Paying on the bus

Something I've noticed when going by bus in Medellin is the manner how people pay. After quite a bit of bus rides, I felt I was the only one pulling out my wallet when entering the bus and paying. So I started observing people and saw that almost nobody ever showed their wallet (or don't they have one? I am not sure). When entering the bus, people just mysteriously pull out a couple of bills from their pocket, just enough to pay the ride (the fee is about 1700 pesos, around 1 US dollar).

I started wondering, do they prepare and count those bills at home, or do they do it secretly around the corner before reaching the bus? I am still not sure. To reduce any risk and melt into the culture I thought I would start preparing my bus ride already at home, counting some bills and coins, but I constantly forget it and when I enter the bus I still need to pull out my wallet. Foreigner!

Shooting a "construction" commercial

We are now getting up to speed with shooting commercials for ViValores ("Life Values") and yesterday we shot a scene for a commercial called "The construction workers".
A construction site let us shoot at their front gate and have their real workers in the background. It looked great and we were also using our DIY 7x7 butterfly scrim for the first time to get some shadow on our actors and avoid problems with exposing their faces.

I co-directed the scene with another person and that was an interesting experience. It requires giving  consistent directions to the actors so there is no confusion. It also challenged us to use the technique of giving the actors physical tasks to improve the authenticity of their performance.

The commercials for ViValores don't promote any product or company, they only promote values.

Preparing commercial

Today I did the shortest audition I have ever done with an actor. I met him in my barrio and filmed him with my cell phone, improvising the scene. It took about 3 minutes. Then I said "you got the part".

Tomorrow we are shooting a commercial for ViValores, a foundation that promotes good values. It is about a couple of construction workers. We got a permission to shoot on a construction site close to our office.

Late at night, I booked a trip to Bogota later this month. I will go there and film some interviews with "famous actors" that (hopefully) will promote ViValores.

Salsa bolognese

I think God heard my complaint... this night I was served a wonderful pasta bolognese (served hot!) with parmesan cheese and a delicious green apple salad with dressing, plus garlic toast on the side... A miracle...

Sauces & spices, we miss you

Ok I need to vent this... Today I was doing a smaller photography job for a "gringo" friend who lives here in Medellin as well. We were discussing local food. My friend was complaining about the lack of sauces served with fish and any dish. Rice, meat, salad. No sauce, no dressing, no spices. Fish, rice, lettice. No dressing, no sauce, no spices. Only tomato sauce (ketchup) and occasionally "pink sauce". No onions, garlic, herbs, butter, nothing... and no deserts. "If they have so many fruit, why don't they at least make pineapple pies?" my friend complained. Yes, I've almost lost my appetite too... but it was good to find a companion in my suffering...

Outreach to poor village - hot and chilly

The past day I participated in a "health brigade". It was a kind of outreach of a Christian team to a poor village. The team helped the village with medicine, constructing simple toilets, reconcilation, teaching for kids and just sharing the gospel of Jesus. I was filming the activities.

The climate was very hot and I was sweating gallons and trying to keep drinking. In the night I slept in a hammock like most of the rest of the 50-people team.

To get to the village, not too far from the Carribean coast of Colombia, I traveled in one of the buses offered by national companies. One thing I have noted about these buses, is that they use air condition on, let me say, full level. I think each time I travel with them, I say to myself, "next time I'll bring more clothes". So this time I brought two hood sweaters. Do you think it was enough? No, almost everybody else had a blanket as well. I didn't, and was freezing.

The woman at my side complained to the bus staff who just responded he would not change anything (I don't know if it was possible, maybe there is just on an off and he preferred not to switch on and off?) I think we had about 12 degrees Celsius in the bus.

When I arrived, I took out my video equipment from my bags which I had in the bus cabin, and touched the camera. It was cold like it was just taken out of the freezer. I had to defog it for half an hour.
Anyway, why all long-distance bus companies in Colombia want to cool down passengers almost to a rigor mortis level, remains an enigma.

Acting experience

Yes, I know, I do not write regularly. Shame on me.

So much more I appreciate that you keep reading this /unconsistent/ blog!

Today I wanted to talk about an interesting experience I made: acting.

I have never felt any strong passion for acting (although I love to direct others who do it...), but in our film school the students asked me to participate in a casting, and I won the role. Ok let's do it, I thought.

So I was to do this character who had lost is wife recently. It was a quite interesting little story and I accepted the challenge to try to make a little portrait on the screen.

Actually the thing I got out most of this, was to experience how it is to be an actor in filming setting. How it is to try to immerse into a role when people are running all over the place, talking about camera angles, lighting, schedule, making jokes, etc. I gained a new admiration for professional actors who deliver on the word Action. And also a new understanding of how important it is to treat the actor well and to do everything in one's power to facilitate for him or her to be in their role.

In short, it was a great experience and I learned a lot that I hope makes me a better filmmaker.