The Blog Moves...

The time has come! Our Blog is moving to its new location on our official Standing Firm website! This gives us more control over the Blog and lets us add new features we couldn't here. No worries this Blog will stay here if you've linked anything to here on your websites or facebook posts or emails. The current archive has been imported into the new blog however so no matter what we'll have a full collection of entries for your enjoyment.

Posts are categorized into areas of Production so you can go through the entire journey of the film from Pre-Production, to Production (filming), and Post as well as News/Press.

What does this new Blog have for you? You'll notice some useful links to the right when you visit. Links to popular Christian websites we support, and also the websites of other Christian Films in production or recently released. Please use these links to your advantage, and share these other films with the people you know! Also if you would like to comment often, there is now the ability to create an account (with an avatar), sign in, and comment to your hearts content! Leave us messages of encouragement, bible verses that come to mind while your in prayer, or anything else that you might want. Besides us posting, your responses help keep the Blog alive and kicking. Let us know that you like what we're posting, or that you don't. The more of it you say you like, the more of it you'll get!

Also the crew page is being rebuilt on our website. Right now you can find biographical information on myself and Kevin Michael and learn how we came together to create our company, and a lot more. It seems like every new story about the creation of this film builds on another. We will add more crew member bios as we're able. Click here to see them.

Consider this the last post in this location. The U-Haul has been unpacked, furniture and the proper furnishings are in place, and we're ready to begin a new! Visit The New Blog

That's a Wrap!

The last seven days have been a combination of things. Exhausting and exciting, but above all Blessed. We can't give all the hairy details because nothing is set in stone (yet). But we hopefully have some big things to share with all of you soon involving post-production and the completion of the film as a whole.Last weekend, myself (Kyle), Rob Reisman (playing Dave), and Kevin Michael (Co Writer/Producer), set out to LA to meet some folks who had seen a Promo DVD we sent. To make a long story short, things look good ;) I know that isn't a lot of information and as stated nothing is for sure, but I do want everyone to be rest assured we are moving along and God is moving big time. Once the time comes and things are more solidified I can share more information, but for now I'm asking everyone to pray. Pray that whatever is going on (I'm driving you nuts aren't I?), that it would be the Hand of God and nothing more, that the decisions being made are of the Lord and of no other influence, and that leading up to when we can make a full announcement, everything would go smoothly.



"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - (Philippians 4:6-7)On a different note as you noticed by the title of the Blog, THAT'S A WRAP. Yea you heard me, we are done with principle photography. 25 Weeks, 44 Shooting Days, 600 hours on set with people you care about, a church with volunteers, a new company, time away from families and jobs, miracles on set, miracles off the set, a cast/crew growing stronger in Christ, 8+ deaths in relation to local church families and people involved, a local community and internet fan-base in prayer, and a little story called Standing Firm. My o my has God brought us a long way, and we have a ways to travel still! Weighing out all the pain and frustration, the headaches and pitfalls, nothing can compare to what is without a doubt the greatest year of my life. Praise God for his Faithfulness in answering his children's prayers, and may He continue to be lifted up as we move along. He gets bigger, we get smaller...what a beautiful thing.

The stage we are at now is getting the edit together as best we can before we evaluate what needs to be included in pick ups, or reshot. The nature of this project allows reshoots in a way that no other project would allow. Having full access to all locations (as long as we are indoors, it is about 20 degrees here right now), and having everyone on board is obviously a great Blessing to the project and insures the best product possible. Could God have given us a more Blessed situation?

This means we will all be taking a bit of a break while we begin to iron out this “big thing” going on (I can feel it, you hate that I can't tell you), and also do what is stated above. This also means its time to move the blog to another location. Where will be specified soon and you can move yourself there. It will be setup a lot better than this blog and allow more functionality for those of you out there who enjoy keeping up with our updates!

We are so grateful that all of you out there have continued supporting us after such a long time. This is a great hurdle for all of us to be jumping, in more ways than one. We are extremely grateful for the encouragement we have received from all of you, especially your prayers as each problem presented has been solved in God's timing. This is something that requires you, all of you.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him." - (1 John 5:14-15)

God Bless & MERRY CHRISTMAS,
Kyle Prohaska

Bits & Pieces #3 (W25:D1)

Today was another day where we needed to get remaining pieces of scenes previously shot. Some of the more complicated scenes in the film involve scenes at church, with different angles and cutaways needed. Most church days we ran out of time to get everything needed, and we were forced to wait a long time down the road to come back. This involves matching lighting from previously shot footage. Luckily we have a laptop on set with the entire film on it. It has come in handy for a number of things, including continuity checks. There is very little left to film, and the current first cut is at about 90%. Things are coming along nicely.

Trailer Prayers

OK here is the deal. We have a new trailer cut together for all of you out there. Excited? So are we. The trailer has been shown to many select people for feedback and tweaks and we have something we are really happy with. One slight hang up though. The music used towards the end of the trailer that practically carries its emotional tone will cost us a little bit of money. Problem being, that money doesn't exist. I wont give you the quote because that isn't important and is confidential information between us and the licensing company.

What can you do about it? Well there is always the option of donating. We don't want to push that agenda as much as the next one. We want you to PRAY. PRAY PRAY PRAY. Pray that the amount needed would show up in some way. We don't have the amount needed and need God to bring it for us to use the song.

After a certain point if nothing happens we will recut the trailer to something we can use. That'll just prolong the trailer release as we are really trying to concentrate on getting the actual film put together. Trailers are a whole new ball-game in terms of their complexity and making them effective. We also have a big press opportunity coming up I wont shed details of now but it will be big for us, the biggest we will probably get until many many months from now. We can recut the trailer, but God can do anything right? If this is the trailer he wants us to use, the money will show up. If not...then we recut it.

Either way ask God to bring us the answer and quickly, ideally before the big press opportunity. Having the new trailer debut along with it would be extremely beneficial.

Lets see what God does, he could have something up his sleeve.

----------------------------------------------

UPDATES:

12/05/08 - We currently have 26% of the needed funds!
12/07/08 - We currently have 45% of the needed funds!!

Having a Post-Perspective

Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about all you loyal Blog subscribers and readers :)

The film is not wrapped yet, we are attempting to schedule the last of the last right now. December as you can imagine causes issues for scheduling, but what month so far hasn't? Don't worry we'll be done soon, I've said it before but there really isn't any other word to use. It's all very small stuff so we should get it done quickly.

Post-Production on the film is in full swing. What does that mean for you? Well once the picture is officially wrapped we will be creating an entirely new blog directly on the Standing Firm website to serve as our main blog from end of Production all the way until whatever ends up happening with the film (release, premiere, distribution, news, etc.). We look forward to really beefing up the inside info about the film as Post gets going really intensely. What is involved in Post-Production? Eh not too much, just editing, sound mixing and recording, ADR, foley, the score (looking forward to sharing small bits of this in the future), Visual Effects (yes we have a few to do surprisingly...it seems like the fun never ends), Color Correction, Behind the Scenes content, DVD Menus, DVD Artwork, a new completed final trailer, Final Encoding and Mastering to DVD. There are lots of subcategories included in there but I wont mention what those are.What we will try and do as Post-Prod goes along is give you an insight into what goes into Post-Production by visiting each of the corresponding topics. Hopefully the new blog will be a place where you can learn quite a bit about the technical side of filmmaking if you don't know much already, and for those who already know a lot...maybe you'll pick up a thing or two.

You'll be surprised to know the entire film (capture files, Final Cut Pro project, posters, website, encoded web files, audio wavs, etc.) is only reaching bout 520GB as of today. Not a lot considering the length of film we are creating (90 minutes as a goal). Yes we are backing it up, don't worry. :)

Till next time...

Spoken from the Heart (W23:D1)

Today we shot a scene in the pastors office and the pulpit footage needed for our church scenes. Pastor Billy Crone, our local pastor at Niagara Frontier Bible Church did a great job. He was a natural at the pulpit (obviously) and when it came to shooting in his office, everything went smoothly. This scene is probably one of the most important OF THE ENTIRE FILM. After we filmed everything we "needed" for the scene, I told Rob that I was just going to roll it and he could say whatever he wanted. What would his character say at this point in the story? What kind of feelings would be bubbling inside? We hit the record button and the result was amazing. God really worked through Robby as he started talking about so many relatable things to the common Christian. My eyes lit up as I watched the monitor, knowing that this footage was going to be a really impacting moment of the film for a non-Christian viewer. It's remarkable what kind of stuff you can get out of someone sometimes if your loose on what you want their character to say and let them speak from the heart. It's not always Shakespeare but it's genuine. Things come out you couldn't have written down or put on paper. God showed up big time today, PRAISE HIM.Happy Thanksgiving to all out there who are keeping up with the Blog! Have a great time with your family and friends!

Oh but wait there's more! :) What would a day of shooting be without bloopers? Pastor Billy is one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet and his humor is WELL KNOWN in our congregation. I figured I would share a few of them with you (and a few from past shoots). He's the only guy I know who can flip from serious to ridiculous so quickly. ENJOY! Oh and just for the record, Pastor Billy despises chicken and loves beef, hopefully that'll clear up a thing or two.

NO Crew (W22:D2)

Today was interesting. We only had one small thing to shoot, the second piece to a scene which was filmed over 2 months ago when the sun was shining and the grass was green. Right now its 20 degrees and that annoying white stuff covers the ground, one of the joys of Western New York (I'm kidding of course). Regardless we only needed this one other piece of a scene and we got it done very quickly. I didn't have someone to boom sound so I grabbed my mom (Deb Prohaska playing Jen in the film) to hold the boom for us. 5 minutes of instruction on operating procedure and she had it down. We didn't have lights either, I had a reflector and natural light. I moved the camera to different places in the house to try and find the proper place. The area I picked ended up working great because there was light from both windows behind the subject giving a nice contrast on his face and a rim on his backside. The problem with the winter is things also tend to get a bit blue outside because of the sunlight reflecting off snow. A gold reflector gave it some warmth (propped up on a chair with a piece of duct tape to keep it from falling) and the right white balance setting gave it the proper look. Aaron Slack playing Shawn in the film is officially wrapped! Thanks Aaron!

This week is a big week, please pray for us. Wednesday finds us shooting one of the most crucial conversations of the entire film. Pray that all goes well and that the scene is of the Lord and not of ourselves. This is a major scene where the context can speak to the viewer in a deep relatable way.

The Night Shoot #3 (W22:D1)

Tonight was our last night shoot, and it was a tough one. We had quite a bit to do and not a lot of time to do it in but God was faithful. We ended up having plenty of time in the end to do what was needed. The scene we shot tonight was extremely hard for Rob (playing Dave) because the performance had to be dead on. Before we shot the scene we specifically prayed that God would work through him to speak to the viewers. This is a moment in the film where many will relate to what is being said, and it needed to be of the Lord and not of any of us. Even the lines we had written were totally up for changes if the Lord saw fit to change them in the moment. Rob did a great job and the scene looks like it'll be powerful when it's complete.Tonight was also another night where two crew members were present. Two crew (myself and my gaffer Shaun Smith), and one actor. How we have been able to pull off what we are with the amount of people we have is a true testament to God's intervention and leading. We really feel he has his hand on this film and we can't wait to see what he does with it.

We only have a few more days left until wrap time...we are so close.

Gallery & Christian Movie Updates

Just wanted to let everyone know we added a few photos to the Gallery on the website. Some new BTS photos towards the bottom and screen-grabs from the film towards the top. We are keeping busy here, the last of the shooting days are finally scheduled and will be shot soon. I can hear the fireworks and party poppers going off already. The first cut of the film is coming along nicely with the runtime hovering around the 90min mark where we had estimated. I'm sure with trimming and soon to be added additions we will swing in front of and behind that mark and land somewhere close. Keep praying for the project. We have lots to do after shooting wraps to get this thing done. I know a lot of people out there are excited and so are we, but we have a long way to go and still need your support!

Thanks to all who left us a message on the videos page. It's encouraging to know there are people out there watching us :) It gives us more fuel for the fire. If you haven't left us a comment yet, WHY NOT!? Go ahead and leave one, we would love to hear from you!

There are a few Christian films & other content I want you to be aware of. It is very important that other independent Christian films be supported so more can be made. We can't make these films without you the viewer!

1) Bringing Up Bobby, a quirky comedy from the creators of Between the Walls. Christian Comedy is a rarity and very difficult to pull of, comedy in general is not easy. If your interested in Between the Walls, I do believe there is a sale going on right now! Also made by Glowing Nose LLC is their podcast. It gives some great insight into different topics, not just films. I suggest you give it a listen. I enjoy listening to these guys.

2) A Letter to Dad, a new romantic film. This film is great, on a level of production quality unseen in most Christian films...even other professional films. I suggest you give this a look, it's just been released on DVD recently!

3) Praise Pictures film reviews. Are you looking for other Christian films? Looking for a review? We hope at some point we can be a popular go to place for even-handed “filmmaker perspective” reviews. More will be added as time goes on. Keep an eye out.

By the way do any of you have a Facebook or Myspace? We have a Facebook Group available as well as an official Myspace page for the film. Join us or add us!

The Funeral #2 (W20:D1)

Today we finished off pieces of the funeral we needed. We finished the funeral ceremony itself but we needed to collect what happens afterwards. Everyone did a wonderful job and I'm proud of them. Dave Gifford playing John Corwin was wrapped today so congratulations Dave! Your work on the film is awesome and we'll miss having you around. The footage came out very nice today as well, we put everyone near windows which isn't normally done but the bloom effect looks great on camera, and it matches the style of the funeral ceremony we previously shot. Everything came together well and editing the footage today I found it all fit together seamlessly. From the ceremony, to todays shooting, to what happens after. All flows together well and I think the opening of the film is going to be something that really sets you up well for the mood of the film. It's not an exploding house sequence or car chase, but it'll still pull you in. That's our hope at least.

Also if you haven't caught it yet, the radio broadcast that played on KKLA in LA last night is available on the podcast feed for Last Words Radio Click Here. Visit LastWordsRadio.com for other broadcasts and information about their radio ministry.

Click on Nov 1st. to download that days broadcast...we are mentioned about 6mins in. Special thanks to Greg for his thoughts about the film! We're glad your excited as much as we are!

Web, Video, & Publicity Updates!

The Standing Firm site has a new face today, and lots of new content added, changed, and updated. You'll notice a link to a new video. That being said, the Videos page is now active and will stay that way! :)

You'll find new videos posted there as time goes on. Be sure to check out the newest video added called Fun & Bloopers.

You'll notice at the bottom a section called Comments. Read what's there and leave us a note! :)

Also, on KKLA 99.5FM in Los Angeles Nov 1st @ 9PM PST tune in to hear STANDING FIRM as a topic of discussion. Visit KKLA.com to listen in live on the day!

Also the About page has been updated with the updated synopsis, and a few other things there like a list of who could relate to the film and why/how it might impact you or those you share it with!

For those of you who haven't checked in a while, the Gallery has some great screenshots from the film.

Something else that is new that you might not know about is the new Praise Pictures website. The site has been pretty empty for a while but now we have updated and filled it with usable resources. The most notable to be our reviews of past released and new Christian movies! Visit PraisePictures.com for details.

BIG NEWS: (as if all the rest wasn't enough) There will be in the near future an interview coming at ChristianCinema.com with Kyle Prohaska, Co-Producer/Writer & Director of STANDING FIRM. Dates are not yet known and we will let you know when things become available. ChristianCinema.com is one of the biggest Christian Movie News sites available, and many watch this site for news including interviews. This interview will be on their website with lots of other interviews of high profile people including Alex & Stephen Kendrick (Facing the Giants & Fireproof), Andrew Stanton (Director of Wall-E), Ben Burtt (Sound Design Legend), and many others. The fact that we have been given the opportunity to put our little project out there amongst names like this is truly a miracle of God!

Great Fellowship (W19:D1)

Today was a fun shooting day. The amount to shoot was minimal but it was great because it was our last of shooting in our main house location (in the day at least). The footage looks great, we keep getting better and better. It was nice because Kevin Michael (Co-Writ, Prod, Prod. Sound) was able to stay home today to assist, something that has changed since Sept. because of Kevin's job as a teacher. So we had 4 people on set today (including Robby as Dave), a number we haven't seen in a little while. We've been shooting a lot of days lately with 2 crew and 1 actor on set. Sounds impossible? Not for this tight group of Christian folk. :)

Also an interview was done with ChristianCinema.com today. The interview went extremely well and I look forward to seeing the finished article. We will be sure to let you know when its there. Best part about this is other news sites use their news and syndicate it, so this article and interview might be our best publicity for quite sometime. I'm extremely excited to see what God does, because I spilled my guts in the interview.

Only a little farther to move the ball, 4th Down, 10 yard line, our defense is strong and our offense is stronger...here we go.

The Cemetery (W18:D1)

Today we got back to work after a week or so hiatus. It was tough because the location was beautiful but choosing a spot within it to shoot that didn't give us lighting problems made things difficult. Eventually we got it but lost the sun quickly. One thing that is also stressful during every shooting day no matter how planned things are is being 100% sure you got what you need. Anyone can get a bunch of great shots but whether or not they cut together properly is a different story. A handful of great shots that don't edit together is useless. So it's always tough when I say those infamous words for the day "that's a wrap." I always feel like I'm spelling doom for myself and I'll find out when I get home and log the footage that there was one shot I needed I didn't get. Things seem to be ok though (after looking at the footage) so thats good. We'll find out soon enough.The first cut of the film is coming along very well, we are close. I can't wait to be done shooting, finishing a first cut, and watch it beginning to end and see what we really have. I think we have something special and I'm not even sure what it is yet. There is always hopes and dreams of what it could be but what it actually is.....we'll time will tell.

Thanks again to all who have been supporting us. We are almost there :)

Saving God - Review

Aside from the things going on with Standing Firm (yes we are still wrapping up shooting), we have a new review available on the Praise Pictures Website. Also the Praise Pictures site has changed a little bit, so be sure to look around a little while your there. The review is for the new film Saving God released only a few days ago by Cloud Ten Pictures. The film is outstanding and is the best Christian film I have ever seen. It's worth your rental, purchase, adding to your netflix queue or what have you....see the film. Read the review here.

We are still shooting, schedules and weather are making it difficult but we will pull through. The first cut of all the scenes previously shot is coming together nicely. I"m excited to see it all put together for the first time. As always, thanks for your prayers and support!

Bits & Pieces #2 (W16:D1)

We gathered small little pieces of things today to tie some loose ends in some scenes. Things we might have ran out of time to shoot previously when we we're at the church. It took a bit of time to shoot another angle of a scene shot 3 months ago and match the light and continuity of everything around it. In the end we got it though and came up with some good footage. We also turned something that should've been simple into something a bit more complicated and a lot more interesting to look at. There is something about having close objects to camera crossing frame as you dolly that really ads some excellent depth. We have tried our hardest to up the production value of the shots in this film whether it be light or style, tilts and handheld, dolly and push in/outs...etc. Whatever we could do we did it and I think we have an example of almost anything you can try at least once in the film. All besides crane shots, (something we even cheated at one point but its still not exactly the same). We had placed a dolly in the back of a pickup to give us the height as we added tilt to the shot and moved the dolly forward. I'm very excited to see the reaction of people after they see the film. Regardless of what is thought of the film itself, I hope someone finds the way in which it's shot to be inspiring to others who work at this budget range and with the lack of resources we have and are dealing with. We have roughly 4% to go of filming, but it seems it will be the hardest to accomplish due to schedules.

Pray we keep on moving and get to the finish line with something special in our hands. What a long journey, but I have a good feeling it will be worth it.

FIREPROOF YOUR WEEKEND!

New Newsletter - Click Here

Fireproof had great numbers on Friday, lets make this weekend a big one!

Two Man Crew, Part Two (W15:D1)

Today was an interesting day, we only had one scene to shoot. We could have shot more but because of one important but stupid sounding problem, we couldn't. Ready for this?....BEARD CONTINUITY. Yea you heard me, a beard. The scene that was top priority was our last outdoor scene (thank goodness, weather is becoming an issue) and the beard needed to be a certain length, but the other planned scenes indoors required a longer beard. So we stuck to the one priority scene outside and go that done. It took a while longer than I would've liked, but all the equipment was at the church down the road and in the confusion we forgot a few things, was making a few mistakes along the way during shooting, etc. But we ended up getting it done. Very few days left to shoot. I'm looking forward to getting things wrapped up.

The Funeral (W14:D1)

Today was a long and tough day for everyone. It was Eric Stevenson's (playing Steven) last day on set minus any last minute re-shoots that may or may not take place. It was also a tough day emotionally for the actors because of the performance needed without any dialog. Much needed to be said without anything being said, and the fact that it involved a funeral made it all that much more real. We were lucky enough to have a real casket and a real hearse donated for a few hours graciously by Hardison Funeral Home of Lewiston, NY. The light outside was perfect for the shots we needed, not a single light was brought out or bounce card or flag or anything of the sort. The footage turned out amazing, I'm very happy with what we got.

From there we moved inside, we had just enough extras to pull off what we needed. A third of the people who had signed up to arrive did not show but just enough showed up that were not on our list to fill in the gaps. Everyone was very patient with us and had lots of fun. Thanks to everyone who came out if your reading this, none of this is possible without all of you.
We are about 95% of the way done with shooting, the remaining 5% will be the hardest to get in terms of scheduling. Thats just the way things "worked out" I guess, and by that I mean "thats the way God ordained it to be." We'll see what happens, we are close, very...very...close. I can't wait to see what God does during the next and last 5%.

New Newsletter - 09.17.08

There is a new newsletter available to you: http://standingfirmmovie.com/newsletter/newsletter_91708.html

It's worth a look, some information on another Christian production company based in Ohio that needs your help! Also Fireproof is released in just about a week, times a tickin. If you haven't bought your tickets yet visit http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/theaters to find a theater and purchase tickets now.

This Saturday is the last big day of shooting, we have a few more days after that but this one is the last big day with extras, and lots to shoot in a short amount of time. Fun times. Pray that all goes well! Sorry I can't clue you into what is being shot...top secret...for now.

Also we have some Post-Production expenses we need to take care of to finish the film. If any of you out there even have 10 bucks you can donate, we would appreciate the support. The fundraiser ends a while from now so you all got plenty of time if your a saver. Hopefully something happens :)

Two Man Crew (W13:D1)

Today went well considering we had (as you could probably guess by the title of the entry...) two crew members. Myself and my Gaffer Shaun Smith. We had a few reshoots to do as well as some bits and pieces needed for previously shot scenes. We also tried out a new lens we haven't used yet. It provides a 1:1 image, meaning if you were to have a lens like this on a film camera with this kind of ratio...a frame of 35mm of a dime would be exactly the size of that dime. This allows some serious depth of field on close up objects whether it be papers, coins, phones, eyes, or pretty much anything you would need to get extremely close to. We made good use of the lens today, I'm thrilled with what we were able to get. We have a handful of days left, we're not out of the woods yet but we are close. I'm excited to see this thing get wrapped up. Lots of post work coming down the pike.

Our Film & the others out there!

One thing we all have to do is support each other. Christian film is a young market, a new category in comparison to the secular world. I've plugged other Christian films here but I figured I would do it again. :) Take advantage of these links below for each film and share it with others. Seriously, it will take only 5mins of your time to share this blog entry with people on your email list, or post it on Facebook in your profile, etc. Since this market is so new, take it upon yourself to help all of us out there in the film industry and spread the word about our films. We can't make more films if we don't get the films out there, we can't get the films out there without money, money is limited for most people, and donations are normally limited as well so the best way to help is SPREAD THE WORD!!!! I'm kinda drilling it into your heads here but I have to.

STANDING FIRM: Release Date TBA
Official Site
Blog
Facebook Group
Facebook Profile
Sign Up for Email Updates
Youtube Trailer







FIREPROOF: In Theaters Sept. 26th!
FIND A THEATER & BUY TICKETS NOW!
Official Site
Blog
Facebook Group
Facebook Profile
Sign Up for Email Updates
Youtube Trailer






SAVING GOD: On DVD Oct. 2008
Official Site
Facebook Group
Youtube Trailer










NO GREATER LOVE: Release Date TBA
Official Site
Blog
Facebook Group
Facebook Profile









BRINGING UP BOBBY: Release Date 2009
Official Site
Facebook Film Page
Youtube - James Teaser Trailer










RUN BABY RUN: THE NICKY CRUZ STORY
Official Site
Facebook Film Page










THE SECRETS OF JONATHAN SPERRY: In Theaters Spring 2009
Official Site

Unexpected Hold Up (W12:D2)

Because of scheduling complications (as previously stated), we will have a short break from shooting. Sept. will mark the end of shooting, but the remaining things to shoot will be relatively spread out. Also the things we wished to shoot today became impossible when once again the adapter we have failed to turn on. Thats ok though :) Before when it happened it would've been a disaster if it stayed that way, right now since we all have a break and knew it...we have plenty of time to send it in for repairs as well as the backup one we have that also failed on us during shooting.

On a lighter note I found a pleasant suprise on the FIREPROOF website today in the pressroom! In their list of press releases you can find a link to one of our STANDING FIRM newsletters under the link called "Praise Pictures." It was very cool to see that link sitting there amongst major Christian new sites, interview links, etc. In case you didn't know, FIREPROOF will be coming out on Sept. 26th in theaters all across the country! To find out where its playing near you and buy your tickets early (half of the opening tickets have been sold out already)...visit http://fireproofthemovie.com/theaters/ to search for a theater near you.

Also I have setup a page on Facebook where you can RSVP to an opening day screening and invite everyone your friends list to come! Let them know about the film! Almost 1000 people have been invited to the film, lets get some more. :) Visit the event page here: . Don't forget to search and join the FIREPROOF Facebook group as well.

Another Christian film coming soon is Bringing Up Bobby, a comedy by the Award Winning Staron Brothers. Check out their site http://www.bringingupbobby.com. Another film by them released in 2006, Between The Walls, can be found for purchase at countless places online.

Intensity (W12:D1)

Today was a rough day for everyone. We were down a crucial crew member so things were a bit harder than usual. We also had quite a few scenes to complete and lots to go right for the day to be a success. Overall it went well, the last shot was filmed just as exposure with the camera became impossible lol. The sun was going down. The day was perfect though in terms of weather, not a drop of rain, cloudy so all the light outside was nice and soft and really gave everything a nice color and look without having to do much of anything. It was tough on the actors however because it was nothing but arguments, apologies, spreading the gospel, you know the usual :) Everyone was shot by the end of the day and it became hard to get lines out. One of the most intense and "loud" scenes in the film was shot today so that didn't help. Lots of sweat, tears, and anger shed today, everyone go through it though. Overall a good day of shooting. The next month (sept.) will be finishing up all sorts of bits and pieces of things we need with the beginning of the film and ending of the film being shot within 2 days. So plan on the blog being a bit spotty in terms of there being normal shooting weeks with regular posts like this. You wont see that after the next few. Keep praying for us, pressure is high, everyone is fried and tired, but we'll get through it. You don't come this far to give up.

Game Time, Full Time (W11:D4)

Today closes our most hectic shooting week to date. We shot 4 days and totaled about 50hrs worth of shooting time. Thats a lot considering our previous week schedules, some of the earlier weeks in production hitting the 24hr mark in 4 days...very little shooting for a feature. Either way this was our second day with church extras and we concentrated mostly on scenes based in the hallways and foyer of the church. It went well, last time we shot with extras we got 5 shots, and today we got 15 shots, much improved on our last amount. Everyone was cooperative and it was pretty intense. We had lots to shoot, and little time to get it shot. On top of that we had many, many angles to get for one of the scenes and having extras makes that complicated when you consider continuity. I had to change my planned shots there on set as everyone waited around and it made me a little nervous. Almost every day of shooting is a guess unless its a straight dialog scene with reverses. You go in with storyboards and shotlists saying "yea that'll cut together great," but your rarely 100% on that. It's a little scary but we pulled through. Unfortunately we'll have to plan another day to do some scenes but in terms of full shooting days like this with lots of people and chaos, nope. We have very few scenes left to shoot, we are VERY close.Also on a side note I wanted to throw a heads up that I'll have 2 radio interviews in Sept. that I will post on the website to download/listen to when they are available. Dates to be announced in the future. Thanks to all for support! WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!

8 Hrs...1 Yard (W11:D3)

Today was a day that felt longer than it was. We had a few scenes to shoot and 2 to reshoot on one front yard today. It's weird shooting so much in a space that small and with the variety of stuff we needed to catch but it was great getting it done. We also added a small change to the story the night before that makes everything tie together better. I got one word for you..."froglegs?" Yuck, anyways I wont explain that (don't want to ruin something in the film now do we?). The day went well and we shot quite a bit for the amount of time we were there. The pages we needed to shoot that day was many and by the end of the day we got through most of it. Schedules are tight and we are getting a bit stressed about having to come back and get extra things before leaves change, before peoples time runs out, etc. We'll get through it though. After what happened on Tuesday (read the Aug. 19th post called "A Miracle of God") we know we'll be ok. Lots has happened to let us know that we are ok and will get this thing done. Tomorrow is a big day...lots to shoot, little time, few helpers, what's new? :)

A Miracle of God (W11:D2)

Today was a normal day of shooting, we got lots done...the last of Robby and Eric's scenes at this home. The day was full of fun, this included re-shoots for scenes with problems from the first few weeks of shooting. Later on in the day before everyone left we were getting poster shots that I might need for later. The light looked amazing so I brought the camera down where we were and it looks solid to me....I even nudged it to see if it would fall (or I was going to move it)...and it was fine. I walked over to where everyone else was and I hear someone yell. Turning around I find the camera laying on its side, having just crashed to the ground. For those of you who don't know...we have an adapter on our camera that allows us to attach Nikon lenses to the Canon Video Camera for nice DOF. It has a motor in it that vibrates. We had serious issues with the last one and had to buy another immediately and we've been using it for quite some time. Instead of freaking out like last time, I brought the camera inside to inspect it.

The motor inside the adapter wouldn't work...it was dead. Change of batteries did nothing. Everyone was standing around thinking the film was officially over because there was no way we could wait for another to show up or wait for repairs. Schedules are completely full and it wouldn't have been possible. Everyone had a numb look on their face. I closed the battery compartment and said "you know what, we're all going to go into the other room and we're going to pray." Everyone said that was the right thing to do and we all went in the living room to pray. We gave the problem up to the Lord praying that something would happen to fix it. After praying everyone stayed in the room and started talking about some spiritual things and I left because I wanted to see if the thing would turn on. I didn't want anyone around me no matter what happened. Nervously I put my finger on the button on the side and hit it. The motor started and I began to laugh and left the room to go to a bedroom. I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. I was so happy. Everyone else didn't know it turned on and my mother came into the room with me to say she was sorry. As she was rubbing my shoulder I mumbled "It turned on." It was funny because her hand suddenly stopped rubbing my shoulder as if it hit her...and she began to laugh and cry with me. The film was saved, God has performed a miracle in front of our eyes. We are supposed to be here, we are supposed to be making this film, and WE WILL FINISH IT. God is going to do something special, if anything...he already has.

I just wanted to share that with all of you out there, God is good, he is real, and HE IS FAITHFUL.

Amen.

The Night Shoot #2 (W11:D1)

What a great day of shooting. The last night shoot was to put it simply...a disaster. This night shoot however turned out wonderful. We got some excellent footage and even though the number of things we got was minimal, its some of our best. Special thanks to Kevin Campbell for coming out on this cold night (because it IS getting cold around here already....brrr) and standing in front of hot lights (lucky) for a little while ;) It went great, we also had shot a full day prior to that so it was a good 18hr day or so.We were all exhausted in the end and I slept on set because we had an 8am calltime the next morning. Tomorrow is the last day involving Robby Reisman and Eric Steven (playing the leads) in scenes together at the main home in the film. The only other scenes with both of them are off this property, thank goodness. Everything went well, Praise God.

Week #11 - WE NEED PRAYER!

This upcoming week is #11 on the Standing Firm movie shoot. It's been a long process and the number of shooting days left is extremely small. Tensions are high, patience is growing thin, and the amount to be completed in this upcoming week from the 19th-22nd of Aug. is MONUMENTAL! We have more to shoot this upcoming week than has ever been shot in a combined 2 week of average shooting. We need some SERIOUS PRAYER FROM ALL OF YOU! Pray that God would Bless the shooting days, that all that is needed would be acquired, and that all scenes would end up as planned and not require any reshooting later. Pray that the weather would be adequate for shooting (something that hasn't given us favor in the past 3 weeks), and that all other things included in the shooting of the film runs smoothly. This is a very scary time in the shoot of this film and we will need nothing less than God's overwhelming providence over the shoot for it to succeed, so pray for that.

Psalm 55:22 - Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you: He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

Habakkuk 2:2-4 - Then the LORD answered me and said, "Record the vision, And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.

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God At Work (W10:D1)

Today was an INCREDIBLE day of shooting. We started off the day at 7am out in the back woods to reshoot a previously shot scene because of audio problems. Because I have been so overloaded with things to do for the film...I hadn't had a chance to rewrite the scene the previous night. The scene didn't play exactly how I wanted the last time regardless of the audio quality so it was a great opportunity to figure it out. Eric, Maggie, and myself sat at the table figuring out how to create the dialog between the two characters. We needed to make the scene fit more with the character arc that had been created in the later bits of the film and currently the scene didn't fit. After just a short half hour we had a great scene that I believe is of the Lord and it came out wonderful! Everyone is getting so much better and faster when we shoot, its great to see and now is the time for it to be happening besides.

Then we shot our first scene that included my mother Deb playing the role of Jen Corwin. I can't explain the context of the scene but let me tell you it came out very special. Some improv was added into the scene that we decided to keep and overall the scene came about 10x better than I expected or had written down on the page. Kudos to everyone for putting up with my fast pace today, we got the last bit of that scene shot as rain started to drizzle down on us. We then went inside and gathered bits and pieces from previously shot scenes that we had either forgotten, or didn't realize that we needed. Along with that lots of ideas arose on the spot that came out great as well as me adding an entirely new scene to the film! It was short but I think it will add another slice of flavor to one of the characters. By that time it was about 6:30pm and we all decided it was time to pack up to move onto location #2 for the day.Forestview Church of God, a local church near ours is the home church of our gaffer Shaun Smith. They were gracious enough to let us shoot there for a scene of the film and gave permission only 2 days before we had to shoot there. Everyone was excited, interested, supportive, and patient with us as we came in and took over part of the building for a few hours. Mike Cooper, a friend of mine and youth leader at my local church Niagara Frontier Bible, came out to film his scene of the film and man was it great! He had to give a message to the youth sitting around him on chairs in a circular shape and repeat the message many times over. The extras that came were all friends of mine besides one exchange student from Germany who was visiting here. The scene went very well and the shooting went relatively smooth. I've never needed to get so many angles before, especially in the circular pattern. It can get very complex and the edit will be no less complex I'm sure. But it went well and the footage is gorgeous. Thanks to all for this awesome long but productive day of shooting!

The Parking Lot (W9:D3)

After getting rained out the first time it was scheduled, we finally got around to getting the exteriors at the church shot. The rain was moving in slowly during the day, with a huge storm passing just north of us the entire time. The clouds became an issue because we had some sunny hard light on a lot of the shots we did right away then soft ones when we needed to do other things. That became an issue when the shots from afternoon and morning would have to be cut together. So when we were inside trying to make a decision the sun blasted through the clouds for about an hour and we ran outside to get things shot as fast as possible. To make an understatement....I got a little intense. ;)Either way we got what we need shot (I hope), and moved it indoors to get some other things shot before the day was over. We have been moving very quickly lately. Everyday this week just before we leave everyone asks "Now there isn't anything else we can do right?" Then when I mention there is I get "WELL LETS SHOOT IT THEN!" :) So we've been getting quite a bit done. I'm a bit nervous because I'm behind on getting the footage into the computer to view so its got me a little on edge about the footage itself and whether or not we're getting things right. We'll find out soon enough...

Something else that was cool was a lady pulled into the parking lot while we were shooting with a flat tire and we were able to help her out. We also gave her a DVD from our Churches Media Ministry and invited her to church this sunday. What a cool little Blessing added to the day. Was it by chance she had a flat...I think not!

We also did our first handheld shooting today using our new shoulder mount setup. Its been very useful this week with its grip handles and solid base. Even when not in use as a shoulder setup it has the ability to be hooked to the tripod and it makes our overall setup much more sturdy and solid. We had it sent with 2 day shipping because a friend of mine had gotten it in the mail and realized he didn't need it. This thing has a 60 day wait on shipping for those who order and we got ours in 2 days. THANKS JOHN!!! Another small snippet of how God is working out little problems with our production. :)

Change of Plans #2 (W9:D2)

Today we continued to shoot at the church and ended up shooting an entire day there again. It was a long day and we got all sorts of things shot. A few complete scenes and other pieces of other scenes that we've already started. It was a great day as well because we shot two conversations today that will be I think some of the best of the film. I had an ear-to-ear smile on my face the entire time. It was incredible to see it all turn out the way it did. Tomorrow is the parking lot shoot, we've been planning this for quite a while, pray for good weather.

Change of Plans (W9:D1)

Well today the weather was pretty bad so we came up with the idea to move to the church down the road. Niagara Frontier Bible Church (home church of a lot of the people involved with the film) is the church we are using for our church scenes indoors and out. We without having prep, shot a few scenes that take place there indoors that we had planned for a little later. It took a while to get the boulder moving not being prepared and all, but eventually we got going. The footage came out great and we got to do a few scenes that really start to tie the story together. Its exciting to finally see some select scenes working and becoming what I've been hoping for. Special thanks to Maggie Whitton who is playing Maggie Harper in the film, for being woken up at home and rushing to set because of our sudden change of plans. Thanks Maggie! Tomorrow we have decided to shoot more of the church scenes and just get a bunch of them done. Schedules for people are getting tight so we had a production meeting to try and come up with something that worked a little better for everyone. Keep praying for Sat. that we can get done what we need. :)

OTHER NEWS: A childhood friend of mine and a special part of our church family, Karen Ortman, passed away on the 5th of Aug. She was 25, and a wonderful woman of God. May God comfort the Ortman family and Karen's fiance Chris, as they go through this tough time. Pray for comfort and healing, especially for unsaved friends and family of Karen. Her smile and joyful personality is what I will remember most. We love you Karen!