On Set With Ramona and Beezus

A year after Kid Reporter’s set visit, movie opens nationwide

Ramona and Beezus, a movie directed by Elizabeth Allen, is finally coming to a theater near you this weekend! If I seem excited it’s because I’ve been thinking about this movie for some time now. I visited the set in Vancouver, Canada, last spring—more than a year ago. I’m ready to finally see this movie!

While I was on the set, I watched the actors who play the two main characters in scenes where they argue . I also watched them film a very sweet sister moment.

Ramona is played by Joey King, while Beezus, the big sister, is played by Selena Gomez. The way the two argued on set was definitely different from how they got along off of set. Gomez and King were inseparable, always laughing and hugging and even coloring together.

“She’s like the sister I don’t have," Selena said of her movie sibling. "So when people ask me if I have a sister, I can say Joey."

Joey said much the same thing when asked about her relationship to Selena.

“She’s real sweet," Selena said. "She’s like a real big sister to me and she’s my best friend. I’ve learned so much from her and I love her!”

The last scene they shot together was really touching and more true to their real relationship. In the scene, the girls comfort each other because they are both nervous about moving to a new school.

The movie is based on the book Ramona and Beezus by Beverly Cleary. In the book, Ramona and her family live in Portland, Oregon. During breaks the actors, Selena and Joey, helped a stage artist color a 60-feet drawing of Portland that will be seen in the movie.

The crew filmed in a real house in the suburbs of Vancouver for 27 days before moving onto a sound stage. They recreated the house on the sound stage so they could shoot darker scenes. They also used the sound stage to shoot scenes where they needed a camera way up in the ceiling. I could not tell the difference between the sound stage and the real house, so you certainly won’t be able to in the movie.

The day I visited, Selena and Joey were the only two actors filming. I got to sit in one of the actor’s chairs while I watched on a screen the scene that was being shot. Before filming actually begins a crew member shouts, “Pictures up, rolling, action!” Then everyone gets quiet except for the actors at work.

I talked to the girls’ tutor, who said that they had school for a minimum three hours a day. If the actors are too busy for school during the week, they have to make up the time on the weekends.

Life on set seemed pretty great to me—other than the fact that the studio was so dark that when you step outside the sun blinds you.

The tent where snacks are kept was always loaded with sandwiches and drinks. The crew was always prepared to fix make-up, hair, and other small details. And the young actors’ mothers were also on set for support.

Being in Vancouver for the shooting was a great experience. I thought it was really special when Director Elizabeth Allen gave me a personal tour of the set. She was also the director of the movie, Aquamarine.

When I’m watching the movie this weekend, I’m going to keep an eye out for a water fight scene between the Kemps and the Quimbys, because Joey told me it was her favorite scene to shoot.

I’d love to hear what you think about the movie if you go see it! Use the comment section below to send in your thoughts.

—Grace Choi

PHOTO: Kid Reporter Grace Choi (left) with actors Selena Gomez (center) and Joey King on set of the movie Romana and Beezus in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo Courtesy Grace Choi)

Tips for Applying to be a Kid Reporter

Make your application personal and use lots of details, says this veteran Kid Reporter.

Being a Scholastic Kid Reporter is probably the biggest honor I have had yet in my life. The job as a reporter has taught me how to be a better writer, handle my time wisely, and appreciate my surroundings.

Ever since I sent in my application to the Scholastic Kids Press Corps three years ago, I started to realize how lucky I am to be a part of my community in Portland, Oregon.

One part of the application is to write a story about what makes your community special. My application focused on the biking community in Portland. One reason I wrote about that topic was because Portland is the nation’s cleanest city, meaning with clean air there are more activities you can enjoy outside.

But the biggest reason is because bike riding and being outdoors is important to me. The rush of the wind blowing through my hair carries away my worries or troubles. So many people bike to work or school every day, the town recently added designated lanes and “stop boxes” for bicycle riders.

If something in your community makes you feel the way I do about my hometown, then that would be a great topic to write about. Try to relate your topic to your own life. And remember to add why you think it makes your community special.

Details, details, details! My editor told me she picked my application because I made it personal and added lots of details.

As a Scholastic Kid Reporter, you’ll get so many cool assignments, that it will be hard to choose your favorite! However, I know what my favorite one has been so far. That would have to be flying to Vancouver, Canada, to visit the movie set of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I also visited the set of the movie Ramona and Beezus. I met all the lead actors and got to conduct interviews. I also got to see what goes into making a movie. I really enjoyed it.

You could be a Kid Reporter and get lots of cool assignments, too. Just apply before October 5. You can get the details here!

—Grace Choi

PHOTO: Kid Reporter Grace Choi with actor Logan Lerman, who plays Percy in the upcoming movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians:The Lightning Thief. (Photo courtesy Grace Choi)

Behind the Scenes of Percy Jackson

If it takes 10 hours to shoot a 2-minute scene, then how long for a whole movie!

The first of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series, The Lightning Thief, will soon be on the big screen. How do I know? I recently visited the movie set in Vancouver, Canada, where author Rick Riordan’s most famous creation is being filmed. The fifth and final book in the series, The Last Olympian, was released this May. The movie is set to be release in February 2010.

It was my first time on a movie set, and it was amazing! The scene being filmed the day I visited was when Grover and Percy walk out of the infirmary in Camp Half-blood. It’s the scene when Grover tells Percy that he, too, is a demigod. The setting of Camp Half-Blood is in Golden Ears Park, so there was an abundance of trees, moss, shrubs, and mosquitoes! 

The unit publicist, who was pretty much our tour guide that day, took my mom and me around the area so I could get a view of all the camera angles. I also got to hang out in the director’s tent where Director Chris Columbus worked setting up and reviewing the different shots on a computer screen. (Columbus also directed the first two Harry Potter movies.)

The entire 10-hour workday was spent on that one scene, which will end up being only about two-minutes long in the movie.  They had to get five different angles of the scene, and since the actors would forget lines or the lighting wasn’t always perfect, it took the whole day just to get it right.

The first half of the day, the director focused on getting the front and right side views of the scene. After a nice lunch in the dining tent, actors took about a half-hour break in their mobiles before getting back to work.  The last half of the day, cameras were focused on the left angle and the back. Cameras were set up behind the actors to film them while they walked.  This took only about half an hour, because you wouldn’t see the actors’ lips moving. It didn’t matter if they flubbed their lines for this!

You may think that one scene is easier or harder to shoot than the other, but not according to Columbus.

“I think on this film, every scene is a major challenge to create the reality of the Olympian world,” he said.

It was a great day and I learned a lot about how much work it takes to make a movie.

—Grace Choi

PHOTO: Grace and and Brandon T. Jackson, who plays Grover, on the set of The Lightning Thief in Vancouver, Canada, summer 2009. Photo Courtesy Grace Choi.