Book trailers, in general, turn me off. They're too static and dry. I wanted something more visually exciting for Bryony.
Enter Stephen Tuplin.
Stephen is all about movies. Growing up, he'd invite a dozen kids to his house for the sole purpose of watching a movie together. The events were so well put together, and my son Timothy enjoyed them so much, that we offered similiar affairs at our house all the years we ran The Higher Ark youth group.
No one was surprised when Stephen was accepted into Tribeca Flashpoint Academy in Chicago as a film student. We had seem some of his childhood endeavors (His squirrel movie was a cult favorite at our house), so we all knew he had talent, and I enjoyed watching his progress from the clips he posted on Facebook.
I explained the project to Stephen, then sent him the manuscript and the illustrations. Soon afterward, he explained his vision for the trailer, along with a mention that he had an actress interested in portraying Bryony's main character Melissa Marchellis and some location ideas. Really, all he needed to do was film it.
That, I thought, was that.
Then, in December, when Bryony's web administrator, Sarah Stegall, was in town, we had a Bryony "Meet and Greet" so everyone on the team (thus far) could shake hands round and put names to faces. At the meeting's close, Stephen leaned over and said, "Your website needs more content. I'd also like to make a music video and shoot interviews with members of the team."
The music video would feature James Onohan, the pianist and composer, playing the Bryony theme song he had created for our upcoming Bryony CD, The Best-Loved Compositions of John Simons. That CD will also feature Onohan's original music.
I agreed to Stephen's suggestion, with an idea of my own. "Let's dress up James in period clothing and shoot him at a concert grand piano in a Victorian mansion," I said.
Stephen loved the idea. Of course, now we needed to find appropriate costumes, a concert grand, and an old mansion, or at least, fabricate a reasonable facsimile.
After much thinking and prayer, I'd found the answer.
Enter Stephen Tuplin.
Stephen is all about movies. Growing up, he'd invite a dozen kids to his house for the sole purpose of watching a movie together. The events were so well put together, and my son Timothy enjoyed them so much, that we offered similiar affairs at our house all the years we ran The Higher Ark youth group.
No one was surprised when Stephen was accepted into Tribeca Flashpoint Academy in Chicago as a film student. We had seem some of his childhood endeavors (His squirrel movie was a cult favorite at our house), so we all knew he had talent, and I enjoyed watching his progress from the clips he posted on Facebook.
I explained the project to Stephen, then sent him the manuscript and the illustrations. Soon afterward, he explained his vision for the trailer, along with a mention that he had an actress interested in portraying Bryony's main character Melissa Marchellis and some location ideas. Really, all he needed to do was film it.
That, I thought, was that.
Then, in December, when Bryony's web administrator, Sarah Stegall, was in town, we had a Bryony "Meet and Greet" so everyone on the team (thus far) could shake hands round and put names to faces. At the meeting's close, Stephen leaned over and said, "Your website needs more content. I'd also like to make a music video and shoot interviews with members of the team."
The music video would feature James Onohan, the pianist and composer, playing the Bryony theme song he had created for our upcoming Bryony CD, The Best-Loved Compositions of John Simons. That CD will also feature Onohan's original music.
I agreed to Stephen's suggestion, with an idea of my own. "Let's dress up James in period clothing and shoot him at a concert grand piano in a Victorian mansion," I said.
Stephen loved the idea. Of course, now we needed to find appropriate costumes, a concert grand, and an old mansion, or at least, fabricate a reasonable facsimile.
After much thinking and prayer, I'd found the answer.
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