Zach and I are home from a wonderful week in Oregon. We're happy to be back but we are still talking about our fellow campers.
I'm glad to be back in civilization because I now have a good Internet signal and can share the excitement of camp with you in photos.
We stayed at an actual girl scout camp founded in 1924 outside of Sandy, Oregon. Here's the sign that greets you when you enter the campgrounds.
Shhh...This is "Hollywood Magic". The real name is of the place is Camp Namanu.
Here the guy that founded the camp. His picture makes him look like a Scooby-Doo villain.
The first thing we did at camp was get some dinner. The folks filming the pilot had great cooks on staff that gave us filling meals and plenty of snacks in the kitchen. I know you were worried about my one food item request but it was granted by the camp counselors. I had plenty of Diet Coke! My request was rewarded with cases of the lovely drink available at all times since we were nowhere near a store.
The guy Zach is talking to is named "Porcupine" and he lives on the camp grounds.
After we ate dinner on the first night we made our way to our cabins. The ride to the cabins, as well as the camp, took place at night so it was hard to tell where we were going and how far it was from the mess hall. We got to our assigned cabins and here's how we were able to tell which building was our cabin after hours:
We were in the kids section of the camp with the "Pooh Bear" names.
The one piece of art/decoration on the cabin wall.
We quickly discovered the lack of reliable Internet and cell phone signals in the camp. That's why I couldn't send you any photos before this letter.
It was time to explore the camp after we woke up the next morning. It was interesting to put together buildings and distances in the daylight.
The exterior of our cabin. We were the only cabin residents 5 of the 7 days of the camp session.
A structure in the meadows in the middle of the camp grounds AKA "A Thinking Spot".
Don't be fooled by the photo. Too cold to swim!
The cabin belonging to Zach's character, Willy.
"The Wishing Rock" out in the woods. I wished for world peace and a better Internet connection.
The first day was a table read of the script and scene rehearsals. It was interesting to watch the cast bond as a unit so quickly.
Costume fitting.
Zach only had a couple of scenes on Monday morning so we rode into town that afternoon to try and get my Wi-Fi hot spot repaired. Tuesday was a day off for him so we goofed around in camp during the morning. We spent the afternoon in town at a local coffee shop so I could get some work done for clients.
This was posted at the coffee shop. The phrase "Portland's French Troubadour" made me LOL.
Zach was on set working the rest of the week. You'll be proud of me because I made a lot of new friends during the second half of the week.
I was the only person at camp with no assigned position for the pilot. I was afraid that my award at the end of camp would be "Best Camper With No Purpose". I pitched in wherever possible. I helped set up tables in the mess hall, built tents for a night scene and collected and transported luggage on the final day of camp.
The entire week was fast and furious but it was fantastic to watch a group of people passionate about a project band together despite little sleep, a rapidly approaching end of shoot deadline, chilly weather conditions, late night scenes and various personality types. The entire camp quickly bonded and worked together to further the dream of making "Camp Abercorn" a reality.
The crew trying to stay warm on the last night of shooting out at the lake,
One of the scenes involves the campers being in a lake at night. Here is a "before and after" of Zach on the last couple of days of shooting:
Dry Scout.
Wet (but happy) Camper.
The cast and crew stayed up all night the final two nights of the shoot to make sure every scene was perfect. I watched filming for a few hours the next to last night and then went into the production office to take care of some social media work for various clients. That entire night (for me) can be summed up in these words: tamales, Oregon beer, wet actors, social media content creation, little sleep and a lot of laughs.
I've taken up enough of your time and I need to get back to work.
Zach and I are ready to get back to camp to continue working on "Camp Abercorn". The one change I'll make on the next trip? Bringing a blow up air mattress for my back. I'm not exactly cut out for sleeping on bunks anymore!
Camp Abercorn - Ready To Go!
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