the happy night for me.

Hustling on...

My Unofficial Unscholarly Review of 3 Idiots

Last night I saw the Indian film 3 Idiots directed by Rajkumar Hirani. It was great! It surpassed the (one) other Indian film I remembered seeing, Slumdog Millionaire, and became my favorite Indian film.

Even though the film focused on the harsh reality faced by the students in an elite university in India, I think it was something that likely took place in top universities all over the world. Therefore, it was not a scenario too unfamiliar or too difficult to relate to for non-Indian people.
Throughout the film, the way the director chose to depict the subject of pressure and family struggles faced by young Indians was quite effective, and it left a strong impression on the viewers without becoming too serious, as it was a comedy. Moreover, the film was not just meaningless joke-cracking comedy that a lot of Hollywood comedies were. The film remembers to shock us with something strong and unwanted, like death, when we get too absorbed in the happy mood as we see the 3 idiots do idiotic things. Then when it gets too solemn, like during the funeral, the idiots will come and do what they have to do and cheer us up. I love the little mood-reversing surprises placed here and there. The filmmaker definitely deserves some props there.
The film got to be so popular hopefully student suicide rate would drop in India as a result of this film. (Although I doubted that it was India which has the country with the most suicides as stated in the film... I was sure it was Japan.)

The film was funny and sad and funny again and then sad again. I almost wanted to cry at times. And the funny parts were entertaining. I loved how in Bollywood films people just break into dances and songs out of nowhere. Doesn't it draw you back to reality and introduces a gap in the linear storyline? the scholarly technical me asked. But then I thoroughly enjoyed the dance and song numbers regardless. The dancers' butt-scratching moves were pretty memorable :)

And, totally unrelated to anything, I thought the main actress was not very pretty, or less pretty than I expected. I mean there are probably a lot of Indian actresses prettier than her... I wonder why she was chosen. (some parts of her face stood out to me and distracted me from the plot.. I gotta confess.)

But the main reason that it was a great and entertaining film was that everything fit together perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle! It was amazing how the story-weaver can construct a plot in which every detail leads to another and it all came together at the end perfectly. Not a loose thread was hanging out. I like that. I don't like to be bothered forever by loose threads.

Memorable quotes, you ask? I have to quote IMDB for the exact phrasing, but this was a good one-
Pursue excellence, and success will follow.
(and let me omit the phrase "pants down" which was supposed to follow)

But the most memorable one has got to be
All izzzz Well......


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unrelated section below:
a quick update. just for my own record.
Last week-
a soft drink commercial shoot which will be played all over Japan. It was cool I got to see the Japanese rock band equivalent to U2 in America. Again I can disclose nothing. nothing at all.
and a commercial casting call which calls for Asian people 3-70 years old. Which was like everybody. I don't even know what the commercial would be for as I sat waiting for the audition in a room with a bunch of kids running around. Let's hope I get it!