Filming "Love is Like a River" - Day 1
This process started last week when Thomas and I scoped out locations to shoot the video. There are some great areas in Discovery Park here in Sacramento. One is a small area of trees that was scorched by a forest fire, walking paths in the park along the river and the first location we shot is a train bridge.
4:30 a.m. Wake up. Make coffee. Take shower. Put on pretty clothes and do hair and make up....it's early....
We left the house at 6 a.m. just to be sure. The light has to be just right, and until you see it, you don't know what will work. We stood on a bridge and watched the sun begin to come up. The bike path on the bridge was alive with riders of all sorts. It was a perfect way to begin the day.
The plan was for me to walk across the train bridge singing the song as the sun was rising, while my friend Thomas filmed from a neighboring bridge. We wanted to do 3 takes so he could have choices of the footage to use. We did two takes. The shots weren't as he had hoped because of the light.
I have to say, it was nirvana beginning the day this way. To feel at one with all things around me and to just sing into the open air while the sun rose was bliss! Unbeknownst to me, however, there was a homeless woman sleeping under said bridge and it seems that I was her official alarm clock. Could be worse...
We quickly drove to the second site of the morning, the burned out forest. Light was soon going to be too high and cause shadows, so time was of the essence. We hit it almost perfectly. Again we did long shots as I passed in and out of the scorched trees singing; the light hitting my face, the ash getting all over my feet and hands. It was really beautiful to be completely aware of everything and nothing all at once.
Now I plan to keep my mind focused on how I felt this morning as we begin working on the close up shots of the video. I need not "worry" about the details of how I look on camera, but only the details of the story we're telling.
What an exciting process!
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