Today is the Day

Noon! Long Lake Park in Port Orchard. Noon today! Come cheer on Team Forge and watch the ghost hunting team beat that bunny once and for all!

Forge It Workshop Update

Today, Kyra (Potro and Wiz), her mom, Dee, and Kristie's (Spark) mom Bridget got a taste of what part of the Forge It Workshop will be about -- creating unforgettable characters and scenes for Season 2 of "Ghost Sniffers." Working together over popcorn (yum!), we decided:

(1) What Forge's team needed.
(2) What pop culture references we would draw from for our viewers (both kiddos and mommies).
(3) What naming convention would be used.
(4) How the character would make her first appearance.
(5) What archetype the character would be crafted around.

Of course, during Forge It, the crafting of plot and characters is only Week 1. We move on to acting, directing, shooting and even editing and effects, but as Robert McKee says, paramount is, "Good story, well told." Forge It is much more structured and in-depth than what we did tonight but I think everyone will be tickled to know that the kickbutt character of Xyra (Zeer-Ah) was created over triple butter popcorn :)

For everyone who registers ($25) for any Forge It session (Monday through Thursday; Online, or Saturday and Sunday) at the website in the month of June, you will not be billed until July 1. The workshop now officially has enough students to run and so we're full steam ahead!

One Mile = Five Seconds

Sometimes, shooting a series has its own special complications. When creating a series, you need to repeat certain themes that are the core material of your over all vision but you have to do so while still keeping the visuals fresh and arresting enough to hold your audience; and in the case of "Ghost Sniffers," that audience is vastly varied in age.

In Episode 11, which wrapped yesterday at 7:30PM, Maxo finds himself in a fantastical world with towering trees, crazy twisting trails and road signs with names like Flying Squirrel, Croaking Frog, and Trepidation. In order to secure the footage of such a grand forest and such fanciful signs, I knew exactly where to go.

Then the car broke down.

Our family of five was already split that day with Cris, Faith and Maxwell going to see Kyra (Potro of the Four and Wiz from EP7) in a staging of, among other things,"Fifteen Minute Hamlet," so it was just Brianne and I who were going to drive to the location in our borrowed second car and hike in. There was no way I was going to tell the kiddos that they couldn't go see their friend perform, especially since the acting group Kyra is part of (a group of homeschooled kids with an acting coach) is what I based Forge's CPAC on! And so Brianne and I waved goodbye to the three of them with smiles on our faces. Away drove our only working vehicle.

After a few moments, Brianne said, "So, I suppose we'll bike to the location. It's only three miles away and then about two miles of biking the trails to the get the shots you need."

Apparently, when I once mentioned to Brianne that TWENTY YEARS AGO I had ridden a bike and enjoyed it, she took that to mean that I (1) could still ride a bike, (2) could bike on steep, rocky, rooty, muddy, wooded trails, and (3) could still ride a bike. You see, of the three adults in our household, there is about a decade and a half between each of our ages. There are times when we forget this and just assume we're all in our 50s (and so we're more willing to let go of caution and act crazy-silly as Crazy Cat Lady or a talking squirrel or a fey all in white). There are times when we all think we're in our 30s and we buckle down and make deep, personal sacrifices in order to pay bills and keep doing what we love even if it means less sleep and harder work. Then there are times when we all assume we're still in our 20s and so we mountain bike eight miles to shoot eight five-second shots.

And so I learned (and relearned) important things yesterday:

(1) Nature is grand.
(2) I can still ride a bike.
(3) When you lose control of your bike and ride into a ditch, up a mound and into a bush along a busy road, people will stop their cars to make sure you're okay; the best thing to do is laugh and wave them on.
(4) Riding a bike on steep, rocky, rooty, muddy, wooded trails is actually a lot of fun.
(5) No matter what age I think I am while biking eight miles after not biking at all in twenty years, I will still wake up feeling 38.

The real lesson for the day, my friends? Always wear a helmet ;)

Dear Sniffer Fans,

This is just an open invitation -- the very best kind. If anyone would like to join the final episode of Season 1 -- where little Forge and her allies face the Monster Bunny -- you are now cordially invited. Sunday, June 10, from 9AM to 5PM. You can come as late as 10AM if you like and leave whenever you're bored :) Because the shoot is over four hours, we'll be serving pizza, juice-stick drinks (my favorite!) and cookies galore :) Almost the entire cast and crew will be there.

How should you dress? Colorful! And you'll need... pom poms! You'll be cheering for Team Forge as they battle the Monster Bunny in an epic game of baseball. Want to write a cheer for the scene? Go for it! I'll have everyone chant your cheer and work it into the episode. Your pom poms can be rainbow colored or any color at all -- as long as they aren't all white (white is the Bunny's color). You can make your pom poms from colored paper or buy them or borrow them. They can be HUGE or tiny or anything you want. Even Dollar Store pom poms are welcome :)

And guess what else? Your parents, siblings and friends are invited too ;) Yep. The only requirement is pom poms.

Last thing, everyone :) Make sure to RSVP by text (360-550-2071) or email (ghostsniffers@gmail.com) because I want to make sure to have enough cookies!! (Okay, and pizza and drinks, too.)

In admiration and love,
Jennifer
(your hard-working director)

Photo Banner, Duct Tape, Favicons & Cards

Three great "shares" today that will make you all smile :)

Photo Banner
Many of you have already heard that the four small pictures at the top of the website are going away to be replaced with cool shots of all of you in the series :) Today, I assigned Brianne, our post production/image editing expert, and Maxwell, our resident "Ghost Sniffers" expert, to start work on the banner. It will include dozens of characters and their names -- and yes, some of you will be shown twice (or more, Christopher!) because you play more than one character. Not all characters will be shown on the banner but I believe everyone ready to jump into Season 2 with us will be featured :)

Duct Tape
Just so everyone knows: Brianne, Cris, Faith and I wrapped Maxwell in five roles of duct tape today creating the most amazing custom armor that Maxo has ever seen :) It was a blast and I know you'll all love it when you see it in Episode 11.

Favicons
For the geeks (like me) in our fan base, I just wanted to point out that while I adore the rainbow "SNIFF" that appears as the favicon (the graphic on the browser tab and in the bookmark menu) for www.GhostSniffers.com, I had a blast today making an animated favicon for www.BlueForgeProductions.com.

Cards
Many of you have sent in receipts or other requirements for trading cards for the upcoming "Ghost Sniffers" role-playing trading card game. Please know that your requests have been received and are being kept very safe. We are waiting on a huge print order to come in and then we'll be able to ship out cards (and post the scripts for Episodes 7 through 12 in the web store).

Episode 11: All the World is a Stage

Shooting today with Emma, Lila, Sierra, Kyra, Dee, Emerson, Brittney, Abbie, Catie, and, of course, the delightful Christopher Harris (aka The Grown Up Man on "Ghost Sniffers").

While Lila, Kyra, Brittney and Catie -- aided and abetted by Abbie and Dee -- gave powerful performances with emotional depth some might find surprising for a kids' show, they also wound up filling my chest with such admiration. How could I be so happy that Lila fell so into her role that tears filled her eyes? How could I be so touched that Brittney was so believable as a mother suffering unspeakable loss? And for Kyra to act opposite her real life mom, Dee, and then have to step through the motions of losing her? Or for Abbie to step in as Catie's big sister on short notice, to fully inhabit the role, to give 120% for a character that appears in only three images? Catie did her best work for the series today and I'm sure she's thankful to Abbie for making her scene complete.

So many amazing moments today!

Episode 11 is split four ways -- between stories being told by the Four; Maxo lost in a fantastical wood; Maximilian narrating the adventure, and three magical fey with their Lord and Lady of Light. The first and last of those story lines filmed entirely today. The stories of the Four were filled with the powerful, emotional moments I just mentioned, and the fey with their Lord and Lady... well, they were a dream come true.

With Season 1 drawing to a close, I continue to try to craft sniffs from actors. To make the audience believe that the human actors they see before them -- not covered in thousands of dollars in makeup -- are actually mythological creatures with unknown and curious powers. This quest of mine began with the skeleton flock in Episode 4, expanded to the Bunny and the Four in Episode 6, then tested the waters (adding ample special effects) with the Mythos in Episode 8. Finally, with the fey and their lord and lady, I think I found the missing piece. I needed not just the best actors, fully invested in their roles (I've been blessed to have that before) but actors willing to memorize, to emote, and to speak in verse :)

I am the luckiest director in the world.

Why I Love Power Tools

I suppose Freud would say that I love power tools because my father died when I was four, and power tools -- a domain primary reserved for handsome men with trimmed beards, heavy brows and bulging muscles (such as the men who build cupcake displays in under two hours on "Cupcake Wars") -- are my way of connecting with that absent idea of what a father should be.

The trouble with that theory was that I'm pretty sure my father never used a power tool in his life. He did have a beard and heavy brows but he also had a lean build and long hair :) I know he liked to draw and write stories and that he didn't know how to properly cook fried chicken -- resulting in him almost burning down our apartment when I was three.

It was actually my mother -- the construction worker/long haul trucker/farmer -- who taught me how to use power tools and how to find the right tool for the right job. When we needed a dramatic set for Forge's office, I didn't blink an eye. I just grabbed the family, grabbed my tools, and said, "See this closet no one is using? We're going to knock it out and build a gorgeous wall with glass bricks and French door. Go!"

But that wall project was the last time I got to really build something for "Ghost Sniffers"... until tonight :)

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the three-day shoot for Episode 11. In the episode, three of Forge's friends from her acting club, along with Gogo, Boo and GI Handsome/Jack Chickadee/Dean Earnest, all show up in a fantastical dreamscape. Three of the characters have short swords made of wood and so out came the jigsaw and in a few moments, we were all sparring :) Then came the challenge -- to craft a five-foot-long forked sword for a surprise character in the episode. That took a balancing act, but the great sword is sleeping on the dining room table even now.

One of the things that I love about the series is that cast and crew get to push themselves to try new things, to grow. Sometimes, the way they grow is by playing a small role when they're used to getting big roles (sometimes, that teaches more than anything else, I think). Other times, actors tackle poetry and verse or a tricky cadence that may add just the right amount of mystery to a scene. Tomorrow, for the first time, actors have been asked to memorize their Shakespeare-esque lines. How will everyone do? I don't know. But you know what I like just as much as power tools?

Watching actors grow. Because that's when you know you've chosen exactly the right tool for the right job. And everything will turn out beautifully.