Greyscale

In case there is someone out there who does not know, my husband is making a movie. It is called Greyscale (yes, that is Mr. Turner from "Boy Meets World" you see listed in the cast) and although it is not finished, it has already changed our lives in a permanent way.

I won't go into what the movie is about or any major details here. Rather, I will try and undoubtedly fail to encapsulate what this experience and the people it's brought into my life have meant to me.

Filming is dying down now (we didn't realize it at the time, but we wrapped on my character this past weekend...) but for awhile we were filming every weekend and a lot of weeknights. I cheat when I say "we" because I couldn't be there very often due to my inconsistent schedule at work (which is putting it lightly, as I have worked nights, days, and nights again while on this project). I am very sorry to say that I don't think I've been able to form quite the bond that everyone else has formed due to my frequent absences and often - I'll say it - downright bratty attitude. It has been very difficult to be in a new marriage and have something come along that suddenly pushes everything aside. I was also (and still kind of am) in a new career and a new home hours away from my family. I have never doubted that my husband has my best interest at heart, but with the hectic schedule and priority changes, it was difficult for awhile.

Now it's difficult to imagine what I'm going to do with myself after it's over.

Greyscale has exhausted me. It has stressed me out. It has taken things away from me. It has blown cold wind on me, rained on me, and angered me. It has taught me things about myself that I didn't want to know.

It has taught me that things worth doing are never easy. It has brought me friends when I was miserably lonely. It has given me things I never asked for but am now so glad to have. It has changed me forever.

We have literally thousands of pictures from the making of this movie. Way too many for me to look all over my computer and Facebook for, anyway. So I will show you some pictures that (mostly) I took this past weekend. They are mainly of us just hanging out while the filming was going on in a hotel room - no, it's not that kind of movie, though some guy at the hotel DID ask - but I hope this gives you all a glimpse into the awesome times we have had.

These are our Kruses. They are the grips and they totally rock. Justin is in the Star Wars shirt, and Aaron in the Popeye shirt. Aaron has a role in the movie as well.




Okay, I just have to include this one as well - it's too fantastic:

This is Fred. She is wardrobe/make-up artist extraordinaire. She is the sister of Gloria, our assistant director.
And this is my love for Fred:

This is the aforementioned Gloria. She had a cane this weekend due to an injury. I called her Dr. House because she was just as gimpy and just as intimidating - but only when she needs to be. ;)

This is Mark, our sound/Winston man. He does not supply us with cigarettes. Rather, he portrays a hilariously lovable character (not unlike Mark himself) named Winston. His initials are MAG so I started calling him Mag. This weekend it transformed somehow into Crazy Uncle Maggie. (Mark, if that ever starts to drive you nuts, let me know - I've been known to make people hate me with the nicknames I give them!) He also likes to point guns, but don't worry, they are not loaded.

This is Marisa. Ryan has known her for years, while I have gotten to know her better on this project. She plays Rachel, the femme fatale. She was rather busy on this day, but I managed to get a picture:

And this is my husband. He is the writerdirectorproducereditorstar of this movie. That's what happens when you want to make a movie but aren't able to ask/pay anyone else to give the time, energy, and dedication you know it will take...so you do it all yourself.
I don't think he's too burned out on it, though ;)

There was another actor that day who had a pretty important scene. I would be nervous too:

These are some new additions to the crew. They are great guys and always bring the laughs.

Tyler:

Bill:

Austin:
And Dustin:

Didn't get a picture of him this weekend but here is one of Joseph, who has been around to help out and get behind-the-scenes footage. He's a good buddy:

Okay, I had to dig for these next two pictures because these people haven't been with us in awhile. This is Johnny, our incredibly talented director of photography (at least until he went gallivanting around the US - luckyyyy):

And this is Mr. Brian Shoop, our great friend and an experienced actor/writer. He plays Gabe. He and his wife, Marybeth, have been beyond wonderful:
(One night in December, it was seventeen degrees and hailing outside - that's what the last three pics were from - and we were shooting outside. Suffice it to say, everyone was going to die of hypothermia, but the Shoops very kindly brought - and served - homemade hot chocolate! Regular AND mint!)

This puny little post, while it has taken me three-and-a-half hours to complete (and I am therefore cheating by timing it for the time I started it since I promised a "tomorrow" post two days ago), cannot begin to do justice to how wonderful this experience has been. I know we all feel that way, so we'd BETTER mean it when we say that we'll still hang out and make short films when this is over. I'm serious, guys. I cried at the end of "High School Musical 3"; you can imagine what it would do to me if we pulled a high school graduation and promised to keep in touch but never did.

That's a wrap for tonight! (You cringe, but it had to be said.)