On Monday we changed locations from Ligonier Ministries and drove an hour away to Tomoka State Park. We arrived at the location and met up with the park rangers who informed us that it would be best if we went with them in their vehicles to scout the area to see where we would want to film. After the scouting crew came back we loaded up with minimal gear and hopped into their three off road vehicles. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew I was in for a crazy ride when we literally drove over the curb and sidewalk in a neighborhood and just started driving into the Florida woods. I guess there was a road, if you call two muddy tire tracks a road. The ranger seemed like he had driven this path a million times as he dodged trees and casually told us about the wild hog problem they had been experiencing recently. He reassured us that the hogs shouldn’t bother us while we were filming, at that exact moment a mother hog ran across the road with her baby hogs in tow, I was very reassured. We drove on this road for about 2 miles or so and ended up near the site of an old sugar mill from the 1800’s. Our biggest adversary was the terrain itself and the risk of running into snakes, wild hogs, or ticks. Honestly, I was a little paranoid, but after putting on a hefty amount of bug spray and making sure to look where I was stepping, I was confident I could conquer the Florida jungle. I’m always very nervous about being clumsy since part of my job is to take care of the camera and to transport it where it needs to go.
After that location we moved on to another site with more ruins that the park rangers were kind enough to lead us to so we wouldn’t get lost. They even stayed at the site and made sure tourists knew that we would be filming and to not disturb us. The rangers were probably my favorite part of the day. It makes filmmaking worth it when you get to meet people who want to support you and your project. It can sometimes seem like filmmaking is all uphill and like everyone is fighting against you, but that’s not always the case, as we saw with these park rangers.
Well, more updates to come in the last few days of filming! We should be done by Thursday!
Sarah Bosler 