Looking back at my past experiences with my brother Luke, I realize that he prepared me for my future. Most kids play video games or something, but my brother and I always used our imaginations. When I would watch a movie, I would instantly go outside to change the story and make it even cooler. When Luke and I got just a little bit older, somehow our private imagination turned into public storytelling. We found a video camera and pressed record before we even discussed what we were doing. From terribly painful home movies to B movie comedies, we created a series of movie spoofs about 0011D (like 007 but a fake number...? Elevendy? Never mind.). It started with a spur of the moment taping, but by the final time, we had watched Casino Royale and created a way to spoof the movie.
Yes, yes, it's on Youtube. All our movies were food themed for some reason, and we named this one Casino Tortellini (why we didn't name it Club Royale, I will never understand). Now, since there were only two of us, as you can imagine, we played all the parts. Luke was the director, "writer"--I use sarcastic quotes because there was no script (I'll get to this part later)--and the main character. I played almost every other part. Sidekick, boss, bad guy, girl love interest, henchmen. It was Dr. Strangelove, and I was Peter Sellers. Unfortunately, our costumes were limited so the characters in suits looked very similar except for their ties.
Now, the writing...we had no script, only an idea of what would happen when and where, and right before Luke would press record, we would tell me a summary of what I was to say and a quick overview of blocking. I nodded, he pressed record, and I would do it. I didn't realize at the time that he was helping me at picking up a change in a script and go with it on the fly. I helped a friend with a commercial recently, and Luke and I were both in it. We walked in, wearing business suits as we were supposed to, and my brother was playing the boss. However, after some quick consideration, the directors swapped us because I looked more like the boss. Then they told me to walk in, give them a speech about something work-related then turn to face the window. I did just that, and they loved it. In fact, the directors liked what I did so much that they added several shots of me doing my improv as I faced the window. It still scared me to death, it made me shake, and I thought I did horrible, but they encouraged me that it was perfect for what they needed. I couldn't help but thank someone else because where had I initially learn this skill? In my backyard where my brother would tell me to get shot, give a bad guy speech, and die dramatically. And I would do it. Then I would switch shirts and become a different character.
My brother not only taught me skills I use today, but he gave me a chance to learn how much I love storytelling. He let me be a bundle of completely different characters I will always love and also gave me something to do with all the free time I had in my homeschooled schedule. I realize now that my main love of acting is the characters and completely becoming a different person, and that first began right here at my home. In one day, I got to be the evil bad guy all the way to the kooky sidekick. And all it was, was putting on a different shirt. That's all it should be to become a different character. He taught me that.
So no matter how much theatre I do, it will never compare to my first love of film which will always remind me of the time I first began: Luke pressing record on the heavy video camera, and then whispering to me in mid-take that I had forgotten to use my finger as a mustache as I glanced into the lens with sheer fear, then rubbed my nose with my hand, gradually formed my finger into a mustache on my upper lip, and exclaimed half-heartedly, "I shaved, and it grew back..."
We finally did write a script several years ago. It's a spoof on another 007 movie, Goldfinger, but we named it Chickenfinger. See? Food related.
I wonder if we'll ever get around to filming it...
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