Directing Project 1

This is my first directing project from this first semester. My roommate Stephanie and I actually did this to each other...haha. It's been fun :) The girl who shows up first is supposed to be Stephanie and the second girl is supposed to be me [as far as story goes...for anyone who was wondering]. Otherwise, it is just a fun short film. Enjoy!



PS. My apologies, I cannot make the widescreen format fit the blog window...i'll work on that one eventually.

The Tree and Fountain

While walking one day a friend and I came upon a tree with paper-like bark and remarked at how sad it is when the bark is stripped from a tree that it dies. We moved on to talking about wrinkles and age, and how in The Golden Key by George MacDonald, the older a person is, the more beautiful he or she becomes [i'll write more on that later]. However, we both resolved to write the story of a tree stripped of her bark.
This is mine...


She calls him deeper
The boy with the dark black curls
To play in the woods
To be lost in her branches
To see her amongst the host of trunks and leaves.
He hears the call and steps in
Tender feet crunch leaves and twigs
And he touches her bark and peers deeply

The mountain calls him higher
The man with the dark black curls, now masked with grey
His weary eyes peer down at the old parchment
They said he’d never find it
But now he must, else she dies.

The boy reaches his hand out
Peels back the bark from her branch
Reluctantly it lets go and her pure, smooth bark shines
His breath quickens, heart pounds
Twigs crack at slow, retreating footsteps

He cannot read the map for the shaking of his weathered hands
As hers so often do
No longer does she embroider, her hand too unsteady to thread a needle
Her face weathered, her body weary
Yet her face smiles with deep beauty and her clouded eyes blanket her dear ones
But he cannot see it.

Her brilliance pulls the boy back and he is drawn
The bark tears more easily now
Turning it over and over in his hand
Brushing the soft wood with his young fingers.
She pleads with him to stop,
The layers protect what is precious within
But he cannot hear it.

The crest of the mountain disappears behind in the mist
The mist that flows down the crevices and valleys
Down to the lake.
It’s surface smooth, perfectly reflecting the barkless trees that surround
Flawless.

She had asked him to stay…not to go on this journey
But he didn’t hear her.


The man approaches the water,
Dips his hand cautiously and rejoices.

The boy drops the bark and walks towards her
His lust for the smoothness blinds him
He rips the bark away, strips her
Poping and cracking
Insects that took refuge within her flee
New twigs are ripped off, cut short by the violence
He peels her layers away, driven by the trunk beneath.

She pleads with him to stop, but he cannot hear
He is fixed upon her.

The man stumbles through the door and offers her the water
She reaches her hand out to him and accepts it.
Poping and cracking echoes through the house
Wrinkles that took refuge within her flee
Her face pulled taut, the skin flat across her face

The bark is completely stripped away,
He steps back and sees the smooth wood beneath.

He steps back and looks at her face
Weariness has gone and youth has returned
She lowers her eyes, ashamed, exposed
As her wisdom turns brown and falls to the ground
Her eyes harden, the compassion given from years of life has fled.
The gentle touch and knowing caress leave her now supple hands
The gentle tremor in her voice vanishes
And her youth shines forth.

The tree shivers and wind blows against it
The boy is gone and she is
Dead.

The man steps back and walks away
Her husband is gone and she is
Dead.

to give these pictures permanent htmls

i'm putting them here...ignore this post.

Trusting God...

...is such a difficult thing to do. The easiest course of action is to run to anxiety, as if somehow I can make sense of the situation. But really, what is anxiety other than pride...somehow I think I can figure out the situation better than God so I worry about what answers I will find? No. Trust is humility. It is saying, "Lord, you know better than I, so I choose to trust you." Does this mean that we stop searching for answers? Certainly not. God has given us discernment and wisdom so we might figure out the best course of action...but not in our own power. This searching for answers must be found in the trust that God will provide the solution. Anxiety stems from thinking that if we don't find the answer on our own, the situation will not be resolved and all will fail. Trust stems from knowing that in our search for an answer, God will reveal it to us.

God, help me put my trust in you.

MY BROTHER IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!

I'm down in La for my brother's wedding [for those of you thinking...she doesn't have a brother...i know i know, but Mike's been my big brother for over 5 years, so it counts ;P] He is marrying Heidi, one of the most amazing young women I know. She just graduated from Azusa Pacific and is now moving up to NorCal [after the honeymoon of course]. The wedding is down in Rancho Cucamonga [sp?] at this place with a great outdoor setting, lots of trees, flowers, grass, and SHADE [it is LA after all]! Next to the wedding there is a hall for the reception made of dark wood, and cast iron railings...really pretty.

My sister is gonna be one of the bridesmaids, she's been getting ready ALL day. haha...i never knew it was possible to that much make-up on ;) Oh well, I guess I'm not really into that so much [the hours of getting ready that is, being a bridesmaid is cool], but she's enjoying it. So that is good. She looks gorgeous in her little black dress.

My dad is doing the ceremony, i am simply attending. Which means I get to have fun today! whoohoo!!

And then i'll be back down here in 7 days to move in to Biola. haha...it's almost torture being this close and not getting to step on campus/see the local kids down here. :/

Oh well, 7 more days...7 more days...

New Name

I also need to come up with a better name for the film than "Kailye"...any thoughts?? I'm thinking something short, but very symbolic. Lemme know if you've got any suggestions. thanks!

Final Cut on Kailye

Kaylie from ordinaeriegirl on Vimeo.

[only thing we still need to fix is the cafeteria scene, the two parts are switched. oops.]

After this, we are going to try and enter this into a few film festivals so please be praying that goes well/tell me what you think of it before we enter it.

Also, Evangeline and I are planning on getting it scored, but i'm starting to like the music we have. So any thoughts on the music part would be greatly appreciated!!!!