Take a peek at this opportunity. If you fit one of the many characters below, please follow up by sending the requested info to the contact listed. Let them know that you heard about this from Big Fish NW Talent. - Gordon

Dead Gentlemen Presents a Non-Union Volunteer Web Series: "JourneyQuest" is an action-adventure fantasy comedy by Matt Vancil, writer and director of the cult smash hit films "The Gamers", and "Dorkness Rising" (www.deadgentlemen.com), which have played at fantasy conventions and film festivals world wide. The shoot will take place in March 2010, dates TBA. Audition dates for actors are Nov. 20 and 21, with callbacks the 22nd. Physical fitness is a plus, and experience in stage combat and/or martial arts is preferred for most lead roles. We will be shooting outdoors in March and days will be long, so a good attitude and good all-weather gear will keep you warm, as the locations will only occasionally be comfortable. Implied partial nudity will be required for three roles. The first season must be volunteer, for all cast and crew. Subsequent seasons will be paid for lead actors. We intend to create an ongoing web presence funded by DVD sales, advertising, and merchandise, like "The Guild" and "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". 1-minute monologue requested but not required (we will cut your monologue off at one minute so there is time to read from the script). Sides will be sent if you receive an audition slot.


PLEASE SEND E-PICTURE and RESUME when you write to request an audition: leapcasting@gmail.com



MAIN CHARACTERS


PERF (M, 30s) – Incompetent wizard Superfluous (Perf for short) is of average height and weight, with years of failure weighing him down. He is in no way imposing, an everyman with a kind face. Picture him as the I.T. specialist nerd in a fantasy setting.


NARA (F, 20s-30s) – Elf, lean and beautiful; detached, standoffish, with a healthy disdain for incompetence. She moves with natural, powerful grace, like a dancer or a hunting cat.


CARROW (M, 30s-40s) – A natural mediator; the glue that keeps his party of adventurers together. The character will require a great deal of awkward movement, so an ideal actor will be very flexible and in shape. Experience in dance or gymnastics is a plus.


GLORION (M, 30s) – Tall, handsome, and studly; Adonis in glittering armor. Not quite sane; yet exuding manliness and confidence. His voice should be deep, and have the brassy volume of a trumpet.


THE NINJA (F, 20s-30s) – An elf bounty hunter and assassin. She is lithe, like a gymnast. The role calls for a great deal of physical movement, contortion, and fighting, so athleticism is a must. A martial arts background is a plus. The character herself is terse, curt, and possesses a wicked sense of humor.


THE SWORD OF FIGHTING (M, voice only) – is brash, angry, petulant, and insulting—imaging a combination of belligerent frat boy and morning DJ shock jock. His voice must be mocking and forceful and hard to ignore—the kind of guy you want to hold down and punch over and over.


WREN (F, 20s) – Wren is cute and outgoing, with an impulsive but congenial personality. A strong singing voice is a must.



RECURRING CHARACTERS


SMART ORC (M, 20s-40s) – A rather cunning Orc, the Smart Orc is, well, smart. He’s savvy and discerning in general, and not just for an Orc. Athletic.


THE WATCHER (M, 50s+) – The Watcher is rather gaunt, with skin that hangs on his bones. Think Vincent Price.


RODERICK (F, any age) – The actress will play two identical characters, one male, one female. Needs to have the ability to speak in a gender-neutral voice.


STRONG-LIKE-BULL (M, 40s-50s) – An Orc scholar with a doctorate in archaeology, sort of a green-skinned Indiana Jones. Largeness is a plus.


DEATH (M, any age) – The Grim Reaper: tall, gaunt, and spooky.


DAGGIE (F, 30s-40s) – Like all female Dwarves, she’s short. She is cute, buxom and sturdy.


TAP (M, any age; children considered) – Tap is a short, petite Halfling.


HORT (M, 20s+) – A stripper—the only male stripper—who works at the burlesque show. For an Orc, he’s rather svelte. Gay.


THE WICKED KINGS – (2 Males, 1 Female)

* DEEP VOICE (M, 40s+) – Loud, bombastic, and full of angry fire. Imagine a heavyset actor with huge whiskers, like a 19th-century president.
* LADY’S VOICE (F, 40s+) – Cold, cutting, and sardonic. Your typical ice queen.
* FOPPISH VOICE (M, 20s-30s) – Whiny, almost androgynous voice, not a stereotypical flaming homosexual, though it may come across that way.


MINOR CHARACTERS


RIVER SPIRIT (F, 20s-40s) – A petite, ethereal woman with otherworldly beauty. She must be willing to udergo radical hairstyling.


WARRIOR ANGEL (F, 20s-30s) – A valkyrie: strong, tall, athletic, and intimidating, without sacrificing beauty or femininity. Stage combat experience is a plus.


ELF MESSENGER (M or F, 30s) – Has the beauty and grace of the elves. Can be either gender.


OPPHAN MATRON (F, 40s+) – A stout nun-type.


ORPHAN (M or F, 7-10) – Your typical street urchin: thin, scruffy, and doe-eyed.


MARIBELLE (F, 20s-30s) – Petite and short as possible while maintaining actual curves.


OGRE (M, 30s+) – Large, slow, dumb, ugly, smelly—every stereotype fits.


ORACLE (F, 40s+) – Stately and composed, almost statuesque; an aging hippy.


EXTRAS:


There will also be many opportunities for extras, especially those who can fight and those who can come garbed in period/fantasy costumes - sending a picture of your costume/s would be very helpful.

Hello.

This blog will explain basic techniques and principles as well as exercises which I have found to be enlightening. I will keep this blog primarily to exercises with finger, stick and sword as the focusing and balance extension to the body.

First. Fundamental physics.
Our bodies are different from dead matter in that we can distribute our balance to any point in our bodies whereas a machine must work with larger mass consistant surfaces with which to balance. Our vectors of movement are more fluid and as a result so are our capabilities. We also have the capability to balance between objects which consists of moving our balance in such a way as to become a medium through which the tension is balanced internally so it passes through from one hand to the other. This effect can be seen in metal balls that knock each other and as a result of their uniform density they pass the energy right through to the last ball. We can do this too with practice.

These are the kinds of things which I will convey to the reader in this blog; more technically I will explain what I am doing when I practice and what I find out through which practice techniques.

Second

StReaching.
StReaching is the action or reaching through tension for the sacred balance of muscle, tendon, ligament,bone and spirit. Some cultures refer to this internal balance as StHood, or rather the person who achieved this balance would garner the "hood" or mantle of "Saint", or (w)holy balanced being.

In my StReaching I listen to my tension and balance into it consciously. Not to break through it but to relax into it. Finding these limits to our physical capabilities is difficult but very rewarding as they hold within them memories and chemical pattern dependancies as well as other metaphores that must be released if we are to truly relax our hold on our body.

This can be done in many ways and the ways have many different names ranging from religion to martial in nature. I have practiced more forms than I can remember at any given time as I have continued to study no matter my environment. If their is no sensei I find a stick and hold it. Wave it around. Balance with it. StReaching while holding the stick in my hand or hands depending upon how heavy it is and my own strength. Always pushing myself I practice my form and feel my form while holding the extension. Lunging into space and attempting to feel the tip of the stick in the air where it stops and returns from at the end of its journey. This point is where I am balancing from. From point of stick to heel in the earth. Grounded and balanced.

Some exercises with finger, stick or sword.
After streaching for long enough to feel grounded in my body and with the earth and in the object I am focusing my balance with I will look for exercises to practice my balance.

Poking a tree. A good start is to lunge out a strong lunge that is strongly balanced and dense and flexible. Then move the point of your finger or stick onto the tree. Lean into it a little and balance on the tip of the stick. Moving my body around the stick I feel the different positions and how they feel physically. Where is my balance centered. What would happen if there was a person on the point of this stick. Would I just be poking them and causing irritation and annoyance or would I have control of their movement completely? I move from one to the next carefully and paying attention to my body and the changes in it from where I began.
Next after the tree has been mastered; When I can lunge a full out lunge from standing sword point down to throat point with jarring force without loosing my footing or balance while maintaining the capability to immediately parry in any quadrant. Then I can find a smaller pole to practice upon. A log against the tree, large dowel, a tennis ball hung from a string at different heights. When I do this I am very conscious about what on my body is at this height and where it is positioned. Also where did it move from to be in that position and where will it move next when I attack or defend depending upon my style. I then practice stopping force point thrusts and stands aimed to stop a body part from moving into the space where it is being moved into, many times unconsciously. If I am pushing the small diameter end of a staff into the point along a collision cource with the foreleg of a person.If I am grounded into the earth from tip to heel. The persons leg will not move beyond the staff and if the person is particularly large and or unconscious in their movements this can result in the snapping of ones tibia (shinbone).

My focus is not the breaking of shinbones with sticks. My focus is upon the dynamic of balance wherethrough one can transmit force through the body and out the other side.

A note on balancing.

By imagining gravity as a substance or field that can be heavier in one area and less dense in terms of magnitude in another we can begin to work with the natural movement of energy and energy fields of many different types. In exploring our own bodies intently and with discipline we are engaging, according to some, in true magik. Different cultures would like to have a copyright on techniques of inner balance so that they can regulate the people who might become more powerfull through inner balance and then utilize their power to subjugate, attack, disrespect or overthrow them. Religions and philosophies are designed to keep people from the truth of our own true divinity and distract us with plays and technicalities, all the while redefining the words themselves to suit the experiences they would prefer us to have.
I do not ascribe to this point of view.
It is my instanding experience that Karma is a natural force sometimes described as "cause and effect" others "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". These principles do not only apply to this physical world. This notion does not make senseas the principles are what our universal interactions are grounded in. We cannot escape it except by changing our energy patterns physically. We can change our physical imprints utilizing physical, emotional, psychological, meditative, yogic, tantric, musical, artistic, philosophic and on and on techniques and disciplines as our spiritual intention and focus brings about change everything else is fallout.

In closing. Swordplay, sword balancing, tai-chi, qui-gong, capoeira, calligraphy, drumming, singing and childs play all draw through us in the same principle way. We can attempt to take advantage of ourselves during this process and we can learn a great deal about our relationship within this physical universe as energetic beings. Striving towards balance in all things. Striving towards that perfect balance forward as the medium through which life happens harmoniously within this sea of cycles and freakuances.

I will meditate upon this and present a second part to this if any new practices reveal themselves to me.

Peace in me