Filming on the Set of the New Testament

Recently I had the most incredible opportunity. I was invited to be an extra on the MPS (Motion Picture Studio) Set for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For the past three (maybe more) years they have created a life size Jerusalem made out of steel beams, Styrofoam, and stucco. It is amazing. Due to policy, I was unable to take any photos. But if you haven't viewed any of this project you should!!!

BIBLEVIDEOS.org

Traveling down to Goshen from Logan sounded so simple

PLAN
1-Drive down with Dad to Pleasant View
2-Take Trax down to Orem
3-Finagle older sister into driving me to Goshen (she lovingly agreed)
4-Film (whatever that would entail)
5-Be picked up by older sister again
6-Ride to sister's house
7-Play with niece

super simple right?

before I go on, let me give a shout out to my sister Roxy, and my dad John.

REALITY
1-Drive down with Dad to Pleasant View
2-Go to kiosk and get more and more frustrated when I am so tall I keep hitting the wrong buttons
3-Finally locate selected destination
4-*session time-out* (aka, I took too long)
5-Repeat steps 2 and 3 but faster!
6-swipe card and breath sigh of relief, call Roxy and declare success
7-walk up to the deck and take a seat as my dad strolls along the deck looking at signs
8-dad reads the sign
9-dad informs me the train won't be leaving this station until 4 more hours
10-insert panic!!!
11-call Roxy (Roxy is the first to hear all my woes. Bless her heart)
12-rush with dad into car to drive further south to catch the next train
13-pull up to next station right as train wheels away
14-look at dad
15-dad looks at me
16-sheepish grin + tears in eyes = parental sympathy and an additional 1 hour drive south
17-apologize over and over
18-sister [Roxy] drives further than planned to pick me up
19-fun conversation with sister as we drive to her home for dinner
20-drive to Goshen (if you have never driven to Goshen imagine driving through a rocky dead grass plain with old abandoned things along the road, oh and cows... lots of cows)
21-check into MPS and wave bye to Roxy and her husband Larry

This was the first time ever in my life filming. I was so excited and nervous...

First they sent me to grab a bite to eat at the catering shed. I do love a good hamburger. At dinner I met a few of the other extras and was so grateful for everyone's kindness.
Next someone told us to go to the costume trailer. The costume shop ladies were so nice and patient with me as I explained I had no idea what I was doing. They got me into a nice tunic and roman drapery with fancy clasps and then I was off to make-up.
Make-up on a movie is different than make-up on a stage. All they did was cover me in this brown concoction to make me look tanner, they told me my hair was perfect, so I just got to sit and wait...


... and wait.....


and wait..........


........................and wait........

as I was waiting the casting director informed me that I would be a featured extra (meaning closer to the camera) because in her words, "I saw your audition sides and you can act!" I was so surprised and excited!!! My official cast title was Companion 1.

 [mini note: there were 10 people being extras, so it was a more cozy scene than I was expecting, no group hoards of people listening to Peter issue sermons]

I noticed a few of the extras going out of the trailer and coming back with snacks. So I followed along. In another trailer was what looked like a mini convenience store. The guy next to me informed me that we could get whatever we wanted. So I did. A lady helped us find what we wanted and handed the food to us, (I got donuts and orange juice... bad combo...) [did I mention it was FREE]
I went and filled out paperwork to get everything in order so they could use my face in the movie, and then after waiting even more, it was time to go to the set.

I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was to be on the stone steps looking at the crew as they were turning some large columns into a Roman Forum.

Companion 1, Companion 2, and Peter were called to rehearse and we practiced listening intently to Peter as he taught us from 1 Peter chapter 3. For me I didn't have to pretend, working so close to Nathan Mitchell (the guy who played Peter, a very good actor in the LDS film community) as he recited the scriptures was beautiful. There was so much emotion tied to all of his words and as we practiced I felt engulfed in who my character was. I suddenly had become a Roman convert who was listening to the Apostle Peter as he taught us what we would need to know to stay strong.

We rehearsed, waited for the crew to finish dressing the set, and then we were filming. I quickly caught on to the crew's filming lingo. "rolling, mark it, action, cut, etc...." and before I knew it, they were done with that shot and were calling lunch. [er dinner, but they called it lunch]

They took us on golf carts back to the catering shed and fed us the most delicious meal!

Like seriously….

11:30 P.M. Dinner Menu (ok, it wasn't a restaurant or anything, it was all buffet style, but this just looks so nice in a bulleted list)
~Ribs Smothered in a Delicious Handmade Barbecue Rub
~Mahi Mahi
~Chicken Thighs
~Rice Pilaf
~Broccoli Casserole
~Cheddar Potatoes
~Green Beans
~A Whole Table Dedicated to Building the Perfect Salad
~Five Layered Chocolate Cake
~Vanilla Ice Cream
~Rolls

I ate so much deliciousness, and then we got back on set, they did some touch ups (fixed our make-up a bit) and we sat down on the stone steps and waited to rehearse again.
After talking to the set manager, and discovering a little more about the set, they called us over to rehearse the scene again. This time as we filmed, we did close ups, and after a few more hours we wrapped up the shot and they were completely satisfied. One of my favorite takes was when Peter was teaching us about Noah, and he kept referring to him as Moses, I just sat and tried so hard not to laugh, I do think I cracked a smile… Another awesome take, was in the background some of the extras thought it would be funny to pants (pull down one's pants) one of the Roman soldiers, little did the person that went to do it know that we were still in the middle of filming. Thankfully the director is a goodhearted man and thought it was funny. (However, he didn't tell us that he thought that, until the guy who did the pantsing, was off set...)

The night ended with me getting out of costume and changing back into normal people clothes. Another cast member gave me a ride to Provo, and my sister picked me up from there and we spent the rest of the weekend playing really really hard!

I loved filming, it was such a great experience and I would happily do it again in a heartbeat!

Getting to and Experiencing London!

 May 27, I fly from SLC to Phoenix and meet up with Toph, my brother/new traveling buddy! From Phoenix we flew to Philadelphia. Determined to have an authentic philly cheese steak we searched the airport mall for a food stand, we found one stood in line for about five minutes and war quickly informed that they were out of cheesesteaks, so we settled for philly cheesesteak strombolis. They were amazing!  

remind me to never take photos of myself eating good food, they turn out kinda scary...

After a very long flight across Canada and the Atlantic Ocean, we had arrived in London Heathrow Airport. After getting our luggage dropped off at our hostel we took the underground and began to explore, we started off at the Tower Bridge, and Tower of London and walked down to Westminter Abbey