amazing week of filming...

This past week was absolutely amazing in terms of filming. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to create a mini-documentary on my daughter's pre-school class. The theme was Thanksgiving. Imagine 22 pre-school children telling me what they are thankful for. At first, I was a little worried about pulling it off, but what they said blew me away.

And then Saturday came, and I found myself hiding in the shadows of my wife's all-day sessions filming her clients (including Jared, who danced around in his Spiderman outfit, telling me he wanted to be a Superhero).'

Move to Sunday: I was with Gina to shoot a birthday party for two eight year olds (twins) in Riverside, and what started as basic coverage of an event I shall never forget. After an hour on the bouncer and the climbing wall, I noticed a group of children moving the party to the orange groves (nearly six acres). So, I followed them, waiting to see what would transpire.

First, it was trying to get an orange in a hole and then it was about saving a baby lizard. I couldn't believe the story that was transpiring before me. The girls were talking into the camera, telling me the entire story. I was really just a fly on the wall--no directing at all, which when you see the film, it might seem as if they were prompted. Not at all.

And then the lizard died, and I found myself staring through the camera, as a small group of girls said a small prayer to Jesus, praying that he be allowed access into heaven, because "it's tough being a lizard and having to try and stay alive in this world."

Then there was the young girl on the swing. It was then that I realized something important about life, and Annie Dillard said it best: "How you spend each day is, of course, how you spend your life." I'm trying to track down the mother so I can get her permission to air her short piece.

Move to Today: It was time to shoot my Teen Topics project, and all I can say is that the three young women that we strong enough and kind enough to talk to me (and the camera) were amazing. I can't wait to post their projects on my site. Stay tuned. Be prepared, because they rocked. They rolled. They said what was on their minds, and that was the whole basis of the project. No script. Just an idea, a concept to run with, a topic that they were familiar and willing to discuss. Before the shoot, we sat down and discussed the process and the technical aspects, and they did the rest. Now comes the task of putting it all together in post. I can't wait.

This past week taught me why I love film so much and why I have chosen to focus on childhood. Staring into the camera, finding the beauty of childhood, trying to capture those pristine moments, give me such great joy. Childhood in so many ways is an art form, one that we tend to lose sight of as we grow older, and one that unfortunately, children are forced to gorw out of all too quickly nowadays.

That said, I'm going to go and spend the rest of my day doing what I enjoy so much: capturing the beauty of life through a child's eyes. To all who shared this last week of magic with me, thank you.