Saturday, June 21, 2008

Making the Video

We want our kids to be creative. We want them to have great memories of our family coming together to do interesting, fun things. We want to believe we are those unique, exciting parents that all the other kids want to have. So today, with rain and thunderstorms forecast for Wilmington all day - we decided to make a movie with the kids.

Yes - a real movie. As in get out the old costumes and charge up the video camera. And yes, we know it sounds like a lot of work and no, we didn't think we'd actually accomplish what we set out to do. We're famous for coming up with grand ideas and then not following through. And trust me, our kids are enough to talk even the most determined person out of a good idea. But - this was a test. To see if we could work together as a team, cooperate, share ideas, and complete a plan without killing each other in the process. Charles was super excited and after all - it was raining.

We've been talking about making our own movie for a long time. As you may already know, we are big movie buffs. Especially the Spielberg action films - Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Close Encounters - the list goes on. We know every line and how kool would it be to star in our very own movie? Pretty kool right?

Well, let's just say they pay movie makers millions of dollars for a reason. Yes there were challenges. Yes there were budget constraints. Yes we had temperamental actors. But after six hours, three home made costumes and one silly script later, we made our first movie.

And I think we actually did accomplish what we set out to do. The boys had a blast digging up costumes, designing props and making up lines. Charles totally surprised us - adlibbing scenes we didn't even discuss. Dad did a fabulous job editing and adding music and sound effects and we spent an entire day hanging out with the kids with no video games, no cartoons and almost no yelling. Who said it coudn't be done? Score one for the parents.

So without further ado - Shaw Productions presents: Indiana Jones and the Wilmington Mummy. We hope you enjoy it. The kids had a blast. And who knows, in ten or twenty years this might be played on the Academy Awards as Charlie's first film - after he wins an award for Best Actor. :) Or maybe we'll just have a big bottle of wine and crack up laughing.

Oh and stay tuned. The next movie to be released - Pirates of Wilmington.

13 comments:

Just a kid said...

This is beautiful. I LOVED it!

Unknown said...

oh, that must have been so much fun for the kids!

moms4angels said...

I just wanted to tell you guys that you rock as parents. This is an awesome idea that I think any child would love doing.

dani said...

I really enjoyed your movie! Keeping family time alive... hooray for you guys!

Unknown said...

Great job!! Here in Peru, we´re waiting for the next chapter...
We will try to do our movie too.
Bye
Miguel, Karen y Lucas.

Steve Shapiro said...

I found my way to this page via an article on Baby Center. So cute! Great job! It really is a great project for the whole family. In fact, I recently made a couple of movies with my kids too! My 3-year-old daughter "wrote" both screenplays and she gave her younger sister (age 2) pretty big roles in both. If you're interested, you can see them on my blog at http://shapsteve.blogspot.com/.

Editing was lots of work for both, but it was worth it because the kids are so proud of their movies. :)

Once again, great job on your movie!

Unknown said...

My wife and I subscribe to the Baby Canter and I saw your article. The video was great, I bet the editing was a bit of work. Funny thing is we live in Wilmington too with our three little girls, twins 2 1/2, Meghan and Madison and our oldest Ava, 4. I am going to use your idea and make a movie with our girls. I am sure it will be an adventure.

Iqra said...

That was an awesome movie, this shows , u guys really innovate new ideas to make your children feel special.I'm going to make sure that my husband watches your movie so we can make one for our kid's. That will be so much fun. God bless you all.

xtina said...

Shucks, it's not posted anymore... can you put it back up or post it on YouTube? I'd love to see what you came up with!

grace said...

i was linked here by an article from babycenter.com. i'm very interested in seeing the video! could you please repost it somehow?

Saaj said...

Awesome ... the sound effects are especially cool.. :)

crisanthy said...

This is so awesome!!!

momof2boys said...

That was a great movie!!! Love the idea..Thanks for sharing!