On the way to set from lunch.
In late October, I received an email through our homeschool group, that a movie was going to be filmed at Fort Loudon and they needed children and parents as extras. The movie called Alone Yet Not Alone, is based on a true story and is supposed to be a God honoring film. Since it was a period film, I knew we wouldn't have modesty issues, so I turned in all the children's info and Steve's, but not mine. The children kept asking me if I had heard back from the film company. When the week for filming in our area arrived, in early November, I told them our family wasn't chosen or they had too many responses. Well, one night that week, our phone rang at 11:30 pm. It was the film company's representative telling us that there had been a mix up in communication and they needed our family at Fort Loudon at 7:00 am the next day. I woke the kids up at 5:00 am and told them, "You get to be in the movie!" We had no idea what to expect. The first email we received, lead us to believe that this was just a small film being done by a family, with some help of some professionals. WRONG! When we were escorted to the prepping tents, I knew we were in a bigger league than I could've imagined. When I signed the children in, the lady informed me that they had signed me up as an extra also. I told her I would rather not and only if they really needed another parent, would I consent. Well, a little while later I was in the costume tent getting fitted. The story line for the part of the film we were in, is that 2 girls were captured by Indians and had lived with them for 7 years(I think). After the French and Indian War many white captives were returned and brought to a fort. Parents, whose children had previously been taken, came to the fort to see if their children were there. During this time, one of the leading characters is found by her mother. We were told that when these tribes of Indians adopted white children into their families, they would taken black walnut halls and dyed the children's skin and hair to make them look more Indian-like. So, my children didn't look anything like themselves after they had been through hair and make up. No blond hair allowed. Silas was given a wig and made to look like a warrior in training. He didn't like this and it took him the whole first day to be OK with it. Philip was also given a wig but was still allowed to look more like a regular boy. I was given a horrible outfit and a mob cap. I told Steve that he would know it was me when he saw the 250 lb lady in the street-that's what the made me into. Somebody has to be the fat lady, right?!
The film company fed us breakfast and lunch. Wow, it was the ultimate food bar experience. Breakfast- pastries, sweet breads, doughnuts, fresh fruit, salmon, gourmet breakfast burritos, gravy and biscuits, pancakes, sausage, bacon, ..... Lunch: multiple gourmet salads, grilled salmon, beef brisket- amazing! Another day- oriental food that I had never seen before, but it was delicious-not great for kids though. For treats on set, they set out Koolaide, boxes of candy and bananas. My children didn't know what to think! You could tell these folks weren't used to child actors. They fed them a huge breakfast at 8:00, then candy all afternoon and lunch at 2:00 or after. The film crew and main actors were brought wholesome food, on set, at noon. I hope they were as thankful for the group of kids they had, as they should've been. Those kids never fussed, even the tiny ones,while being hungry and watching the paid actors get to eat.
The kids didn't think the first day was very fun. We learned that movie making is hurry up and wait. They really didn't want to go back for day 2. After day 2 was over, they wished it wasn't over. The Doug Philips family came in from Texas, to be at this filming location. My children know their faces from the Vision Forum catalog. Silas made friends with Honor Philips and had a grand time. Dressed up as Indians and getting to play in a fort when they weren't on set, what boy wouldn't have fun?
Things I learned:
It takes at least 5 men to operate 1 movie camera.
That you may have to wait 15 minutes for a cloud to be in the right position for continuity in filming.
The cloud can be in place, the actress can finally have the right amount of chap stick on, the director be in the process of shouting "rolling" when a jet flies overhead, everything comes to a halt and has to start all over again.
Each take, lasting no more than 3 minutes, is rehearsed sometimes 3-5 times and shot 1-3 times, per shot angle. Actors and extras can very easily do the same 3 minute series 10 times.
The people who are the big shots, like the director and producer can be so nice, while the leading actor, that nobody has ever heard of, can be completely self absorbed and snotty.
Main actors have their very own make up artists. EVERY time cut is called, they dutifully run over and find something to fix on the character. It gets to be quite amusing. Trust me, even the mussed up look of an actress takes hours to achieve.
We are very thankful for getting to see up close, part of the movie making process. We worked alongside extras that were getting paid to do what we were doing. They told me what our family would've made, if we had been paid extras for those two days- yikes! The educational value of our experience made the info bearable. I met folks that had been in God in Generals, Evan the Almighty, War of the Worlds and other films. They told us that being in a movie, changes the way you view films forever. They are right. I rewatch scenes, just to watch the extras and see how well they are doing their job. I know were the cuts are in a film now. I know how many camera views, which equals new takes are included in 30 seconds of filming. I know that actors long ago were better actors than those today because they had to do long sequences, without cuts. I've always wondered how an actor learns all their lines for a 2 1/2 hour movie. With all the cuts, it's not that hard. Broadway takes a different caliber of actor than a movie set does.
I had it confirmed again that God cares about every area of our lives.
The first day didn't go well for our family. We didn't have a clue how to be extras and we weren't getting any prompts or guidance. I don't have a face for film and hated the dirty looks I was getting from others, for getting to do something I'm not qualified for. You know it does take fat and slim folks, ugly and beautiful and plain people to make a good movie. But, you have to be a certain kind of ugly or plain. I don't fit in either category. They chose my children by their pictures, not thinking that they would look completely different covered in dirt and with different colored hair. The casting director wasn't sure they were pretty enough to be included in Day 2. By the end of Day 1, I was sorry I had ever signed my children up for this educational experience. I did some serious praying that night and we prayed aloud together on our way to Day 2. I told the Lord I wasn't asking for a pat on the back but that we wanted to show the unbelievers on the set that Christians could do quality work and that we wanted to represent our Father well. God was faithful once again, of course. We just knew what to do and to do it right that day. The director and producer felt the whole crew had an awesome day. He was doing hilarious, happy jigs on set. We were also told we looked appropriate for our parts. The whole feeling on set was completely different from Day 1. When we left that evening, I was stopped by several of the behind- the -scenes crew and told what a blessing our family was and how sweet my children are. I know that, but praise the Lord we were able to be a witness for Him again.
We have no idea if this film will be any good. The professional extras told us that the little guys know nothing about a film, except from the scenes you're in, until you see it played on the screen. The extras try to glean info here and there and hope for the best. The man who does the extra footage for DVDs, told me at lunch one day, that that total budget for the film at that point was 4 million dollars. It has been filmed in several different states. One of the directors or producers ( yes there are more than 1. We breakfasted one day with the 1st Assistant Director) was on the production or direction team for Amazing Grace. We were told it will appear in some theaters and will take anywhere from 6 months to a year to go through post production and be released. There is a country music star in the film. One of the extras couldn't believe I didn't know his name. I had to come home after Day 1 and look him up online. I had never even heard of him. His name is Clay Walker. I wasn't impressed with him. Also acting is one of the Harris twins from the Rebelution. Sorry, I don't know them apart so I don't know which one, but I was impressed with him.
A funny- Abigail had an appointment for a sleep study for the evening of Day 2. It was scheduled long before we knew about the filming. The clinic was so nice to work with us but Abigail and I had to go straight from shooting to the clinic. We had a few minutes to wipe a little of Abby's "dirt" off but she had to go with her wild red hair and still smeared with "dirt". The clinic workers though it was so neat to know some actors and they had a ton of questions. LOL! To color the girls hair they used powder and spray. We were lectured to not wash their hair after Day 1, especially Abigail's because hers took some much product. We were assured it would wash right out after Day 2- wrong! It took days and it was gooey. Nobody told me not to wash my hair, so of course I did. My mob cap kept falling off the second day. One of the stylist was very put out with me and told me that of course extras are NOT to wash their hair during a period film! How was I supposed to know? Oh, yes Abigail had red hair. The hair people told us that HDTV changes the coloring of things, so that take that in consideration when fixing characters.
Well there's the story of our movie fame, that it's taken me forever to get down in writing.
