Please ignore the unfortunate inclusion of bad punctuation. I suffer from an affliction which affects my ability to proof-read called Slacusbarstiniuos (say it out loud).

This weekend is a big weekend. An audition for a possible Feature Film. Can't say much other than... Here we go!

It is a new year. It feels like an important year. Last year things were changing. It felt like a lot of corners were being turned but hadn't been completely left behind. It was a transition year, and now it is time to see the fruits of it all.

There are some exciting things happening in the local film and theatre scene of my home town of Perth, Australia. Last year saw the rusty old engine start revving on a dawdling film industry, and the outlook is for some rapid acceleration in 2014. Someone has loaded the system with WD40. There is growing international attention being cast our way. Big budget films are being made left right and centre. The Film and Theatre community have never been stronger.

And I am not the only one feeling. It is a sentiment I am hearing from a lot of people. They all feel it. There is such a positive vibe in the air it is almost electric. I have been doing theatre and following the film scene for many years and I have never before seen anything like this.

I have started a new blog (hamreflections.wordpress.com) which may interest someone, and having been a person who struggled to keep a regular blog, I have found this one surprisingly easy. I've even been inspired to reignite my Photography Blog also (jeffwatkinsphotography.wordpress.com) so pop over there if you are interested.

Already, there are several projects in progress which is presenting some interesting opportunities for me, and a few more that have suggested a possible involvement, and we haven't even gotten through half of this month. To say I am excited is an understatement.

This week, I was doing something a little out of my comfort zone, which is always interesting. I have done MC work before, mainly for private functions and the like. I have not ever MC'd, participated let alone witnessed a Male Review Night. Yet, on Friday the 13th 2013, there I was, dressed as Dracula (left) and egging on a nightclub full of women to the stip-tease antics of far better looking blokes.

In a way, it had a few similarities to some work I did for the Northbridge Piazza Carnival Macabre in 2012, where I basically wandered the crowds, sneaking up on unsuspecting audience participants engrossed in the proceedings both on-stage and on-screen, and scare the crap out of them. This time, I had a microphone. Dangerous.

Working with the Perth Team of Top Shelf Entertainment, who (let's face it) were taking a risk with me, I found myself effectively narrating a male strip show!

I am like most people, I find it hard to watch myself on video. I used to turn away from photos of myself also but, as a photographer, I soon got over that. It is just videos now, including home videos, that make me want to hide my eyes. I think it is due to the fact that you have this imaginary version of how you look when you do and say things. You want to imagine you look composed, cool, "normal" if you know what I mean. So when you are confronted by how you really look, it presents too much of a challenge to your reality that you instinctually try to reject it.

"Seriously? I don't look like that! Please tell me the lens is warped, or something. Anything!"

So, with some trepidation, I took my girls (that is my wife and daughter) to see a special trailer screening of The Silent City, the movie in which I play a rather nasty little Irishman.

Life is full of them: Choices. Choices are perhaps the one thing we truly have any say in or control over. I believe your choices are a major part of who you are. Taking ownership of your choices is incredibly empowering, and liberating.

Not all of them are easy.

In fact, most will be challenging, confronting and often emotional. Well, they wouldn't be character defining if they weren't, which is an interesting link to an actor's life. The choices we make do impact on the characters we play, and there are no more important choices than what you will audition for; what you are prepared to accept.

I made a poor choice some years back when I auditioned for Much Ado About Nothing, insisting that I was only going to accept the lead role. It is a choice I now regret. By being so incredibly narrow minded, I missed on being a part of a great show. Lesson learnt, I now allow myself the freedom to accept a wider range of roles. That said, I do have certain standards that I would not compromise. Things like needless nudity, excessive violence, and so forth.

It has been a while since I last posted a blog. Coincidentally, it's been a while since I've done anything theatrical. Still, as it is I haven't really much to mention today, apart from an audition for Hamlet. The classic Shakespearean play, and something I have long desired to do since I started developing a love for Shakespeare back in the eighties.

Sadly, I feel my chance to play the ultimate role is past me, which is one dream I may just have to let go of. Sad though that may be, there are other roles that are just as challenging, if not more so. Keeping your options open and expectations low  (while not diminishing your enthusiasm or ambition) may not always give you want you want, but does tend to give you what you need.

So today I went and auditioned for the show. How I did is something I try not to think too much about. Too many times I find myself being hyper-critical of my performance. This only got worse after a few times directing shows, so now I prefer to withdraw from judging at all. Mind you, as easy as that is to say, when it comes to Hamlet, it is hard not to get hopeful, expectant, excited and a little judgmental.

I find that I am having to remind myself that the quality of my performance, technically, is only one of many aspects to consider. If I was absolutely dreadful, then it counts for everything. If I was good to great, then I have to factor in what the director is looking for, how many others are auditioning, how old they may be, or the general appearance of the cast that forms in the director's mind. Let's face it, it may simply come down to that fact that I was taller (or not) than some other guy and therefor had more of the look (or not) that the director was looking for.

So many of this things are beyond my control. Nothing I could do will change them necessarily. It may be simple chance (or luck if you prefer) that lands me a role, or not. Telling myself this usually works, except when it comes to Hamlet...

Do I think I will be offered a part? Considering the often poor turn out of men in Perth Local theatre, more than likely I will. Will I be offered a role I would prefer? Possibly not. Is that a reflection on me? Marginally if anything. And so the mantra goes.

If you are auditioning (or have just done so) for this or any other show, let me just say Chookas to you all. May you get the role you want, and if not, the role you need.

After touring the Festivals and getting some rather positive feedback, here is a short film I appear in called Manu Marmont.

The bit between gigs. The wait.

It's quiet in a way. Sure, I have the day job and family activities, and they keep me busy. There is still this sense of quiet.

There has been a lot of review of the photos taken during the shoot. Some poster concepts, and other graphical design elements.

We are rapidly approaching our Preview night on the 7th November where we will all get a first glimpse of what we have accomplished. Yet a part of my mind is looking toward what-ever the next big thing might be...

It's a bit like waiting for your favourite TV serious to return (Doctor Who, Sherlock...)

It is now just a little under 24 hours since filming wrapped up on The Silent City. With a number of the other cast members popping up to join in the final moments, it was a rather large and noisy crowd occupying the better half of an alleyway in the city, toasting to our future success and a job well done.

Now, like a Doctor Who or Sherlock fan, we wait while the editorial and production techno-wiz's put the various bits of film together to complete the project.  I have had a lot of fun doing this and have learnt much as well. More importantly, I have made some great new friends, made some very useful contacts, and been introduced to the future of film in Perth. Things are changing in our little town and I think this is the right time to have stepped up.

I don't believe I could have picked a better project to work on either. Professionalism, talent, dedication and a strong belief in what we were doing made this a particularly wonderful experience all around. There has been several theatre shows that I have directed that have developed a small "family" of sorts. Well, a family is clearly what has been formed with the Silent City cast and crew. Well done all and it has been such an incredible pleasure.

It is very easy to be biased about a project you are personally involved in, and I have had the opportunity to stand on both sides of the set as I doubled up taking photography between takes. With this double perspective, I really do believe that we collectively have created something rather special.

Thank you to Matt, our director, for giving me the chance to be a part of this story. Thanks to everyone for being so incredible, supportive and inspirational. Some memories fade with time. Others last a lifetime. Have a guess which one this will be...

This is the end of days for The Silent City. That is, in terms of filming. After this Sunday, all filming will be complete. It does seem like we have been at this very long but over all it has been a few months in the making, yet a total of 28 days of actual filming time.

I pause to consider this point: a feature film in less than a month of constant filming... Seems a little unreal. Of course this does not take into account the time required in casting, location finding, building a production crew, nor the pending months of editing and promotion. Still, it seems to be far too short to me.

The Wednesday night just gone, I got to work with ASJAD ABID (right in the image above) for the first time, apart from the initial script reading. He plays a hired gun, and I get to insult him a little, which I won't deny was a little bit of fun. Plus trying to make him laugh a little while I played my part as the slightly screw-loose Irish prick. Then Friday (last night) we were back along with ANTHONY CICCOTOSTO playing the honest yet hard-nosed rookie beat cop.

Tomorrow will be the official last day of filming. I am anticipating the majority of the cast coming down to be there for the last few seconds. Not sure how I feel about it...