Artzray

Actor Alicia Green Hears A Noise Within

Marshall Ayers December 10, 2015 Acting, Artist Profiles, Career Advice, Performing Arts, Sponsors

Actor Alicia Green has found her artistic calling through her work at A Noise Within theatre company.

Alicia Green has worked as a teaching artist and arts administrator for over eight years in New York, Denver and Los Angeles. She is a working actor with a passion for bringing the arts into the classroom of every student. Alicia and her husband, Trevor, relocated to Los Angeles from New York City five years ago, where she had 11 years’ experience working as an actor and teaching artist. As a theater teaching artist in schools integrating theater into the History and English standards, Alicia accepted a position working for LA’s BEST as the Arts Coordinator. In this position, she helped to manage the after-school arts programs at 190 Title 1 elementary schools throughout Los Angeles county. Alicia is currently the Director of Education and Community Outreach for A Noise Within theatre in Pasadena, CA. Alicia holds a B.A. in Theatre and Music from Fordham University, and an M.A. in Educational Theatre from New York University.Read More

5 Surprising Facts About Voice Over Acting

Marshall Ayers December 1, 2015 Acting, Career Advice, Getting Started, Getting Started, Performing Arts, Tips

Breaking into voice over acting can be tough. Benita Scheckel shares a few surprising tips for working in this competitive field.

1. Less is more.

The days of an actor being coveted for his or her ability to perform 20-30 wacky voices, in Looney Toons fashion, are mostly gone. Animation and commercial copy writers, more often than not, are asking for subtle, “real and natural” sounding voices. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that you can just bring your “real” voice to the mic and if yours is the type of sound the director had in his or her inner ear when they read the copy, you’re in. This can be bad news, however, if you are a character actor, who has, for the past twenty years, been perfecting your best French skunk or irate cowboy voice. There is still a need for these awesome characters, but just not as frequently.
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Chris Ayers – A Drawing a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Christine Griswold November 25, 2015 Artist Profiles, Books, Career Advice, Drawing, Visual Arts, Writing

Check-out Character Designer Chris Ayers’ The Daily Zoo

Character designer Chris Ayers has been drawing as long as he can remember, so it’s no surprise that he turned to something he loved (creating amusing and joy-provoking characters) during his fight with acute leukemia a few years ago.

It all started a year after his diagnosis when he decided to draw an animal a day in his sketchbook to help buoy his spirits and push his creativity. Then he filled another sketchbook. And then another. And another. The results are uplifting and hilarious, and can be found in his series of books, The Daily Zoo (published by Design Studio Press use the ARTZRAY discount code).

This clever and talented character designer who has worked on numerous live action and animated projects, graciously took time out from his busy schedule to share a bit of his wit and positivity with Artzray readers.

“Life’s more fun, more fulfilling, and more rewarding when you’re actively pursuing your passions.” –Chris Ayers

Tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you got into this crazy little business. Is this where you thought you’d land?

I’m originally from Minnesota and have been working in the entertainment field as a Los Angeles-based character designer and concept artist for the past fifteen years. I still have to pinch myself from time to time when I realize that I’m making a living doing something that I love to do, and have loved to do my entire life.

Growing up, I dreamt of one day working in the movies, helping to create the types of characters, monsters, and stories that I found to be so inspiring, entertaining, and just plain cool! That dream changed from a “someday dream” to a “why not now? dream” during college, specifically when I had the opportunity to study abroad for a semester in Florence, Italy. That experience of being out of my element, surrounded by people speaking in a foreign tongue, helped me build the confidence and independence that was necessary to move out to L.A.

I had no idea where I would end up or what I would be doing—or if I would even “make it” at all. But I did know that if I didn’t give it a shot I would always wonder, “What if…”
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Mr. Poole Goes to Washington with the Armory Center for the Arts

Marshall Ayers November 24, 2015 Events, Visual Arts

The Armory Center for the Arts receives the 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award.

Before last week high school senior Dalon Poole had never traveled away from his hometown of Pasadena, California, or been on a plane, much less gotten a hug from the First Lady. These were some pretty big life events for this aspiring teen photographer. Just like the Jimmy Stewart character in the classic Frank Capra film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, Dalon has been changed forever by his visit to the nation’s capital.

Student Dalon Pool accepting the 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from First Lady Michelle Obama on behalf of the Armory’s Art High program. Photo credit: Steven E. Purcell

Dalon’s trip to Washington, DC to visit The White House was the result of his participation in the Armory Center for the Arts’ “Art High” program, which recently won the 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award—the nation’s highest honor for these programs.

Armory Art High student Dalon Poole (right) and friend create a collaborative mural on panel at the La Pintoresca Teen Education Center in Pasadena.

Dalon and I met after school at the La Pintoresca Teen Education Center where the Armory’s Art High is held and where he now has a job as an “Armory Teen Apprentice”. Dalon told me just being in Washington, D.C. was so fun and everything looked different to him from home. “They have lots of trees. And cool monuments everywhere. We went to museums too.”

Dalon said the night before the award presentation there was a formal dinner held at the hotel where all the teen recipients with their respective organizations were staying. They came from around the country to attend the event and the dinner gave everyone a chance to meet one another and socialize.

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photo credit: Jon Lapointe

What was it like meeting the other students who got the award? Dalon said “Everyone was shy at first but then it was like, oh, I dance, I take pictures, I play an instrument. We all wanted to be here. We all felt so special that we got picked. One came from Salt Lake, one from New York, they came from all over. But they all thought I was lucky because I live in California.”
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3 Ways To Know What College Admissions Are (Really) Trying to Tell You

Brennan Dignan November 10, 2015 Performing Arts, Student Resources, Visual Arts

College Admissions for Performing and Visual Arts Students by the CSSSA Foundation Bridge to College Program.

By: Eugene Kim

Imagine you are at the beach and start to wade out into the ocean. You get about waist deep and notice a huge wave coming toward you. What do you do? You take a deep breath and dive into the wave. Well, that is basically what the college application process is like. Here’s my first piece of advice: just like that wave, take a deep breath and don’t let the admission process overwhelm you. If you get too focused on acceptance, you will miss out on the wealth of information that schools provide to applicants, not to mention losing who you are in the face of trying to be all things to all people. Too often students are blinded by a schools “brand” and miss out on this valuable opportunity to chose the place that is right for them. Here are three tips:
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Jacob Davich Makes Music One Step at a Time

Samantha Jacobs November 10, 2015 Acting, Artist Profiles, Career Advice, Music, Performing Arts

An Interview with Musician Jacob Davich

When Jacob Davich was 12, he went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, CA. What started out as a morning of tagging along while his mom shopped turned into the day that would kickstart Jacob’s music career. Right outside this flea market, casting directors were auditioning for a new TV commercial project. Jacob’s natural confidence in a performance setting shone through, as he proceeded to rap Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” in front of a group of strangers. Jacob would later find out that 600 people auditioned for this commercial, and Jacob was selected as one of five to star in what would be the first iTunes commercial.

Since then, Jacob has developed into a talented and driven actor and musician. I had the privilege of getting to interview Jacob to discuss his transition from acting to music, his inspiration and his passion for his work.

Top 10 List of Animated Films (by a real animator)

Christine Griswold November 3, 2015 Animation, Film, Visual Arts

Top Ten Theatrically-released animated films (in no particular order) according to Chuck Sheetz, Emmy Award-winning Director of The Simpsons and UCLA Theater Film and Television Professor.

1. King Kong (1933)

I have watched this film more times than any other. I never get tired of it. It has a flawless script. The smash cut from Carl Denham shouting “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World!” on Skull Island to the opening night months later in New York is a prime example of the instantaneous leap forward in time and space that only film can do. Atop the Empire State Building, the confusion on Kong’s face after he touches his wounded chest and studies the blood on his fingers is a landmark for acting in animation.

2. La Jetee (1962)

Chris Marker’s science-fiction photomontage film qualifies as animation because virtually the entire film is made up of images shot with a still camera. If you’re interested in animation and not confident about your drawing skills, watch this film

3. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Proof that with a strong script and memorable characters you can do a great feature length film with very flat, 2D characters and backgrounds. Probably the best animated feature ever made from a TV show.

Connect Week 2015 Panel Explores Intersection of Art and Technology

Marshall Ayers October 27, 2015 Events, Performing Arts, Sponsors, Visual Arts

DO ART AND TECHNOLOGY GO TOGETHER?

Should artists embrace technology, or stick to pen and paper? Once you involve a computer, is it really even art any more? Is technology ruining art, or making it better?

“Get Art Out of Technology” was a roundtable panel discussion held last week as part of the Innovate Pasadena Connect Week 2015. Convened by Echo-Factory, a Pasadena based advertising agency, artists working in the tech industry were invited to share their insights into the benefits and challenges that artists are faced with by new technologies. What changes and what stays the same as an artist moves from one technology to another? How will education teach the next generation of emerging young artists when technology is driving career changes at ever faster speeds?

CSSSA People – Leslie Fraser

Heidi Kershaw October 19, 2015 Artist Profiles, Dance, Performing Arts, Sponsors

Meet Leslie

Leslie Fraser is a 2003 CSSSA (California State Summer School for the Arts) dance alum who now enjoys working in her field of interest, dance! She reflects on her life as a CSSSA student and credits it with being the bedrock of her work ethic. The intense time commitment charged Fraser to rehearse eight hours per day in class, and additional practice time outside of class, just to refine that day’s learnings. She always had a vision of reaching her artistic potential but she notes that her experience taught her how to achieve it.

Fraser says, “I learned that by investing my time and energy into dance, that I increased my own artistic standard and valued the pursuit of excellence in and outside of my discipline.”

Her pursuit of excellence spilled over to academic pursuits and beyond. She attended Whittier College, one of the more diverse liberal arts colleges in the country. In 2008, she earned her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), in Art and Art History. Out of school, Fraser got a job as an Arts Specialist and then a Development Coordinator at Pasadena’s highly reputed Kidspace Children’s Museum.
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