Members of the film crew from Overit set up in our Aerobics Studio to film a Sit to be Fit class
Because I can try Something New!
For one day on a Tuesday in January, our community here at Shaker Pointe became the set of a full scale movie production. Seeking to capture a day like any other, many of our residents were cast in their natural roles. Traveling through the different areas of our beautiful community center, an hour at a time, the crew from our local advertising team at Overit had a full day itinerary. The morning began in the Pub with several rounds of billiards and a lot of laughs. Our residents from this scene certainly got their practice shots in from the numerous takes. One resident in particular, Russ had to learn the art of shooting pool while looking at the camera and smiling. A task we take for granted by the movie stars who make it look all too easy on the big screen. It was a rousing way to start the morning. After an hour of shooting we were on to the next scene in the pool. Here we had the permission from several of our regular swimmers to shoot time spent at an open swim. After a few candid shots we put our swimmers to work synchronizing exercise movements to simulate our water works classes. As it turns out, splashing for the camera is harder than it looks. All of our swim participants got quite the work-out! Leaving the pool the crew headed into our Fitness Center to take some additional shots. From here filming resumed to capture an active Sit to Be Fit program, taught by our Fitness Director, Kerry Engle. After working up a sweat just watching the activity of our residents, it was time for a lunch break.
The O’Haire’s speak candidly during a video shoot in their cottage home at Shaker Pointe
Because I can feel Young Again
Following a quick break and a recap of filming so far, the camera crew gathered their gear and moved into our Activities Studio. Here the goal was to capture residents working on various projects continued from previous days spent in the studio. One resident in particular, Joanne showed off her self-portraits. She talked about how she always draws herself younger because that’s how she sees herself. Having picked up drawing again after moving to Shaker Pointe earlier this year, she still hasn’t lost her gift. Our next stop on the list was a trip to the Multi-purpose Room to listen in on a chorus practice. Led by Chorus Director, resident Ann Krupski the scenes came together in perfect harmony. This being the largest gathering of residents for one shot, Ann’s direction made our job easy. Our final stop in the community center was The Restaurant at The Pointe. Here we invited residents to enjoy a staged happy hour, on us. When instructed to hold off on drinking the beverages, some listened better than others. Glass half full or half empty-when there is good food, fine wine, and great company it’s not hard to manufacture a few smiles.
Wanting to capture a few residents in their new homes, our crew then visited two areas of the community to feature residents who have moved-in over the past year. In our new Spirit Tree apartment homes we stopped to see Mary, who graciously poured a few cups of tea for our film. We also took a trip to one of our cottages to see the O’Haire’s. This was a fun last stop on our whirlwind tour. With the help of their daughter we got both of the O’Haire’s to smile at the mention of a friend who is also a resident of Shaker Pointe.
Jean Pellerin sets up for her voice over in the studio at Overit
Because I can feel at Home
With a day’s worth of filming wrapped up, our job was far from over. Luckily, the team at Overit took on the momentous task of pairing seven hours of video and photography down into just a few minutes. Our next step in polishing the look of the film was to record our resident’s voices for each scene. Upon choosing scene representatives, we enlisted the help of the sound studio at Overit. Taking our seven newly found voice actors to a recording studio was a lot of fun! Two residents in the group, our Chorus Director, Ann Krupski and resident Russ Clement had been involved with recording studios in the past. Russ having had a fascinating professional music career playing with the Tommy Dorsey Band was right at home. Our other residents were great sports and did not disappoint. Everyone took a turn in the sound recording room, each speaking a one sentence line in various tones. Resident Jean Pellerin, nailed her line with the enthusiastic proclamation of, “Because I CAN feel young again!” Russ Clement had us all in stitches with his one-liner, “Because I CAN have a GOOD time!” Upon wrapping up our time in the sound studio our next task was to wait for the final product to go through countless rounds of edits. In the end our team at Overit delivered, and presented us with two final products to choose from. Each with its merits, the choice was tough, and one that we left up to our residents! Putting the task to vote in the Multi-purpose Room on a Friday morning, the residents picked our winner! The experience was well worth the hours spent in production. Here at Shaker Pointe we are very lucky to have our residents be willing participants of such a project. We’ll let the result speak for itself, you can watch the final product below. Enjoy!
To see our video on Shaker Pointe, click here: Shaker Pointe Video