OCTOBER 3, 2008 - MARBLES FEATURED IN VARIETY MAGAZINE
Variety Magazine's Youth Impact Report came out on October 3, and Superior Talent Agency featured several of their kids, including Skylar and her work in Marbles! Go Skylar, woot woot!
Brian Mann, our composer, talked with the director of an elite performing arts school
in Houston, and... to make a long story short... we have a 60-piece
orchestra performing the score (!!!!!)
The HSPVA symphony kids (aged 13 - 18) will be recording the score in Houston on November 2. Check them out on Youtube:
I just got back from yet another trip to Tennessee. My brother Robin sequestered himself in Brock Hall during the month of June to put together the rough cut, and I spent the last couple weeks out there, helping him polish it off.
And it looks amazing! I'm still pinching myself to make sure its for real. As our composer, Brian Mann, put it -- "God was just showing off" with this one. We screened it to a few people and it was a relief to find that only minor changes were needed. Overall, the story flows and the themes are coming across.
So, editing is virtually complete. We now move into sound design, ADR (dialogue looping), and scoring. (Brian has already started composing the main themes.)
From there, we move into color correction, conform, and effects. We should have a finished film in October.
Don't stop praying for us yet! We're still raising funds to finish off Post. Also, God did some amazing things during production and we're praying for outlets to share that story. And of course, we're praying that when the film is done, the Holy Spirit will speak through it wherever it is screened.
I just got back to CA on Tuesday night, and spent the last couple days mostly sleeping and reviving. But I've been dying to tell you all how it went!
So you know that verse, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine"? Yeah. There's somethin' to that. For the last few weeks it's been one wild ride of 18 hour work days and sleepless nights and intense prayer sessions at ungodly hours . . . but the Lord has blessed beyond what I could have even thought to ask for.
We arrived in TN with about 1 week to finish all prep, and 1 week to shoot. That first week we made a pretty huge script change. Rather than having the kids discover Thoreau at an abandoned Ruin, we opted to build an actual replica of Thoreau's cabin (the one at Walden Pond in MA). I immediately latched onto this idea because it's more historically accurate, and I liked what it did to the story and Thoreau's character. Not to mention, it allowed us to keep all of our locations within a 10 mile radius of Collegedale.
However, this put a pretty huge burden on Zach Gray (Production Designer) and the Art Crew, as it meant they would have to build two pretty elaborate sets from the ground up, in less than 2 weeks (Thoreau's cabin and the Shanty town where the kids live). We found our locations, the Art dept started working 10 - 12 hours a day, and thanks to them we had our sets done just in time to shoot.
During that prep week, we also had to figure out our camera situation. We had been planning to use the RED Camera (a hi def pro camera the whole industry is talking about, worth around 30K), when the rental rate jumped from $2500 to $5K for the week. With our total budget being $10 grand, that was completely unfeasible. Last minute, Bryan Fowler (Steadicam Operator) put out feelers to see if we could rent it elsewhere . . . and miraculously found someone who was willing to ship it to us for the week. We got it for seven days for $1K. I would say this one thing probably had the most influence on the production value of the film. It would have been a different film altogether if we had settled for the HVX-200 (a great camera, but not nearly the quality of the RED).
Another thing - we needed a couple terabytes worth of hard drive space to store the footage as we shot, and didn't know how to squeeze it into the budget. Best Buy donated a harddrive at the very last minute, saving us about $600.
By then we were only a couple days away from the first day of shooting on Sunday, May 16. Nick Livanos (First AD) and I scheduled out all the scenes and realized we needed every last minute of our 6 shooting days. We tried to come up with a plan B in case of bad weather, but realized there was just no leeway to reschedule anything. We were locked into schedule because of the dates our actors were flying in and out. We could shoot in the rain if need be, but really, conceptually, it just wouldn't work. For a story in which Nature is just as much a character as any of the actors, we needed beautiful weather for the story to make sense. For example, in one scene, the kids are practically raptured away from their problems by the beauty of nature -- it just wouldn't work on a dark, rainy day. Yet we were locked into our schedule so tightly that if it did rain, we would simply have to shoot.
It was really gonna come down to praying for and accepting God's will.
And as the week of prep came to an end, and the weekend rolled around, it was forecast to rain on the first day of the shoot, and on-and-off throughout the week.
Saturday - the last day before the shoot - I spent a lot of time in prayer. The weather situation tried my faith more than anything else. When I sat down and opened my Bible, it opened directly to Job.
"Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said:
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Have you seen or entered the storehouses of the snow, or seen the storehouses of the hail...
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in in it? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?
Then Job replied to the Lord:
I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." (ch. 38, 42)
I just had to get to a place of knowing that our only end was God's glory, and that he is able to glorify himself just as much through a rainy and seemingly unsuccessful film shoot as through a perfectly sunny and seemingly successful one, if only we would trust and praise him throughout. So we committed to doing that, and praised him in advance for whatever was about to happen.
That being said, I really really REALLY wanted sunny weather. It was funny because as I was reading through Job that day, the radio was on and every twenty minutes would faithfully announce, "Showers tomorrow, bla bla bla..."
Saturday night: Lennox, Leslie, Chris, Nick, and I all got together to pray. As we were sitting on the sidewalk outside Brock Hall at midnight, talking, it started to rain on us. When we started praying, it stopped.
That night as I tried to sleep I could hear it thundering and pouring rain, but by God's grace I wasn't worried.
I got up at 6am and it was bright and sunny. And it stayed that way the entire day. We shot for 12 or 13 hours, and at the end of the day David (Director of Photography) said it was one of the most successful days of shooting he'd ever had.
For the next 5 days the weather was miraculously taylored to whatever scene we were shooting. It was windy for the scenes I envisioned as moody and dramatic. It was sunny when we needed really beautiful nature footage. There were little white floaties blowing through in the backround for scenes that needed to be magical. Overcast when we needed even, gray lighting. And the one scene we could have used rain for - the dreary scene in the slums - it rained consistently throughout the day.
And the footage we got blows my mind. (Check out the stills.)
At the end of the shoot, Nick said the only reason this movie turned out was because of how much prayer went into it, and I agree. Our prayer was that he would be glorified. And I believe we would be praising him now even if things had gone differently. I believe that he is able to be glorified in ways we don't always understand. He is good. I find myself more and more in love with him all the time, not only for miraculously providing, but for trying and testing me, for pulling me ever closer. It's all about the journey of learning to walk on water.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the fantastic group of people who created this amazing work of art:
Producer's Unit
Producer
Lennox Fleary
Line Producer
Leslie Foster
Assistant Producer
Kristine Barker Nathan Abbott
Key PA
Suzanne Palanuk Adam Buck Theo Brown
Director's Unit
Director
Melody George
First Assistant Director
Nick Livanos
Script Supervisor
Sahale Jensen
Storyboard Artist
Robin George
Camera Department
Director of Photography
David George
First AC
Nathan Dewild Sahale Jensen
Second AC
Derek Taylor
Steadicam Operator
Bryan Fowler
Video Assist
Marla Seasly
Grip/Lighting Departments
Key Grip
Leif Ramsay
Grip
Robin George
Grip
Kevin Kline
Gaffer
Nick Evenson
Grip/Electric
Ben Norskov
Grip/Electric
Cory Maracle
Art Department
Production Designer
Zach Gray
Set Dresser
Ame Fowler
Art Crew
Sean Amlaner Frescania Taitague Sahale Jensen Stephen Dawson Adam Buck Jill Schaeffer
Props
Erin Pennington
Swing Gang
Stephen Dawson
Jill Schafer
Costume Designer
Sven Christensen
Wardrobe/Makeup/Hair
Heather Dappolonia
Makeup/Hair
Heather Dappolonia
Concept Artists
Robin George Donnie Lindsey
Sound Department
Sound Mixer
Derek Armitage
Boom Operator
Matt Taylor
Behind-the-Scenes
Documentarian
Rebecca Burishkin
Thank you for praying with us through this journey. Thank you to all those who contributed funds to make it possible. Thank you to Carlye, Skylar's mom, for contributing so much to make the film possible! And Isla, our Nanny-on-set, for planning the wrap party! Thank you to the prayer team . . . Don't stop quite yet! We're now moving into post production and raising additional funds to finish the film. We expect to have a finished movie for you to watch around September!!
APRIL 28, 2008 - NEWSLETTER #6 - CAN A SAINT SLANDER GOD?
Hi everyone,
Time flies -- and so do we, this Wednesday in fact. Next week is our final week of prep in Tennessee before we launch into Production on May 11. Aaaaaahhh!!!!
We want to welcome two new cast members to the team: Anders Fillman as Ace and Josie Gammell (from Girl, Interrupted) as the Mother. We now have a complete cast, woohoo!
The Illustrious Cast
Last week, we flew Anders out from Chattanooga to spend some time getting to know the rest of the cast here in LA (important before we actually show up on set to shoot). On Friday, Chris, Skylar, Anders and I all went to Disneyland (it was, in a word... hot... but really fun). Anders and Skylar look uncannily similar as brother and sister. And they make a great team... especially when it comes to pouring ice down Chris's back. While Anders was here we also had our first rehearsal, and I got slightly giddy seeing all the characters finally come to life.
Disneyland, aka, Anders' audition!
So things are going well. However, last week was a tough week in the Faith department. Things go wrong on any shoot, so I was expecting obstacles. They hit last week in succession. Our camera rental rate jumped from $2K to $5K (unaffordable). We lost the Barnsley Gardens Ruin as our primary shooting location. The Screen Actors Guild informed us of additonal expenses we had not budgeted for, around $2K. And we lost one of our core team members to due to personal and creative differences.
In the midst of these kind of setbacks, you have to fall back on the call you initially heard from God.
Do I believe that God called us to make this film? Do I believe that his hand is on it, guiding us? Do I believe that HE is the originator of and creative visionary behind this film, and that I am only a partner in the telling of this redemptive story? These are not naive, rhetorical platitudes. It would be pretty bold to answer any of these questions with a "Yes." For me, it took a week of wrestling in prayer way back when we were first moving into serious pre-production. But the answer I reached was "Yes, I believe these things." I believe that we were called to this ministry at this time, that God can use this process to draw people to him, and that Marbles is the training ground for a greater ministry in the film industry in the future.
So if I truly do believe these things - if I correctly discerned the Holy Spirit - then I can trust, when these obstacles hit, that God will in some way provide (usually at the last possible moment... thanks, Lord).
Oswald Chambers asks, "Can A Saint Slander God?"
"We must not measure our spiritual capacity by education or by intellect [or talent or finances; our capacity in spiritual things is measured by the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, before long we will slander Him as the servant slandered his master: 'You expect more than you give me power to do; you demand too much of me, I cannot stand true to you where I am placed.' When it is a question of God's almighty Spirit, never say 'I can't.' If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in us.
The servant justified himself in everything he did and condemned his lord on every point -- 'Your demand is out of all proportion with what you give.' Have we been slandering God by daring to worry when He has said: 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you'? Worrying means exactly what this servant implied -- 'I know you mean to leave me in the lurch.'
Never forget that our capacity in spiritual matters is measured by the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether we have received the Holy Spirit." (My Utmost for His Highest)
We're still working on the camera situation, but we have a backup plan. We scrambled to find a new location, and are now deciding between a couple different options. Yesterday, we were able to clarify our agreement with SAG, allowing us to stay in budget. We found new hands to take on the role that was left empty, and God is already working to restore wounded relationships.
Alternative ruins location: the Airdrie Ironworks in Kentucky
It is the process, and not just the end result that is glorifying to God. So we commit to trusting him, refuse to slander his name by doubting a call we clearly heard, and pray that "many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."
You probably won't hear from me again till after the shoot! Until then, continue to pray for our team.
FEBRUARY 28, 2008 - NEWSLETTER #5 - CASTING & FUNDRAISING
Hi everyone!
A couple of quick updates, and one huge prayer request!
Tonight Thomas, Chris, and I got together to nail down shoot dates and
shedule our flights out to Chattanooga. It's still hard for me to
believe we're at this point!
Last week, the admin @ Southern Adventist University approved our
proposal. This means we'll be collaborating with the film school to
produce the movie, providing freshman students with the opportunity to
gain experience on set, and giving us access to many of the resources
available at the school.
This week, we're contacting the owners of the Barnsley Gardens resort
in Georgia to obtain permission to film (prayers, please!). And next
week we're holding auditions here in Los Angeles.
What we need major prayer for is this: Next Tuesday (March 4) is when
the Endowment Fund Committee will decide whether we get the grant we
applied for. If the answer is yes, we will be fully funded to shoot
the full script. If the answer is no, we will proceed with a shorter
version. We would of course love to achieve the length and production
value we've been envisioning all along. But either way, our goal is to
produce the best possible film with the resources we have. Please
pray for us over the next week.
Thank you again for all your support!!
I'm attaching photos of a few of the kids we're auditioning.
JANUARY 29, 2008 - NEWSLETTER #4 - MARBLES GREENLIT
Hello All!
Thomas and I are pleased to announce that Marbles with Thoreau has
officially been GREENLIT. We've raised enough funds at this point to
produce a shortened version of the film. We plan to continue
fundraising until March in hopes of shooting the full, un-amended
version this May. But at this point we're committed to moving forward
to create the best film we can with the resources we have.
THANK YOU to all those who have donated to make this possible!
If you have pledged support, now is the time to send in those
donations.
Scott Fogg has recently come on board as Associate Producer and
location scouting continues in Chattanooga under his direction. Zach
Gray has begun preliminary concept sketches for set design (check out
the attached photos). The search for two talented young actors to
play the lead roles of Ace and Eva Calloway continues. Also, we're in
talks with the administration at Southern Adventist University. We've
proposed a collaboration that would create an opportunity for current
film students to get some on-set experience, while allowing us to make
use of the school's equipment and other resources.
We are thrilled to have reached this point and are so thankful to each
one of you for making it possible!
We ask for your continued prayers.
Best,
Melody George
Director, Marbles with Thoreau
www.marbleswiththoreau.com
I hope this email finds you well. So much has happened in the last
few weeks, I thought it was high time for another update.
The biggest piece of news is that the role of Thoreau has been cast!
Thomas and I are thrilled to welcome CHRIS ACKERMAN to the team. I
think we knew from the first audition that Chris was the one; He was
able to capture the whimsical eccentricity of the young philosopher
with an energy and a presence that is essential to the role.
Chris played the character of "Tattoo" in the movie ELEKTRA with
Jennifer Garner, and is currently studying under the man who coached
Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ).
Combine Chris's level of talent with a long-standing love of Thoreau's
work, a passion for the message we're trying to communicate, and an
absolute commitment to living for God in the industry, and well... we
had our man!
Chris Ackerman
Chris was lifting this project up in prayer even before
we invited him to audition. Chris, welcome to the team!
The second piece of news is that we recently returned from a location
scouting trip to Tennessee and Georgia. Because Thomas and I had
already flown into the area to shoot another video, we were able to
spend several days scouting without spending a single dollar out of
the Marbles budget!
I've attached a few pictures of a location we're considering for the
ever-elusive "Ruins" set. The Barnsley Gardens Resort in Adairsville,
Georgia comes closest, so far, to what I picture in my head for
Thoreau's hideout. The Chattanooga film commission is currently
researching the availability of this 1850s mansion.
We absolutely depend on your prayers through each one of these stages,
as we move toward our shoot dates in May of 2008. Only if the Holy
Spirit's presence is infused into every aspect of this production will
it accomplish its purpose. Specifically, we need prayer that God will
guide us to investors and collaborators who are committed to the
mission of the film.
The website is being updated continually, so stop by often!
Blessings!
Melody George, Director
The Barnsley Gardens Ruin in Adairsville, GA; Our favored location for Thoreau's hideout
AUGUST 17, 2007 - NEWSLETTER #2 - SEARCHING FOR H.D. THOREAU
Hello All!
You're receiving this email if you've either donated or committed to donating funds to the short film, "Marbles with Thoreau." We appreciate your support and want to keep you in the loop about how things are progressing.
The most recent development is that we are nearing the end of casting for the role of Thoreau. We're faced with the problem of choosing between two very strong actors - Dan Nichols and Chris Ackerman. It's a good problem to have. Next week we're doing callbacks for both actors. "Callbacks" are second the round of auditions, usually done after the pool of potential actors has been narrowed down significantly. We'll audition both Chris and Dan again, this time going more in-depth into the character. Each of them has a very distinct interpretation. It's just a matter of deciding which interpretation better serves the story. We should reach a decision within a two or three weeks. I've attached photos just to give you a visual.
Next week we launch into the process of casting the kids - the characters of Ace and Eva Calloway.
Once again, please feel free to contact us with any questions you have regarding anything from finances and scheduling to script and casting. And please remember to keep us in your prayers.
Thanks for making this all possible!
Sincerely,
Melody George
Director, Marbles with Thoreau
www.marbleswiththoreau.com
Welcome to the first official "Marbles" newsletter! You're receiving this email if you've either donated or committed to donating funds to the project. We want to keep you in the loop about how things are progressing.
The first update is in regards to the adjustment of our shooting schedule. Last week we spoke with David George at Southern's filmschool, and collectively decided that it would be best to set our shoot dates to follow graduation in May of 2008. Though we'd been hoping to shoot this August, waiting is advantageous in many ways: Students will still be in the area immediately after school gets out. We'll have additional time to hold auditions, book our actors well in advance, and start rehearsals in LA long before the shoot. We'll have more time to scout for the best possible locations (which we plan to do this August), and book them in advance as well. Our proposal to Southern's board has time to go through without being rushed, and we'll be able to involve more students throughout the school year. And of course, we'll have time to complete 100% of our fundraising before we go into production. Thanks to all of you, we're already halfway there!
We appreciate your support so much. Thanks to everyone who's already sent in their checks. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have.
