Video Shoot for the Massey Challenge

While there is still so much to tell about the Massey Challenge and my history with it, a big part of why I wanted to start a blog this year was to record all the amazing things that the Challenge brings into my life.  Things like this:

And this:

 Which led to shots like this:

Thursday was the first ever video shoot for what is to become our "Why Will You Accept The Challenge?" video.  It was a day so amazing that thinking about it now - 48 hours later - still makes my heart swell.

One of my greatest joys as part of the 2012 Massey Challenge was spending Saturday mornings talking to, and then running alongside, members of the YMCA training teams.  And it seemed that each time someone would speak to those runners, the next day registrations for the Challenge increased.  Which led to the question - how can we get even more stories in front of even more people in 2013?

And my darling friend Lauren and I thought a video might just work.

But I'm pretty sure the day of that conversation, Lauren and I were picturing she and I in an office with a flip camera.  And thats definitely not what we got.

Julie often comments that it is amazing to discover who comes into your life and why.  A year ago, I took up Muay Thai and met my friend Brian, who I came to discover is a very talented videographer.  So when Lauren and I hatched this plan, I figured I had nothing to lose by asking Brian if he would be willing to edit together some footage that Lauren and I would shoot ourselves.  He readily agreed - and told me his own story of the loss of his father to cancer just over a year ago.  His father had been a patient at Massey.

With some editing talent on our side, Lauren found someone at VCU to help shoot the interviews we hoped to turn into an inspiring video.  But when scheduling made it impossible for him to follow through with that plan, Brian quickly stepped up to not only edit, but shoot the footage as well.

After weeks of emailing and meeting, Brain gave Lauren and I a crash course in scheduling video shoots.  The lighting, the backdrops, the space needed, the time for each person.  How each question had to be carefully crafted.  How set up takes 2 hours, not 10 minutes.  How you really do need 6 hours of tape for a 3 minute video.  We found 15 willing participants to be part of our project, and we all came together on Thursday, August 16, 2012 to gather the stories, the smiles, and the statements that would make up a video that we hoped would give others just a glimpse of what makes the Massey Cancer Center such a special place - and the Massey Challenge such an amazing endeavor. 

As we celebrated wrapping a 10 hour day of shooting, Lauren, Julie, Becky, Brian, Mary Harvard, and I were all so full of the spirit that surrounds every part of the Challenge.  Our hearts were filled with the stories we had heard, the people we hugged, the laughter that so often filled our "studio" even as heartbreaking stories were being told.  And I think we all knew that there was no way we could ever not be part of the Challenge.  Because each day like that ingrains it deeper into our spirits. 

And then yesterday, Brian sent us the most amazing stills that he captured from our film.  Stills like these - which show the passion and love and life in all these supporters of Massey and the Challenge:

(all photos except the first two above are courtesy of Brian Rule).

Its part of why I encourage everyone I know to be part of the Challenge.  In hopes that they can experience that amazing joy - the joy that comes from knowing with certainty that we are making a difference in the fight against cancer.  From knowing that someday, stories like these wont have to be told.  Because we will have found a cure.