And the award for best film goes to...

I'm busy playing organ prelude and generally minding my own business when the bishop approaches.  "We've finally figured out an idea of what to do for the stake film festival," he begins.

"Okay..." I think, wondering why he's telling me.

After I've heard the idea, I know exactly why he's telling me.  

"Okay, Bishop," I say.  "Are you saying, 'Sister Fife, I am asking you to make this idea happen?"

"Well, it's your choir," he responds.  "So we figured it should be you."

"Okay, I can do that.  I just wanted to be clear on what you were asking me to do.  So, when exactly does this need to be done by?" 

"Next week."

"Oh..."

He kindly asks what kind of support I will need, and I give him a list.  Someone to make signs.  Bishopric involvement if I can't commit 16 choir members.  And a treat/bribe budget.  And I get to work.

Luckily, the bishopric's super original idea has actually been done before.  A lot.  And it's on YouTube.  So I steal borrow logistics from some singing monks and map it all out.  The signs get made (thanks Denny & Nanny), the volunteers sign up (thanks Mechams, Wilsons, Okerlunds, Kanes, Murdocks, Michelle, Denny, Matt, and Zac), the brownies appear (thanks Mom), and the filming date arrives.

I take off my choir director hat and put on my film director hat (just a metaphor folks, no actual hats were involved), and we get to work.  Sort of.  Mostly we get to laughing.  A lot.  And making last-minute decisions, like removing a few light bulbs from the ceiling (thanks other Mechams!), taping cues to people's backs, and running back and forth for various cameras and SD cards.

And we get a lot of bad takes.  Like these ones.  (Thanks to Zac, Dave K, and Dana for making this experience particularly memorable.)

Finally we get a decent take.  And I edit and submit to the film festival.  And that all goes pretty great (that is, if you're the kind of person who likes winning).  And although I admit to being originally annoyed when the bishop asked to add something so seemingly trivial to my overly full plate, the bonding time with the choir turns out to be well worth it.  

Plus, the bishop's request helped me follow through with my original desire to submit a Fife Family video.  I'd write some great story about that, but in reality it just kind of went like this:

I forgot the kids were sick.  So it took lots of begging and bribing.  But it turned out to be a great way to memorialize Adam's baptism.  

Enjoy!