That's it. We're done. I got to sneak in with Adam onto the set and be one of the few to witness the final shot of the show. What an adventure it's been! The film crew at Baltic Films here in Vilnius has been just amazing. They are talented and professional and hard working. Everyday there was a good feeling on the set. BYUtv is very pleased with this project. We all honestly hope to be able to come back and make another movie some day.
But let me back track to Friday before I get too ahead of myself. We woke up that morning to sunshine and after some morning jobs, we knew we wanted to be out and about. We've seen almost everything we have wanted to, expect for one church that is mentioned in every book, pamphlet and website about "things to do" in Vilnius: the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, built in the early 1700s. It was a bit of a walk - over a mile to get there - but with blue skies peaking out of white clouds, we were up for it. We are getting low on groceries as we are wanting to leave an empty fridge when we go, so we started our afternoon with lunch at The Forest. I'm sure the inspiration for it's name came from the tree that is growing in the middle of the restaurant. Jacob had a burger with a fried egg on it and I had a salad and a pasta dish. Yum.
Our walk took us up by the main river through Vilnius, the Neris, which we got to walk along for a part of our journey. We also walked by the International school, an option where we could have enrolled the boys in school. But it was more fun to have them around to go exploring with me each day.
Church of St Peter and St Paul
There were white carvings and sculptures everywhere. It really was quite spectacular.
Looking back at the pipe organ.
With Jacob as my map expert, we realized that in walking to this church, we were only about 1/2 mile or so from the sound stage. As Jacob had yet to go out to the set, we decided to head that way - also knowing that one of the drivers would likely be available to give us ride home when we were ready. At one point we needed to cross the street. The light was close to turning and with how busy the road was, we wanted to make the crossing so we wouldn't have a long wait for another chance to cross. We started running and Jacob zigged when I zagged and he accidentally tripped me and I went flying. Thankfully, I had on my big coat and fleece leggings or I would have been really scraped up. I did, however, bang up my left knee pretty good, also putting a hole in my pants. There were only about 20 cars and a dozen or so other pedestrians watching my gracefulness. But everyone was nice not to stare and they moved on their merry way. My knee has a good rug-type burn on it and has been swollen. I've cleaned it and iced it and used Tylenol. It is pretty sore, but am thankful it's not worse. I didn't even get a hole in my coat or my leggings, nor did I get run over by a car, so we'll just count the blessings.
Jacob got to be right on set to watch some filming.
He even got to take a peek inside of the camera. His dad sure was happy to see him!
Saturday was pure girl heaven for me, something I don't get real often in a house of boys. There were some things the men-folk wanted to get for cast and crew members. It was the last day of filming and they wanted to give some thank you's to people, but neither of them have much free time. So Christianne and I left the kids together and shopped and shopped. We found the things we needed as gifts, but also decided to stop in any shop that looked interesting and just browse around. It was probably a good thing we didn't do this more often. We found some very fun things. Tee hee hee. We did finally go back for the kids and took them out souvenir shopping. We had told them to be on the lookout for what they might want over the past several weeks, then said today we would go back and get what they had decided on, in hopes that there would be no regrets on what they ended up getting.
We finished our shopping just before a driver came to pick us up for the wrap party. We arrived on set just in time for me to sneak in to watch that final shot and hear the call - "That's a wrap!" Since most of the Utah people and our principle cast were all leaving the next day, we had to have our wrap party immediately following the final shot. And that just shows how efficient and good-spirited this shoot has been. They actually finished each day on schedule and ended a little earlier than expected today. That just doesn't happen.
As they've been shooting, they've had 2 editors working right there on set. As things are shot, they are given the footage and are able to immediately start putting the scenes together. It's great because they have the director right there and everything is fresh in his mind - what takes he likes and how he envisioned everything going together. So there is already a rough cut to the show. Last night, the editor had clipped some of the scenes together to show us a sneak peak of what the movie will look like. It was quite beautiful! Travis, the cameraman, and his lighting crew did an incredible job. It looked so great - like a real movie! Can't wait to see the finished product! There have also been a couple of guys here filming some behind the scenes footage. They will make a "Making Of" to go on the DVD with the movie, but they also put some clips together to show last night. It was creative and showcased the hard work everyone put in to this project. All in all, it was a great evening and a big success for the project.
We wanted to celebrate after - the 2 families who got to have this amazing adventure together. We decided to take those who hadn't been to Forest there because we had liked it so much. They still had amazing food, but because it was a Saturday night, they were really busy. It took us over 2 hours there to eat. We made the best of it by sharing stories and memories. We really can't believe how quickly 5 weeks have passed.
It's now Sunday morning and I am home from church. My knee is very angry with me today and doesn't want anything touching it. So I am here nursing it. I've cleaned and iced it more and it is starting to look a little better. It was sad to miss the last Sunday in church here. And I feel little guilty not being there to play the piano in RS.
The packing process has begun. We leave tomorrow. Sniff. Sniff. Our flight is at 1:30 pm. We are fortunate because one of the guys who has been here for the filming lives in Vienna. He will pick us up at the airport tomorrow afternoon, help us get maps and metro tickets, and drop us off at our hotel. Another blessing!
Some fun parting tidbits:
This street is about a 3 minute walk from our flat and this is where we have to come to throw away our garbage. Often, there is a man here who immediately goes through your garbage bags when you throw them in the dumpster.
Sometimes we need things to dry faster. We have devised our own speed dryer:
Heated Towel Rack + 2nd Fan
Hopefully, we can get a few things dried before they have to go in our suitcases tomorrow.
I once took pictures of the rooftops we enjoy from our flat. Here are the views looking down.
This is the courtyard across the street. I'd love to see it in the spring.
This is looking south. The church is St Nicolas, the oldest church in Lithuania. The apartment building across the street from the church (yellow on the right) is the Kendall's building.
This is looking north. This is where our little street leads to Vokiecui (vok-ee-choo) Street. Turn right there and you will soon be at Town Hall. Cross to the other side of the street and go left, and there is our Iki express grocery store.
My sad knee:
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