As a kid I used to watch Behind the Scenes of all my favourite movies. In fact, confession, I may have bought the theatrical release and extended release of all three LOTR just because of the special features.
I craved to know all the details that went into making a movie. The lives these people led seemed so exciting and awesome and I wanted to be a part of it. Fully. I wonder sometimes if I had known then the full weight of work it required, if I would still have longed for it as much as I did.
I'd like to think that I would.
Filmmaking 1.0 - Lessons in vulnerability and tenacity
I enrolled in school for film and acting and thus my adventure began. Oh naive thing that I was, so fresh and eager for things I didn't fully understand.
My first weeks were wonderful, but then I began to see how much it would cost. To live believably as a character didn't mean hiding behind some persona, rather it meant becoming vulnerable. Some of the best acting is actually quite ugly and I wasn't sure I was willing to be seen that way, but God gently took me aside and reminded me of how much he valued my vulnerability before Him.
Vulnerability means being brave.
Then I learned how much time it took to make a film. Six or seven minutes of entertainment, meant two or three long days of shooting. It wasn't all fun and games on set like I thought, but a lot of hurry up and wait hours that wore people down to the raw emotions underneath. There were many early mornings and many late nights and many hours spent wondering what I'd gotten myself into. There were a lot of misunderstandings and hurt feelings and again God gently pulled me aside and taught me the meaning of choice. I could choose to react to the situations out of my hurt or I could chose love and let go.
When I look back at these years of pain and hardship I realise it was a process of culling, it pruned away my unhealthy insecurities and sensitivities. God used it to help me see how much more I was capable of and opened my eyes to the small joys found in the midst of hardship.
Filmmaking 2.0 - Lessons in adventures and overcoming obstacles
Almost a decade later I am still making movies. My most recent venture was a short film titled Skipping Stones. It follows a young man as he grieves the passing of his father and learns to step into those final stages of adulthood.
Pre-production began with location scouting. I already knew where I wanted to shoot, there was a little creek only a few blocks from work that was picture perfect but when I went to check it out the place had changed drastically. The little stone bridge had been replaced with a massive metal construction and the gentle flowing creek had thinned down so much that most of the area had been transformed to bushland.
We found another possible location and drove an hour in pouring rain through flooding waters, turning our car into a boat and scaring ourselves to death. Our ten minute hike to the proposed lake turned into an hour adventure fighting off giant spiders, biting ants and spotting wallabies in the distance. We hiked through lands of boulders and termite mounds that came to our shoulders until we finally cut our own trail to reach the location. It was beautiful but it didn't fit the story so we hiked the hour long trail back to the car.
The whole time I marvelled at God's creation and surprised myself that I wasn't feeling more distraught over the situation. Then God reminded me of how much the years of culling had strengthened me. I'd experienced similar situations during those first years, but now my focus was on the small joys instead of the hardships.
After a few more obstacles we finally found the perfect location. A friend of a friend had a beautiful bubbling creek at the base of their property. It was idyllic. Problem solved or so I thought.
Adventures mean overcoming obstacles.
The first day of production I woke to find the sky dark and roiling. The whole film took place outside and there were no other days we could shoot. We'd make it work. The forecast gave no indication of change. Still we pressed on, the actors were put through hair and makeup and the crew braved the rain to set up for the first shot. Thankfully the heavy downpour turned into a light sprinkling and we were able to shoot the scenes. We had to stop a few times for the rain, or a train, once for a bunch of loud teenagers and about a million times for cars or planes but we kept going and chose to laugh about the circumstances.
With the shoot finished the time for Post Production began. We began editing the footage together, running it through colour correction and sweetening our sound all the while fighting the temptation to scratch at the bug bites. My legs quite literally looked like I had chicken pox and I'm not the only one. A few of my crew and even one of my cast took spills on the wet rocks at the location. There were many bug bites and sore muscles among us and all for six or seven minutes of entertainment.
I can't help but see the smile on God's face.
He has once again used this process to teach me and I marvel at how much we're willing to go through to produce this art form. It speaks to me of His amazing creation and how much He endures to see us become His masterpieces.
When we chose to not only push past the obstacles we discover new strengths and God is allowed to cull away the weeds from our hearts to find the soft, vulnerable and strong muscle underneath.
Gratitude seems a small reward for these lessons in hard work.
Charis Joy Jackson is working as a full-time missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) a non-profit organization in Brisbane. During the day she makes movies and in her spare time is writing a novel. www.charisjoyjackson.com
Charis Joy Jackson's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/charis-jackson.html