Evan Meena reviews the short film, SELF-TAPE (view at https://vimeo.com/464075361)
Jack Utrata stepped from behind the camera to present an honest Charlie Brown-esque homage to the American actor in this tense part of the 21st century. Not just due to covid, actors have been asked for years to submit “reel” or “audition tapes.” well, Utrata, a clever presence with a comedic nasal tone, created a truly funny and yet still endearing and engrossing “audition tape” of his own.
Besieged by the Murphy’s law living in his own head, a young actor prepares to send in an audition tape for what we discover is a part that shouldn’t be worth the worry. Not able to get out of his own way, the young thespian mires through all forms of audition insecurity.
Utrata accounted himself a good actor and a clever filmmaker interspersing cuts in the middle of lines and movement to create the same frenetic feel that must be going on in the nervous actor’s head. The dialogue – while built for the schtick almost exclusively – found ways of putting a plot of a long-suffering lover helping through yet-another audition.
Ironically, the disastrous audition video this actor made turned out to be a really excellent one for Utrata.
Conceived by Nathaniel P. Claridad. Starring Jack Utrata. Filmed and Edited by Jack Utrata.
inDfilm 