Tag Archives: Internet

What is an RSS feed? And some (probably) useful feeds for Actors {The Film Set | Genevieve Sibayan}

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I don’t want to patronise you…so if you already know all this then scroll down for some (probably) useful feeds…if you think “hmm, feed, omnomnom” then keep reading.

What is an RSS feed?

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary Really Simple Syndication. It’s basically a way of subscribing to a blog or website or any number of things that publish content on a regular basis.

The RSS feed tells your RSS Reader that you’d like to receive updates as and when they happen. By subscribing to a site’s feed in Reader, you will automatically be notified when that website contains new posts or entries. Instead of checking sites repeatedly for updates, RSS feeds bring your favorite websites to you.

This means that you can be kept up to date with a web site and you don’t need to use your bookmarks or clutter up your email inbox with newsletters. Those of us who are Blackberry owners know the feeling of newsletter-overload-itis.

Err…what’s an RSS Reader?

An RSS Reader works a little like an email account. You can subscribe to all the feeds from different sites or sources you like and star, label or organise them into folders just like you can your email account. If you have a Google account then you are already set up for Google Reader, you just need to click on the text link at the top of your Google account page.

If you don’t want to use Google Reader then there are loads of readers out there (here’s a short list) and you can also get them in app form.

Right, got my Feed Reader…now what?

Go to the website you want to receive updates for and look for the feed icon…

When you see it on a website, clicking will usually direct you to that site’s feed. From there, you can either copy and paste the link to subscribe to the feed in Reader, or in the case of many browsers, click a button to subscribe directly.

If that doesn’t happen then right click on the icon and copy the link address. You can then use that address in your reader if you look for the Add Subscription link.

What’s the point again?

Ok, yes you have Twitter and Facebook and email newsletters and people telling you Eastenders spoilers over BBM (yeh, er thanks for that) but with social media and time differences you can miss things and a huge amount of the info isn’t relevant. Cue distraction and reading about peoples lunches and kittens. Readwriteweb.com has a great post on why feed readers rock.

Yeh but…what’s the point again?

You can use RSS feeds to get updates from Casting Directors blogs, updates for productions that are casting, industry news, Google Alerts (which I will go into in more detail about in the future), advice columns and even Youtube Channels.

If you want to follow a youtube channel the feed address is as follows: http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/base/users/[insert username here]/uploads

You can also use feeds to publicise your own stuff, your blogs, news updates on your website, your webseries channel etc.

Can you give us some examples?

Firstly I have to point out that these question headers are coming from my inner monologue who has just refered to itself as “us”. Should I be worried?

And yes, I can give you some examples…

The Stage – News Headlines and Features

UK pride and joy of the theatrical society The Stagehas almost 600 subscribers via rss alone proving it’s still relevant.

News rss: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheStageNews

Features rss: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheStageFeatures

ScreenTerrier

A great new UK blog with news on young british actors. Breaks the occasional story about castings. The feed isn’t even publicised on their site but already has plenty of followers.

rss: http://screenterrier.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

The Casting Scoop

USA based with lotsa info and insight but how else would I know that Twilight CD Lana Veenker is holding a workshop in London…

rss: http://castingscoop.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Nancy Bishop’s Blog

Casting director Nancy Bishop’s blog mostly contains updates about events, seminars, links to webinars and projects she’s casting all in THE BIGGEST FONT EVER. I picked up her book recently and I recommend it to any screen actor. Nancy is based in Prague but works internationally.

rss: http://nancybishopcasting.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Bafta Events Feed

Even if you’re not a member you can still go to some of the Bafta events. If you do go…remember to ring the doorbell. Or just hang around outside for a few minutes and giggle at people tugging at the door handles in vain. Not that I do that…honestly!

rss: http://www.bafta.org/events.xml

The Film Set – Frost Magazine

Subscribe to this feed…this actual feed that you’re reading now. A UK based column with interviews with Casting Directors actors etc…run by a couple of Actresses that go by the names of Catherine Balavage and Genevieve Sibayan. Errr…yeh that’s us.

rss: http://feeds.feedburner.com/FrostMagazineTheFilmSet

 

Genevieve’s Feed

That’s me! I’m the one writing this. Subscribe to it…if you like.

rss feeeeeed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GenevieveSibayan

I don’t wanna overwhelm you so I will stop but rest assured you WILL be getting more suggestions on ace blogs to follow wether you like it or not. Blogs from people who have much better advice than little old me! Tata for now folks!

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Genevieve Sibayan is a London based Actress, you can find Genevieve’s blog here and get updates by clicking on her rss feed. If you’d like to subscribe to The Film Set on Frost Magazine then click here.

Rounding up the Week {Miscuity}

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I hope you’re having a lovely day, here’s some of the weeks best thingummies to distract you from work. Hope you enjoy them.

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Slime mould that makes decisions like humans.

Brainless single cell organism that makes decisions like humans, read the full article here, then go and watch some disturbing videos.

The best quitting story of the week.

Stephen Slater quit his job at JetBlue after launching into a tirade, grabbing a can and jettisoning down the emergency ramp. We’ve all had days like that.

The other quitting story…

When Jennifer the PA quit her job using a dry wipe board and 33 photos outting her boss for playing farmville everyone thought “wow that’s amazing because no one would ever do that”. It turned out no one ever did do that and it was a hoax all along. The actress playing Jenny turned out to be Elyse Porterfield who applied for the role through Actors Access.

Freak storm in Finland ruins a lovely day within seconds.

Watch out for the scary face at 00:56 and all the birds deciding they’ve had enough. [via Boing Boing]

As It Occurs To Me {Radio}

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Richard Herring returned to London’s Leicester Square theatre on Monday night to record the first in a new series of his stand-up and sketch show, As It Occurs To Me. Aided by comic actors Emma Kennedy and Dan Tetsell, with music from Christian Ryley, the show is, put simply, about whatever has occurred to Herring over the past week, whether they are things that have happened to him or his thoughts on things that have happened in the news. It shares a similar feel to his previous radio work, such as Fist of Fun and That Was Then, This Is Now, but because it is an Internet podcast, he can push the boundaries of comedy and decency as far as he’d like without having to worry about editorial interference or broadcasting guidelines.

For eight weeks, the show is recorded in front of a live theatre audience, who pay £10 each, which covers the costs of the production before the recording is released online, for free. It might seem a little odd to pay to see something which is then made available free of charge, but audience members get pretty good value for money. There’s a great atmosphere at the recordings which has seemed to be improving week by week, with final episode of the first series having a real party feel. But also, something new for this second series is that Herring opens with an exclusive 45 minute stand-up set, not available in the podcast, where he interacts with the audience, tells stories from some of his previous stand-up shows and mentions things that didn’t make it into the main show. This week, the audience was told of his experiences of being heckled by an octogenarian at the British Library and the time he wrote his “first book”, when he had a job inputting names and numbers into the BT phone book database, and changed his flatmate’s name in the listings to “Stewart Wee”.

The style of humour is very similar to the best of Lee and Herring’s work. On the surface, much of it is puerile, adolescent and often offensive, but always knowingly so. But it’s the anecdotal comedy that works best, like the story of meeting Scream actress Neve Campbell to discover that she “didn’t know how to pronounce her own name” or the discovery of an old notebook full of stories written by the a nine year old Richard Herring. Also, like Lee and Herring’s work, a lot of the humour comes from repetition, something which is regularly signposted. Favourites from the first series included the show’s only sound effect, a roulette wheel, which made it’s way into every episode, and “Tiny Andrew Collins”, Tetsell’s version of the broadcaster Herring shares his other podcast with, who isn’t a million miles away from Kevin Eldon’s Rod Hull character from Fist of Fun. The new series starts with Herring promising to drop all of the old catchphrases and running gags, but you can be sure that they’ll make a reappearance.

Herring writes the show within 48 hours of the performance. While it’s quite a feat to produce eight fully-formed comedy shows over such a short space of time, it’s just one sign of his prolificacy. As well as AIOTM and the Collings and Herrin podcast, he has been writing a daily blog for the last eight years, recently published a new book, been filling in for Adam and Joe’s BBC 6music show, just finished touring his excellent Hitler Moustache show, is about to bring a new version of his Christ on a Bike stand-up show to Edinburgh and is, occasionally, allowed on the telly.

The first episode of the new series is available now and is worth a listen if you’re not averse to very strong language. It includes the story of the cast’s night out at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, for which the podcast was nominated, which apparently turned out to be a moneymaking ruse by “Ian Sony”, plus a moving and not at all depraved tale of love between one man and one talking hotel lift. If you enjoy it, then it’s worth coming down to the Leicester Square Theatre and joining in the fun.

As it Occurs to Me is available on iTunes or to download from The British Comedy Guide

by Blake Connolly

Ceri’s Top…or Best…No Ceri’s Favourite '10' YouTube Comedy Sketches {Ceri's Column}

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Right you lovely dirty and occasionally American readers! These are the funniest clips on the internet! I did not include clips from TV shows or footage of real-life funny stuff…so maybe not the funniest clips per-se, just the funniest devised pieces. Happy? You frigging will be. Oh and Rick roll’d, Charlie’s finger biting and other faddish clips and memes like that can just curl up somewhere and die. OK here we go!

  • “Shoes – Full Version” – Liam Kyle Sullivan’s comic creation “Kelly” has an added je ne sais quoi over most characters of a similar ilk (your am I bovverds and Vicky pollards).  I walked around Swansea for months saying “shoes” in Kelly’s monotonous way whenever I saw a pair in a shop window…then whenever I saw a pair anywhere. Had to stay at home for a bit. I’m fine now.

  • “Charlie the Unicorn” – Creeeeeeeeepy! But I wish Charlie had his own series! All the clips are great and these guys really know how to make a great animated clip. Bastards…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus

  • “Powerthirst” – I’m not the biggest fan of these guys. They seem like a pretty run-of-the-mill sketch troupe but MY SWEET HOT TAMALES this clip is just awesome!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs

  • “Gargoyles Hatch” – Welsh comedy geniuses? Look no further than The Milk. I’ve met these lovely lads from Blaina. Absolutely fucking insane. No. Seriously. A bit socially deviant. But the best European clip of a humorous nature on the web…does anyone say “the web” anymore? Well, I do. Try finding their Ross Kemp n Gangs sketch too. It’s gonna be bezzzerrrk!!!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bk676Z1AAM

  • “500 impressions in 2 minutes” – This brilliant bloke’s simple yet effective sketch is very good.  His other stuff is pretty good too! Plus he totally shatters the myth that Oriental people aren’t funny, bleed acid and cannot taste sweet things and therefore actually call “sweet and sour chicken” just “sour chicken”. Nah, none of those are real myths. Are they? Yes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpsfDTbzKwM

  • “Total Eclipse of the Heart – Literal Version” – I’m Welsh and do not like Bonnie Tyler. That is what I used to say before seeing THIS! My favourite musical comedy clip in the whole world. I wish I could join the Glee Club of the Damned. Shit.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

  • “Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer” – This is by my current stalk-targets, Britanick  (Pronounced like Titanic; as in the ship and the film and the likeness to a Titan). These two clever boys have too many clips to pick from and getting to a decision regarding my personal favourite was too hard. At the time of writing it’s this one. I’ll look at this in two days and say “No fucking way, Ce (That’s what I call myself in my head) The one where the Dad comes in is way better. God I hate you. Why don’t you just shut up and stop writing shit, bitch.” Then I’ll see Dr. Coburn…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFicqklGuB0

  • “Taleshmech Restaurant” – This doesn’t make me hungry, it makes my fungry! Balls, that doesn’t work at all…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YDfN30sD80

  • “Spiders on Drugs” – I used to be arachnophobia but, thanks to this film, I am mortally afraid of the crack spider.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

**PLUG ALERT**

Now, please take a look at my own YouTubey clipettes. They are made with my sketch group Le 122. They don’t make my top 10…so, that says it all really. Gonna plug it anyway. Right, pint?

Le 122 – http://www.youtube.com/user/LeOneTwoTUBE