Making of The Gift of the Magi

Dear friends!

Today we present you an exclusive story especially for our subscribers about making of our very first cine-book “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. 

Making of cine-books is a creative process. On the one hand, we have to bring the original story word by word to this new format. We must not change even a word (if window blinds are blue, they are blue). On the other hand, cine-books is not just an illustrated book; every pure project has some fresh ideas, the director’s vision or a zest that has added something special to a good old story.

“The Gift of the Magi” is a very special story in itself. There are a little more than 2000 words in it. However, every word is worth its weight in gold. Is it possible to give to your loved one even more than you have? Can a common person create a miracle? Everyone who has read the book or been in love will answer “Yes!” However, no one could imagine that the magic will take place on a shooting area.

We were looking for a girl with beautiful long hair for the role of the main character. No wig or a 3D modelling can be as beautiful as natural, long shiny hair. As you probably know, hair was Della’s treasure. However, she cut it off without any doubts and sold it. She spent all the money to buy a platinum chain that fits the very special watch of her loved one as a Christmas gift.

After we finished the scenes with long hair, we had to decide how to make scenes with a short haircut. We could try to hide her hair under the wig, which is not so easy to do with long hair. Alternatively, we could change the haircut using photomontage or editing. In this case, it would also take some efforts from our specialists. However, to everyone's surprise, the actress said that she wanted to cut off her hair like her character did. It was much unexpected for the crew. Although this solution greatly simplified everything for the team, the director, the other actors and the whole film crew tried to dissuade the girl from parting with such wealth for some time. No one could believe that she really decided to sacrifice her hair for the authenticity of the shooting. However, "our" Della was as decisive as the book’s protagonist. She wanted to really experience the moment of hair loss like her character. The team was very impressed with this act. Everybody on the set literally felt the Christmas magic that makes even the most ordinary things appear to be fairy-like. The remainder of the filming kept everyone in good spirits. The sincere emotions of kindness, generosity and true love hovered in the air. Everybody worked smoothly and quickly, and everything turned out right from the very first moment.

Saint Valentine’s Day is approaching. All of us should do our best to make these days full of magic for our loved ones. We are proud to present you the CINE-BOOKS Apps with our first cine-book “The Gift of the Magi”. We sincerely hope that you will appreciate our efforts. Let everyone receive its “Valentine’s gift of the magi”. We will be happy if our cine-books will be amongst them. Stay tuned! The official CINE-BOOKS launch with 6 classical stories is coming 2017.