Episode 5: Complete!

I started writing the script for Episode 5 at midnight last night. At 8:30 this morning, "Eight if by Sea" was done. Before jetting out to prop shop with Brianne (while Cris watched over the sleeping kiddos) at 9:00, I quickly PDFed the script and sent it off to the actors involved. Once we got home, I went back over the script one last time, added in the second half of the music and sound cues, a plush parrot, the ghost sniffing bees, and altered one line -- tada! Fini! :D

The questions now are: Will the weather cooperate and allow us to shoot the last day of Episode 4 on Saturday? Will the weather cooperate and allow us to shoot the first day of Episode 5 on Sunday?

One cool thing about Episode 5, is that is utilizes some of the awesome effects we're rolling out in Episode 3 and Episode 4 but bringing you all a viewing experience that won't top out over 30 minutes. A nice change. It will also be shot in just three days instead of our normal five. Two days will be at an away location and one day will be here on the property. I'm really training myself to accommodate the high cost of gas and new props without sacrificing quality or entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment...

Episode 5, our pro-military episode, starring our first full (expansive!) cast, is coming right along under Brianne's careful assembly. There are several effects in the episode and a ton of sound and music cues. Plus we were fighting with kill wind on several days that's making the dialogue editing very difficult. Brianne said to be today: "I am doing every single trick possible to make the sound as clear as it can be. But short of someone giving us $2000 for new sound equipment, there is only so far I can take what we have." I valued her honesty, and her comprehensive list of the equipment we'd need if I won the lotto tomorrow. Another way to increase the sound quality on the episodes is to stop the wind from blowing so I'm also going to pray really hard about that *gentle smile*

In addition to Episode 3 (which is almost like two episodes in one at 55 minutes), we'll also have the wonderful new public service announcement with Faith and her real-life (and on-screen) Grandma Lynn. In Episode 3, Lynn plays Lynn Athena Forge, a retired US Army veteran who Forge adores and who now runs a honeybee farm. In the PSA, Lynn just plays herself, a veteran and grandma who loves her granddaughter... well, okay, she also plays someone else in the PSA, too, but that's a surprise ;)

Back to Episode 5... one of the interesting things that happened when I was writing this script was something that used to happen to me when I was a teenager. I would be writing a new novel (remember, that's what I started out doing at 10 -- eek! -- and stopped writing and publishing novels at about 19) and a "minor" character would suddenly open up for me in a new way, suddenly have a deeper meaning and a greater importance. It was always a surprising and amazing moment.

There is a character in Episode 5 who originally only had one line (you'll know which one when you see the episode, I promise). But when I started writing, this character spoke to me. I realized that she had a lot to say. That she was far more than she had first presented herself (in my mind) to be. She went from a great one-episode character, to a character I can now envision playing a pivotal, vital role in Episode 12 -- the epic battle of Season 1.

Isn't it nice when we can still surprise ourselves? :)