Moon Party filming

We did the filming for the Moon Party (for "Peace, Love and Misunderstanding") this past Friday and Saturday nights. It was interesting, fun, exhausting and informative. It was shot on location of "Grace's" house (Grace is the lead character, played by Jane Fonda). The house sits on many acres of property in Kerhonkson, and the site is absoulutely gorgeous. I posted a photo on my Photos page of the area behind the house where we had our Moon Party, so you can get an idea of how lovely it is.

Anyway, we women who were "Grace's friends" basically had a 12 or 13 hour day both days, starting around 4:30 pm and ending around 5 am or later the next day - two days in a row ! We all were asked to bring hippie type clothing and accessories. I didn't have any, so I had made a quick shopping trip to The Big Cheese in Rosendale, where they have some very funky clothing in the back part of the store. The wardrobe assistant, Kate, liked one of the two outfits I had brought, so we used it - some outrageously funky orange pants and a loose-fitting orange dress over the pants. And I had brought a shawl that I've had for years - just the right color to go with the orange, and a long fringe all around. It looked pretty fabulous.

Then we all had our hair done by either one of the two hairdressers - they put lots of flowers in our hair, a la hippie style. The make-up artists did their magic, and then we were transported to the site. ("Base camp" was set up in a nearby firehouse, and they had vans running back and forth constantly. There were at least 100 or 200 people working on the film, maybe more. It's hard to tell.)

The party was happening around a bonfire, which was not a real one - it was propane powered, and was carefully brought up and down by the fire master, Peter. The first night was very cold, and by 4 am everyone was really freezing - they brought blankets for us, which we wrapped ourselves in when we weren't being filmed. There were women drumming and one woman played a didgeridoo, while Grace are all her friends danced around the bonfire chanting to the moon. We did the same thing many times, so that different camera angles could be accommodated and the sound made just right as well.

Thankfully, the second night of filming was much warmer, and we all appreciated that. All in all, it was a very interesting and fun experience. I found Jane Fonda to be a totally lovely person, very down to earth and personable. And beautiful ! She is 72 years old, and defies any stereotyping of age. She gives us all the knowledge that you don't have to look or act old just because you are a certain age. You can check out her blogs about the film - go to her site at www.janefonda.com. You will see what I mean when I tell you that she looks stunning in this film !

We have another two days of shooting this weekend, but this time they will not be all-night shoots - thank goodness !!!!

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