Photo Book for "Beyond the Mask"

I'm so proud of this photo book I put together with pictures from Beyond the Mask!  Most of the pictures were taken by Sara and Shannon Burns.  I wasn't around for most of the production when the pictures were taken, but they still represent a lot of memories to me since I became such good friends with the crew.  Have a look!  Enjoy!

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Photo Book Tip: Create an adventurous travel photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Photo Book for My Pastor

We threw a big surprise party for my pastor in March, and I just finished putting together a photo book with lots of pictures that my brother and I took at the party.  This will be a Christmas present for the church to give Pastor Lee as a way to preserve those wonderful memories!

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Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

Give Thanks...

2012 Christmas Cards

Here's the Christmas card I designed for our family to send out this year!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

"Lincoln"

Here's the dress I wore for one of the scenes in Spielberg's Lincoln movie, coming out today!  Who's planning to go see it?  Look for me at Lincoln's inaugural reception at the White House. The only thing I did was talk to a group of amputee soldiers in a small parlor area along with two other ladies. I would have been pretty front and center, so if they show part of that little scene at all, you should see me.  Let me know if you do!  (I'm not sure when I'll make it to see the film.)  I'm also in two different theater scenes, but it's less likely that you'll see me there.

Michigan Landscapes Photo Book

Take a look at this photo book I put together from pictures I took in Michigan this summer!  I love making Shutterfly photo books.  Such a great way to showcase your memories or your photography!

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Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Masquerade Ball Pictures

This past weekend, Daniel, Michelle, and I traveled a few hours to attend a Masquerade Ball for our friend Joanna's birthday.  Daniel called the dances and I helped teach and demonstrate a few of them.  We did the usual Civil War dances (Virginia Reel, Spanish Waltz, Gay Gordon, Harpers Ferry Quickstep, etc.), and taught two new ones (Ship's Cook and Oh Johnny Oh).  Everybody had a great time!  I didn't know that many people at first, but I enjoyed making some new friends!  Here are some of the pictures we got that night...

My brother Daniel and I

 Joanna, Michelle, and I

 Daniel and I with Alaina, Tim, Justin, Emma, and Ben Wright!

Winners of the Best Dressed/Most Creative Costume Contest!

I also took some videos of a few dances, so I'll try to get those up before too long!  I hope everybody has a great week!
 

"Beyond the Mask" Part 2

Here are some of my personal pictures from my time in Michigan.  So many dear friends!  How I miss them!  Oh, and did I mention that I got to meet John Rhys-Davies???  He was so kind!  Everybody loved having him on set!  I also had a chance to talk briefly with the actors playing the hero and heroine of the story -- Andrew Cheney and Kara Killmer.  They are fabulous people, not to mention talented actors, and it was a joy to meet them.  But now...on to my pictures...

Hope and Haley - two beautiful ladies and fellow seamstresses!

 Jerica and Victoria

 Aaron, Stephen, Jerica, Victoria

Marilyn Burns - our amazing wardrobe supervisor and host!

 Michaela and Anna Ferrar

 Posing with Jonathan Hedrick on top of a mausoleum.

 Very wet and bedraggled after a walk in the rain.  :-)

 Andrew, Stephen, and I

This was my idea.  Hehe!

So sad and pitiful...

Aaron, Andrew, and Stephen.  Three amazing, godly young men.

 Josh and Jon Hedrick.  So fun to finally work on a production with these two!

Stephen and Andrew.  How I miss them!

 Daniel Knudsen and Jared Withrow.  Two fellow actors and great friends!

   

Timely Encouragement

PSC Videos

Here is a client testimony that I filmed and edited for the Pregnancy Support Center.  I wish we could have had a better location (with bigger room and walls that weren't yellow), and I wish I knew more about lighting, but you gotta work with what you've got and you have to start somewhere.  I'm glad I was able to use what little skills I have to do this and help the Center.

And here is a video that was a LOT of fun to shoot and edit!!!  The Pregnancy Support Center had a fundraiser last weekend called "A Night of Comedy and Desserts," and this is a video I put together from the event.  I wasn't allowed to film the comedian, so I took pictures and used them instead.  He was really funny and we all had a great time!

Thanks for watching!  I'd love to get your feedback on the videos!
 

Fall Photo Shoot

My new headshot!  Mom was very sweet to take this for me last week.

Stephen snapped these next two...

I call him Smokey. Dad calls him Francis Marion (after the Swamp Fox in the Revolutionary War). Daniel calls him Tom. Stephen calls him Sylvester. We're giving the poor kitten a complex and he's still not officially adopted into the family! He has adopted us, but Mom hasn't given the green light for him to stay (so Daniel and I love on him, but we don't feed him). We wonder if he belongs to the neighbors because he looks like he's eating well, and maybe he spends most of the time at our house because they're never around to give him attention. He's so sweet! I love him! 

Daisy, Stephen's dog.

Me and Buttercup!

Stephen and Daisy.

We had such beautiful weather last week!  It even got up to 80 degrees a few days!  Now Hurricane Sandy is heading in and the weather will be cold and rainy for a while.  I wish it could stay like last week for a whole month.  At least I got to experience one really nice week after I got back from the cold weather in Michigan.  :-)  Now it's time to batten down the hatches.  I hope everybody stays safe during the storm!

 

River and the Doctor

This was a picture I just had to share for those of you who might be fellow fans of Firefly and Doctor Who!  (Both are sci-fi TV shows for those who might be wondering.)

   

Today, we are Filmmakers

Hmmm, I need an image size option between large and extra-large.  Well, in case you can't read it, here is what it says...

Once, we would have been sailors with Columbus.

We would have been knights with King Richard.

We would have been explorers with Magellan,

Scribes with Marco Polo.

Today, we still choose uncharted waters.

We battle, forging order in the fires of chaos.

We explore, learning, improvising, adapting to new worlds.

We weave tales of honor and courage, of truth, and beauty.

Today, we are Filmmakers.

   

Beyond the Mask

This past week, I had the amazing privilege of working on wardrobe for "Beyond the Mask" -- an action/adventure feature film being shot in Michigan.  A lot of my friends are on the crew and I've wanted to work on the film for a long time, but I knew I couldn't apply for the crew because the production started right after "The Senior Prank" ended and I needed a break to recover from my busy summer.

However, God still opened the door for me to work on the project!  On Tuesday, October 2nd, a friend of mine on the crew called and asked if I would be willing to come to Michigan and help with the wardrobe department because they had a huge ball scene to get ready for and needed more seamstresses.  In four days, I was packed and driving to Michigan.  I was prepared to stay for the rest of the shoot (until the end of October), but it turns out they don't have much to do after this.  I'm not sure when I'm heading home or what my plans will be, but I probably won't be up here much longer.

If you haven't heard about the project, here is a synopsis of the story that I copied from the website:

Beyond the Mask is an action-fused historic adventure, set in the international turmoil of the mid 1770′s. Running for his life, an East India Company assassin buried his past in a quiet English village, assuming the mantle of an Anglican priest. But this disguise won’t last for long when a woman he loves and a war he no longer wants force him to confront the question of who he really is. In the face of a looming global conflict, he discovers for himself the meaning and source of true justification and freedom.

Fundamentally this is a story about where we find our identity. Each of us asks, why am I special, why is my work significant, who am I, and why should people respect me. The answers we find to these questions define how we live our lives. At Burns Family Studios, we believe that the greatest story ever told is the good-news of Jesus Christ – that the human condition to prove oneself over and over by performing to the critics doesn’t impress God, and He accepts us in His Son, in-spite of, not because of, our best efforts. With this unmerited acceptance comes the only sure foundation for life.

The two main characters, Will and Charlotte.

Here's a concept trailer for the film:

Beyond the Mask Movie from Burns Family Studios on Vimeo.

You should definitely go to the website and read more about the production!  The script was written by Paul McCusker (who wrote Adventures in Odyssey), and the villain is played by John Rhys-Davies (who played Gimli in Lord of the Rings)!!!  Here's a really nice article that Nathaniel Darnell wrote about the production: http://www.examiner.com/article/lord-of-the-rings-actor-john-rhys-davies-joins-new-christian-action-film

It has been an amazing experience.  This past week was really stressful at times because there were so many ball costumes to get ready and definitely not enough time to get them done, but everybody maintained such a good, upbeat attitude.  We had a houseful of girls hard at work trying to get everything done, and we ended up not sleeping very much.  In fact, I went 48 hours without sleep for the first time in my life.  I was up working on costumes all day and all night, then laid down for 3 hours but didn't sleep, and then was up all the next night being an extra in the ball scene.  It was freezing cold!!!  We were in beautiful colonial ball gowns and it was supposed to be a warm July evening, but it was 36 degrees and I could hardly stop shivering.  I didn't get to dance, which was sad, but I had a very fun time chatting with the people I was placed with around set.

After two nights of freezing all night and being an extra in the ball scene, we were finally done and came home and CRASHED.  Well, I slept for 6 hours through the day, then ended up staying up all the next night hanging out with some crew members that came over, watching a movie, and talking to one of the girls here after everyone else had gone to bed.  Then I slept 6 hours through the day again, and then a bunch of boys from the crew came over and hung out.  We went down and took lots of cool pictures in the amazing cemetery down the road, and then we went for a walk in the rain and got soaking wet.  Later, we went to the production office for a Bible study and then I got some dancing started.  We danced for three hours in the barn and had a wonderful time!!!  Now I need to go to bed again so I can get back on a semi-normal schedule.  Tomorrow we'll be ice skating and cleaning up around the house, and then hosting a party for all the crew.  It has been a wonderful three-day weekend.  We all needed this fun, restful time after working so hard for the past week.  I'll try to post pictures at some point, but for now I just wanted to let everybody know where I was and what was going in my life.

It has been so wonderful to see so many old friends who are on the crew, and meet so many new friends!  My "family of filmmakers" just keeps growing and growing!  I feel so incredibly blessed by all the new friendships I have developed in the short time I've been up here!  It's going to be so hard to leave.

But for now...sleep.  G'night, world!

  

Preview of "The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club"

Here's a special treat for you today, folks! A long preview (the whole second scene) of "The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club"! This is the short film I played the lead role in this summer in Michigan. Enjoy!!!

   

Family Vacation

After Mom and Dad's ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 23, they went and stayed at a cabin at a state park for a few days as a short second honeymoon.  The boys and I joined them Wednesday night, and then we all came home the following Sunday.  So...here are some pictures from our short family vacation this year...