Our driver is late this morning so I climb behind the wheel and drive to location. It’s early. There’s just two of us in the van. So, I decide to listen to the radio. I press scan. The display goes though all of the frequencies once. Then twice. Then the radio display shows “none”. I’ve never been in a place where “none” shows up on the channel display on the radio. We are in the middle of nowhere.
We start shooting about three hours after dawn today. Obviously the early start helped. But, we are way behind in the overall shooting schedule. We shoot right through the middle of the day. Intense overhead sun. Using video cameras that have seen too many bumps and days. Not a decent monitor to look at. Ahh, the joys of remote location production.
I’m really amazed with the patience the producer/director shows under difficult circumstances. He may be the most patient person I have ever met! He’s definitely the most patient person I’ve ever worked with!
Back to the crap video equipment. There are cobwebs in the rack between and inside the camera’s CCU’s. Obviously no tech work ever takes place at this rental house.
How many technicians does it take to get sand out from in front of the lens?
I have a conversation for at least ten minutes with the generator operator. He’s speaking Spanish. I’m speaking english. We do not know a word of each other’s language. We’re talking about things like fuel injectors and diesel fuel. However, I think I know exactly what he was talking about. he seems to understand and answer my questions. How is this possible?
The highlight today was the audio engineer talking his way into the hotel kitchen to direct the chefs in making a Kahula and fresh fruit dessert. Peel & cut “island” fruit into bite-sized pieces. Mix everything into a pan bringing the mixture almost to a boil then simmer until the fruit is tender. Yummmmm!
Two quotes from the set today:
First from the jib operator (describing spear fisherman in a small boat just offshore) “I know how to do this… (fishing) I’ve seen this on television before”
Second from a line in the script. It describes this Mexican production experience perfectly. ” anytime the movement is slow the feeling is more intense”
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