The Smell of Success

 

 

 

 

Well last Sunday I finally got un-confused. We filmed The Smelly Janitor - a film by my friend Trent. It was a really fun and exciting shoot for me even though my role was very brief. To make up for it and since Trent had asked me to (I would have done it anyway) I spent most of the day photographing the behinds the scenes - making of the film. Trent had asked me to act as behind the scenes vidiographer, but it proved to be too much trying to do still shots AND video. Zach, who played the "handsome man" stepped up to the plate (OK, he didn't really have to step UP, being already 6'5" tall) but he took over the video camera so I could concentrate on my still shots with my much mentioned Nikon D80. Above are just a couple of the many shots I took. Actually, the photograph of me was taken by Dong Chul Oh, the camera assistant and a good photographer in his own right. He was nice enough to take several shots of me and other cast members with my camera.

The shoot went well, except for a couple of glitches - like one of the lead actresses going AWOL and not showing up. Paige Kimball was selected to play the role of the beautiful woman instead and filming proceeded. Everyone involved - cast and crew was so great! No funky attitudes and everyone was excited, high energy and into making it a great shoot. I think Trent ended up being overwhelmed by the process of Directing, Producing and Acting in the film. Since I only heard from him tonight two days later, he confirmed my suspicions.

For those of you who acted in the film, I'll have more pictures online in the next day or so - I'm trying out a new photo hosting site by Zenfolio which should make a nice online viewing experience. Check back here in a day or so for further postings about the shoot and links to my online photos - I had a TON (if pixels actually have a measurable weight) of pictures so it's taking a while to go through and select the best and get them ready for viewing.

-- Rex Hoss

How to Scare Yourself on Halloween

I've been reading "Hideaway" By Dean Koontz. This is an intreaguing story of suspense and a little supernatural. It starts off a little slowly but gets very interesting quickly. As seems to be a theme with Dean Koontz, very early in the story a character dies, but the twist is that in this story - death is not the end, in fact, it's the beginning. I have to say that my favorite character in the story is a little girl named Regina. Koontz' ability to bring life to her and endear her to the reader is phenominal! She's a hoot, and brings humor and levity to an otherwise, sommber yet quite suspensful story. It's not always clear where the story is going (and doesn't that always make it more fun?), but the ride is very enjoyable. I've read a couple of Dean Koontz' other stories and I'm really liking his story telling. Usually a mix of real and surreal, but always keeps you turning the pages (or in my case - listening to the next audio CD). So if you're looking for a good book to read in honor of Halloween, and need a good scare, or fun story, this book is highly recommended.

Story by Rex Hoss

Clearing the Confusion

Well after being gently nudged by one of my loyal readers to give you the answer to the statement I made in an earlier post How Acting Confused Got Me Ahead... Here it is! A little background is that a friend and fellow actor Trent is currently in Film School at LACC. He's a very funny comedic actor, friend and fellow computer geek. Well a week or so ago he asked me to post some information about actors and actresses he needs for one of his projects. As it turns out, one of the male roles sounded interesting to me. So being the witty, and somewhat perverse guy that I am, I asked him who I had to sleep with to get a party in his film? A simple enough question and thankfully for both of us, he got the hint that I was interested in a part in his film (The Smelly Janitor), and he, again thankfully DIDN'T insist or require me to sleep with the Director, Producer or anybody involved with the film. Thus a win-win situation for both of us. He got an actor for his film, and I get a ROLE in said film.

If you clever people people have checked back to the post about what roles are available, you'll logically deduce from the Confused state of my postings on this subject that the role I've been selected for is that of "The Confused Man". Mind you I'm not generally confused as a rule, but I can certainly play confused!

So there you have it! I'm back to being involved in acting again after a much needed rest after two very successful plays which I'm so grateful and honored to have been a part in.

I look forward to working with Trent on his project and also to the next exciting adventures in acting which are in store for me.

As always, I'll keep you all informed about what's up.

-- Love Hugs, and prosperity! Rex Hoss

Truly Scary Halloween Comic

Saw this floating around the Internet and couldn't resist posting it for my beloved readers! I could comment more about it, but if you THINK about it, you'll understand how deep it really is.

 

How Acting Confused Got Me Ahead!

 

I woke up one morning feeling dazed and confused. Things didn't seem to make sense the way they used to. I was walking down the street and things seemed normal at first, but then it happened. I noticed something that just didn't seem right. A strange sight materialized before me and sent me spinning! I couldn't believe my eyes, and you won't either!

To find out what this incredible occurrence of ocular abnormality was... check back here soon for further details on my amazing acting career in my next post.

--
Photo Credit: Leon Cohen (with some image adjustments by Rex Hoss)

Attention: Budding actors!

Hi eveyone, a friend and fellow actor Trent, is now in film school and asked me to pass the following information along. He's looking for a few good men, and a truck load of women for a film he's shooting for his class. So, without further ado, here's the information. If you're interested, contact him directly, I'm strictly the middle man here!



Digital short film shooting on Sunday, October 28, email casting@trentertainment.com or visit http://www.trentertainment.com/casting.htm for more info (treatment & character breakdowns).

Roles:

A. Two males (one lead, one supporting)
B. 11 to 15 women (3 leads, rest supporting)
C. The BIG thing I need is even more women. Yes...more! AS MANY MORE WOMEN AS POSSIBLE for a couple of comedic shots. These would be "extras" and the more the merrier. 50 would be ideal...YES! 50! 10 would be fine, but 50 would be finer! (is that a word?)

The basic setup is a group of women are chasing "The Janitor" who has used a magical concoction of cologne that causes them to loose all self control and chase after him. I would like to have a couple of shots that I'm calling "An Ocean of Women" that chase after him.

These "Ocean of Women" shots would be reminiscent of Buster Keaton in "Seven Chances" (1925) or a modern version with Chris O'Donnell in "The Bachelor" (1999).

So, this means that I need all types, all sizes, all shapes, etc. of women for about an hour. Two basic shots and that's it! So, if you're a woman, I need you! If you know a woman, I need her! If you've always wanted to be a woman and have a dress in your closet, I need you too!

To read the treatment and for more information go to my Trentertainment Productions Casting Page here - http://www.trentertainment.com/casting.htm

Please pass this information along to every woman you know and if you're a women who's interested, please email me as soon as possible. I'll be locking down the cast this week!

The shoot is Non-Union & no pay, but food, credit, & copy will be provided for the leads & supporting cast. The shoot should be tons of fun and for the extras, I'll personally hug-n-kiss every one of them if they'll have me!
Also - 2 crew positions available - one Camera Assistant and one Production Assistant - email crew@trentertainment.com if interested.

--by Rex Hoss

How to Clone yourself

 
 
 
 
or at least give the impression that you're just beside yourself with excitement! As promised, here are more pictures from my first experiment with light painting! After my first shots where I attempted to write words with light, I figured I'd try painting an object with light. Since I didn't have a fabulous supermodel available, and I was ending up in the photos anyway, I decided to use myself. So I focused the light on me and painted various parts of me. Interesting, but then I decided to try a little fake double exposure. So, I stood on on side of the frame - painted away, then moved to the opposite side while the camera was still exposing, painted again! Viola! an interesting double take. It'd probably be better if I stood more still, but it's hard to stay still while painting ones self with light. Let me know what you think.

Photos and story by Rex Hoss

Foolin' Around In The Dark...

 
 
 
With Light! I've been reading a lot online about an interesting photography technique called Light Painting. It's basic idea is: set your camera for a long exposure, then use some kind of light source to "paint" the areas you want exposed. Above is my first attempts at this technique. I used my Nikon D80 set to a 15 second exposure and a small LED light to paint the words! It's pretty cool. I think I need a darker room (or at least dark walls) to better render the concept, but I think it's an interesting first attempt at fooling around with light in the dark. I have some more pictures for the next post which I painted me with some interesting results. Please let me know what you think of my pictures! I'd love to hear from you

Of course - Photos and story - By Rex Hoss

Gettin' Down with the Mac Daddy

 
Over the weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Wavefest put on by 94.7 The Wave radio station. Actually it was both Friday and Saturday nights at the Hollywood Bowl. I attended Friday night as the guest of some good friends. The evening started off with Poncho Sanchez and his band. It was very entertaining. I'm not much of a Poncho Sanchez fan, but I must admit he did entertain. Next up was Marc Antoine, who, not being a regular Wave listener, I'm not familiar with. He plays acoustic guitar, and very well. His music was alive and very moving. I may have to be forced to become a fan. Next up was the incomparable Patti Austin. Ms. Austin was really kickin' it! While I am familiar with some of her older music, I was hugely impressed by her vocal ability, song selection and a much admired ability to relate to the audience and involve us in the show - thus making the live experience more intense and wonderful. The Evening ended with the Mac Daddy, Michael McDonald! He was amazing too. His collection of great music was amply represented playing hits from his Doobie Brothers days on up to more recent songs. A special guest of his was Paul Riser, yes, the actor. Paul can lay some pretty amazing piano chops on you and he demonstrated it that night. I was impressed.

All in all, a very entertaining evening! A thank you and shout out to my friends for inviting me (you know who you are), and I have to throw my two cents worth in and say that of all the artists, I enjoyed Patti Austin the most!!! She was simply amazing and entertaining, and a friggin' good whistler too. She performed a song she wrote in which she had a vocal jazz solo which she intertwined with a whistling solo - Jazz whistling! Who'd have thought! Awesome! Kudos to you Ms. Austin!

If you get a chance to attend next year's Wavefest, do! The artists are always great!

--By Rex Hoss