Skin on Skin A Fashion Film – Delivering a Dream
“Skin on Skin” A Fashion Film
My Dear Angels, Supporters of this wild and fantastic ride to make “Skin on Skin” A Fashion Film… I salute you!
You are probably wondering where I have been after ten months of postings and blogging about the making of this short film! You may think, “Lorelei is MIA” – but in fact, I was not- I was just working away so I could deliver the dream.
Because you have been such a great support, not only financially, but by encouraging me, sharing my posts and holding a loving space for the success of this film, I feel I owe it to you to let you in on the things I’ve experienced while forging ahead with this project to make a fashion film.
Carla Sims doing Kaitlyn Browns hair for the Red Carpet scene.
When I accepted a film directors offer and set out to make a little 4-minute fashion film, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I have always believed in the saying, “when opportunity knocks, don’t complain about the noise,” so I said “yes” to producing this film.
Unbeknownst to me were the challenges that would arise and the unbelievable amount of working hours it would take to actually produce it. However, because it is always my intention to put out content that has depth and meaning, I knew that I wasn’t here to just make a fashion film. My mission would be to create a film that would serve to inspire people like you and me to follow our dreams, no matter what curveballs life throws at us. Of course, the universe put me to the test bringing up hidden opportunities for me to grow, disguised as challenges, problems, and road blocks.
My first challenge was to overcome the shame and fear of asking for your help to help fund the making of Skin on Skin A Fashion Film – delivering a dream. My next challenge was to learn to receive your help without feeling guilty or obligated.
Jonathan Shrader & Major Latimer w/ Renee Knorr on set!
Then I witnessed your support and this kept me moving forward. I learned to “own it.” Your confidence and willingness to believe in the project and in me gave me the strength I needed to carry on. I realized that I must support you and your dreams too. Many of you shared your dreams with me and I was able to do just that.
After that came all the challenges that go with the process…. pre-production – production and then post-production of the film. Starting with the idea and mustering up the courage it would take to follow through and tackle the logistics. Casting the right actors, crew, locations, admin and promotion team, in order to bring the dream to the screen was a feat in itself. Because dreams are for everyone, we cast a diverse talent pool employing three deaf actors, ASL interpreters, multi-ethnicities, and models of all shapes and sizes. Then came the actual shooting of the film, and my learning to deal with personalities that would test my ability to communicate with people who had issues and needs of their own. I realized I needed to support those people in their lives and fears too.
My personal life brought in its struggles as well. My friends and family got the least amount
James Mc Gowan, Brandon White, me & Igor Dejenge goofing BTS
of my time while I juggled my volunteer work with the At-Risk teens, the women in prison and the students I assisted at my alma mater- USM. When my big sister Corinne went in for a liver transplant… I knew I had to be there for her and for her family. Waiting for weeks on end for my sister to recover, all the while worrying that perhaps we had lost her forever. The film took a back seat. I am happy to say I was there when she did finally “come to” and say her first sardonic words, “Well, I never thought I would be glad to see you!” I laughed and said, “you’re back!” Heaven smiling down on all of us, especially Corinne, giving her a second chance to wake up from a dark and faraway dream.
Skin on Skin A Fashion Film – Delivering a Dream
Heaven sent angels like you to join our team, sharing this vision with grace and ease and only one team member would prove to be more difficult to handle than I could have ever known. The most important player on the team would test my growing edge by threatening to walk away from the film at every turn. I had no idea that he would not stay to see the vision through. But I could not give up, knowing that you had all put your money on the table and your faith in me to get it done. I had to deliver, so, I forged on, even when that person walked away just weeks before the festival submission deadline! We had yet to shoot the final scene, the b-roll inserts, the music, narration, and finally to edit the film. Now I knew what the job of a producer really entailed. It was up to me to finish the project with the bare bones of what I was left with. I was scared, worried, and shocked that the one who brought this idea to me would walk away from his own creation and I wasn’t sure what to do next. Even though I had run out of the funds I needed to complete the film, I was determined to deliver what I had promised to all of you and so I held for a miracle.
Ashton Clay having her all her hairs done by Edith Beltran
As fortune would have it more earth angels stepped in. People who believed in the vision and shared the deeper meaning behind what I was trying to do. People whose own dreams were aligning with mine. Together we would support each other’s dreams as a team. After all, that is what this project was all about- supporting each other in our dreams and modeling how to do that in spite of every challenge and pitfall one could imagine. Enter the talented and tireless editor Chris Randour, the amazing composer Peitor Angell, the gifted photographer Jeff Fasano, and the scoring engineers Peter Mullen and Barry Weir Jr. to save the day. It is a universal law that art takes on a life of its own and I felt this story wanted to be told. Knowing that everything happens for a reason and that these challenges were part of a divine design for the highest good of all concerned.
Barry Weil Jr. sound master and me!
Peitor Angell with Barry Weil Jr. at the controls!
I wasn’t sure how to continue to tell the story without our director onboard, so I gave creative license to my new team players, allowing them to express their authentic gifts and talents in their own way. It was truly a team effort and the magic they brought to the telling of this story was quite different than what had been written in the original script. After I gathered the missing pieces it would take to fill in the blanks…the story revealed itself in the final mix and I was extremely relieved and happy that we were able to deliver the film by the midnight deadline on Memorial Day weekend.
Angels, it has been an extraordinary, nail biting, wild ride, and I could not have done it without any of you. As a result, what was intended to be a four-minute fashion film showed up in the version of a “short film!” With a little over nine minutes of film, my final concerns were how it would be received by the festival jurors. Would it get in? Would it stand on its own? Would they feel inspired to follow their dreams too? That is all that mattered to me. Skin on Skin is really about what happens underneath your skin when you follow your dreams. It was time to walk my talk and to prize myself for being “fully engaged while letting go of the outcome.” I did my part, we all did, and now Skin on Skin was out of my hands taking on a life of its own. Much to my surprise, “Skin on Skin ~ A Fashion Film” has been nominated in four categories at the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival 2016!
Skin on Skin A Fashion Film – Delivering a Dream
Best Documentary
Skin on Skin
Skin on Skin Best Editing
Thank you all for your undying support, your kindness, your love, and your light. Thank you for joining this remarkable field of dreams. Thank you for never giving up on me and for staying on course with your own dreams too. I will never forget you and the lessons and the learnings from the world of dreams. These nominations are for you!
Best Narration
Skin on Skin
Best Music
Skin on Skin
Love Always,
Lorelei
& the
Siren Star Angel Dream Team!
