The Promise

Tonight we went to see a studio play called the promise, and as a none-theatre-goer I really enjoyed it. Joanna Vanderham from the Paradise was starring in it so we went along to say hello and have a drink.
The play was about Lenningrad in the 2nd world war, and quite dark, but very interesting, definitely go see it!

Jen x

Pictures From Paradise.

After stalking people on Twitter for ages, (i've only just discovered how it works) I spent the rest of the evening print screening The Paradise off iPlayer.

So here are my lovely close ups, if only i'd had some lines...

 

Jenx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Navajo Youth

When I was in Leeds the other week I was meant to go and hang out at a band rehearsal that my friend Ollie plays synth for, but the night before I was far too drunk with my Heretic buddys so missed everything.

But the band, Navajo Youth, were rehearsing for a gig at the cockpit in Leeds where they were supporting Ladyhawke, which was an amazing gig according to some of my friends that were there.

They have a really nice sound, sort of electro pop. Have a listen.

Jenx

A New Start in London...

So much to catch up on i don't know where to start! In need of bullet points for those who care:

 

• Finished Paradise
• Found a flat in London
• Got pulled back into Paradise for the last week
• Moved to London
• Got in touch with a modelling agency ( Thanks soo much to Angela for helping with that!)
• Got signed to Base Models http://www.basemodels.co.uk/model/Jen%20Nelson
• Found out Heretic was premiering at Leeds International Film Festival
• Met up with the crew in Leeds
• Then missed the premiere to see Alt-J at the Electric Ballroom (worth it!)

I really will try to keep this up to date, no one actually reads it, but it's all for my own sanity, so stay with me. It should all get interesting soon enough!

 

In the mean time.....

The best christmas present!

Front row for Alt-J in Camden, the last great-small gig they'll ever do. There was something extra special about that gig, they even said so themselves, after they finished with Taro.

 

They were supported by Stealing Sheep, who were also amazing.

Jenx

 

 

Bit of a book cover, and lots of publicity!

So The Paradise has already started even though we have a few more days filming, and it's sad too leave, but i've done pretty well from it :)
I've ended up as a walk on called Lady Emily Fortescue, one of Katherine's friends, so hopefully you can see me in episode 7 in my fancy blue dress and huuge feathered hat.

I'm also slightly on the new book cover for Ladies' Paradise, and all over the newspapers and magazines.

 

The Paradise

We weren't allowed to post any photos from the Paradise, but seeing as they've just released their own trailer for it(and i'm on the front of the Northern Echo!) I thought it wouldn't hurt to post a screen shot of myself.

There i am, right in the middle of the shot.

And there i am again!


Jenx

My McDonald's Advert!

The Olympics McDonald's advert is out, you can see me for a second at 0:21! Very exciting.

Jx

Bulova Modelling Competition

So i'm a finalist in a modelling competition! Who knew?! A few weeks ago i had to go down to London for a photoshoot at Spring Studios, then a couple of days afterwards i heard that i was in the final six. There were originally 1000 applicants!

The photoshoot was amazing, champagne and everything, a very surreal day.

Now it has gone to public vote, and the winner becomes the new face of Bulova watches! So.....please vote for me here!

Heretic Teaser Trailer number 2

The new teaser for Heretic is out, the independent horror film i did in Leeds last summer, and this one features me rather heavily. I think they must be doing one for each of the characters.
Jx

McDonald's

A while ago i went down to Sheffield to audition for a special Olympics McDonald's advert that's running in July.
Then i had to go down to London for a wardrobe call, where i thought i would have to be wearing a union jack cap, union jack t-shirt and union jack shoes. It was a little excessive, but luckily when i got to Sheffield it was much more toned down.

It was a surreal day, i'd stayed overnight in a hotel down the road, a taxi picked me up at 7am, got to the stadium and went into costume and makeup, then sat in the stands while they set up the cameras.
Then the extras arrived, and there were so many of them! It was a little daunting, especially when the director had to announce to everyone that i couldn't whistle and needed someone to teach me.

I finished filming at about half ten in the morning, but i knew one of the camera assistants because he worked on Heretic, and he told me everyone else was there until half eleven at night.
Very surreal all together!

 

Geronimo Costumes

Once again i have neglected my blog terribly. I spent most of May working as Wardrobe Assistant for a play on at the ARC called Geronimo. Really i should have put up the poster before the play was on to advertise it, but i'm very forgetful when it comes to this blog!
Here's the poster anyway!

I think doing costume jobs like this, i was working with the production designer who had a very good idea about what she wanted, but it was interesting interpreting it all myself, and trying to find clothes that worked well.
And they seemed happy with the results.
I also got to see my friend Bill Fellows after the last performance, who was very encouraging about my decision to move to London this summer (I'll explain later), we're even going to the Groucho Club when i'm there!!
Jx

1950 Something with Natalie

For another part of the 19-something project, we were working on a 1950s style photo. We planned on shooting two models (bang bang), but the model dropped out so once again we were just left with me.

To solve this problem, we went wig shopping and went halves on a platinum blond wig, which looked amazing!

We were using the little Triumph sports car again, but wanted a more fun feel to the pictures. Natalie was able to borrow lots of nice vintage dresses and we shopped for the rest.
I tried doing my makeup to look as different as i could from the other photos, so i filled in my lips in a different shape, used different eye makeup etc.
I really love all the colours in this shoot, and the red lipstick really matches the colour of the car! I'm so excited to see the full project!

I think some of the photos on the car bonnet look like part of a beauty shoot, i'll have to get some more off Natalie, but for now, here's some of the first edits:

1930 something

Last week me and Natalie Pluck headed off to Pickering Railway Station for a new photoshoot, as part of a series she's doing entitled "19-Something".
The train lines that run through these stations are the ones they used in Harry Potter, and Goathland (or Hogsmead station) is just down the road. We chose Pickering mostly because the platform is covered, and it was raining. But it's been preserved as a 1920s style platform, and even has luggage and trunks stacked up everywhere, (we had to stop Natalie taking them all home).

We had even brought my dad's old 1930s Aerial motorbike to use as a prop at Levisham station later on.

We had quite a little crowd of people around us taking photos of me dressed up on the platform. The station master was really happy with the pictures we showed him. The steam really makes the photos look so dramatic, even though we had a lot of pictures that were completely white, but it was all in camera effects which i think makes it that much more magical. Jx

It's the end of the world!!

A producer I've worked before called Cheryl Thomas got in touch about a short film she was working on. It is one of the films that are set in some sort of apocalypse, and they show the different stories of people trying to survive.
The film i was acting in was all set in a church, and the two characters were going stir crazy, wondering what could be happening outside once the food is starting to run out. I spend most of the film wandering round the church, wrapped in blankets, and going a bit manic!
The footage I've already seen looks gorgeous, it was all being shot on a Canon 550D, there's some pictures below.

Nursing around

The new CBBC drama Wolfblood is filming in the North East, so i went along to be a nurse for the day. I got an ID badge and some hand sanitiser and everything!
Gutted i didn't get to see any gorey were-wolf victims though, but maybe thats a bit too scary for a kids program?
Jx

Happy April Fool's Day!

Thought i'd post this because it's make-up related, yesterday morning i wandered down to the kitchen to tell my mum i fell out of bed in the night, and i looked like this.

A lovely, fake, fat/split-lip bruise with swelling! Unfortunately i couldn't keep my face straight long enough to tell my whole story to my mum, and once she knew it was fake she bust out crying with relief :-/

Next tactic was facebook, but again i got too many concerned messages, so i had to come clean, it does look painful!

I did the bruise with blue lip shimmer, blue/green eyeshadow, red smudgy eyeliner. And the split lip was black eye liner with a splodge of red lip gloss and voila! Then to add that painful swelling i stuffed cotton wool inside my lip.

Would be good for Halloween..... jx 

1960s Kings Road

The other week i was off to Manchester for a spot of Extras work, for a new drama set in the 60s. As soon as i sat down in makeup, the makeup artist got excited and proclaimed i was to have Twiggy makeup, and maybe a clip-on fringe.

I was very happy, because once in my green shift dress and leather jacket, i spent the morning sat outside at Kings Road Cafe, smoking and pretending to drink coffee :)

The set was amazing, bunting everywhere and huge flower stickers, like a toned-down Austin Powers street. I don't know what the passers by were thinking, we even had a few Morris Minors parked up. Sadly i wasn't allowed to take any pictures of that, so you'll just have to put up with looking at me. Jx

A fringe for the day

Heretic Teaser Trailer!!!

The very first trailer for Heretic, a new Brit Horror Film due to be released at Halloween 2012 starring me! ...and lots of other amazing actors.

The trailer can be found at the bottom of this post, or on youtube, but when you watch it, please could you click "like", we need all the help we can get!

It's all very exciting, and the new website is up and running with a few creepy photos of me, if you want to check it out follow this link ... http://hereticmovie.com/gallery.html

If i haven't mentioned what the film is about already:

Father James Pallister is a troubled Catholic priest who finds his faith crushed when a young girl he promises to protect commits suicide (Claire).Months after Claire’s death, James is forced to return to his old parish and to the scene of her suicide, a derelict mansion house. Trapped in the house overnight, James is tormented by demons from his past - those that he has failed to care for in his role as an ambassador of God. With the house itself possessed, James becomes convinced that two dark figures haunting him are the ghosts of Claire and her dead Stepfather Tom, risen from the grave to seek a blood retribution for the awful tragedy that James allowed to take place…With others now at risk, James must find the strength to confront the demons outside and inside before sunrise, and prevent the death of another young girl who needs his help. Or be damned forever…

Watch out for me all covered in blood! Enjoy, Jx

Bright, colourful beauty shoot photos

Just got the photos back from the shoot i did. Jess Shaw did the makeup and it was shot by Danni, you can see the post here.

"Wouldn't tide times be the first thing you'd check?"

I also agreed to do another student film for a Tesside Uni student, another silent one, (there seems to be a pattern here?)
This time Richard, the actor playing my brother in HorrorRhymes was my boyfriend/stalker. Yes, very dodgy and a little bit of incest thrown in for production value.

The initial plan was to shoot the film on the beach at Saltburn, but the director and producer forgot to check the tide times, so there wasn't any beach. It was also bitterly bitterly cold, despite the sun luring you into a false sense of hope.

So after about ten minutes the shoot was postponed until the day after, where we would film in Preston Park in Yarm.
That day went considerably better. Here are some lovely photos, and don't believe the sun, we were freezing!!

Horror Rhymes!!!

I agreed to act in a short film for some Teesside uni students you i work with a lot of the time, and had no idea what to expect, half of the script was in German.

Turns out it was a strange German-expressionist style film, based on Jack and Jill, with what looked like an incest-y twist. It will all be in black and white and should look quite good, if not comical (I got the giggles far to many times to be professional) but luckily Sophie was very understanding :D

Half of it was filmed on a minimalist background, and some shot in the woods, here's lots of the stills photos. Jx

I found something!

Quiet Please, library shoot

Sorry blog, i do neglect you quite a lot!

Back in February i was acting in a short silent film called Quiet Please, which we were filming in a library in York University. I don't think the librarians had any idea what we were doing, they expected us just to turn up with a camcorder, and got a little bit flustered when it was a full film crew.

The students had no idea either, many times someone would wander over and sit next to me half way through a scene with out seeing the camera.

It was fun though, and i got to catch up with my friend Sam who lives in York, (and i was able to steal his sofa for the night)  x

The director hiding from the camera