Media Reel "A" for Mark Wells

This is my newest media reel for audition submissions.

It contains a scene from "Grace" where I play a 'Dinner Guest' who, instead of saying grace, uses other means to provide something prior to eating, or so it would seem.

I got the only real word in the scene, after some projectile vomiting that I did not show in this reel.

There is als a short set of views at my 'Cubicle Zombie' for IGN.com's online commercial for its latest episode of "Dead Rising II" which came out on October 11, 2001.

This reel also contains parts of a song which was shot in the late summer of 1991 as part of Fiasco Film's "Water Music 1991".

With this reel there are a couple of scenes from "More On T.V. (Moron TV)".

'Darryl Iyckt' is seen on this video, too.

Maybe this newest reel will find enough attraction to provide me even more paying roles than I have already on my resume.

With any luck, you might be watching a reel from an up and coming background/extra actor.

One of the Worst!

Perhaps one day I will expand on what this is and where it appears on "X" movie.

But right now let's just admit that it is what it is and hope it doesn't go viral and embarrass my family and whatever remaining friends who would admit to being my friend.

Yes, there is a pillow under my shirt.

Yes, I did fall and get very bloody on the shoot.

I added the explosion to what was sent to me. The Director of the project either did not know how to put in an explosion or for some other reason, simply didn't add it to what was a 6 minute, 29 second segment of a longer film.

Essentially, I am supposed to get shot with a magic bejeweled exploding arrow that blows me into smithereens.

My part was being one of two maniac bus drivers who were chasing the heroine and the female aliens, for some reason.

If you look very, very carefully, yes we are twirling chain key fobs with a D-ring held in our hand, as weapons.

The 'arrows' used in other parts of the full film still have their rubber ends that make them stick to walls. The 'art department' didn't bother to try to make pointed ends on the arrows.

Not that there was an 'art department' on the project, in the first place.

I've learned more rules in my new working life: Don't volunteer for indie projects where shooting on a D5 or D7 is advertised. Those shoots are less than very, very, very low budget.

This shot comes from one of my earlier projects for the time frame of August to November.

It will be long remembered by me and if and when you see the full segment, you will be astonished because it really is beyond belief.

The Assassin and the Croc Hunter

This is a portion of a longer video titled, "More On T.V. (Moron TV) produced in about 2008.

Several Producer/Directors included segments to make up the full film.

Much of the concept for the larger production came from "The Groove Tube" a feature film produced several decades ago.

My portion of the larger production took from one of my favorite films, "Apocalypse Now" and from my mimicking of the late, great Mr. Steve Irwin.

My piece also is subject to my absurd sense of humor that many viewers have trouble enjoying. It is highly visual and subject to different interpretations.

The piece here does not include a few scenes of me inside the 'inn' and I think you might be grateful for that. My weird sense of humor ran amok the day we shot those bits.

One of the players in the piece has been in other productions but has never spoken a word on camera, until the word he spoke in this piece.

First Zombie Reel by Mark Wells

This is my first published zombie reel.

I have calendared more zombie roles because some folks think I can play a 'believable' zombie in different ways.

The first scenes are from a very low budget 'feature film' titled; "GRACE".

My character dines with other zombies and our 'saying' of grace uses laughter to the point of hysteria, followed by 'relieving' ourselves of what we ate.

I get the only 'real' word in these scenes and I have omitted the other four characters, except for the zombie I was seated next to.

The second set of scenes is from an IGN.com Internet commercial for the Capcom game of;

"Dead Rising 2" and it's newest episode; "Uranus Zone Exposed", which came out on October 11.

My zombie was the featured male and we were 'watching' a former Penthouse Pet who dropped her top in a portion of the video that was shot after our scenes were done.

Myself and the other zombies were to react to a 'green screen' television, being directed by the Director who know what we would be 'looking at' even though we only were looking at a blank T.V. screen.

Both scenes depict a happier zombie than most people think zombies act like.

I can play all types of zombies even though I still don't know much about the genre.

In the second set of scenes, I actually chomped down on the foam foot but I didn't pull off any toes.

The makeup artist left the site before shooting was finished and I didn't have any decent makeup cleaning material so I drove home in the face makeup. I'm glad folks didn't look at me all the way down the 405 freeway. Thankfully, it was a lighter style makeup compared to many other zombie faces viewed throughout the media.

Now I have packed my car with more essentials for a background/extra actor including cleanup supplies and extra clothing.

"Dead Rising 2" Commercial

FIRST! All of the cast, including me 'watched' a green screen on the small monitor I was by and we all acted as if we were watching the woman who was never really there, during our portions of the commercial.

This is a real online commerical I did for a Capcom game's new episode that came out on October 11, 2011.

Zombie games are something I know almost absolutely nothing about. Somebody told me they know about "Dead Rising 2" and it might be a popular game, I just don't really know, though.

There are lots of interesting things about this video's production that folks may not be able to see from it.

First, the commercial was shot in the building that houses IGN.com a gaming site.

But the video was not shot in IGN's suite but rather the former space of a much more well known online company that has fallen onto such hard times, it's 'death' may be at hand.

This video was shot in the former offices of what was the headquarters of MySpace, we were told.

Most of the cast of the commercial know about the particular game and they all know so much more about zombie things than I know, or might ever want to know.

When you first watch the commercial, there is a female zombie heading towards the camera.

The young woman also had her husband as another cast member in the commercial and we all got to view her and her husband's wedding album from the wedding not that long ago.

It was quite a wedding album for most because she and her husband got married in a zombie-themed wedding, complete with makeup, wardrobe and lots of zombie stuff in the background.

These two young people seemed fairly normal to me but when folks learned of her profession, most of them could not believe what she does in another part of her working life.

I will admit I had never heard her name before and I never have had any interest in watching what her other work consists of...lesbian porn videos.

One should never assume what someone else might work as, just by their appearance or the fact they are in a hetero marriage. I liked both of them and together they looked like a fun and very loving couple.

As to the actress that appeared in place of the green screen all of us 'watched', she was basically looking at herself while she was in her zombie persona.

The actress first appears by the water cooler near the beginning of the commercial and then later, she appears near where I was sitting.

If you watch the video and notice that a group of zombies gather to watch what my zombie character is watching, the actress, in her zombie garb is to my left and looking over the cubicle panel, at what I am watching.

It was quite the transformation to see her as a zombie and then, as I was leaving after my scene was 'in the can' see her dressed as she was in the green screen shot, wig and all.

A publisher of a very popular site on the Web came to the shoot to interview the cast and director for an article he was doing for his site.

He asked me if I wished to be part of his article but since I know virtually nothing about the zombie life or genre, I decided to let others who have much more interest in the zombie life and all that goes along with that, be involved in the article.

If you are into everything 'zombie' and you get a look at others who were in the commercial and then appeared in his video article, maybe you can comment back to me and let me know where to find that article.

I was and still am very impressed with ALL the cast members and production crew that created that commercial. NOBODY was anything other that just a real person doing what the liked or loved to do and there was nothing nasty or foul that went on, in any way.

The foot I chomped on was foam, of course. It tasted just like painted foam should taste like. I could have bitten the big toe completely off, but I chose not to so it could be used again.

Another casting call, another fun time.

"GRACE"

Oh, to be a zombie!

This is from a portion of a direct-to-Internet feature in which I play a 'dinner guest'.

The zombie genre seems to be growing in popularity these days and this short scene depicts zombies 'saying' grace in a manner and form I guess only zombies appreciate.

The bit has us conversing by beginning with a light chuckle then heading towards hysteria, until we could no longer hold down the contents of our meal.

The strange, yet unzombie aspect of our meal is that it did not consist of 'brains' or human body parts as so many other zombie meals consiste of.

The producer and director of the feature provided lunch prior to the scene, in a park in West Los Angeles, by the Federal Building.

That 'real' meal was from an Indian restaurant and what the cast offered back was a mixture of the leftovers.

Each zombie provided their own ultimate expression of the leftovers and I was the one to project out what I had taken in.

It took four takes from me to get about the one second of my 'projection' viewed on the video.

The Director of Photography used a Cannon D7 High Definition camera and he sat at another table about 8 feet away from me. I informed him that I might project myself a great enough distance to have him find some matter on or near him...and he did.

I got the only real word in the scene, so I got to add that I got a line to my resume.

I have not viewed the entire feature and I might write a comment to this post once the entire feature is finished.

Darryl Ickyt Flubs A Song.

"Darryl Ickyt" is a member of the Reeves family of characters I began working with over 25 years ago.

He is the drunk outcast of the large family, yet he doesn't seem to care.

Darryl is usually a happy drunk even though he is homeless.

"Darryl" was almost kicked out of a large Halloween party over twenty years ago when a security guard didn't realize that Darryl is just a character I created and portray at times.

Darryl Ickyt Performs Waltzing Matilda

Darryl tries to fake an Australian accent. However, he has had too many drinks to do any sort of decent accent.

He stumbles, gives up his attempt at any accent and ends his horrible rendition of a song based on a true story.

Darryl Ickyt Performs Drunk Song

Darryl Ickyt is viewed 'singing' a song about someone who has had too much to drink.

Darryl Ickyt Performs A Portion of "Daniel"

Here is "Darryl" and his drunken rendition of part of a poem written by Bernie Taupin that Elton John put music to.

Media Reel #1

Media Reels are very important SOME of the time, when submitting yourself for a particular part or role in a film, on T.V. or for a live performance.

My first full Media Reel is under five minutes long and would probably never been watched through by a casting person. They tend to skip forward, quickly.

This Reel uses video taken as far back as 1991 as I try to empathize my more comedic side and improvisation, along with some 'mockumentary' production.

My Short Comedic Media Reel

I will post more short videos adding to my collection of Media Reels used to submit to casting persons when I submit for participation in a movie or T.V. project.

The Wedding of Pamela and Dave

What originally began as a two-camera, wide screen, Hi Definition, 18 minute, 30 second, edited video of the wedding of Pamela Platt to David Wells has been boiled down to this.

The original 2.7 Gigabyte mp4 video has been shrunk to about 93.7 Megabytes, small enough for the 100 Megabyte limit blogspot allows for.

The bride and groom are on an eight-month oddesy/honeymoon and just today where they are, they had to decide whether to visit the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" in Hanoi, Viet Nam or take in another local site before heading off to their next stop....Da Nang, Viet Nam.

Today, August 23, 2011 where Dave and Pamela are is the third anniversary of their first meeting each other while on safari in Africa.

Today is also David's 33rd Birthday.

Pamela's sister Kylie wrote on Dave's FaceBook page that she was jealous of their travels and commented on which 'exotic' place they were going to visit today.

I don't know about you but I never thought the Prisoner of War building where U.S. Senator John McCain and too many others spent time at long ago, is 'exotic' by any stretch of the imagination.

The couple will head to Ankor Wat in Cambodia after Da Nang and before their Tiger Safari in India, in early October. Now THAT is exotic.

We all wish the happy couple a wonderful journey that is safe and physically as comfortable as can be.

The parents of the couple, Jan and Perry Platt and Lori, Mark and Terri Wells could not be happier for them.