The production draws to a close!
Anna's Choice is finally coming together after weeks and months filled with preparation, filming, and peanut butter cookies (thanks, Mrs. Whetstone!) We are so amazed at God's faithfulness throughout this production and so thankful to all you guys out there who have helped our hopes for
Anna's Choice to become a reality. We have been so blessed by your prayers and support and are excited to see God's hand on this film. All of us will admit, though, we really did need those prayers on most of the days of filming! We are glad to have it over with, but also a little sad that the filming days of
Anna's Choice are over. Onset it could get a little hard to keep with it. At the homeschool convention in Indianapolis, Nathan Webster, a filmmaker, told Erica that after this film we would all be like family because of the things we would experience together. At first we thought we already felt like family, but none of us dreamed how tough this could get when nine or so kids with amazingly different personalities each wanting to have it exactly how they had individually imagined it would be—something we have now learned
not to do. Filming a movie—even a short one—is not easy. There are so many little things that can get under our skin. It
was just like family. There might be a few—or many—things that we disagree on, but we just have to look on the bright side and get used to them. For example, let's go back to a normal day onset. It has just rained last night, so the campground looks (and feels) soggy. We are running out of time to film (and patience!) and things are getting really stressful. It can get so chaotic on a day like this. Worst of all—the disagreements. Matthew and Erica (cameraman and director) stand literally yelling over their scripts at each other. Yes, yelling. Wait! Which scene are we supposed to be filming? Peter Starr sits on a log, laughing with Bethany Whetstone and John Jordan over some cheesy lines in the script. Caleb Whetstone (boom operator) is fake sobbing, crying,"My baby!" (meaning the boom mic, which he got very attached to during filming) in his horrible "English" accent, which sounds more Australian than anything else. Kate Starr, stirring cream-of-wheat over the fire, says to Caleb, who is getting on her nerves, "I will
smack your baby." Onset helpers are yelling at the cat, dropping extra scripts into the mud, swatting at the numerous mosquitoes, or joining in the arguments. Yep, we sure needed your prayers and support—and we are so grateful to everyone for their help; I don't know how we would have survived without you! And we are so thankful for the Lord's many blessings and for guiding us throughout this film. Thanks!
-Rachel Jordan
