Heidi ~ a faithful retelling of a Christian classic is now in post-production and with an expected 2020 release date.
Staring Tim Kaiser (Christmas Grace, Legends & Lies) and introducing Emily Dunphey as Heidi.
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Pam Dunphey as Cousin Dete 09.01.19 |
Mother and Daughter Actresses
The beautiful Pam Dunphey plays Heidi's aunt, or cousin Dete as she is called. In real life she is Emily Dunphey's (who plays Heidi) mother.
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Beautiful Shot 03.09.19 |
Heidi Returns
These two actors had a lot of chemistry on set! Tim Kaiser as the Grandfather and Emily Dunphey as Heidi. We can't wait for you to see them in action in 2020!
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Blooper! 01.09.18 |
"I can't get that line right!"
Even though we work hard on set, we do occasionally have fun. (Ha, Ha, its all fun!) Here is Emily Dunphey (HEIDI) and Rosalie Pippin (THE GRANDMOTHER) making faces and laughing over a blooper!
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Fraulein Rottenmeier 01.06.18 |
Fraulein Rottenmeier, played by Renee Builes
Fraulein Rottenmeier is not pleased with Heidi. (Her fabulous hair and make-up were done by our superb artist, Laura Bancroft.)
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We've Got Snow! 12.30.17 |
"I'm glad you've got some ideas of your own."
After a bit of a hiatus from shooting, we are excited to get back to it in January with the return of Tim Kaiser! A Blessed New Year to you all from the HEIDI cast and crew! (Production still: Tim Kaiser as the Grandfather tells Heidi he is glad she has some ideas of her own.)
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Behind the Scenes 12.07.17 |
Beautiful BTS shot of Lindsay Hayes, who plays Clara, looking into the camera after the take while David Theuerkorn operates our Canon C300 camera on the Ronin-M.
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Heidi and the Organ Grinder Boy 11.03.17 |
Filmed at the Frankenmuth Visitor's Center!
Thank you Frankenmuth Visitor Center! We got this cool shot over the weekend with our new camera crane in Frankenmuth, MI!
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Frankfort, Germany?? 10.05.17 |
Frankenmuth, MI Visitor's Center
We're excited to be shooting some scenes this month in Frankenmuth, MI. Thank you Frankenmuth Visitor's Center!
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The Train Station 9.26.17 |
Buckley Old Engine Show
Our thanks to the Buckley Old Engine Show for allowing us to shoot on their grounds! All aboard!
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Calling Extras for Train Scenes 9.24.17 |
The Train Steward's Uniform
We still could use a few good men to be extras is the feature film Heidi, which could see a nationwide release next Spring. Tomorrow, Sept. 25 any time between 3:30 and 7 at the Buckley Old Engine Show grounds. Email casting at PreciousLightPictures dot com if interested.
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VFX: Sky Replacement 9.16.17 |
BEFORE: northern Michigan and AFTER: the Swiss Alps!
To demonstrate how we'll turn northern MI into the Alps, here's a BTS shot (by Amy Spitznagel of Idyll Farms) of Peter, Heidi and the goats with mountains added into the sky digitally.
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Looking Ahead 9.15.17 |
Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize
While we work hard to finish up our shooting schedule (some far away locations are coming up), we are setting our sights on reaching the finish line in Spring of 2018! Thank you all for your support! (photo: Tim Kaiser as the Grandfather)
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Behind the Scenes on Location 8.20.17 |
Backing Up Our Work!
Uploading footage from a great day shooting yesterday at our quaint room at the Sunset Motel. Back at it today chasing trains and horse drawn carriages! Have a blessed Lord's Day everyone!
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2nd Unit Photography 8.19.17 |
Chasing Michigan Steam Trains
2nd Unit is in position and we're ready to film some steam train goodness! Later we got some great "dolly" shots, chasing the train in the mobile unit.
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Location, Location, Location 8.14.17 |
Lunch in Northport, MI
One of the perks of location scouting... great food. Kimberlee, one of our production assistants, concentrates on her lunch at The Tribune in Northport.
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VIDEO: Steam Train Test Footage 8.11.17 |
Trains, Carriages and Stations
We are visiting various locations around Michigan next week to get reference photos and footage for planning upcoming HEIDI shoots. Pure Michigan film fun! #michiganbusinessesarethebest
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Merchandising 8.05.17 |
Homecoming!
Who thinks this shot should be on one of the coffee mugs and t-shirts? Tim Kaiser as the Grandfather and Emily Dunphey as Heidi.
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Production News 8.04.17 |
60 Minutes of Rough Cut Finished
Sitting down to watch the first SIXTY MINUTES of rough cut!!! Taking notes for pick-up shots. We start shooting the second half of the movie and the pick-ups next week. Your prayers are appreciated!
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On Location 7.24.17 |
Grace Episcopal Church
To celebrate having 1/3 of the film edited into a Rough Cut, here's a great shot of some of our additional players (extras). What a great bunch of actors we had for our church scene. Many thanks to Grace Episcopal Church for allowing us to shoot in their gorgeous church!
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Behind the Scenes 7.18.17 |
Our Director
30 minutes of Rough Cut finished means we are one quarter of the way through the first edit of the film! Photo: BTS shot of Director Lynn Moody guiding Emily Dunphey as Heidi through a scene.
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Meet the Cast: Emily Dunphey 7.15.17 |
More Rough Cut Finished
Heidi (played by Emily Dunphey) is happy that we're one sixth (20 minutes) of the way finished with the Rough Cut of the film!
Emily is just getting started on (we think) a long acting career. Aside from acting in film, she also loves performing in theatre productions. Go Emily!
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Meet the Cast: Luke Bilderback 7.12.17 |
Luke Bilderback Plays Peter
Luke Bilderback is a very talented young man!
Luke has acted in one other feature film that is still in production and has played roles in various theatre productions. He enjoys exploring, summertime, and acting.
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Behind the Scenes 7.09.17 |
Already Editing the Movie
We have 15 Minutes of a Rough Cut edited. 7 more 15 minute sections to go. Of course, some of that still needs to be shot!
What's a Rough Cut, you ask? That's a rough version of the film. It's cut together as a roughed out "first draft" without adding or fixing the sound or adding color correction or color grading. In other words, it's a start!
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Behind the Scenes 7.06.17 |
The Many Faces of Tim Kaiser
After wrapping shooting as the Grandfather for HEIDI, Tim's real life grandkids helped him shave and get ready for another film project!
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So Long Tim! 7.04.17 |
Wrapped Shooting with the Grandfather
We wrapped shooting with the Grandfather yesterday. What a joy it was working with Tim Kaiser. Not only is he a consummate actor, but he is an all-around wonderful guy, always the encourager on set and setting a high standard for our cast and crew! Thank you, Tim. See you in the movies!
It's always a bittersweet time when you wrap working with an actor. You all are glad that the shooting is done, but you will miss the new friendship. Thankfully, we can easily keep in touch with social media!
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Behind the Scenes 6.28.17 |
Never Know What You'll Find on Location
Look what Peter (Luke Bilderback) found while filming yesterday! #nofrogswereharmedinthemakingofthisfilm
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Behind the Scenes 6.23.17 |
Getting Ready
Production Still: Grandfather (Tim Kaiser) and Heidi (Emily Dunphey) get ready for a scene where they have a dinner of toasted cheese, bread and warm goat's milk.
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Nursing Clara 6.16.17 |
Good Mountain Air and Goat's Milk.
Production Still: Grandfather (Tim Kaiser) and Heidi (Emily Dunphey) nurse Clara (Lindsay Hayes) back to health.
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Behind the Scenes 6.13.17 |
You want me to pet those?
Emily is not as sure about the goats as Heidi.
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Behind the Scenes 6.12.17 |
"Come down from there, Peter!"
Shooting Peter (Luke Bilderback) in a great big tree today.
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Heidi and Grandfather 6.4.17 |
Heidi and the Grandfather.
Some stills of Heidi (Emily Dunphey) and Grandfather (Tim Kaiser).
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First Day of Shooting for the Grandfather 6.1.17 |
He's finally here!!
We started shooting with talented actor, Tim Kaiser, as the Grandfather this afternoon! Whoo hoo!
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Cast AND Crew! 5.24.17 |
Actress Renee Builes Steps in to Help Wardrobe
Actress Renee Builes, who plays Fraulein Rottemeier, helps out Wardrobe by sewing a costume during a recent shoot at Country Hermitage Bed and Breakfast. Now that's pulling together to get the job done. Thanks Renee!
We have been hard at work filming some of the Sesemann home scenes. Here's donor and volunteer David Low. He's part of our SUPER CREW. Many thanks go out to Country Hermitage Bed and Breakfast for allowing us to shoot some great scenes here in April and May! It's such a beautiful place. Plan on staying there or telling your out of town friends about it!
Heidi The Film
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The Grandfather has been Cast! 4.24.17 |
Welcome, Tim!
We are very pleased to announce that the talented actor, Tim Kaiser, will be playing the role of the Grandfather! You can check out Tim's other film credits on his IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4504092/?ref_=nv_sr_1
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Heidi has Been Kick Started! | 4.4.17
We begin Production on April 12, 2017
Thank you so very much. HEIDI is a go! We start rehearsal and test footage on April 12th! With God's help and yours, we will make a ground-breaking Christian film.!
The short story of how a film studio was saved from bad audio. Be a part of Something Big and support our next feature film, "Heidi".
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Sky Replacement VFX 12.09.16 |
Heidi is set in the Swiss Alps, but we'll be shooting the majority of the film in northern MI. People often ask how the movie's going to look like it was shot in the mountains. We just tell them Visual Effects, man, Visual Effects. :) Here is an example of the technique called sky replacement. The image to the left is a shot taken in northern MI. The image below is the same shot with some mountains added into the background. It's just that easy!
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Test Shot of Canon AutoFocus and Moving Steam Train 10.30.16 |
Unit 2 tested out Canon's autofocus on a moving train, but this try failed. To be fair, this was the one and only test. We lost daylight after this shot. We had no practice, we just went for it. We'll keep testing and may just have to manually pull focus to get this shot. You'll see it doesn't come into focus soon enough, although AF did try to grab it, but couldn't hold it.
We used a 70D body and the 70-200 f2.8 L Canon lens at 200 mm and F-stop 5.6, ISO 640 at a shutter speed of 50.
Even though this shot with its too late autofocus "pull" won't be used in the film, we still think we're getting an awesome look that will be used in the film!
