Reflections of Christ

Niki.

Thank you Niki for sharing your experience...

"This experience is so close to my heart. I have always had a testimony of my savior and his sacrifice for all of us, but never before have I felt the realness of it with such intensity. I was given the opportunity to portray Mary Magdalene in the Crucifixion scene as well as the Removal From the Cross scene in the Reflections of Christ Exhibit. I was very excited to accept the offer when Mark called. I knew this would be an opportunity for a great spiritual experience. Mark called about a week in advance, so as that week went on, I really tried to prepare myself. To me, this was a huge deal. I will admit, I felt a lot of pressure to convey the spirit and also the real emotion I thought Mary would have felt on this actual day. I mean, Mary was a choice being. Thomas S. Monson once referred to Mary as, “One who goes before to prepare or open up the way for others to follow.” Those are some big shoes to fill. Still, I did not want my in-adequate feelings to stifle the spirit of these pictures, so I dug deep. Of course I read my scriptures and prayed and studied what details I could find about that day, but that wasn't enough. I knew I had to bring back my most sorrowful feelings that I had ever experienced, that were probably only half of what Mary Magdalene had experienced. Now, thinking of Christ on the cross, suffering for mankind is definitely enough to make me feel much sorrow, but I knew I needed something more behind that to have those emotions show up in that picture. I needed something that I could effortlessly relate to. So I thought about my late father. I thought of all the pain his death has brought into my life. How living without someone I love so much, has left me at times, hopeless. Then I thought about my mother. And how the hardest part of the loss of my father is seeing her pain. Feeling her hurt. After being married, I know just how much you can love your eternal companion, and to think about how my mom must feel every day she wakes up without him there is sometimes more than I can bear. And then, there I am, forced to think about my biggest fear in this life, which is losing my husband. And for the sake of this picture, that is how I interpreted it. I thought about how I would truly feel if I lost my husband, on the cross, none the less. It was such a painful thought. And then I looked up at Boyd, as he was a thief on the cross in this scene, and the feelings were all too real. I thought about Mary, and how deeply she must have been suffering and then the tears came. They came and didn't leave until the shoot was over. So much pain I was thinking about and feeling, and yet, somehow, underneath it all, I could feel a sense of peace, a sense of joy, and a sense of gratefulness to my Savior. For he saved me, he saved us all. And no matter how down I may get, and how sad I might be for the loss of my dad, or for the fear of losing my husband, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that I will be okay. Because of him, I will see my dad again. Because of him, I can find comfort in the midst of all my fears. I am so truly grateful for this experience. I am so grateful for Mary Magdalene and her strength. What an honor it was to be just a small part in portraying her. I hope I did just a bit of justice. I hope she can look down on me and be proud, if not for what showed in the pictures, at least for the way I felt. What a strong woman she was. I am so grateful for my savior. I am so grateful for his sacrifice. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be forgiven for my sins. And I am so grateful for his gift to me, of eternal life.

Thank you Mark and everyone else who made this happen. I am so grateful for this experience you allowed me to have!!!"

Paul Scoville.

Here is my first reply to the cast asking for experiences. Wow. Paul was in several of the photographs portraying everyone from a soldier to a sadducee to an Apostle. Thank you Paul for your candid remarks. Enjoy.

"I will relate as well as I recall the feelings and promptings I had on each of the pictures I was involved with. The first was the Adulteress woman. I really began thinking of the spirit of that moment as you sent us all out to look for a stone. A stone that would represent self righteousness. As I stood there listening to your instructions as to how we should be positioned for that shot, I did not wish to look at anyone so that I could become what I was attempting to portray. The most moving part of this picture Mark actually came as we were walking back to the house there at Arivaca to change into our Roman Soldier costumes. I was walking back to the house and I was still holding on to the stone I used in the picture, I thought why am I still holding this stupid rock? I thew it down, and the brother walking next to me heard me say that and said you should keep that rock to which I replied why? He said think about it, how many of us hold on to our sins everyday and do not realize it. I did go and retrieve the rock, I keep it where I can see it everyday and think Let go of all my sins and seek the healing of the Saviors Atonement! When we arrived at the site for the Crucifixion, I looked up the hill for a moment and saw the 3 crosses and was taken back for a moment for I felt I was at Golgotha. When we were being placed as to where we would stand for the Crucifixion, I noticed that the weather changed every moment as if Heavenly Father was changing the weather so that we would have the exact weather we needed to create the spirit needed. When we waited for that 30 or so minutes I stood there in the rain like everyone else and felt as though it was a calm summers day. I was cold and chilly on the outside, but on the inside I was being warmed by the Spirit. As I was looking up at Robert on the Cross I heard Nanci crying "My Son, My Son, why are they doing this to my Son." It was a very tender moment. As we were taking the crosses down the hill after the shot I am sure you know not word of complaint was offered. We carried those crosses down the hill through thorn bushes and over rain covered stones. It was a moment that I shall always carry with me. As we walked over to the barn for the betrayal scene, I did was I have tried to do each year as I portray a Roman Soldier in the Easter Pageant I try to block out to emotion of what I am striving to portray and not an easy task due to how much I love my Savior! Most moving of all for this shot was as I led Robert through the smoke behind the brother portraying Judas, I let him through the smoke and He looked back through the smoke at Judas. I have related that to many people and told them same as I shall tell you "you can fill in the blanks as to what the Savior would have been thinking or would have said" Imagine what would have been thought or said at that moment. Oh how I enjoyed meeting with Elder Peterson in the Visitor Center prior to our departure for Arivaca. It really made me think we were brethren in the gospel going to portray the 11 Apostles who were about to witness the Savior return to His Father in Heaven. We sat there at the feet of the Christus listening to Elder Peterson, and the thought struck me "we are sitting at the feet of Our Savior and He is teaching us. The drive to Arivaca on that day I continued to read and prepare for what we were about to portray. It was wonderful to have been called to take part in the Ascension picture, I did as you advised us to read up on the Ascension and the Road to Emmaus. It was as a testimony builder. As I beheld the 3 men walking as the pictures were taken I thought what would it have been like to have walked with the Savior and not realized who it was until after He had departed. May we all be ready for just such a moment, whether it comes or not does matter what does matter is the fact that we prepared ourselves. As we made ready to take the Ascension scene I began to think of the Saviors love for us all. While we were kneeling at the ladder as Robert stood above us looking down into our eyes he said "I have just spent 40 days with you...." What was said beyond that I do not know but that continued to stay with me. Prior to spending 40 days with their Lord and Savior those 11 Apostles who prior to that moment were unsure as to how to move the Church forward. Following the Saviors Ascension the went forward to take the gospel to all the world. I pray that as we prepare for this upcoming Easter Pageant and the rest of our lives that we have the same conviction as did those 11 Apostles to go to all the world teaching and testifying of the Love our Savior has for US all. Thank you again for inviting me to partake in such a life changing testimony strengthening experience."

Paul Scoville

To our cast...

There are so many amazing stories that took place during the creation of Reflections of Christ. I hear them every day and I know there are those that I haven't heard. So this is a call for those that participated in any capacity to share your story... Please email me your story, as you would like it to appear on the blog. Please be specific as to what roll you played and how you felt, or thoughts that it spawned. I think this will be a valuable collection of experiences.
Thanks.
Mark

Music.

I love the music. Toward the end of the project, when I was near burnout and couldn't see strait, I would turn off my cell phone and disappear to the Jason Barney's recording studio. Clyde Bawden was composing in an inspired manner. Freddie and Melynda sang in a way that was unafraid and very moving. Hope Shephard spoke with her cello. Each of them told a story... Thank you guys.

Introduction.

Thank you for visiting the Reflections of Christ official blog. The Reflections of Christ photography exhibit is a collaborative effort on many peoples part to teach about Jesus. The primary goal of the project was to create photographs that could cast new light on our perceptions of Christ. Most aspects of the imaging process were documented on film. These little clips are much of the out-take footage mixed with images from the project. Cameron Trejo, our filmmaker features many of the people who donated their time and effort to this project. There are still many with whom we couldn't connect.
I fear that the site will appear self serving. The intent of ReflectionsofChrist.org is to inspire people to be up to something. What else do we really own, other than our person story. This is mine and others that participated. I regret that we do not have interviews from all of the participants that tell everyones story of how they got into character to teach about Christ in this unique way. There is much credit to go around and this blog helps me to point that out.
Mostly though... I hope that through the words and actions of our cast, crew, and me I guess, that the reader will be aware of how we feel about Jesus.
There are many cast members who would love to say something about their experience... Please email me and I'd love to work some of it in.

Thank you,

Mark

Location, Location, Location.

There is no place where the old location adage holds truer than in photography... Steve Porter is our location scout. Click on his name to see some other things he's done. Seriously, he scouted with purpose and made some inspired finds, such as the cave in Superior and all of the Arivaca spots, and Rocky Point accommodations.He is a great photographer, whose equipment is better than mine, so most of the images were shot using Steve's gear. I'm thankful to have a friend like Steve.

A little more making of info...

One of the fun things about Angels was the liberty we took with hair and makeup. Hair by Tantrums and makeup by Chelsee Hunt, email chelsee14@hotmail.com.
Thanks guys, nice job.

Robert.

Throughout the making of Reflections of Christ we all tried to put ourselves in the shoes of the men and women portrayed. Robert had the toughest job of that, in my opinion. I appreciate all of the effort that he put into working himself into the roll with such intensity. It becomes evident throughout the photographs. Robert is very careful not to come off as someone who thinks he is the roll he plays. In fact he is probably uncomfortable being known as the man that portrays Christ. The reason we share this clip though is to share a thought process that could benefit all of us in our daily walk.
Here is a clip, from Cam's archive, of his thoughts on preparing for Gethsemane.

Walking on Water.

Here's another. Enjoy.
This one features another well scouted location by Steve. Special thanks to Paul for letting us crash in his beach house and Cecily the roving reporter on the shoot. The beautiful music heard at the end of the clip is by Clyde Bawden, called Finally Home. For those who want to see more clips go to the Youtube site.