The other day, my girls and I were talking about our music video days. On film shoot mornings, we’d get up very early, pack our equipment in the car, and then drive to our chosen location, hoping to be there before the sun rose so we could catch the best light of the day.
During winter, getting out of a warm bed at 4:30 am was hard. Even more difficult was standing on frosty ground in an icy wind, operating cameras with naked hands, while Imogen was singing her latest song. Oh my, we felt cold. Imogen was even colder than her team. Charlotte, Sophie, Gemma-Rose and I could wear multiple layers of clothing while we were filming. But Imogen had to take off her coat, scarf and gloves to reveal her music video outfit which usually wasn’t warm enough for the sub-zero conditions.
Sometimes we ask, “Which was the worst music video shoot? Was it How Great Thou Art? Or was it Arwen’s Song?”
We filmed How Great Thou Art at the edge of a lookout on the top of a local mountain. There was a strong gale blowing. It felt like it was going to toss us over the cliff onto the stunning scenery below. Parts of Imogen turned blue. Others turned red. Imogen’s teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. Maybe that was the worst shoot for her.
But for me, the coldest shoot was Arwen’s Song which we filmed on a frosty morning under a row of winter-bare trees in the botanical gardens. My gloveless fingers turned numb. I could barely operate my camera. I began to feel sick and couldn’t stand up. Just before the end of the shoot, I staggered back to the car to warm up. Sophie experienced a similar reaction to the cold. She filmed barely enough video clips, and then she and the other girls joined me in our vehicle. It took us a very long painful time to thaw out.
“Aren’t you glad we no longer have to go out on cold winters’ mornings to film music videos?” asks one of my girls.
The answer should be ‘yes’, but it’s not. There was something very special about facing those adverse conditions together. Working hard in difficult circumstances draws people closer. We always had fun despite the freezing cold weather. The discomfort was worth it. We’d come home frozen to the bone, but we would feel triumphant. We’d survived! We’d had an adventure while most people were still asleep. And soon we’d have a music video to show for our efforts.
Occasionally, someone says, “We should make another music video.” Or we discover a new place, and we say, “This would make a perfect video location.”
I don’t know if we ever will make another video together. That stage of our lives might be over. But maybe it’s not. We don’t know what’s ahead of us, do we? Anything could happen. We could make more videos. We might do something completely different. That’s the amazing thing about unschooling. It takes us on adventures we can’t imagine.
Photos
We could never have imagined standing on a lookout, listening to Imogen singing a beautiful song, with the sun rising over the stunning scene below.
So, I’m wondering if you’ve had any unimagined adventures. What skills have you gained? Where have you been? What have you done?
Where has unschooling taken you?
