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!