The one consistent piece of feedback we’ve received from test viewers is that the time jumps are confusing. So we decided to go back to Agapé and film more scenes of life around the home as transitions to give the feel of time moving forward. And fortunately for us, Agapé welcomed us back with open arms, so we must not have traumatized them too badly last time.
Today we assembled a small, but mighty team (thanks Cliff, Lamar, Sherard, John, and Chris!) and headed back to Agapé in the blistering heat (always a fun time to be toting heavy filming equipment). There we met with Cynthia Scherbaty and Amy McCormack. Last time we were there, Cynthia exhibited superpowers in helping us get extras in the scenes. This time she and Amy blew us away with their awesomeness. We just hope that when we reach our golden years, we are fortunate enough to have people as caring and enthusiastic as Cynthia and Amy in our lives.
It was a lucky day to be at Agapé, since the men were having their annual summer cookout. We got to join the party and film some of it as one of the transition shots. Today also happened to be the day of the June birthday bash (including a lady who was turning 101!!), which was a perfect activity to shoot. The bright balloons and decorations will look great on screen, and a birthday celebration is a terrific way to show the passage of time.
The third scene was one Cynthia and Amy set up especially for us – BINGO! Since seniors love their bingo, we just had to have a bingo scene in a movie set at a retirement home. We picked an adorable lady to get bingo, and as we filmed the scene several times with her winning again and again, one joker in the crowd shouted out that he wanted her bingo card. Once we finished, we got out of their way and let them play for real – they take their bingo very seriously.
It was a fun day of filming. We got some excellent shots (including a nighttime shot of the exterior of the facility), and it was great to see the residents and staff members again. They even fed us another delicious lunch and “forced” us to eat cake and ice cream. Thank you for having us back, Agapé!