the last day of filming was spent mostly in the shed. the shed was built in the warehouse... about 20 feet by 10 feet. see above picture- the huge white screen, that s where the light s coming on the shed door. to go thru the door, you ll have to either climb on the ladder or go inside the shed with opening and go up the stairs. you know the truck/train s big metal box? that s what the shed was. you can see the tv monitor of what s the cameras are seeing in the foreground. we were sitting on the couches, watching the tv monitor. it was one of the climaxes for the movie, we got to see some acting muscles in work by michael and jessica. tova exclaimed after the shooting of first scene in the shed "michael acts very well!" :)
tova enjoyed giving out the cards to the people who made a direct impact on her. :) jessica was so sweet- she got five dolls- characters from wiz of oz- dorothy, glida, lion, tinman, and scarecrow along with the dvd of the movie! melissa told tova the wiz of oz story before we started watching the movie during the breaks. she was fascinated by the movie! the dolls are now proudly standing in her bedroom. they are so beautiful!
whenever an actor is FINISHED working for the film, the crew always clap. so, when tova did her very last take on the scene, everyone started to clap, then stood up and clapped/waved for her as she was coming out of the shed. she was overwhelmed and started hugging people good byes on the way out. it was such an amazing experience for her and i couldnt ask for a better crew, director, interpreter, actors than what she had.. such a bittersweet farewell for us all... we will certainly miss being in the creative environment where people work together to breath the life of a story!

The movie family!

Tova's manny, Cosmo

Tova and Jessica getting wet for the scene

Tova in the truck

Tova and Michael doing the scene on the beach

Set on the beach

outside of shed in the warehouse

inside the shed

we met at 9am at the production office to drive to catawba island- about an hour and half away. the house was RIGHT on the beach! when we arrived, everyone zoomed in action to get the scenes set up. we was given a holding room, where tova waits for her time to get on the set. the holding room- two windows with the view of the beach. too perfect! of course, we opened the windows to get the lake breeze in the room. we didnt stay in long enough- tova changed into the bathing suit and just ran outside to play in the sand which is what s going to happen in the scene anyhow. michael came out to do the sand playing and getting ready for the scene to be filmed. we sat on our chair on the sand, enjoying the sun, breeze, the show happening in front of us. there were a bunches of people standing on the sides of the set watching the filming. some bought the binoculars. :) tova so wanted to jump in the water. jeff said fine, but dont get your hair wet during the breaks. THEN... when tova was all done, jeff asked how to sign "you can go swimming". when he signed that sentence, tova just zoomed out to jump in the water. :) during the break, some of the film people went swimming! There were several close ups of tova. im excited to see how it turns out in the movie. from what we could see on the tv screen, it s gonna be beautiful! tova and i joined jessica and tyler in tyler s car on the way back to the film house to do the last scene. tova became real hungry so i asked tyler to beep someone at the house set to get the peanut butter n jelly sandwich ready for when we arrive. tyler called, no one was at the house yet as we may have been ahead of everyone, so he pulled over and went into the food store to get stuff to make PBJ sandwich. jessica then went on to make the sandwiches for the four of us in the car. i think it was one of the best pbj sandwiches ever! tova ate TWO. she was that hungry!
tomorrow is the last day. :( we will be at the production office filming for the inside of the shelter. then we gotta bid farewell to everyone. it has been an amazing journey and if the opportunity comes up for tova to be in a movie, i hope we will have it as good as this one!

truck being prepped for the raining. the man in the hat is the rain maker. the lady in black tank top is Carmen, the set dresser.

getting things ready for tova to get in the truck. notice the pink booster seat in the truck? :)

tova waiting to get in the truck

tova on the set

i have no idea what she was doing, probaby waiting for Harry to come out?

tova and kenny, her movie dog

jessica and tova on the set

Tova and Jessica chatting between the takes...

Tova and Cosmo fooling around

prepping for the filming

michael, tova and jessica walking into the shelter

Tova climbing the tree while waiting for her time to get on the set

we found the secret room with the AC running in the movie house. the filming was happening mostly outside so we were able to leave the ac running all day to stay cool and making tova happy and not too sweaty and crabby before going on the film. :) It was super super HOT for the past three days! yesterday, sitting under the trees gave a bit relief so we were glad for the AC room.
tova has her own stunt girl! her name is emily- 8 years old and is such a sweetie! they look alike, brown hair, blue eyes, emily s bit taller than tova, almost same sound of laughing. there was a scene to be filmed today that will require tova to be terrified after the truck crashes, and being taken by a lady under the fake rain. for some reason tova was scared about that scene, saying she doesnt want to be taken out of the truck and to have emily be the one to be taken. the scene was supposed to be happening somewhat around 4pm but it ended up delaying because of the engine for the pressure for the fake rain to go thru the hoses were having problem, so it was almost ten pm when we finally did the scene. tova asked jeff if she was just in the truck for the 'look', not be taken away by the woman. jeff said maybe. tova jumped on that, 'what do you mean, maybe??' then she started to freak out... jeff asked her what was she worried about- 'being taken away by the lady'. so jeff asked tova if she will just sit in the truck for him. she said yes- she worships jeff... :) so she got in the truck on the passenger seat on a booster seat. keep that in mind- the truck is in the ditch, two camera men- yep the same ones who were all twisted up on the driver seat filming tova the first week, and zillions of lights on the truck to make it look like it s during the day light- bugs all over the light.. then there s the black icky thing dripping off the windows and the raining going on. jeff asked tova to act dazzled and confused after being crashed. tova was still worried about the lady. jeff reassured her that the lady will not grab her. still, tova didnt look scared enough for the scene. so jeff met with me and terry, discussed discussed.. we made one of the hardest decisions.. i felt sick to my stomache but i prayed and knew tova is strong to go thru this and handle it liek a champ. we agreed that to let jeff tell tova just before the retake that the lady will be banging on the window, open the door and grab tova out of the seat just before he says action. i was saying a short prayer to give her strength and to forgive us all for putting her thru that. jessica and cosmo were asking us if we are okay... when jeff told tova, that got her upset and she was crying and was upset and then the lady did her job and she grabbed tova and rushed out around front of the truck where i was waiting to get tova and hold her and tell her it s okay. the scene worked out perfectly for the story. but man, i felt so awful for putting tova thru that. she quickly got over it within 10 minutes, resuming her happy ol' self. we talked about it and making sure that she knew that we didnt put her in any danger at all, and that it was just to get her to act scared.
so, emiliy- where does she come in? there s the scene where there will be fighting between the lady and hannah- tova s character. emily is in karate. :) we didnt get to see that part because tova was done for the day after the lady grabbing scene.
on the road where the film home is, about 1/2 mile down the road where the truck crashed to be filmed, there were SO many lights all over, making it look like the area 51. that s the first thing came to my mind when we were on our way to the set.
the film home, we are done with all the scenes there. next- beach house tomorrow on catawba island, and then saturday- at the production office for inside the shelter then, we wrap. :(

we are going to catawba island on friday for the beach scenes! wooo!!

today, we spent most of the day outside filming. tova had three scenes- being in the foreground near michael, leaving the shelter with jessica and michael, being in the car with jessica waiting for michael.
tonight, we talked with tova briefly if she wants to be in more movies. she said no- she misses her friends and she is not feeling smart being in the movies. i told her that i bet her friends would be so curious about how the movies are made and she ll be able to explain to them! :) so yes, you can be smart still! also last night we were watching tv and tova was talking about how many shots it take to do that scene. so she is learning! shannon told me on text that tova has a letter from SAG- screen actors guide. i know that tova is earning hours to qualify for a membership for SAG in case she wants to get into the movies in future. we ll see how this goes. tova said tonight she wants a BIG swimming pool. i told her if she gets in more movies, she may be able to afford a pool. :P

sorry not much of excitment from the filming set- it is really a lot of work and everyone sin the motion because we all know our places and our 'aweness' has weared out and we are getting to know the people on the set. we will super miss them come saturday when it s the last day at the set. :(

we came back to the film set after a wonderful weekend in conneaut. we were up there for two days to see the family. my aunt n uncle hosted their annual 4th of july party on the beach. there were lots of people, food, beach, swimming, of course a trampoline, a biggg bonfire on the beach and the amazing firework show put on by uncle steve. we were only about 50 feet away from where they launch the fireworks. it was so exciting!! Tova kept on saying WOW! beautiful! I like that one! the show lasted about 30 minutes.

it was SUPER hot today. the filming took mostly inside the house. yeow! terry and i stayed mostly outside under the tree. when tova s not being filmed, she went outside to keep cool.. yes, no AC s running in the house because the sound will pick up the sounds of the AC during filming. :) tova only had about four scenes to be in. for some reason, it seems like a fewer people around on the set than the usual. I realized just now that perhaps we are familiar with everyone on the set now rather than try to figure out who is who.

the producer has told us that tova is so wonderful and that the acting has come naturally for her. everyone is amazed by her, especially following excatly what jeff, the director, asks her to do for the scenes. it was such a booster of pride we have for tova. :)

Long and productive day today! four scenes to be filmed- started at about 1pm and didnt leave until 10pm. yep, it does take so much to film the scenes- long shot, close up, medium shot and several retakes. Tova continues to be doing so awesome. we were watching her on the screen tv while she was doing the scene where she has to eat the cereal - you can hear/watch her munching on te cereal then she stops eating, and smiles BIG to Michael, then resume eating the cereal. it was such a sweet thing to watch! i look forward to seeing it on the movie screen!
some of you have been asking about the release date. it all depends- the editing should be done by early spring next year in time to submit in the film festivals... and from there, we will see if any movie studios 'pick' it up and release in the theatres or goes straight to DVD. i promise i will post the info as soon as i know. :)
between the filming scenes- Tova had a ball playing outside- it was such a perfect day- no humid, sunny, cool breeze. everyone who wasnt busy prepping the scene stayed outside to enjoy the weather. Tova played with Cosmo, Cameron (that guy who went to five stores looking for popicles with no red dye the other night :)) and Jeff. she somehow got them all in the dog pen. she can get people to do anything for her. Cosmo and Cameron jumped over the tall fence to escape. the last scene they were filming tonight- it was at the dining table with the three of them- tova, jessica and michael. i couldnt see the screen tv because i was on the stairs staying out of the camera range. jeff told me after the scene filming was done that it was the best best scene he has ever seen. i learned that they three ended up playing with the crayons, using them as lipsticks and were laughing- looking very much like a family. that was purely an improvise scene!
yesterday, another improvise part- michael was to dry tova's hair, and then they did the eel handshake which tova and melissa have invented. it s gonna be on the film. tooo cool!

tomorrow we head to ashtabula to uncle steve n aunt laura's 4th of july party on the beach. it s gonna be so good to see the family and be at the lake again!

happy 4th of july- be safe!

today- only two takes for one scene for tova today. and best part- shannon and mania' came over to visit the set! they got to meet the people i talked about in this blog. mania' bought her lovely camera and was able to snap some pictures going on the set. all tova did was get in the car with jessica, drive over to the driveway, get out with jessica, walk past the big rig truck parking in the driveway. two takes. that s it. then off to go home. it was sooo good seeing shannon and mania'! i have missed my columbus girlfriends! Tova was beyond thrilled to see her sister shannon and grandma mania'!

Yesterday was a full day of work for Tova. the first scene- she was with Michael looking at the truck engine and then she notices something over there and walks towards whatever was over the. so, she got to stand on the street 'looking' at the birds flying towards her- those birds will be added with the special effects during the editing progress. Cosmo told her 'this is the ONLY time you can stand on the street!' :) the street was blocked both directions during the filming. anyhow- i noticed there were MANY tennis balls out on the front yard in a perfect pattern. i eventually realized that it was for the special effects when they will add the flying birds to help them measure where to put the birds. funny, once, they were filming when Michael had Tova in his arms and looking up at the "birds", in the distance back, we could see an neighbor- elderly man walking slowly to his mailbox.. the director had to say CUT and wait until that neighbor walks back to his house to completely disappear from the set. it s amazing how detail oriented everything has to be on the film. even the grass where Tova and Michael walk over- it was still wet after the storm the day before. the prop person had to rake the leaves to make them stand up after we walked all over the grass.

during the hot sunny days, Tova would have her own mary poppins next to her. yep Cosmo again. :)


the next big scene was of tova and michael again. this time, tova is seeing something thru the window- i wont tell you what that is. :) it freaks michael out and he grabs tova, then the 'schorizpic episode' strikes. michael was believable and we are amazed by how much tova trusts him that he wont hurt her while holding tova. he had to be screaming, falling down, hitting the wall, shaking etc. tova just hung on him, trusting him that she wont get hurt. such an amazing kid.
during the break, tova discovered a worm, wanted to bring the worm to sit besides us during lunch. YEOW! i told her no. leave the worm on the ground where the worm can eat. then she found a caterpillar. wanted to bring it into the house. no. so she freed it in the field behind the house. saw a bird nest in a tree behind the house- on our eye level. it was so cool seeing the nest. no eggs in there of course. im serious... this movie experience for Tova is way better than sending her to a camp. this feels like a camp with movie making experience!

Tova and Michael getting their hair dried for the retake of the scene with the fake rain. As you may notice, Tova has a sucker candy... she has the access to unlimited amount of sucker candies. :)

It was RAINING so hard today, the fake and real ones... we had to use the fake rain for the first four scenes.. then of course, the real rain came when we were done with those scenes. murphy law! anyhow..one of the characters in the movie is a dog. :D He came to the set today. Tova enjoyed meeting Kenny, the name of the dog. he is a mixed of german shepard and Beligum Malinois. kenny was soooo sweet and very well trained- he can become vicious on cue. the scene that was being filmed- required the fake rain to be turned on, and that dog had to bark bark brak then run to michael to attack, then as soon as the trainer called him off, he became such a sweet dog. it was amazing to watch the scene. We agreed that Tova cant watch the set while the dog's attacking michael in fear Tova will freak out for the next scene with the dog. She would have other scenes with Kenny as her pet so we wanted her to keep the image of the sweet dog.

when we were working on the scenes before the dinner break, we had to use the fake rain with Tova and Michael seeing the storms coming. then dinner break and as soon as the dinner break was over, the REAL rain came along with maybe 30mph wind and lightening. it was shocking to see that- we were in the living room watching the storm and i admit i did get confused.. was that the real rain or are they setting up the fake rain again? and crazy part was that the cameramen and Jeff came out running with the camera (waterproofed of course) to film the storm out on the field along with about 20 people scattered around picking up things around in the backyard to clear the way for the filming the field during the storm. they all came back in SOAKED! but they were happy to have filmed the storm! and the sound guy recorded the thunders, lightening, and the raining for the background sounds, while we all stood around in silence for about 4 minutes. they were so excited to record the real stuff! :)