December 30th, 2009

Day 3 of Filming – The End.

OhMyGard.  It’s over.  Finally over.

I have to say, even though the last three days have been the most exhausting, most stressful my family has seen (maybe ever), by the time the crew was wrapping up, I was actually sad to see them go.  They were so great with the boys, and each crew member was a really good hang.  We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun with them.

Today we went to Brookfield Zoo, where we have a membership, and they really pulled out all the stops for us.  I think they were pretty excited about getting the publicity for the zoo, so they opened an hour early, and staffed to the gills to have a zookeeper greeting us at each station in the Hamill Family building.  My boys got the rock star treatment, and they deserved it.  They gave the crew some really adorable footage dressing up like animals, painting their faces, and even working in the little pretend animal hospital fixing up the stuffed animals.  Again, I was so proud of them.  They were such troopers through this whole experience.  I think I actually fell even more in love with my kids through this filming.  Of course I love them every day, but lately it’s been hard handling their new stages of defiance.  Some days I fantasize about shipping them off for a few hours so I can have a soak in the tub without anybody driving me batshit crazy.  But over the last three days, my darling babies displayed nearly angelic behavior, and the producer complimented me non-stop on how well behaved and scrumptious they were.  It made me so proud, and made me realize that all the hard work I’m putting in with them seems to be paying off.

But for all the good, there was also bad.  After this, I really cannot understand how families do an entire series.  It took 36 hours of camera work to get just 15 minutes of end product – which means it would take something like 9 full days to get enough footage for just one episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8.  Honestly, I have never understood how Kate maintained any type of sanity while raising 8 babies – but how she did it while stepping all over a camera crew is completely and totally beyond me.  As far as I’m concerned, she’s a freaking saint.  I probably would have divorced my husband after the first season.

There were times that this experience was incredibly frustrating.  I hated doing the constant retakes, and it made me really anxious and crabby.  When Julesy’s hands were freezing in the cold, and they kept making us go outside and come back in so they could get their entrance shot, I wanted to fucking scream.  There were also times that I felt they cared much more about getting their shot than about how my kids were feeling.  We were told before filming that if the kids ever needed a break, just to say so, and they’d stop.  But that really wasn’t the case.  When we were running into a lunch break, and the kids had all they could stand without having eaten in a few hours, I tried to say that was enough and that they were absolutely done, but I kept getting pushed just to get “one more thing.” Oh my god, I cannot stand when people say “one more thing” that turns into ten more things.  That drives me crazy, and it happened nonstop for the last three days.  It seemed like every hour I’d say “are we done?” and they’d respond “yes, we’re done, except just one more thing” – which translated into one more scene with gard-knows-how-many takes.  I know I should have expected that, and actually, I did expect that, which is why I wouldn’t do this shit for free.  But expecting it, and watching your child have a minor meltdown from it, is something totally different.

But really, the kids’ meltdowns were really few and far between, and the severity of them was nothing compared to what I’m used to seeing out of them.  But I lived in constant fear of the impending meltdown.  When they’d say “just one more shot”, all I could think was “fucking shit, this will totally be the minute he loses it.” Even when my child didn’t lose it, I still felt all the stress and anxiety from the situation.

But I’m still glad we did it.  The special is set to run in the first week of March on Discovery Health, and I cannot wait to see my little darlings on the television.  I think America will fall head over heels in love with them, just like the crew did.

But for now, here is the final day’s schedule, with a few cool shots I managed to snap along the way.

6:45 Wake up, shower

7:45 Crew starts filming outdoor shots

8:30 We’re filmed leaving for the zoo

9-11:30 Filming at Brookfield Zoo

11:45 Filmed kids playing and painting

12:15 Lunch

1:00 Crew films me building and installing a bathroom cabinet

2:00 Crew sets up for single interviews

3:15 My single interview begins

5:00 Crew changes sets for John’s single interview

5:30 John’s interview begins

6:45 Interview wraps

7:30 Crew finally drives off into the sunset.  The End

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