From YouTube to Big Screen

Some people claim they saw their destinies “written in the sky.” 

Sophomore Alicia Frost saw hers written on the ground – in chalk.

Last March, chalk advertisements for a “feature film call-out” covered campus. Frost said she went to the meeting on a whim and ended up with one of the leading roles in the independent student film “Only Human.”

“We were just wide-eyed freshmen starting out,” she said. “As far as being filmed before, my experience is restricted to making crappy YouTube videos. And I was in an IUSTV sitcom based on ‘The Office’ that died after one episode. I played a stoner.”

Frost said she is not a theater major. Though she said she was involved in theater throughout high school, she is majoring in public relations.

“As far as the practicality of pursuing a career in acting goes, other factors came into play,” she said.

Frost said she plays Grace in the film, the main character’s high school sweetheart who starkly contrasts his new girlfriend. The main character flees his hometown to Bloomington, she said, and Grace tracks him down a few years later.

“Grace is a very nice, smart girl,” she said. “We have a lot of similarities. It’s easy to become that character.”

So far, Frost said she has only filmed one scene. The actors involved in the scene met with the directors to rehearse and memorize the lines for that scene, she said. Instead of memorizing all of the lines at once, the actors take it scene by scene, she said.

Although a small crowd was watching Frost as she acted, she said it was easy to focus.

“Walking up to the set, I expected a couple guys with cameras,” she said. “It was really shocking. There was a monitor watching the takes as they were filming. We were there for probably six hours, and I was wearing heels, so I was like, ‘Get me out of here!’”

For Frost’s attire in the film, she said the costume designers took items from her wardrobe to use.

“My style is similar, I guess,” she said. “The prom dress I wore in the scene we filmed is the costume girl’s actual prom dress.”

But sophomore Rafe Kaplan, who plays Jake, the main character’s fraternity brother, had a little more trouble with his wardrobe.

“I need flip flops and board shorts,” he said. “They told me to start buying stuff over the summer.”

Kaplan said he constantly acts out his character, who is supposed to be a typical fraternity guy.

“I don’t think I’m anything like him,” he said. “It’s always a joke to act out this guy. He’s not supposed to be funny, but the people at the audition saw how I did it and loved it.”

Majoring in human biology, Kaplan said he does not see acting as a career. He said he is, however, very active in improvisation and comedy sketches and participated in “Hoosier Date?” last year on IUSTV, where he heard about the audition for “Only Human.”

“I always wanted to be in a real movie,” he said. “I saw the promotional movie and I went nuts.”

Kaplan said he went to the call-out meeting in March and was later asked to interview for the part.

“The final cast were the only people being interviewed for the parts,” Frost said. “They told all of us we were one of two narrowed down, but really we were the only one. The whole point of the interview was to make sure of our commitment, to make sure the dedication was there.”

Though Kaplan has not yet been in any filmed scenes, he said he is excited to start shooting. He said the three directors in charge of the filming are all specialized in their field and all get along and their ideas flow nicely.

The producers of “Only Human” want to finish filming by spring, Kaplan said, and have production completed by November 2010. The film will premiere in Bloomington and may go on to film festivals, he said.

“I’m already excited for the premiere,” Kaplan said. “I see a premiere at the auditorium. I see pulling around that fountain and stepping out on a red carpet. Basically, I have high expectations.”