I just returned home from an eight-day adventure in St. Louis, MO. This year’s ACFW conference was located there, but I went a few days before and stayed a few days after to help Nightwing Studios film the book trailer for From Darkness Won.
Not that they needed my help.
By the time I arrived, the cast and crew had completed three days of filming. Day four took us to a farm where a family had donated the use of their horses. Chris Kolmorgen, who played Achan, had to cantor a horse for the scene, something he had never done.
Brave lad that he is, he got right up on that horse and whacked it with the whip. The horse took off and didn’t want to stop, even when Chris asked it to. So Chris jumped off the side. I think he might make a good stunt man.
Acting is hard. I don’t envy those Hollywood stars a bit. Or Chris or Jacob or Adele, for that matter. I owe them for the rest of my life for what they put themselves through for this project. If you want to see a bunch of pictures, check out my Facebook page. Good times. Scroll down or click on Photos to see: http://www.facebook.com/jwilliamsonwrites
Day five was spent filming a scene in a vineyard where Chris (Achan) lay on the grass for hours, as if he were knocked out by a mace. He seemed pretty comfortable until the sun started heating up his chain mail and vultures started circling. (I’m not joking about the vultures.)
Jacob Parker played Esek and also acted as the director. So when he was done with his Esek scenes, he donned the director’s bandanna of power. He did a great job.
Adele Hajicek played Vrell and made all the costumes (save my own) and many other fabric props. Her brother Leighton is the mastermind behind the camera, the editor, and all foley.
When the filming was complete, Chris, Jacob, and I headed off to the ACFW conference. This years conference was wonderful. I met tons of new friends, including my Zonderkidz editor, Jacque Alberta, and fellow Zonderkidz author Heather Burch. It was a wonderful conference, as always. I didn’t want to leave.
A big congrats to Marcher Lord Press author Marc Schooley for winning a Carol Award for König’s Fire, a wonderful spec fiction novel. And thanks to Jeff Gerke for dressing to match me. Or was it the other way around?
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