What’s Coming?

This is my last post for FanstRAvaganza 3, and as always, I remind you that I’m part of a larger conversation which is found here.

What a week?! Yes, this seems to be a drumbeat in the RA blogsophere. But phew, it’s a great way to express what’s happened, and for those who didn’t make it around to all of the posts this week, I hope you know they are not going away. Christine of CDoart has lovingly preserved easy access to them again this year, and I hope she knows how much we all appreciate it. You can access here.

Thank you to all of the bloggers who participated. You are all lovely, and it would be lovely to meet all of you face to face sometime. We’ll have to plan that.

Others behind the scenes were Judiang, Traxy, Natalie, Mulubinba, bccmee, Fabo, and a special thanks to Servetus for being our coordinator. Lovely job!

From here, it will be interesting to see what RA Blogosphere develops by this time next year, and yes, we’re already talking about F4. LOL! Last year we had a bit of an increase. This year? I’m wondering if it will be the explosion I’ve been anticipating. Whatever happens, so far it’s been a lot of fun, and I hope we all continue to find it rewarding to discuss the subject. Or is that the object? :D

March 18, 2012
Categories: Fandom, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

Telling Stories

This is actually my day 6 post!

As with the other days, please remember this is part of a much larger conversation about Richard Armitage, and again, you would be pleased by checking out the rest of it here.

Yesterday, I was away from home and had several hours of uninterrupted time while I waited for the high school track team to finish their meet. This time was to be used for finally getting a video completed which was to go with this post. The thing had me in its grip all week, and my hard head was determined to conquer, so the first few hours yesterday were spent in my hotel room continuing to wrestle with it. Check out time came, and I had to move my tussle to a reliable wifi spot — the local McDonald’s. I did eat something while I was there; free food is always an enticement (such is the “perk” of a school bus driver), and as I was wiping my hands of the last bits of my Filet-o-fish sandwich, so I wouldn’t smudge my laptop’s keyboard, a rough looking couple sat down near me. They had a laptop too and were aware that my seat was next to the only electrical outlet in the dining area. The man asked if he could plug in, and then he started quizzing me about my computer. Knowing I had to get that damn video done, but being a people person and being someone who can be easily distracted, it was beyond my power to ignore these people who were continually trying to talk to me. Oh, I mentally berated myself for choosing McDonald’s as a place to work, berated myself for committing to post every day, and berated myself for not wanting to listen to these people.

So I finally closed the WordPress session and turned to take a full look at these two. The man had on dirty clothes, was unshaven, and some of his front teeth were missing, but it did nothing to keep the twinkle in his eye from drawing me. The woman, who was a tall, painfully thin, dark eyed beauty with almost a regal presence, looked a bit wistful for something. This is where I cut to the chase to ensure this post doesn’t run to near 3,000 words. These people were homeless, and the man is probably a genius and the woman supposedly a former wife and mother with four children, which ended when she became a meth addict. Now, this is far from my first in-depth encounter with someone who is homeless, and it’s not going to be my last, but it is the most fascinating. I spent the rest of the day with them, and I won’t bore you with all the details as they’re considerable, but I did end up taping them with their consent, and I’ve already verified some of their information as accurate and will continue to try to verify some more. From what I know so far, these two need their story told. What a privilege it would be to tell it!

This morning when the story just wouldn’t leave me alone, I thought of ‘West of Memphis,’ which I plan to see, and I wondered at the considerable power Peter Jackson has to get a story told. And now Richard Armitage is in his camp, and if he is as quick a study as he appears, he will leave that place much different with almost none of it the result of new found fame. Richard is a storyteller. He has continually revealed in his interviews that he insinuates himself into the storytelling process. Sometimes the writers have talked about it:

One of our great casting coups is Richard Armitage (who plays Sir Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff’s right-hand man), modest man of sharp intellect…Today, he knocks on my door with a pencil and pad. Can he ask me some questions about his character? I tell him, truthfully, that I can’t believe he is here – an actor of his talent, sitting on my sofa, talking to me about playing this part. I feel so lucky. Suddenly I stop myself – do I destroy what little (gamma-male) authority I have by being so candid? I glance at him. My concerns are unfounded. He is blushing. A man of his talent. I remind myself that the only folk more insecure than writers are actors. — Dominic Minghella on the set of Robin Hood, 2006

Article here

And Richard is aware that he may sometimes be a pain with his need, but he can’t help it:

I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere near the high point. It may not even be in front of the camera. The older you get, the more critical you become. Whoever writes the stuff I’m in must think I’m a complete pain in the backside, because I will question them about every word the character utters.

And I’m excited about where that might lead:

I suppose I’m a bit too curious, but I think I probably will have a crack at directing at some point.

The rest of the article here

He must be in heaven right about now, and all because someone saw more than his ability to look adoringly at a female. What a shame it would be if he were consigned to nothing but that, nothing but our drooling and gushing over his sexual appeal. Oh, I’ve done my share, but that is not what brings me back again and again to see what he’s doing. Since the Vulpes Libris interview, I have been firm in my belief that he wants to tell a story. Richard III? He has talked about it a lot. So obviously, it’s a story he wants to tell, but is it his passion? Some of his fans think so, and eventually, we’ll find out.

Before I finish this post, I must say a hearty thanks to people and places on the web that make this blog possible. Yes, I’m saying that if they didn’t exist, I would not be able to run this place. LibraryGirl and the ladies who maintain the lovely database at Richard Armitage Central, Ali and her cohort Wendy at RichardArmitagenet.Com, Annette at RichardArmitageOnline, and all of the ladies at C19. If it weren’t for all of these people and their propensity to discuss and archive, I know I would never have started this blog nor have delved this deeply into what I believe is the most fascinating part of Richard Armitage. Thank you all for the great pleasure of doing that!

Edit: updated the Conversations page, so no more cheating. :D And I did not forget about Bertold Brecht. More on him after FanstRA.

second edit: I eventually talked about Brecht here.

March 18, 2012
Categories: Interviews, Movies, Robin Hood, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 14 Comments

A Hot Spur, If You Will


[click to enlarge]

FanstRAvaganza continues!

Please remember this is all part of a large conversation. Today’s Conversation found here.

Back later (yes, today) to continue my part of it.

March 15, 2012
Categories: Robin Hood . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

I Think Therefore I Am a Great Actor

Continuing on with my contribution to FanstRAvaganza 3:

I’m not going to pretend I understand all there is to know about Richard Armitage. Someone said earlier it would take at least a “40 parter” for that. May I suggest the parts would be infinite. I believe that’s the case for all of us. We are all complex. Some just make themselves look simple and in the doing of that lose our interest. Just know that this series is my attempt to shed a little light on what I’ve learned about this fascination with Richard and his characters. Also, there is no way I can do justice to Constantin Stanislavski, Bertold Brecht or Edward Gordon Craig within the confines of a blog post nor even a week of blogging on them. But I can highlight some salient points with respect to our guy.

When I first became aware of Richard Armitage, I just let myself enjoy the sensations his performances created in me. My greed for those feelings had me watching some of his shows over and over and over, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to feel like I was taking a drug. I’m fairly sure I appeared slack jawed to anyone who might have observed me in the process or shortly thereafter. And each time I came down from the high, I would intensely question myself about it. A common question was: how old am I? Never mind. :D The point is that I was old enough to know better than to be silly about some actor.

After I passed the initial euphoria, I had to explain (at least to myself) what had created it. A good looking guy with a great voice in a romantic role? That was it? I’m not quite so air headed or needy for male affirmation that it would generate this reaction. So I went in search of others who had a similar reaction. I lurked the forums for months, and there were some wonderful fan writings about the impressions Richard Armitage had made. Many others were overwhelmed by what they were seeing, but none of them (at least that I read) captured what was niggling in my brain, and candidly, I became frustrated by some of the rhapsodizing. I wanted it to answer me, and it just seemed like some were the same things said about every other good looking or compelling actor. I did watch other actors I appreciate for comparison — Edward Norton in ‘American History X,’ Gary Oldman in ‘My Immortal Beloved,’ Sean Penn in ‘Dead Man Walking,’ Russell Crow in ‘The Insider,’ Daniel Day-Lewis in ‘My Left Foot,’ ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being,’ and ‘In the Name of the Father’ and even Jimmy Stewart in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ All great performances, but it was abundantly clear they all had great writing and/or stories to propel them. Even with that, none of them had quite the same effect on me as Richard Armitage in much lesser roles and with less adept writing.

And what was the effect? An identification with something so real it made me feel I was there with the character and seeing the situation through his eyes. Some of those roles above had moments of that, but none were able to make me almost continuously see the story through their eyes — feeling their pain or frustration or joy or elation — as I have watching Richard Armitage. The only thing that has frequently had this effect on me is reading a well crafted book where a character or a scene has gotten inside my head, and I’m with them and in them, and sometimes I have to read books or parts of books again and again to experience the thrill of that moment of connection.

The scene in The Sun Also Rises where Jake is in the church trying to pray and then steps out into the sunlight is one of them. If there was ever a scene that I consider orgasmic, it’s that one. It nearly took my head off. There are others which come close, but that one I can barely speak of without almost having a meltdown, and I even got misty eyed typing these last few sentences. But with Richard Armitage, I was taken to that place of connection with almost no words. It was in his action:

Action or rather movement was integral to Craig, “theatre has sprung from movement.” Notice he doesn’t say words were the impetus. He does give deference to writing as the body of a play but movement was so important that he suggested the need for an Uber Marionette (sometimes described as inhuman) as the perfect actor who could be controlled by the director of a piece in order to achieve its vision. Richard Armitage has spoken several times of the importance of movement and his body to his craft, and he’s even spoken of smoldering with his back. Anyone who has seen the first episode of Robin Hood Series 3 knows how effectively he can use it:

But it is Stanislavski who explains how he is able to use his body to such great effect:

“if actors really mean to hold the attention of a large audience they must make every effort to maintain an uninterrupted exchange of feelings, thoughts, and actions among themselves. And the inner material for this exchange should be sufficiently interesting to hold spectators. The exceptional importance of this process makes me urge you to devote special attention to it and to study with care its various outstanding phases.”

Through Tortsov the Director he goes onto explain about self-communion, which is a way of facilitating intercourse within yourself and specifically between your brain and feelings, and communion between individuals, which requires you to first seek out the other person’s soul and inner world. At the train station when John Thornton looked at Margaret Hale, I felt he was looking at her soul, her inner world, and mine too. He was getting in my head.

I’m tired, and I’ve still got more to say, but I bid you adieu for now. More of this later. And hey, I got some pictures in this one. :D

Today’s Conversation found here.

edit: the thoughts in this post continue here.

March 14, 2012
Categories: North and South, Robin Hood . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 26 Comments

Understanding Richard Armitage

The question of Richard Armitage has intrigued me for awhile. He played a great part in a mini-series and in several other tv series. But how many people would that describe? Several. Maybe not legions but several. He’s good looking. How many fit that description? A bunch more. He’s very masculine. Even more fall into that category. Oh wait he also seems like a nice guy. We like how he presents himself, and his co-workers like him. Yep, a few more are like that. And did I mention he’s smart? I’m going with my gut on that one. The guy is smart, and I completely trust my instincts about this — instincts that have rarely let me down when taking an accounting of someone’s grey matter. So is it that he’s “the complete package?” Maybe. But that’s still not quite it. I have actually known good looking men who were smart and talented in something aesthetic (read that: they were sensitive enough to be talented in something aesthetic) and also very masculine and nice guys. Yes, I’m telling the truth! I worked with a man for years who had played football at Michigan State, was brilliant, super good looking, helluva nice guy, could sing really well, and he had a great sense of humor. Sometime I’ll have to tell you his story — it’s a doozy — but not today.

So what makes Richard Armitage special? Let me rephrase that? What makes Richard Armitage special to me? I have mentioned before that I think he’s special? Oh I haven’t? What the hell do you think this blog is about?! Or does me saying that he’s special to me make you feel weird? I know it’s made me feel weird. It made me feel so weird that I had to find out why I thought it. Since SO is the love of my life (despite our ups and downs and all arounds — plenty of those) and having four great kids… yes, dammit, I’m biased; they’re great, and I don’t want to hear anything else :D…I did not understand what was going on in my obsession to watch Richard Armitage.

Of course some people have distractions like this, and I’m not going to say I’m above having a distraction like this. Not at all. But watching his stuff is not merely a distraction from all of the really tough things going on in my life. Yes, there are some really tough things going on in my life. No, you don’t want to hear about them, and granted, some of watching him has been a distraction from those things. I admit it! But that’s not why I’m writing this post. That’s not why I started this blog. I do have an obsession, or am otaku as my friend James describes it. But my obsession is not Richard Armitage. It’s something else, and I think Richard is obsessed with it too.

I’ve said several times I wanted to avoid getting in Richard Armitage’s head, but my friends, I can’t help it. I had to get in his head in order to understand. Since I wasn’t going to do anything invasive with respect to his privacy, because frankly, I would be very upset if someone did that to me, I decided to investigate some indirect evidence of what may be in his head. This required a look at the influences on his professional life. Of course Miss Pat and Pattison’s College were of interest. But it was too difficult to glean much without crossing boundaries. So I’ve consigned that experience to one that will have to wait for RA or some biographer to tell us a good deal more. I concentrated on LAMDA and some of the ways of thinking he was exposed to there.

As part of study at LAMDA, the students are required to have some proficiency in the history of the theater, its evolution into the modern theater and in part what we now think of as method acting, which I’ve learned can be a bit of a nebulous term. Since the term has become a little fluid, I went back to the sources that RA was expected to go back to. Namely Edward Gordon Craig, Constantin Stanislavski and Bertold Brecht. You may be thinking, “I don’t want to hear about those guys. I just want to know how Richard Armitage does what he does.” Go back and read this post from the beginning again because there is no way to really understand unless you know a little something about these people. And let me say that reading the works of these three guys and a handful of others was life changing for me. I don’t make a habit of throwing that comment around without good cause, so I hope you will respect what I’m saying here without knowing anything yet. LOL!

And I’ve written so much on this and don’t really want to edit, that I’m going to do the unforgivable and leave you hanging until tomorrow.

edit:

The thoughts continue here.

March 12, 2012
Categories: SO . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 30 Comments

Let the Conversation Begin

This is my first post for FanstRAvaganza 3, and beginning tomorrow I will be covering something that has been the most delightful part of being a fan of Richard Armitage. Hang around while I begin to explore the creative urge and process as it relates to acting and more.

But this post is primarily for highlighting the structure of this year’s event, and its effort to promote community and diversity:

Blogfest organizers have found a way to do something quite innovative (and organizationally complicated): each post will link to another post via what they’re calling a tag-team, allowing readers to move through shared ideas from blog to blog, almost as if they’re conversations about a theme or a performance. Because, of course, it’s intended to be a conversation: a way for 34 different writers and their many readers to chime in and think about these topics. What a terrific idea, and what a nicely democratic way to get everyone talking to everyone else. — Feminema

It should also be noted that no two posts will explore exactly the same aspects of a topic (or chain). With a rendering of each day’s links, it’s our hope that you will be drawn to each blog piece and move easily through from one to the next. Today’s Conversation found here.

March 11, 2012
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 8 Comments

It’s All About Richard Armitage, Baby!

What?! FanstRAvaganza! Starts March 12th. Wait. You’ve never heard of Richard Armitage? He’s the guy on the header, and the sidebar, and here:

here:

here:

and also here:

Click on any of the pictures for more, and if that’s not enough, join me for Fanstra. Yep, it had to be abbreviated since I kept misspelling it, which I’ve finally figured out is due to almost every letter being typed with the left hand.

Okay, some of the posts this week will be about his fans, but it all leads back to him. :D

Screencaps and still from RichardArmitagetNet.com

March 10, 2012
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 4 Comments

This is One of the Reasons

There are many aspects of Richard Armitage which are compelling. Of course he has an interesting mind to go with his unbelievable masculinity, but it’s the voice that does it for me. No matter how he looks, that voice is guaranteed to send a tingle up my spine. Witness:

If you aren’t affected by that, then, well, we don’t have much in common — at least about this. Sincerely, Puddle of Goo :D

I chose his voice for last year’s FanstRAvaganza which made it so easy for me. This year? We’ll see how it goes since I have one post written as of today. But! one thing that’s an improvement — my life is not completely insane as it was this time last year. So no matter how this event turns out on my blog, I’m thankful.

Audio clip from Venetia courtesy of my collection by way of Naxos Audio Books — those lovely people who had the great foresight to engage Richard Armitage to read for them.

March 8, 2012
Categories: Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 11 Comments

Back from Sanity

It took me a little longer than I thought, but I’m back. The foray into politics wore me out in a way running this blog never could. Despite that, my sane self still wants to take over. I’ve fought it off enough to make this post.

I am going to talk about FanstRAvaganza at some point, but for now, read Servetus’ post which has details about when and where and whom.

January 19, 2012
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: Leave a comment

Ripples Rippling

The last day or so has been interesting. I’ve received several notes from fellow fans concerned about my becoming disappointed if Richard Armitage never acknowledges my request of a recorded fan message, and I just received another one a few minutes ago. It’s compelled me to make this post.

I want all of you who sent me a note to know that I really appreciate you trying to allay any possible disappointment on my part. But I have to reiterate that I do call my letters “fake fan letters,” and I do that for a reason. They are larks as is this whole blog really, and if RA or any of “his people” ever see them, that’s great. If not, that’s fine too. I also find it intersting that about once a week someone tells me they think he reads my blog, and I was going to write about this phenomenon eventually. I guess today is the day. I’m sure someone somewhere who’s involved with show business and who has a six degrees of separation thing going on with RA has read my blog. But I’m not too worried about Richard Armitage or anyone close to him reading it and no one else should be either.

And my written letters have been so over the top that no one has ever really taken me seriously and never been concerned about what I’ve said to the point of worrying about my well being. But obviously this latest “letter” has provoked concern, and I think I know why. It was the tone of my voice. My voice is naturally very deadpan, which at times has been a stumbling block for me. I was deadpan almost out of the hatch if Mom and Dad are to be believed, and then I spent most of my adult years working in a profession that was highly technical, and well, deadpan was the way we all communicated, and actually the more deadpan the better. The more deadpan, the more gravitas with that bunch.

But deadpan can sometimes equate to seriousness that may not exist. People who don’t really know me do often think I’m serious when I may not be. Couple that with my attempt to sound emotional, and well, it just doesn’t sound very good. I was being extremely emotional for me in that recording! I was working hard to give a cadence to my voice so that it didn’t sound like I was falling asleep and perhaps making all of you fall asleep as well, but I think it just came off sounding needy. And it was hard work! Yet I knew if I did more than one take that it would sound stilted. So I left it as it is, and to some of you it sounds like I’m hinging my entire being on RA making a recording. Fascinating how much our voices send a message even if we don’t intend it, and apparently, I’m woefully in need of some skills. Richard? Richard? Do you hear that? :D Sorry, I couldn’t resist. However all of this has gone down, I think it’s so fitting that my voice should generate such a reaction given the subject of my FanstRAvaganza posts.

Oh, please don’t get me wrong. I would love it if RA got wind of my request (whether he knew it was mine or not) and responded with a recorded message. I would be tickled, and I would hope the whole fandom would be tickled, and it would never be construed as playing favorites. I’ve also gotten those cautions in the last day too. But the only favorite I’ve wanted him to play is with Nat. Yes! I admit that unabashedly. Guilty as sin on that one! LOL! But do we all agree that Nat is special? Yeah, I thought so. However, I think there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell of that or the recording happening and especially not when I consider the request is by someone from a piddly blog like mine. I’m not trying to wallow in self-deprecation to impress any of you by saying that. Frankly, I have no one in my life to impress. SO and I know each other too well to try to impress each other, so I feel no compulsion to impress anyone, and can I tell you it’s a lovely place to be? Okay, I’ll stop on that because I feel a tangent coming on. Just know that I’m a realist.

But also please know that I’ve never aspired to Richard Armitage reading my blog to have fun here. Thank God! LOL! If I really thought Richard Armitage had time to read all of these blogs, and I was expecting him to receive what I’ve said, I would have gotten my feelings hurt a long time ago. But thankfully, I’m just having some fun, and I hope all of you are as well! Additionally, I just don’t get my feelings hurt too often, and certainly not by someone I don’t know. If we’re talking about SO, that’s a whole ‘nother story. He has the ability to raise an eyebrow at times and hurt my feelings. Poor guy. LOL!

I’m not quite sure what I should label this post. I started to title it “Lighten Up, Francis” but felt that would have been too flippant and ultimately demeaning to those who expressed real concern for me, and again I thank all of you for that. So I’ll just leave it by saying please don’t worry, and let’s get back to having some fun. :D

In that interest, I can’t help but do this:

Dear Rich,

Dude, if you ever really do read my blog, please, please know that I’m not pining for you to respond. Really I’m not. Now I realize this may sound like the lady doth protest too much, but well, I don’t know how else to say it.

Net: I like to watch your stuff whether you’re moving or not, and given that, I do hope you have never felt anything here was done at your expense. That aside, uh, well, uh, dammit, man! I’m having a good time, and I hope the specter of your presence never gets in the way.

Phew, there I said it.

Respectfully,

One of your crazy fans, who has enough serious stuff going on elsewhere to seldom want to get close to it here and hopes you understand that. I think you do! Unless my gut is way off, and I don’t think it is.

P.S. Oh, and hopefully, one day soon you will no longer be a faceless blob on Netflix. :D

I’ve got to have a picture! Hmmm. Let me see. What would put us back on track? Oh yeah:

1a1bm

If you click on it, you get the big version. :D

Screencap courtesy of Karima. At least I think this is one of hers.

April 12, 2011
Categories: Fandom, Robin Hood, SO, Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 38 Comments

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