Tex Allen(II)

Tex Allen taught college at three schools: Community College Of Baltimore County (MD), Towson University, and Durham College (Canada). Tex Allen taught movie history at both the Community College Of Baltimore (Maryland USA) and Towson University (Maryland USA) part time for 5 years from 2004 - 2009 for college level senior citizen classes at both the Community College Of Baltimore County Maryland and also Towson University, Towson (Baltimore) Maryland. During this period, he wrote an unpublished book about Maryland movie history from 1898 - 2004 titled "Maryland Movies, Maryland History" (2004) mostly about Hollywood feature movies shot on location in Maryland from silent movie days through the modern era during the 20th century, and famous people part of that. Tex (David) Allen also taught both Public Relations and Journalism at Durham College (Ontario, Canada) in 1976. In addition, he taught special needs students in Washington DC USA public school system (Syphax Elementary School in SW Washington DC) from 1965 - 66. He also taught religious education at St. Joseph's R.C. Church in Lutherville - Timonium, Maryland USA in the early 1990's (Grade Seven level "CCD" or "Confraternity Of Christian Doctrine" Roman Catholic students).

[About how movies are made]:

Movies are all about photography, and for an actor, about getting your picture taken. Who does it and how makes a lot of difference.

A two hour feature movie intended for presentation in a movie theater or on a TV screen is made up of roughly 1,000 fragments. The average fragment lasts 6 seconds. A "long take" shot averages about 12 seconds, and a short "reaction shot" type fragment lasts about 2 seconds. Fragments are most often shot out of sequence, and require physical travel to different locations and different movie set shot in movie studios. "Re-takes" of fragments occurs often. Movie directors shoot various scenes and fragments several times, and then choose the "take" which will be included in the released movie. Much more film and/or video tape is shot than is actually used for the finally released "print." Actors and off camera movie production professionals must endure the exhausting process of "re-takes" which are a common and inevitable part of movie making.

Unlike stage actors, movie actors almost never perform a movie story from start to end as the movie audience eventually sees it and experiences. The last part of a movie story is often shot first, the first part may be shot only after the final part is shot, and the middle of the story may be shot after both the end and beginning parts of the story are already shot.

Stage actors who are used to performing a continuous story in real time often find movie actor work difficult, unpleasant, and unsatisfying.

The selection of shot scenes is decided in the editing room, and the presented final movie reflects choices the movie editor makes based on a variety of shots the movie director provides the editor. Not all scenes shot make it to the final movie. Completed scenes and fragments of those scenes (sometimes well acted and important to the story) often end up "on the cutting room floor" and are not used.

The actual production of movies is a process of shooting short fragments which are later "glued" end to end to end until a two hour story made up of roughly 1,000 separately shot fragments makes its way to theater and TV screens.

The movie production experience for actors and others is always made up of shooting short fragments, averaging 6 seconds, sometimes as long as 12 seconds, and sometimes as short as 2 seconds. This is very hard work and movie actors must trust the judgment of the movie directors and editors. Good actor performances may not make it into the final movie.

Movies are a bunch of still pictures run at 24 frames per second, and adding up to roughly 150,000 still photos in a standard 2 hour feature movie.

What's in each of those still photos, and how they are arranged and connected, end to end, makes all the difference between a terrible flop and a great classic.

Actors who do a good job make a big difference, but ultimately, it's all about input from and by many other people.

Movies are a group effort, and if a movie is victorious, it's always a group effort (very, very rare, statistically, over movie history....less than 1% of all released feature movies are classics or even simply good movies).