Saturday, May 14, 2011
Last night's late wrap (1:29 AM) facilitated a late start time again today. Today was not an originally scheduled work day, though Rod and I both knew from the beginning working today was likely. Some of the crew took the day off. We were down a 1st AD and make-up artist. Shelby, that amazing miracle worker, scoured her contacts and friends of friends for a fill in make-up artist for the day. Less than two hours before the shoot, Tresia was hired! She did a beautiful job matching the looks Tara established. During lunch, Tresia let me know that the job had been a miracle for her and a direct result of paying tithing. She had paid it with the faith that doing so would bring blessings. She was so grateful for the work, and we were so grateful for her!
During lunch, I sent Taylor and Christian to run some errands. One of the errands was to buy three shirts for Aura for the rest of her scenes. She had run out of wardrobe. I gave Taylor the name of the store (a women's clothing boutique) and the address and these instructions "Buy something that looks, conservative, classy and cute, preferably in solid colors." He returned with a black shirt with a floral design around the neck, a red slim fit shirt, and a grey shirt with a baby doll type cut. I was astounded and impressed! He had been making the ladies on set happy all week with Dove chocolate and indulgent trail mix, but this was sensational!
The set had a peaceful feel and a lot of positive energy abounded. It was relaxed, unified, and "chill" as several people put it. It was probably just more "quiet" because the overall number of people on set was greatly reduced. We moved through scene after scene with relative ease and completed our day just after 8:00 PM. Finishing early was amazing, as it gave us time to completely break down the set and empty out the house. We'd be at a new location on Monday. When the house was empty, still and quiet, I said goodbye to it for the last time. I went in my grandmother's bedroom and slipped into the closet to offer a prayer of gratitude for all the miracles we had experienced to that point, and for the spiritual help my grandmother was providing.
Aura had a friend over when we got home that helped, along with Shawn and Taylor to completely empty the trailer and re-set the borrowed furniture and decor to its original position throughout our house. For the first night in days, we were in bed by midnight!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Though not a work day, several miracles took place today that are worth mentioning. As of noon, we still hadn't found Greg's car for the opening scene of the movie that would be shooting Monday morning. The script called for an Audi. The Audi from Stand Strong had since been sold. At church today, Shawn talked to one of his friends about his red Porsche. He agreed to let us use it in the morning for the scene that would be the opening shot of the movie. There was only one condition, that it not be raining because the convertible top was stuck in the down position. We prayed the rain would stop, at least between 8:00 AM and Noon on Monday!
The other miracle involved the home we would be shooting in the next day. The home was to be the "pre-divorce" home of the lead character. All of the pre-divorce scenes are seen as flashbacks throughout the movie. While writing the script, I could literally see in my mind's eye, the interior of the upper-end two story home where the character lived. In the opening scene, the lead character watches from a window above the driveway as her husband backs away. I saw it clearly and described it in words for the script. When looking for the home, I assumed it would be easy to find that type of set up and style of home, and that I'd know the place when I saw it. Several weeks ago, I thought of a friend whom I know to maintain her home beautifully and tried to get a hold of her. It was difficult finding her current number and when I finally got it and called it, there was no answer. I didn't feel that I keep pursuing it, and instead again started praying to find the right house. From that point, I kept thinking of a neighbor's home only a block from my own. I had seen the exterior, which is a beautiful two story home, but had never been inside. A friend of mine lived there a few years ago. To the shock of the neighborhood, my friend's husband shot her and then himself. The home was vacant for more than a year and then purchased by another neighbor. I kept thinking of the house and that it was the right one. I talked to the home owner who said we could film there. A week after scheduling it with him, Shawn ran into his wife at the park on Saturday. Shawn mentioned our coming to film on Monday. It was a miracle he ran into her because she had no idea of the plan. Her husband forgot to tell her. Shawn also asked if we could come by after church to look at the house and get acquainted with the space before showing up to film on Monday. She invited us over directly after church to look at it.
As we pulled up, I looked up at the window over the garage. I said "We need to use that room for the window. It has the perfect vantage into the driveway." Shawn said "I'm sure it's not the master bedroom, that floorplan isn't very common."
We were full of anticipation as we mounted the front stairs and rang the doorbell. When the door opened and I stepped inside, a phenomenal amount of "deja vu" overwhelmed me. I started to tear up. I followed the home owner up the stairs toward the master bedroom. Each step caused my excitement to rise. She opened the master bedroom door and I nearly fell over in surprise. The room was exactly as I'd mentally seen it when I described it for the script. The window overlooking the driveway indeed was in the master bedroom! Everything about it was perfect and was exactly what I'd seen right down to the decor! I was in complete awe of the literal vision I had seen of the home. I loved the realization of having had a literal vision of the home. I was so grateful to have experienced such an amazing miracle. I couldn't help but feel my good friend who had died there several years prior was helping me with the movie. Also at that time I was inspired to make the movie in her remembrance.
Day 7:
Monday, May 16, 2011
The clouds gathered in the sky and the wind increasingly picked up, threatening a storm. We prayed it would wait until after the opening scene with the Porsche. Shawn picked up the car and and brought it to set. It became quite a popular prop as many of us were photographed next to or inside of it!
I offered the thought this morning after the cast and crew prayer. I shared of the experience I had yesterday and how I know that many are working on the project not only here in body, but also by those in spirit. I've felt the influence and support of angels and ancestors on set every day. The inspiration received by cast and crew alike, and the ongoing help from beyond, has kept us engaged in the literal Uphill Battle.
Shooting the pre-divorce scenes was intense. We prayed over every scene and how to accurately portray the heartache of infidelity and addiction. One scene called for a display of anger that led to violence. The rehearsed violence was in one lead character grabbing the other by the wrist. By about the 4th take, the scene had escalated in intensity with each time. Instead of grabbing her wrist and pulling her to her feet as had been done in prior takes, he grabbed her hair without even thinking, just being in the spirit of the scene. It was intense and very real. When I called "Cut!" the first thing I heard was Shelby yelling "Unrehearsed! Unrehearsed!" as she clutched at the side of her head where clumps of hair were falling between her fingers. Everyone rushed in to see if she was okay and the other lead character fell all over her with apologies. He hadn't intended to grab her in such a way and was really sorry. The three of us had our own prayer for the scene right before we shot it, to be as true and realistic as possible. I know that prayer was answered.
One of the lead characters was catching a plane to LA at 8:00 PM and needed to be wrapped for the day by 6:00. We wrapped at 5:30! We were scheduled to use a local bike shop for scenes from 6:00-10:00, however, when we arrived, we discovered that our contact at the shop had gone home early due to an emergency and there were no arrangements made to have employees stay to keep the shop open. Disappointing, but I don't believe in accidents. We were able to reschedule the bike shop for Thursday night. Wrapping early let everyone catch up on much needed family life and sleep!
Day 8:
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The rain, which gratefully and respectfully held off yesterday while we used a borrowed convertible Porsche with a broken top, poured with a fury all day today. The rain even turned to snow mid-afternoon! Miraculously, all our scenes were indoors. Even better, was the fact that we shot Erica's bedroom scenes in my home, in Aura's bedroom. Michael's bedroom was also shot in my home, in the master bedroom. This allowed me to be close to my little children whom I've only gotten to see briefly, late at night and in lots of pics and texts from Shawn for the past week, and whom I have missed dearly.
Shelby's truck wouldn't start this morning. She needed a jumpstart and to let it run for awhile when she first arrived on set. We scheduled Nathan's scenes and Shelby was given the day off. Out of the kindness of her heart, she stayed anyway and read lines with Nathan.
Because of the tremendous downpour of rain and snow, all the outdoor driveway and yard scenes of Michael as a landscaper, which was scripted as his profession along with photographer, were scrapped. The decision was made to eliminate "landscaper/photographer" and have Michael just be a photographer. His outdoor scenes were changed to indoor with the profession change. It turned out to perfectly suit the Michael character better!
During one of the first scenes of the day, Michael's office scene, as I looked into the monitor, watching the action, I was inspired suddenly with the scripture on which the next movie will be based. A very strong impression of Isaiah 1:18 "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" entered my mind during the scene. In between takes, I turned to Taylor, who was standing next to me to share the inspiration. The next take resumed and I found myself doubting the impression. I thought over the scripture and decided it was too overt a message. After I called "Cut!" I again turned to Taylor and told him that perhaps it was too overt a message and that I wasn't sure I'd use it. The take resumed again. This time, the prompting returned more powerfully. Again I heard the words of Isaiah 1:18 powerfully in my mind. When the take was over, I told Taylor that Isaiah 1:18 was the scripture the Lord wanted as the message of the next movie.
Later that afternoon several miracles took place. We finished with all the Michael scenes earlier than expected and had time to move downstairs to Erica's scenes. Shelby was already on set despite her day off, so we were able to transition seamlessly to her scenes, though they were previously unscheduled. The inspiration of Isaiah 1:18 was miraculously underscored in an experience I had directing one of Shelby's scenes. In the scene, Erica was to question God about what He wanted her to do, pick up her scriptures, hold them out and drop them on the bed. There were to fall open to Proverbs 3:5 which she would read as the answer to her question. As we rehearsed the scene, Shelby asked me to show her what my vision for how the action was to play out. I picked up the scriptures, closed my eyes and plopped the scriptures out in front of me. They fell open to Isaiah 1:18! I had shared with Shelby the inspiration about the scripture at lunch, so we both gasped in awe as we saw where the scriptures opened to in the drop! We looked at each other, amazed, and laughed with delight!
Once we were ready to shoot the scene, a reverent and peaceful calm canvassed the room. The presence of the Spirit was strong as Shelby performed the action of the scene. She closed her eyes, held out the scriptures and dropped them before her on the bed just as we'd planned. They fell open to Proverbs 3:5, the very place they were "supposed" to!
Day 9:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Cold and raining again today. We were able to get a good start on the Erica scenes yesterday afternoon. Because we could technically finish with Erica's scenes early, I started seeking out a location for the Sunday school scene since the scheduled location fell through. It was surely a miracle that I was able to find a location willing to get us in later in the afternoon during a brief window of time the church had between activities. I solidified our reservation and then prayed we could make it.
We started out the day with our cast and crew prayer and thought. Tara, our very talented make-up artist, offered the thought. She shared a beautiful metaphor that she had realized on her drive to set. She had been feeling off about some problems in her life and was tempted to feel discouraged. Just as the dark gloom of sadness threatened to block her joy, the same as the dark storm clouds had been darkening the sky, a strong beam of light broke through the clouds, revealing the sun. In that moment, she realized that though the cold feeling of disappointment and pain had crowded her life like the storm clouds covering the sky, the sun had never left. It remained constant behind the clouds and it broke through bringing a brilliant radiance and warmth with it. I was very touched to hear her observation and grateful for that thought, especially since there were problems on set this morning. There had been some tension between several crew members that disrupted the unity on set and a subsequent coldness followed. This beautifully shared, and definitely inspired thought, cleared the way for the bright sun of unity and friendship to burn through the storm clouds of discontent that had been present. We needed that unifying and healing thought to make it through the otherwise hectic day.
The time allotted for the Sunday school scene meant that we would leave Erica's bedroom scenes mid-day to get to our appointed location. We decided that it was to make only a partial company move to maintain continuity in filming Erica's bedroom scenes. Only a few lights were to be transported and the dolly and track would stay assembled in Erica's bedroom awaiting our return. We prayed we would be able to get the shots we needed with minimal equipment.
The first scene we shot in the church location was the recovery group for a montage sequence. Since we had no dolly, Rod asked Taylor to scout out the building for some kind of cart on which to wheel the camera. Taylor returned with a rubbermaid garbage cart from the church kitchen that worked beautifully. We were glad he found a cart, as we had considered part jokingly, that we could use a piano in the room as a dolly!
The recovery group scene, though a silent montage, was beautiful. Nathan shared a heartfelt testimony with the group of men who assembled in the circle. The extras for the recovery group circle was comprised of all the men on the crew. I was very grateful that they agreed to sit in front of the camera, especially on such short notice. I think my crews are learning that they will be actors at some point in the movie every time!
Scaled down equipment and a time dealine for use of the location were not our only concerns. Because of the short notice of same day scheduling of the location, there had been no previous scheduling of extras for the scene. We were in need of 6-8 teens to fill the Sunday school class. I had Aura begin calling and texting her friends the moment school let out at 2:45 PM. We were to be at the location from 3:30-5:00 PM. I also began calling Christian, who was at school and who was to play Jake, the long haired boy in Sunday school. Aura had some success in making contact with a couple of friends. Taylor also got on the phone trying to enlist the help of his cousins who lived nearby. I got a hold of Christian, who was with several friends. He asked them to come take part in the movie, to which they scornfully denied his request and told him what a "loser" he was for being in it. He no longer wanted to be in it. I begged him to get to the church and prayed he would come.
When he arrived, there were still no other teens in attendance for the scene. He was skeptical, doubtful, and upset that I wanted him to play the part. He adamantly stated that he just did not want to do it. He kept saying that nobody was even going to come and that we couldn't shoot it anyway. With no time to re-cast the part, nor the spiritual confirmation that I needed to, I silently retreated to a desserted corner for a fervent prayer. My mother, Frances, arrived to play her part as the Sunday school teacher. She suggested we call my sister to see if her daughter Kya, Christian's close friend and cousin, could come. It just so happened that Kya was riding with three friends just a few blocks away. She asked if they wanted to be a part of a movie and they did. They showed up, along with several of Aura's friends and Taylor's cousin, for a total of 10 teens in under an hour of searching and literally 10 minutes before we filmed the scene! This miracle, along with Kya's encouragement, changed Christian's mind about the part and he agreed to do it!
We were able to finish at the church right on time and get back to my house and shoot out the rest of the scenes in Erica's bedroom. While watching the monitor in the closet of the bedroom on the final scene of the day, a sudden and powerful impression came to me that Shelby was to play a teen pregnancy counselor in the next movie. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of truth and tears came to my eyes as I felt the Spirit. I told Shelby about her part as soon as I called "Cut!" She too felt the same spiritual confirmation.
Upon completion of the scene, we were ready for a company move. Everything was loaded up in anticipation of the move for tomorrow's shoot at the bike shop. Because we don't have access to the bike shop until closing, we will have the day to rest. We'll need it. Tomorrow's shoot is an overnighter, scheduled from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM because our locations are businesses that keep regular business hours.
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