The Last Few Days: #10 & #11!

A few pictures from our little day-trip to D.C.!

Hello again! Another day, another blog...or two! We woke up on Saturday after a looooong night on friday. We did the normal routine: food, blog, and shopping. Saturday night we shot the last two scenes of the movie! It was quite the experience! These two scenes had to be shot on the streets of Baltimore. Let's just say that the crowd that hangs out on the streets of Baltimore in the middle of the night are the not people we would normally spend time with! One of our favorite drive-by yellings was "MOOOOVIES!" by some crazy girl in a taxi! Another one of our favorites was by two boisterous girls that stood and watched us for awhile. They decided to stand and taunt Aaron and Mandi as they were doing their scenes, by saying "You aren't stars! You aren't superstars! We can walk down that street way better than you can!" We all thought that is was very funny, and made the night that much more entertaining. We even had to turn one lady away as she was begging us to let her join the cast! Dan had to tell her that we had the cast pretty much nailed down. Poor dear :) The scenes went well, and it was very bittersweet when Joel said "That's a wrap for Lost on Dress Parade!"

Sunday was our first and last day off! The four of us decided to head of to D.C. to see all of the sites! What a blast! It was pretty funny how many times we said "I saw that in National Treasure!" or "That's not what that looked like in Night at the Museum 2!" It was so fun to see all of the historical sites, and we were so exhausted at the end of the day! We returned to Carol's just in time to hop back into the car to head back to Dan's house to say goodbye and to retrieve the hard-drive with our movie on it!

Thank you SO much to everyone who helped us get this amazing little project done! Pray for Jesse as the footage will soon be in his very capable hands! Thank you so much for your prayers, and for following our blog! We love you all! Stay tuned for more Lost on Dress Parade news!

With love,

Mandi, Josh, Joel, & Aaron

(From Left to Right)

Daniel Martinez

Mike Brown

Aaron Fullan

Mandi Padgett

Joel Carter

Josh Padgett

Day #9

Oh. My. Word. What an incredible evening! Picture this set: a table for two, moonlight, and a view of the Baltimore skyline...from the roof. That is what the four of us were able to experience today. It was magical! Today we shot the longest, and most important scene in the whole movie. We prayed for good weather, and the Lord provided it! Praise be to God! The weather was wonderful, brisk even, which was perfect for the scene!
The day started out with the usual: food.Then we headed out to blog, shop, and get ready for the night’s crazy scene! We arrived at 15Four and immediately began preparing for the scene. Remember how we mentioned it was on the roof? Well...we really were on a roof! The roof of 15Four, to be exact! The only bad part is that three of the four of us are scared of heights, all on different levels. Once the team was able to coax Josh and Mandi up the ladder, the real fun began! It took several hours to hoist everything up (using ropes) that we needed for the shots, but once everything was set up, it went very smoothly! Daniel was behind the camera, capturing the breathtaking view. Joel was directing and running sound, handling both quite wonderfully. Josh was once again our talented set designer....and wait until you see this set! It’s amazing! Aaron and Mandi were our actors this evening, and they had a blast!
We arrived home just after 6 a.m. after a very long, but rewarding night.. Only two more small scenes to go...and Lost on Dress Parade will be finished...except for the editing part, so thanks in advance Jesse!
Thanks again for all your prayers, and thank you for stopping by! We love you all!

Sincerely,
Mandi, Josh, Joel, and Aaron

Day #8

Just keeps getting busier and busier! We shot five scenes today! Pretty crazy, huh? Thanks to Mike Brown and Daniel Martinez for all of their amazing camera and lighting skills! We could not be doing this without you two! We finished our last scene at Daniel's apartment, so now he can have his place back to normal! We changed it around quite a bit! No more snowboard in the shower! :)

Yesterday started out pretty normal: woke up, ate a little *cough cough* lunch (yes, we woke up pretty late!), and headed out to blog. Josh woke up early to go get the car fixed, and it only took a couple of hours, praise the LORD! We did a little shopping, and headed back to Carol's to rehearse. After a while of rehearsing we packed everything up and went to meet Dan and Mike at 15four. We shot several

scenes there. Thank you to Dan's boss Steve playing the part of the boss for our film! We appreciate it! Joel also got to make his acting debut! He was great, but he would rather direct than act! :) Everything went smoothly, and we were able to pack up to shoot some scenes of Aaron walking up a beautiful city street. They looked incredible, thanks to Dan and Mike for their brilliant ideas! We then shot the last scene in Dan's apartment. Mandi, of course, feel asleep. We headed home around 3:00, and went right to sleep. Tomorrow is the most important, and longest scene of the whole film. Please continue to pray for good weather, and good spirits for us all. We are getting pretty worn out, and we are all dreaming of being back to the familiar. :) We love you all.

We were able to rent a dolly to shoot some scenes. It creates a smooth motion effect, and it was funny to see Mike pushing Dan all over place.

We are all getting to try our hand at the different jobs that go into film making!

Come back soon!

Love,

Mandi, Josh, Joel, and Aaron

Day #7-The craziest of them all!

The day began around 11:00am due to our late night before! We decided to indulge in a wonderfully prepared breakfast of pancakes and eggs to start the day right! After deliberating for the day, we were off to our wonderful nearby town of Skyesville! We stopped at a McDonalds for iced coffees and smoothies and to find some internet to blog! After blogging, we did some prop-shopping (Josh's favorite), and found some great purchases to finish off our biggest and coolest set!

Here is where the fun began: Josh had noticed that the battery light was on when we left Carol's house, but was unsure if that light was always on or not. Shortly after, Mandi discovered that the entire radio stopped working, depriving us of our morning tunes! After our final errand at Big Lots, Josh began to notice that the car felt different and he began to worry! By the grace of God, we made it to Carol's driveway, just as the battery took its last little breath. Carol thankfully had a battery charger which we quickly slapped on the battery in hopes of mending the problem. We left again, after about an hour charge, and headed to the mall in Columbia, MD. We were only making a quick stop and thought it would be better to leave the car idle before heading to our movie shooting location, but our poor little Jimmy did not have the same intentions-it bit the dust AND would not take a jump from the Mall Cops! We were in trouble! After a unsuccessful plea for help from the mall's Sears auto-center, we purchased a new battery and new tools to install a battery ourselves (with the most wonderful help from Jack Padgett). The Sears was a solid ten-minute walk which seemed to be longer due to the immense weight of the battery! After arriving back at the car, Josh had mistakingly purchased a wrong tool requiring a second trip back to Sears, and after that, the car was finally fixed.....mostly! Mandi and Joel had been picked up by Dan to begin shooting, and

Josh and Aaron took off for AutoZone to have the alternator checked and alas, the Jimmy needs a new one--to be replaced tomorrow.

We then reunited at the shooting location, which was a lovely old home built in the 20s, belonging to the Arnold's which they so graciously let us use! The shooting for the night went beautifully smooth! Mandi finally got her turn in front of the camera and she did amazing! Jordan Arnold played the role of Mandi's sister and also did a great job! It is really looking great!

The car made it back to Carol's after shooting past 1:00am and is now at this very moment being fixed at Midas here in Skyesville. Crazy, frustrating day, but the Lord is in control of everything and we are VERY thankful for that!

Keep us in your prayers! Hope you all are well!

Affectionately,

Josh, Mandi, Joel and Aaron

(this is the Arnold's dog named Sandy- so sweet!)

Dia Numero 6!

Hello all! Another day is long gone, and we would like to share it with you! The day started out as usual: waking up, getting ready, and a quick breakfast. Then the crew packed up and headed for Panera for caffeine and free internet connection. There we blogged, and Joel finished up revising the script with some great new lines and ideas! Then, we had a very successful trip to Hobby Lobby, where we got the remaining props for the most pivotal scene in the movie!

Josh did a great job staying in budget, and getting some really amazing stuff! Later, we headed home for a Totinos pizza lunch! We were all a little to excited for those creepy little pizzas. We were also able to spend a little time with our lovely host, Carol.

Before we knew it, it was time for us to pack up our props and head over to Dan Martinez's house to finish one of the last scenes that we will be shooting there! We are so grateful for that little one-room apartment! We have had some great times there already! Thanks, Dan for letting us use it!

We arrived at Dan's house and everyone got busy getting everything ready for the scenes. Aaron was the only one acting for these scenes so he got busy putting his costume on, and Mandi applied his make-up (hehe). Daniel and his friend Mike set to work setting up cameras and lighting. Josh, our master set designer set up the apartment just right. Joel was busy directing, as usual! What a team we have! A few hours after arriving, Josh and Mandi headed out for a Taco Bell run...at 11:00 p.m.! After a quick taco break, and a few more shots, we were ready to head home...at 3:30 a.m.! We were so grateful when our heads hit the pillows! Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow Mandi will get to act! Keep praying, we appreciate it!

Day #5

The strangest day of them all! Daniel asked a couple of us to help him out with a different project, so Aaron and Mandi gladly accepted! Much to their chagrin, it was three hours away, and they had to leave at 1 a.m. The filming was actually pretty neat, and they got to see a beautiful Maryland sunrise on the beach, despite how tired they were :)

The afternoon consisted of Aaron and Mandi napping, and Joel and Josh heading off into town to blog and relax at a cafe. We all came back together to head off to Daniel's work to shoot another scene. When we got there, however, the man we had asked to play one of the characters had gotten hives, and was unable to do the scene. Yipes! We also learned that the location we were banking on for the most important scene in the film was not looking too hopeful! Yipes! After a long discussion on what we should do, we brainstormed and came up with some brilliant new ideas! No spoilers, but these new ideas will make this movie even better! All we can say is....please pray for good weather for friday night!

We decided to take the evening off to rework the script and fellowship together with Carol. We made a delicious spaghetti dinner, and watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Aaron had never seen it!) We learned that Mr. and Mrs. Fullan and Carol had been on the same trip to Israel only 3 weeks ago! Small world or what? It was a great night, despite Mandi falling asleep 5 minutes after the movie started. Another crazy day has gone by! Thanks for your prayers, and for stopping by again! We love you all!

See you later alligators,

Mandi, Josh, Joel and Aaron

Day #4

June 19th

We began our fourth day by joining Mrs. Carol at her church Forge Road Bible Chapel. We only had time to stay for the remembrance meeting, but it still proved to be a much needed break and time for worship. After that we headed straight for Dan’s apartment in Baltimore to finish shooting our first full scene. It took all afternoon to complete; it turned out to be one of the hardest as far as camera work, as well as our most cramped set (Dan’s apartment is one room). We are glad to have it finished, its the second largest of the movie. After we finished in the late afternoon, Dan had to leave for a couple of hours, which allowed the four of us to begin rehearsing some of the other scenes, the most important being our “Dinner Scene,” which will take up more than half of the run time. Also, we officially set as far as actors, as we cast our last open role. This is definitely a praise. The day was made interesting as Aaron ripped the bathroom doorknob from the door, no doubt due to his brutish strength. After that happened, we realized that everything we needed was in fact stuck in the bathroom. Not to worry, we were then greeted by the world’s nicest maintenance man, who replaced the doorknob in no time. We appreciated his service and smile. On the way home, our GPS got the best of us. Josh was sure he told it to take us back to Carol’s home, but then the unthinkable happened. It happened as follows:

We reach our destination...which turns out to be Hobby Lobby (we had gone there the day before).

JOSH: (excitedly) “There’s a Hobby Lobby a couple minutes from Carol’s house?!”

JOEL: “Uhh...it says we’ve reached our destination.”

AARON: “Josh, you told it to take us to the nearest Hobby Lobby?”

MANDI: “I told you I set it right, then you changed it.”

JOSH: “Well...(he punches in Carol’s house; its 30 minutes away)...My bad, guys!”

UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER FROM ALL WHICH COULD NO DOUBT BE HEARD FROM ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET.

Our detour gave us an excuse to stop and have some late night cheapo McDonald’s ice cream, no harm done. We’re having a great time, keep praying for us.

Most affectionately,

Mandi, Josh, Aaron, and Joel

(this is the nice maintenance man) :)

Day #3

June 18th

The morning of our third day was packed pretty full! We woke up, ate a little breakfast, and set off towards a Starbucks to take advantage of their free wi-fi and tasty espresso! After blogging about our previous days, we went to Wal-mart to get a few things for the set! Then the first real day of shooting began! Most of us felt pretty naive about all that really goes into making a film, but we are catching on! We spent a lot of time rearranging Daniel’s apartment to make it look just right for our first real set! Josh’s creative juices were flowing as he showed off his flair for set designing. Joel got a crash course in using the camera, and he caught on brilliantly! Aaron’s first seen proved to be quite different than stage acting, but we were all so excited when he really got the hang of it! Mandi was busy running around figuring out last minute costumes, and putting the finishing touches on make-up. She also got tutoring on how to run the boom-microphone, which she found to be strengthening her muscles! Daniel and Aaron’s chemistry was great...must be leftover from their high school shenanigans! We are all so grateful to Daniel and his willingness to act, run the camera and equipment, and to let us use his apartment for several scenes!

Shooting ended around 9PM, when the pizza arrived. We left Daniel’s and headed back to Mrs. Carol’s. Whew! What a great day! Thanks for your prayers! Thanks for stopping by!

Most affectionately,
Mandi, Josh, Joel, and Aaron

Day #2

June 17th

After sharing a quick breakfast together, the crew packed up and headed to Sykesville’s very own ZiPani Cafe! There we ran through the script, while sipping our coffees. It went very well, and we were pleased to find out that much of the props, costumes, and set locations are already in order. After a quick lunch back at Mrs. Carol’s house, we headed back out, and spent out first real day in Baltimore! As we began to see the city get closer and closer, we turned up Hairspray’s Good Morning Baltimore and we all sang very loudly. We toured the city for a bit, and got a few last minute essentials...including some Allegra for Josh and his cat allergy :) Josh and Mandi begged everyone to go to Charm City Cakes, the bakery on Food Network’s Ace of Cakes! Next, we met up with Daniel Martinez and packed up the camera gear and took it to his apartment! We chatted and got acquainted, and then Daniel took us down to the pier for exploring and a delicious dinner at Riptide by the Bay! We were so stuffed afterwards, and we were all very satisfied! The night ended with another excursion to Daniel’s apartment, where more fellowship occurred. Finally, the four of us drove back to Mrs. Johnson’s, and we all hit the sack...what a day! Shooting begins tomorrow! Please pray for us as the schedule heats up!

Thanks for stopping by! Check us out everyday!

Yours truly,

Mandi, Josh, Aaron, and Joel

Day #1

June 16th

After many scary hiccups before the trip even started...Joel hit a deer, which put a dent in our transportation (pun definitely intended), our original housing fell through, and a scary few days where Josh and Mandi may not have been able to go because of a very sick father....we have made it to Maryland! The Padgetts’ were able to come, and bring their GMC Jimmy along too! The Lord also provided a very kind woman who opened up her house to us for the two weeks that we will be here! Besides Josh’s cat allergy, and Mandi’s blowdryer blowing a fuse, the housing will work out splendidly!

The trip down went well...unless you count Aaron’s insanity after being cooped up for 15 hours! We put the task of driving into Josh’s capable hands, and he did a wonderful job. For a good chunk of the afternoon, we attempted to come up with original jokes to entertain each other, our favorite being “Why did Davie Jones hate high school so much? Because he was always being shoved in his locker!” Another fun game that we played was “Who can stick their head out the window and take the pain of the pelting rain the longest?” Sounds thrilling, we know.

We arrived at Mrs. Carol Johnson’s house around 10:00 p.m. I think it’s safe to say that we all slept very soundly...for the most part. Much to the dismay of Josh and Aaron, Joel has an adorable habit of sleep-talking.

Baltimore, here we come!

Yesterday we left for Baltimore at 4:30am! We will keep you updated...

Baltimore, here we come!

Slow but steady!