It was a fairly large day today with cranes for the camera so we could do these cool shots of the streets surrounding the Steele home.
And, best of all, our Buck worked his first day today. And, Kirk was terrific in the role.
We got together before we began yesterday and visited in his trailer and began the whole process with prayer. What a refreshing young man this is. As I sat there I was reminded again of how the Lord has put this whole thing together.
Paul spent some time today along with our on-set writer and Chelsea Noble who is playing Hattie. Having read the books, Chelsea had some great insights into the character and really helped us fine tune some ideas. That's the great thing about moviemaking. It is a collaborative process where no one person can take credit. And, when you get these wonderfully talented people around, the level just rises and rises.
Just another example of that was on our first day of filming. Brad Johnson (Rayford) and Janaya Stephens (Chloe -- and yes we will have her picture posted shortly) really began to play with their relationship and make it feel so natural. There is a little bit of tension between the characters but you can see the real love they have for each other.
Tomorrow Clarence Gilyard (Bruce) is doing the first interview for the movie on a national Canadian movie program like Entertainment Tonight. It is the beginning of a great opportunity that the Christian actors in this film will have to share their faith and why they wanted to be a part of this project.
Finally, we heard back from the lab today on the actual film of the first day of shooting, (This is very important because it confirms all the choices that our cinematographers have made as to camera, type of film, look, color saturation etc.). The news was terrific as the specs were bang on and the look was exactly what we were going for. Just to give you a clue to watch for.In the film you will notice, just subtly, that the world is more colorful and vibrant before the rapture. Then it greys out a bit slowly as we go deeper into the film. You'd have to be watching for it to notice it, but it will give the impression of a world darkening.
Vic Sarin our director. He is a wonderful, gentle man who has been nominated for and won Emmy's, Cable Ace and Genie Awards for his work. He has a great sense of the material and especially for the characters. We all agree that this film is not about effect and explosions (Although there are a lot of explosions because Paul and I have a motto that it's not a real movie until you blow something up!) but about the people who are living through this time. We want the audience to really get to know the characters in the brief two hour period we have to the tell this story.
