Losing my mind

"Ok, breathe... Camera: check.
                                                 Clean laundry? Check.                                    
    Packed? Check.
                                                                     Shower stuff? Check. Need that...
                               Crap, where is my toothbrush? Oh, check...
Batteries....check.
                                                    Money....ah, who am I kidding....
                  Food... sort of check....
                                                                                              Ok. PACKED!







                                                            Oh crap."

Freeze frame here on my face. What do we see? We see the panicked look of a girl who just realized that all of her equipment is still at work, and she left no room to pack any of it. It's the look of a girl who knows her editor may kill her for not thinking ahead and for possibly having to stash some stuff in his box. This look, was mine.

My life is a crazy rollercoaster, with twists and turns, and crappy seat belts that leave you wondering if you're going to get dumped off the ride at the next turn. Between shoots, filling deliveries from the library, and a "life" outside the walls of the studio, my life is a little crazy, not to mention going on the road. Of the 2 months I've been back, I think I've been gone at least a month of it, traveling to different corners of the US to record the amazing testimonies of teenagers and young adults who attend our events. Oh, and to go to the beach in San Diego of course ;)

Honestly, if my life wasn't totally crazy and up ended, I think I would be wicked bored. Come on, who wouldn't want to travel the states, hang out backstage with top Christian artists and speakers, and meet hundreds of cool and varied people every weekend? Granted, personal space and shower time is limited, but just think of all the cool memories. I don't think even I will bother remembering how stinky the bus is at the end of the weekend, or just how hungry we were when we roll back onto campus. We're all too busy gushing about how Joel Johnson high fived/hugged us, or how we had lunch with Unhindered, or Leeland, or that R-Swift joked with us about breaking his freaking toe ON STAGE DURING A CONCERT. Seriously, no one cares about the hard stuff.

I love seeing people's faces when I explain to them what I do, or show them the highlight reels, or my own little videos. It's a cross between half-hidden jealousy, shock, and confusion, not to mention the starry eyed look everyone gets when they start thinking about VIPs and Backstage, etc. I think the best part about going to the events is seeing the reality of it all, that the VIPs are more like VNPs, that is, very normal people, just like me. Leeland did a birthday video for one our girls, and Joel Johnson told me he likes my job, and R-Swift thinks its funny that one of my shoulders is slightly more muscley than the other because of my camera. That's normal people stuff. Gives you a sense that you can do it too, and that wherever we're at in ministry and life, we're all still equal to God.

We here at the studio are getting ready to head to our biggest event yet: the New York/Tristate Area BattleCry at the IZOD Center. It's a live event, and will be broadcast live to GodTV, so that means a lot of extra hours of prep, and a heck of a lot more people at the event. We're running the feed through a video truck (Trost Pictures), plus manning cameras in the arena, ENG crew interviewing attendees in the halls, and prep work for VIPs, whether they're heading for the stage or our interview room with our hosts. Literally hundreds of MiniDVs and Beta tapes will be recorded, labeled, and archived and by the end of the weekend (27 hours of film time), we'll have close to over 300 hours worth of footage to sort through and possibly transcribe once we get back to the studio. THAT'S INTENSE!

There's a lot of work that goes into making movie magic, and the funny thing is that the movie business is not nearly as glamorous as everyone thinks it is. Well, red carpet nights certainly are. But 3 am wake up calls for shoots in the freezing cold, 6 hours working on makeup, transcribing for weeks at a time, and God only knows how many coffee runs in a day? That's hard work. But man is it FUN. As my boss likes to say, "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life."

For now, it's back to transcribing for me, and praying with everything in me that I don't pass out from how amazing this food next to me smells.

Welcome to my world....

~Char