My fathers birthday, nice people, and the rainbow.

Just witness something beautiful. Today my father would have been 75 years old. Something I had have mentioned in the past that my father was a fan of was rainbows. This afternoon I drove my mother and I to the cemetery. I go there when I can. Afterwords we stopped at Popeyes Chicken in Hybla Valley. The line was incredibly long and there was only 2 registers open. Behind me in the line was a young black man and walking in to the restaurant was an old white guy, bout 90 years old. As the older man got in to the line the young man was quick to allow the older man to go before him. It was a very nice gesture. I couldn't help but listen in to the conversation as the young man help the old man go through the menu to decide what he wanted, he seemed to be having a little bit of difficultly. The young man, whom I would learn is named Jamal didn't need to help "Grandpa Joe" as he liked to be called at all, he also didn't need to allow him to go ahead. It was just a wonderful display of kindness, something you rarely get to see. Absolutely moved by what i saw, as soon as we got to the register I took both of their orders and paid for their dinner. I had to. It was a wonderful feeling to give the same respect and kindness to the young man whom had just shown a wonderful kindness to the old man, and I am glad I got to be a part of it. We chatted for a second then all went our separate ways. As sat down at the table my mother had been waiting for me at and looked out the window and their shined the brightest rainbow I had seen in a long time. Every time I see a rainbow I think of my father and sometimes things happen at just the right moment that when I looked out maybe that rainbow was a little nod. Thank you to Jamal and Grandpa Joe for helping to make my fathers birthday a little brighter for me and my mother. Happy 75th Birthday Dad. I know you're looking over us, just as we are here to look over others.

Where do the characters go when not in use?

Good Morning, Something very weird happened.Where do characters go when they are not in use? Where do they hide out? I was watching Monster Madhouse last night as I was working. I realized something, and this is very strange, when I am watching Slo Frank on the screen, while I am sitting there watching the show, I tend to go in and out of character. I do not know if I do this all the time because I do not pay attention, but i know that it does happen, and has happened before. All of my characters are very very personal to me and they are in fact, a mind altering experience, with great depth. When I deliver you get what you pay for. I have said on numerous occasions that when I am in a role there is usually still a 5 to 10 percent me still in there somewhere floating around almost as a safety net. I am beginning to wonder if while I am not in character if the characters are still lingering around in their own kind of safety net. Ready to reappear if needed when the surroundings become overly familiar and something triggers it. I don't know. I wish I could video my face without me knowing it while I am watching myself do a deep performance and see where my eyes go, see where my facial expressions go, and see where my mind goes. It's kind of creepy when you think about it. I do know that when I do go in to character, I am tucked away inside somewhere and I am warm. It happens when I get comfortable writing too. I become very warm. My body temperature changes. Like I am covered up by somebody else warm skin. When these things happen I know that I am "there". Who knows. Maybe I am going crazy,

Actor's thoughts, Beginning my character "Grotesque"

Actors thoughts, Beginning my character "Salice" in the film "Grotesque"

Well, here we go. The new year has begun and I have quite a bit on my plate so long as everything goes as planned. The final draft for Grotesque is in my hands. I guess different actors have different ways of doing things to prepare for a role. Upon receiving the final script for about 6 days ago, I have so far read through it 5 times. (Roughly 102 pages) It takes a few times to really let everything sink in. I will continue to read it at least once a day. This is a lead role.

I have my yellow highlighter out now. Now that I am familiar with the story, I will begin highlighting my speaking roles in the film. Then of course, begin reading my lines over and over again. I will read and record the entire script on a cassette player and on an individual cassette read only my lines. So I can begin obsessing over them. Meanwhile I will be writing down little notes on the side about that character, (What I like to call the rules with in the world he lives in)  things that he likes to do that are brought up in the script. For example, If the script mentions he is allergic to milk, I know how to associate that with other parts of his life in my character development. If someone is to mention buying ice cream at the end of the film, his reaction will be slightly different that the normal person, even if he doesn't say it.

It is mention that there is something willed to Salice (My character) Which also leads me to believe that, although not mentioned, there is a reason it was left to him and not his brother, sister, or aunt, who also play major roles in this film. I would like to think, although not mentioned, is that his father was lead to believe that he was the most responsible of the four. He is also a very firm believer in taking care of his family, although he is not trusted, he is the only one that could be trusted. There are a lot of things that go into character development, and why a character acts the way that he/ she/ it does. This is all just a beginning process. This is usually about how I start. What about you? How do you start? If this has helped anyone please feel free to share it. This will also be available to read at www.christopherinlow.com