Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Grace's World

Josie was in a short film recently. The boys have both been in short films and Josie was an extra with the rest of us in a full length film, The Garden of Chloe, and she's been in a promo for our local public telecommunications network, but this is her first short film. She had the best time ever. I mean she never wanted it to end. She loved everyone involved in the project and Parker even got to help out a bit behind the scenes. If they could just work on films full-time, they would be in heaven.
Josie at our personal wrap party. We went to the co-op for vegan pizza and a muffin. She was pretty sad it was over.

The adult actors, the director, and the crew were all so incredibly sweet and patient with Josie. They always had great things to say about her and they were so respectful and thoughtful. I really can't express enough how fortunate we are to live in a community with so many adults who are eager to teach our kids so many fun and exciting things.

For people who don't have experience with film, it takes forever. Even the shortest scenes are done over and over for all sorts of reasons. Different camera angles, audio issues, lighting, trying different expressions, etc. It is so interesting, but it also takes a ton of patience and dedication. It is hard work for everyone. Every TV show or movie has taken on a whole new complexity for me. I think of how many times they had to shoot the scene of the person walking away, why they decided on that music instead of dialog, I think of how scenes are hardly ever shot in order and how actors have to show deep emotions with people they might have just met that day, and I notice the small little inconsistencies more than I ever did before. As a mom of child actors, it means being flexible, remembering every detail of the props we loan and costumes, and patience. Did I mention it takes time? I love it too because the kids seem to enjoy films more than any other kind of acting and it is so much fun for me to see the work behind the scenes

Behind the scenes shots:
Josie being hit by a car.
I didn't stay for the hospital scene since Parker was happy to be Josie on site adult and help with lighting when needed. It was shot at the same hospital where my mom died of cancer over 13 years ago, but it still is erie seeing Josie in a hospital bed there. The hospital and staff would so accommodating and I really do appreciate them letting us shoot in an actual hospital setting.
The rough cut.

Update: Grace's World made it into our local annual Feminist Film Festival. Josie and I attended, her first feminist film festival, but not her last. It was great to see all the films and her first time to see herself act on a big screen. She loved seeing her director and crew again too.

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