Bits & Pieces (W8:D1)

Today was an interesting day. Slow to start but at the end of the day we got some nice stuff. One of those days where we couldn't complete a scene but instead got bits and pieces of things that we need for other scenes, montage, etc. Overall we pulled off some awesome stuff that I'm very proud of.

One thing that I'm excited about overall on this production is the fact we are attempting and completing things that will be in the film that are VERY RARE in productions of this size, budget, and with this amount of crew members. It's exciting to see just whats possible when God is behind the wheel. He's Blessed us so much in this process and it seems like it's getting better and better the more we move along. Hopefully in the end, the film will live up to what you all hope it could be.

Beat the Weather (W7:D4)

Well today at about 11am it looked like we were sunk since the days shoot required sun and not just sun but it had to be similar to yesterday. The weatherman however painted a darker picture for us. Luckily the weather cleared up just in time and everyone rushed to the location in an hours time, setup, got ready, and we shot and finished the sequence scheduled in about an hour. We also had an approaching storm coming (we had been Blessed with a hole in the sky big enough to shoot in, thanks God). So we got things shot and went home. Glad we were able to finish what we needed. Special thanks goes out to the Byron family who let us take over their home and property for 2 days and allowed us the use of their white van as a vehicle "prop."

Change of Scenery (W7:D3)

Today we moved to a new home to shoot all scenes there in one day. The character of Sarah is played by Joan Golda, a member of Niagara Frontier Bible Church. She did a great job, we burned through her scenes fairly quickly. WE also shot quite a few scenes today, more than usual. Although there was one scene we were unable to shoot. Weather has been a problem this week and today was a beautiful day, perfect outside. Unfortunately its supposed to rain tomorrow and the only thing left to shoot is outdoors so we'll see but it doesn't look good. Either way our speed so far has been great this week, regardless of what we did get to or didn't get to shoot. We shot about 11% of the film this week so thats pretty good considering our previous speed over the last 6 weeks.

Fun & Productive (W7:D2)

Today was more productive than the last. We did a scene in a basement where there was all sorts of dust and chips of wood and anything you could think of all over the place. It definitely looked like a construction site. We finished a good size conversation down there between Dave & Shawn and all went well. The end of the day provided an opportunity for everyone to have a bit of fun shooting Scene 56. Why you'll find out when you see the film but lets just say it was chaos. Tomorrow we plan on shooting a large chunk of the film in one day, pray that all goes well. Lots of tough stuff to finish tomorrow.

Tough Start (W7:D1)

Today was tough, and it was our first day without three of our crew that had to leave for other things. So the day went relatively slow, everyone getting back into the swing of things, limited help, and other things that couldn't be avoided. We attempted to shoot the scheduled scenes for outside today but weather far off in the distance made sound a nightmare as did lots of other background noise that isn't normal for where were shooting right now. Either way we only got one scene shot today but we'll get on our feet tomorrow and speed things up. God is good, we'll pull through...just gotta get the ball moving.

Teaser Trailer Now Available!

For those of you who have been anxiously waiting, you can finally see some footage from Standing Firm! The teaser trailer is now available for viewing at Youtube.com Quicktime HD versions of the film will be available in the near future.



We have lots more to shoot, and we are down a few crew members. Pray for a speedy finish as we move into the second half of production. Thanks to all who have been supporting us with prayer, financial giving, and all things in-between. This movie wouldn't exist without all of you. Don't forget to spread that Youtube link to your friends and family!

Game Time, Half Time (W6:D3)

Today went well, we did our bigger scenes at the church with about 45 or so extras. It was the first time we shot in such a big space so I give props to our gaffer Shaun Smith for doing a great job pulling it off. He had pretty minimal lighting equipment for as far back as we got in some shots and the amount of people we showed. Hats off to the extras who consisted of a few friends, friends and family of people involved in the movie, and some of our church family that showed up to participate. We'll need to get more shots in the church with extras but not like the shots we got today. We completed 10 shots today in about 8 hours. Not bad considering the circumstances. I'll be posting a blog entry sometime this week with a sign-off from three of our crew members who have to leave to go to another production. Crew will be scarce from here on out to complete shooting but we'll pull through.

The next week will be taken off for scheduled reasons with all involved. It will be a good week to relax, re-evaluate and plan for the remaining scenes, etc. After 6 weeks I could use a little break :P Overall though I've been extremely proud of what we've gotten so far and the crew and their patience, our actors for performing 10 fold of what I was expecting, and for just the awesome experience of making this movie so far. Lots to be learned in such a short amount of time. I find myself laughing at the fact I've never done this before, and how great it is to see things falling together after over a year of pre-prod and financing. I was sitting in the back of the sanctuary today and looking at all the extras and the lights and my crew and the storyboards in front of me and thinking..."all this because one day I had an idea." Its a funny moment I suppose but something I'll remember forever. This is what I'm supposed to be doing, what I'm meant to do...time to follow that path. Praise be to God for his awesome Mercy in letting us do something so cool for his Glory.

Biblical Truth (W6:D2)

Today was a fantastic day. We have been shooting some really gorgeous stuff this week, I'm so excited to see it fall into place. Its a good confidence booster for the rest of the week. Dave Gifford (playing John Corwin) and Robby (Dave Corwin), did a great job today and knocked the scene out of the park. I pushed them a bit harder today than I have thus far but we got it done. I appreciate the patience everyone if your reading this, I have things to learn as well and I'm thankful for the ability to put up with me :) Friday and Saturday will be some rough days and lots will be going on. I hope that the people who signed up to be extras and signed up to bring their cars show up on time and ready to go. It will be interesting for sure.

Beauty Shots (W6:D1)

Today was an incredible day of shooting. Dave Gifford playing 'John Corwin' (Dave's dad, and Steven's grandfather in the story) knocked it out of the park. We were all a bit stunned at how well he did today, pulling off what I needed with a lot of professionalism for a first timer. I was so happy to see the scene turn out the way I envisioned it. Also the photography today was special because every shot just seemed to look better and better. The workshop (Dave's workshop), had all sorts of color in the room and interesting things on the counters and the walls. It made everything look very detailed and gave lots of depth. The lighting painted some beautiful shadows on all the knick-knacks and really made the stuff today the best footage we've captured thus far. The spiritual truth in the scene is also some of the most impacting of the story and hopefully will impact the viewers a great deal. I was so glad to see the scene progress properly to get the biblical truth across. It was an incredible day, we will be finishing up things at the house tomorrow with a scene between John and his son Dave. Its another tough day so we'll see how it goes. :)

Big Week...PRAY! (Week 6)

This week we will be shooting the biggest scenes of the movie on Fri. and Sat. at my local church. They are more complex, involve more people, and more setup time than any other things we've shot or will shoot in this films schedule. Please pray that all extras show up on time, excited and prepared to be cooperative. We also need cars to be parked on Friday so we can do scenes in a parking lot and the number of cars confirmed isn't impressive. Pray that all goes well and that both days are extremely productive and protected.

Also those of you who are trying to access our website...sorry but for some reason our site is down today. Its been down a total of 8hrs. I'm doing what I can to resolve the problem, but its really unfortunate as some very important people needed to see the site today. Please pray the server is fixed ASAP.

We're getting close to wrapping things up in the next few weeks, its been a long process...we're almost ready to move onto the next stage. God has brought us a long way. :)

Location Hopping (W5:D3)

We spent our first day of shooting in the church today, just in an office but still its a different location so we had our usual complications. Luckily the office we were in had excellent acoustics so the audio was some of the best we've gotten in terms of its "sweetness." Also it was Katie Whitton's (playing Mrs. Harper) first day on set and she was very nervous. It took a while for us to get her into it but we got what we needed. Took longer than we expected so we didn't shoot all that was planned but thats OK, we finished some things :) We also have our new adapter on the camera for the first time today. Our previous adapter needs some fixing and the only way to send it in and keep shooting was to buy another...convenient huh? Of course that gave us issues too because for some reason all the focus was off and we had to figure out way (seems like there is always something). The backfocus marking set on the Nikon mount did not match where it needed to be on the old adapter, so that was exciting. We eventually got it and things are sharp as a tack, something the old adapter gave us problems with hence the needed repairs (the right side of frame had softness problems b/c of a altered prism or mirror in the adapter). All is well now. The next week of shooting is going to be a challenge and we need all of you praying for Fri and Sat especially where lots of logistics need to go well in order for us to have a successful day. These 2 days would be VERY VERY difficult to duplicate and by that I mean practically impossible so pray we get all we need to!

Specialty Shots (W5:D2)

Today was spent gathering things for a montage that takes place in the film so all shots had lots of setup time. The best shot of the day and one of my favorite shots we've captured so far was thought up on the spot. It was gloomy out today and I figured it would be great to get Robby (playing Dave) next to the window with rain coming down. Nice and ghostly and dramatic. Well it poured for a while then stopped so we did some of our first practical effects of the production and had two of our PA's outside holding hoses. Kudos to everyone for getting it to work, it came out fantastic! We are getting closer to the end, still stuff to do but nowhere near what was needed in week #1 :) Thanks to all for keeping up with the blog, we appreciate the support and have a Happy 4th of July! GOD BLESS OUR NATION!

Record Breaking (W5:D1)

We shot more today than we've been able to on any previous day! 23 camera setups in about 8 hours, pretty fast compared to the speed we have been at, double actually. Kudos to the Cast and Crew for burning through our fastest day yet. Every shot we got today was some of the best I think. Everything pulled together really well. For those of you out there praying for our production, please begin praying for next weeks shoot specifically. We will be shooting the church scenes with lots of extras and a day in a parking lot a day before, lots of logistical things to get ready. Pray that all goes well and everyone who shows up has a positive attitude and is cooperative. Thanks also to everyone keeping up with our blog, sharing the website with others, and all those in prayer. We couldn't be doing this without you!