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Show rrr i Finally, a missionary Angels Continued from Dl , , ' ' f was misher father-in-lasion president of the German mission where Vuissa served. "The Errand of Angels (the Together, the two of them ., .looked at wh$t she'd written title is taken from the second line of the LDS hymn of "As and Vuissa crafted a screenSisters in Zion) originated in play from it. The final prod- the mind Of Heidi Johnson, a uct, Johnson said, has stories mother of four .. from her mission, stories from . who lives in Fairfax Station, Vuissas and a few made-u- p , Va. Johnson, 35, served a stories that grew from this or mission to Vienna ; ; that seed of actual missionary and, as many missionaries do, experience. "Christian, being a filmimak-il- r, kept a daily account of ha exknew how to tweak things" periences in a personal journal. "I always kind of wanted to fo make them mom cinematic,., do something wfth iny mission : said Johnson, whos credited as a producer on the new film. journals," Johnson said. "In 2005, 1 started to think it wpuld She's happy wkh the changes, be cool to tell a story about sis- - she said: "I was more am- - . ... ter missionaries." .. cerned about having a movie ) Johnson said shes been V. that would help people than keenly aware that, even when . having an autobiography." : sister missionaries are shown (One example; jnthe film, in LDS movies, their presence the main character, aster never amounts to much. In the Taylor, has a crisisof faith . .. missionary comedy "The R.MH moment in squirt graveyard. In real life, Johnson said,."that. She said, I think they have a '. took place in a members V guy dressed up like a sister 'home. I went off tousethe : A family connection got Johnson in contact with Vuissa bat hroom and I was like, I ' . take a chance an "The Errand f'S of Angels." For one thing, movies about. missionary work havetended to perform better than other LDS films. "Its the coolest ': thing that Mormons do," said Randy Davis, Excel's general manager, The new movie, in ... particular, Davis said, has a surefire formula for success: ' "You have beautiful people go' ing to a beautiful place to talk to people about things that are . beautifuL" , v Even moviegoers who have no interest in LDS culture, Davis said, might be happy to see something that doesn't have dark, depressing themes or offensive content "So many movies now make you fed like . you want to take a shower," he said. "This movie feels like a shower. You walk out and you ' fed uplifted.". . ; . . . . . ' ' . . . stay-at-hom- e cant do this anymore. w movie for women . . pros-elytizi- . . -- : . . . . vlf tm : come home and I'd have to go ' ") Vuissa said that women , whoVe seen the film so far are moved by its portrayal of work as experienced by women, "What Ive heard from women is that they appreciate that it's a sincere, honest film," he said. In particular, Vuissa said, women are grateful that the film presents sitters in a dignified way. over my German for the next day," Chambers saidIt was just areally, really intense shoot." Rachel Emmers, 32, who ; plays a missionary companion of Chambers's Sitter Taylor,. said that, especially over the.' first couple of days of the shoot, a lot of her German ' dialogue was just strings of sounds that shed memorized. ' The cast worked in differ-- . .' lent kinds of weather, indud- filmmaking ing filming scenes during a One impressive thing about rainstorm, and occasionally . The Errand of Angels" that worked in situations that you . wouldn't expect to read about people may not glean from in an ordinary Hollywood . . watching it is how much Vuissa didnt have to spend production diary. Chambers make it. With the total east-- remembered one scene that of production in the neighborrequired Sister Taylor to board1 hood of $160,000 (as reported ' a train. The filmmakers didn't on industry site IMDb.com). it have a permit, so they just , wasn't surprising to hem1 the went to the train station and word "guerilla" while talking shot around ordinary arrivals to members of the films cast. and departures, - Brigham Young University "I had to keep getting an" the train, Chambers said. "I .. graduate Erin Chambers, 28, plays Sister Taylor. the charac- was Worried that k was going ter based on Johnson, and said to leave with me on it. I didnV that the cast would frequently have a passport, Or money, of shoot for between 12 and 16 ID or anything." Vuissa prohours per day. "And then wed vided gentle encouragement. ; mis-sionar- y . . Seat-of-the-pa- : . - . . . "Christian just kept teQing me, Its fine. Die trains not leaving yet, "she said. We just did evelything on the fly," Vuissa said Including wardrobe changes. The cast, he said, "had to sometimes change in public bathrooms." And when the missionaries ' talk to strangers in the movie, well, theyre not entirely acting.. Vuissa had them simply approach people on the street. Like real missionaries. "One of my greatest fears is having to sprak to strangers," said Emmers. "Youd start speaking to people and then theyd start responding back to you. It was intimidating;". Chambers, who is LDS. didn't serve a mission, but being a movie missionary gave her a taste of whaf real mis-- .... sionaries go through. I fed. Eke I can say because I did this movie that I have an idea whtt it would be Eke," she said "I have a lot of raped for : . . . f I Cody dark can be or reached at cclarkheraldextnx.com. 344-25- ..- - Y if- .'I i: iite A-''- -'v u l t I t Thanks to the Daily Herald News' recent partnership with its easier than ever to move on. Weve now got the most Utah County jobs. The most listings. one.' to of find the right The most what you need Yahoo! HoUobs, up-to-d- : VISIT HERALDEXTRA.COMJOBS TODAY. GQNvdsfi I www.kersldntraxom iSohtjobr ilCARH CFZ FTStoLMT-- i avxTzt run 3CT3 V. |