The Story Behind This Picture: The Case of the Missing Tripod

In a previous post, I posted a bunch of pictures Adeeba and I had taken of different behind the scenes shots from production of our second episode.  One of the pictures I took and posted was this one:

When looking through the pictures in the post later with Huda, I remarked, "Isn't it funny how Meryem has to tip-toe to whisper to you?"  What I didn't consider was what Meryem was whispering about.  Laughing, Huda said, "That's when she was telling me that she hid the tripod."  That's when I realized that I had captured a prank in action!  A prank that had left me flustered until I realized what had happened.

You see, the drama club only meets once a week, and then only for one and a half hours, so there isn't much time to get everything done.  To effectively use every moment of the time we have, I get myself prepared beforehand.  Getting to the center early, I set up the props in their places and got out all the film equipment.  I set up the blanket against the wall for Amina's scenes, carried the heavy coat rack to one of the classrooms for Aisha's scene (which by the way is still there - no one put it back!), made sure the video camera had charge, and got out the tripod.  

Making a movie without a tripod is no fun.  The difference a tripod makes is simply amazing, and the handy ZF tripod located in a hidden, yet easy-to-access place is one of the things that makes our movie better.  With a few minutes remaining before filming would start, I took the tripod box out and left it in the big prayer room/playroom where we would be doing the majority of our scenes.  Then, I got out my camera and began shooting pictures.

Finally, I decided it was time to begin filming.  There was no more time to waste.  We had to get this second episode going.  I put the camera away and got out the video camera, scanned the script to see which scene we would film first, and then reached for the tripod...which was nowhere in sight.  Flustered, I checked back in the other room where my bag was.  Nope, not there.  I looked behind chairs and tables, inside classrooms, even inside rooms I hadn't been in that day.  The tripod was nowhere in sight!  

"Has anyone seen the tripod anywhere?" I asked, looking around more wildly now, and being mostly ignored.  I couldn't understand it.  I just knew I had taken the tripod out.  Where could it have gone?  How could I have lost such an essential item for our movie?  Returning back to the place I had left the tripod, I again asked the girls, "Do you guys know where the tripod is?"  That's when they revealed the secret.  

Pointing to Merve, who was the closest target, Meryem announced, "She hid it over there!"  My gaze flew to the corner where there was a pile of hijabs.  Quickly recovering my prized possession, I ignored the culprit and forgot all about the prank in my haste to begin filming.  It wasn't until the next day, when looking through my pictures, I discovered the evidence...evidence that Meryem was the one who hid the tripod and that all the girls knew about it but chose not to tell me...hmmm....

What an interesting story that can be told from simply one picture!  And how wonderful that it turned out that I wasn't actually the one who lost the tripod!

Filming Is So Fun!!

As the past few posts already told you, we finished filming half the movie! I was so surprised. We just did scene after scene without many mistakes. Not only did we have much more experience and practice but since we had a huge center and all the rooms to ourselves, we had many different places to have scenes. So when only one person or two people ar acting everyone goes to the main room and play while the filmer films. So there is hardly any noise in the background. (unlike the past movie) Basically, the only one who doesn't have a break is the director. I was so into the movie that the time past so fast and we had to finish the filming for next time. I wouldn't mind staying there and finish filming and editing the movie. It is so fun! I really want to watch the end results, inshallah we will be done in about 2 or 3 more weeks. (like hana said.) I can't wait till next Monday to continue filming!!

Episode 2

       In just the first meeting for filming, we have already recorded half of the movie! The plans for the scenes are layed out, and the video camera is put to use. The second episode isn't just planned now--it's half filmed!
       Amina, Zeyneb, Khadijah, and Laila have planned out their winter break. Everything is going smoothly, until Amina gets an unexpected call. Will this new problem work itself out? Or will their winter break be ruined....
       Find out in Episode 2, a new, exciting, action-packed movie that will be a delight to watch. If all goes well, the movie might be out in just three more meetings! Stay tuned to figure out the solution to imposing threat, that will be revealed as soon as the movie is out!

Behind the Scenes Pictures from Filming Episode 2

That's right.  We started filming Episode 2!  Hooray!  Surprisingly, we were able to film nearly half of the entire movie in just our first day of filming.  Compared to the two to three scenes we used to film each week during production of our first episode, this is a huge accomplishment.

Having recently moved to a new Zakat Foundation Community Center, we have more options for sets for our scenes.  Viewers will get the opportunity to see new settings, such as Amina's room.  In addition, our second movie will feature two new actors joining the cast!  We won't be announcing who they are, but you can be sure that they will be making the series a lot more interesting.  And, of course, don't worry.  Aisha will be back to continue annoying the other girls!

Check out some pictures we took yesterday when filming some of the scenes:

Amina's Room

Outer View

Handy Script/Scene Summary, camera, and charger

The Scene in which the girls find out some bad news...

What everyone looks like when Aisha is around...

Photography Courtesy of Nur Kose and Adeeba Allimulla

Filming Starts Today! What do You Expect from the Sequel?

We've already begun planning for our second episode in the Chains of Friendship series.  You've had the opportunity to see lots of behind the scenes tid-bits from the first episode and even a few sneak peeks for the next episode.  The Chains of Friendship team will be posting more cool stuff in the next few weeks to get you excited about Episode 2. 

Now is your chance to make a guess about what the next episode will hold for the characters.  What do you think will happen between the older girls and the younger girls?  How do you think the Aisha story will continue?  Will Amina's older sister come back? 

Here's a hint of what's to come: Amina and her friends are going to be learning some pretty bad news.
What do you think the bad news will be?

Stay tuned to find out more.

- Nur Kose

The Hardest Scene

The bloopers were just plain hilarious. The hardest scene to do was the make-up scene with my older sister in the show for a flashback. My older sister (played by Nur) was blabbering random stuff that made no sense it was so hard not to laugh as you in the bloopers video I failed at it. My favorite part was when Adam brought me water. Here's the story I say I'm thirsty and like me or someone else says like get it after the scene and then at some point Adam brings me water. The whole flashback scene was the hardest I had where I had to do a voice over but the make-up scene was spot on the hardest and funniest one to accomplish. Hey, I didn't fail though I succesed so a big pat in the back for me but not only for me but everyone in the show. You all did amazing and I gotta admit my last post was made to be annoying a little for the older kids. Not like I ever got off track.. Actually yes I did atleast once.

My Favorite and Worst Scenes

Looks like I was annoyed! (probably with the
little kids.) Maybe that was my worst scene.............

In the movie, A Friend Not A Bully I had many favorite scenes. But one of them is the one in the library. It was when Adeeba was being mean to us. She acted out Aisha. It was really funny because Adeeba is kind of the youngest out of all the older kids in the movie. It was weird to have Adeeba being mean to us. It was kind of annoying. But I still really liked that scene. In the middle of the scenes I kept laughing cause it was so weird. Also my worst scene is the one we kept on redoing. I mean we did that with every single scene. But one was really annoying. Ok, I forgot but I remember a real frustrating one. Anyways I can't wait to start filming our next episode! Just have to wait until Monday, 3 more whole days! I still  have more experiences and things to tell you but that will have to wait till later.