La Poderosa Media Project

Week 4, Monday and Tuesday

This time, I'm really sad to realize that we're in our last week of work here in Bahía. I've had a crazy excellent time here, and I'm going to be sad to go back to the States. 

Yesterday was our last day of filming. :( We had a couple of more scenes to film, and one to re-shoot for better lighting, and then we were done. It's utterly fascinating to me to see these kids working so hard and reaching their goals. 

Today, they're starting the editing process. I think it's going to be a little quick and sloppy, since the film has to be done by Friday at 7, when we show it. Joel is teaching them how to use the editing software, and I think they'll start working with the movie either later this afternoon or tomorrow.

Bonus Post: Weekend 3!

There hasn't been much about the weekends because we've mostly just been hanging out at the house and going to the beach (and last weekend, to Canoa). This weekend, however, we took a 3-day tour of an organic farm about 20-30 kilometers north of Bahía, near Canoa.

On Friday, after arriving around 11 a.m., we had a little class about the farm and the environment we were in (I think it was a jungle, but not a rainforest? It was a little difficult to tell since it was in Spanish.) The farm is entirely organic, and they tend to eat vegetarian, but since there was a large group that was ending its month-long stay there, we had chicken with our lunch. We had some time to relax after lunch and then we took a tour of the farm which lasted for about an hour and a half. We were supposed to go see the "mother tree" of the jungle/forest, but everyone was really tired so we just rested until we had dinner at six. Dark fell around 7, and when I say dark, I mean dark. The electricity was out on the farm, and we only had two flashlights between 15 people! After dinner, another break, and then we learned how to make chocolate from the beans. That stuff was delicious. We had the chocolate sauce mixed with pineapple, which was delicious. 

Saturday was the day I think everyone was looking forward to the most - horseback riding! Or in my case, muleback riding. We went out and picked banana leaves to wrap our lunches in, and then assembled the cute little packages of rice, beans, cucumbers, hard boiled egg, and plátanos. (It was more delicious than it sounds, because I don't know all of the excellent spices that they used.) Then we hiked up a mountain, ostensibly in order to see monkeys, but since we didn't see any, I'm pretty sure the guides were just pulling our tails (semi-pun not intended - I was going to write "monkeying around" but thought better of it). After the world's most awful hike-without-a-purpose, we headed to a small waterfall (like 5 feet tall) with a pond to swim around a little bit, which was extra-refreshing after that sweaty hike. We then rode back to the farm, where I took quite possibly the coldest shower of my life, and had dinner. Another break after dinner, and then we headed to the kitchen again to make more chocolate and coffee. This time we had chocolate with bananas, which was absolutely spectacular. Hershey's syrup ain't got nuthin on the stuff we had that night. Afterwards, we played a card game called Peanut Butter, which is kind of like Spoons. 

After breakfast on Sunday morning, we headed into a garden to pick yuca, which, above ground at least, does not resemble in the least the yucca root we have in the States. However, the bread it makes is delicious. We made a cake using shredded yuca, raisins, panella (kind of like vanilla, but not really), and other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head. Then after that, we made bowls of a fruit called mate, which didn't smell edible (possibly why they use the husk for bowls). We had lunch, and headed out to finish the bowls. Then we made rings, and had an all-natural face mask done. Soon after that, we headed back to Bahía. All in all, it was a really fun weekend.

Wednesday and Thursday

Filming has commenced! I was woken up on Wednesday at 6:30 or so by what sounded like 50 people downstairs. In reality, it may have been like 15, but it was still loud enough to wake me up. I managed to fall asleep again after they left to film at "the witch's house." Filming continued throughout the day (with a break at midday because the sunlight was too intense) until nearly 8 at night. I don't know how many scenes they shot, but with a lot of scenes being shot here, I was taking a lot of walks yesterday to get away from the tons of people here.

Today, we're filming again. I was woken up again by the kids' arrival early this morning. These guys are dedicated - they're spending at least ten hours a day filming and discussing what's going on. Today is the last day this week that we'll be filming, because La Poderosa is going to an organic farm for three days, starting tomorrow!

Week 3, Monday and Tuesday (plus a little about the weekend)

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks already! Time has been flying by. This trip has been crazy fun, too. On Sunday, we went to a beach about ten klicks north of Bahía, called Canoa. I rented a surfboard and got to catch some good waves. The waves at Canoa, which were apparently average for there, were equivalent to the best days in the Gulf of Mexico, where I learned to surf, so I was naturally a little overwhelmed.

Monday was the casting call. The kids were in charge of choosing, I think, and the auditions were pretty amusing. The people auditioning were given a script and did a screen test. I only watched a little bit, but it was really cool. We got all the roles cast, much to everyone’s relief. 

Today, Tuesday, we had an acting workshop in the morning, which was hysterical. I only participated in about half of it, because I was working on something else, but it was all really funny (I kept going downstairs to watch). This afternoon, the kids are working on setting up the shots for their video with their actors in tow. It’s amazing to me how much time it takes for the whole process to take place. We’re only making a 4-5 minute video, but there is so much to do and so little time!

Week 2, Friday and Bonus! Saturday

On Friday, the kids came over to the house to work on camerography (I'm still not sure that's a word) and also to hammer out the rest of the script. The script is finished! Everyone was excited (and relieved) to have it done. It's a very cute story, and I can't wait to see how the movie turns out. The kids who were working on camerography used their storyboards from the previous day, finished those, and then filmed the shots that they had planned out. Each group had a director, camerographer, and camerographer's assistant. 

On Saturday, we had a bonus pre-production workshop where the kids worked on camerography some more. They continued to work on the previous day's activity, and discussed casting. They also went to the radio station to announce a casting call, which is happening on Monday, pretty much all day. They gave a pretty general announcement of who they want to show up, so I can't wait to see who does!

Week 2, Wednesday and Thursday

 

On Wednesday, I was feeling much better, so I returned to the school with the group. Jorge continued to teach about screenwriting, and they worked on the script some more (the story is very cute). Alejandra taught more about camera operation and camerography (is that a word in English?). The big important thing that happened on Wednesday was the decision to scrap the documentary - we simply don't have enough students participating to create both a short film and a documentary, and we don't have enough time to create both with the same group of students. :(

Today, Thursday, was crazy fun. In the first two hours, the students learned about pre-production and how it works. They learned about finding clothing, scouting locations, and finding props that would be needed. Then, they spent the second half learning how to draw storyboards. Alejandra's sister Pilar was on hand to teach that lesson, and the kids used a movie that Pilar played on her laptop as practice - they drew the shots that were paused for them, like the profiles of two people hugging, etc. It was a really interesting exercise, and I learned a lot too. 

Week 2, Monday and Tuesday

 

On Monday, Alejandra began teaching the kids about the operation of a camera and tripod. My favorite part of this lesson was when she had them draw a "flip-book" of about thirty pictures in order to show that a camera takes 30 frames per second, which is crazy fast - at least to me. They had to pair up in order to operate the tripod, which is more complicated than one might expect (I didn't try, but it looked pretty difficult).

Then, they broke into two groups - the screenwriting group and the documentary group. The screenwriting group (the ones that will be doing the short film) went upstairs with Jorge to discuss the finer points of scriptwriting (I think), while the documentarians stayed with Ale and learned how to film smoothly as camerapeople. They also learned the importance of the assistant camerapeople, who keeps the cameraperson from running into stuff. Jeremiah and I were "models," of sorts, being the actors while pairs practiced keeping us in the frame as we walked. It was great fun keeping them on their toes, though I think in a real movie they would have known where the actors were going.

After a short break, the groups changed places, so that the documentary group went to talk with Jorge about ideas for a documentary they could shoot, and the short film-ers learned the camerawork.

Tuesday, I didn't attend the workshop due to being ill, but from what I understand, they worked more with the actual operation of the cameras and continued to discuss ideas about the short film and documentary.

The first days with La Poderosa

The first day of the project was intended to be Wednesday, May 27, but Alejandra and Jorge, our fearless leaders, decided to wait another day to drum up more interest. We had students come by in the morning of the 27th to chat about the project. Ale and Jorge appeared on the local radio station at about 12:30 on Wednesday afternoon in order to promote the project, which was really exciting. When Ale was telling us about it later, she said it was difficult because you get there, and they tell you, "Talk," and then there's a mic in front of you... I'm not sure I'd have been able to do it. (Mostly because it was in Spanish, actually. I love to talk.)

Thursday, we started the project at 2. We had a big group of about 20 or more students who were really interested in what we were doing. Ale started us off by introducing herself, and then all of us with the project introduced ourselves as well. After that, she explained the concept of the project, and that the final goal of our days in Bahía was a short film (4-5 minutes) and a documentary (10 minutes or so). They watched "The Making Of..." extra on the film "Que Tan Lejos" (which we - project leaders and assistants - watched later that night). Jorge presented a short film that was made in Panama during their time there, and then explained the different jobs that go into the making of films, like director, producer, screenwriter, etc. It was very interesting. 

After a short break, the students returned and were divided into two groups - those who wanted to make the short film and those who wanted to make the documentary (the documentary group was smaller). They were given "homework" of sorts, to brainstorm general ideas for short films. 

Today, when we returned, the kids had ideas about short films that they wanted to write. In the group that I sat in on, there were two romance stories (one with a male lead, one with a female lead, by a boy and girl respectively) and one about a guy with low self-esteem at the beginning, who gets very confident by the end (Steve, one of the other American students here, wanted the girl in THAT story to die. He said it would make it more emotional.) They learned how a script is structured (which I found absolutely fascinating as a writer myself - I don't write scripts generally). 

Bahía!

We got up at 5:30 in the morning on the day of the 25th, and were on the road to Bahía by 6:30. We drove for seven hours, through the Andes Mountains and then through the coastal plains, and made it to Bahía at 1:30. 

Bahía de Caraquez is a beautiful city on the coast of Ecuador, on the Pacific Ocean. The city is named after the bay that it is next to, Bahía de Caraquez. It's on a peninsula with the Bahía on one side and the Pacific on the other. 

We took a nap after arriving, and then went swimming on the beach. The beach here is very much like the beach in Corpus Christi, but cleaner and no seaweed! The ocean is much warmer than I was expecting for the Pacific, but I realized that because we're on the equator, the water is warmed more by the sun than in, say, California. (At least, I think that's what does it.)

The food here is delicious! There seems to be plátanos, verdes or maduros, at almost every meal. The house where we're staying is only a block from the ocean, and it has a beautiful view of the sunset. We had one more free day before we started working with the kids here...

First Days in Ecuador

Most of the students arrived several days before the project started. My own flight got in from Houston around 11 p.m. on Thursday, 5/21, and it took about an hour to get through Customs.

We stayed at a brightly colored hostel in Quito called Hostal Joseth, and ate breakfast at a restaurant across the street every day. 

On Friday, we went to a place called "Vulcano Parque," where they had a teleferrico (cable cars up the mountain), which we rode to the top and then got off to hike around some more during the morning. After lunch, we wandered around downtown Quito, stopping in at some cafés for drinks (like café americano, which is actually just black coffee). 

We went back to the hostel before going out to a play at a famous theater. It was a really interesting play, though I had trouble following the Spanish, after which we went out to dinner.

Saturday was a little more intense than Friday. We got up early to go visit the Indian market at Otavalo. It was very colorful and interesting, and I bought some pretty things. Apparently I'm not very good at bargaining, but I still had fun. 

We had lunch on the way to a laguna (small lake), where we tried cuy, which is a delicacy here. (Cuy is guinea pig.) I only had a bite, and it wasn't bad, but I still can't wrap my mind around eating guinea pig. 

After lunch, we went to a lake called Cuicocha. It's located in the caldera of an active volcano - we could see bubbles at some spots. It's a really cold lake - 66ºF and almost 1500 feet deep!

On the way back to Quito, we stopped for biscochas, which are like sweet, warm biscuits that are dipped in dulce de leche or in something akin to marmalade. 

Since we were going clubbing after dinner, I didn't take my purse with me to the restaurant. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't have my camera for the spectacular view of Quito from the restaurant.

On Sunday, I was starting to feel the lack of sleep. We went to la mitad del mundo, the middle of the world, where the equator passes through Ecuador. We got to stand in two hemispheres at once! A little bit mind-blowing. Then, we went to a place called Feriaze's, which was featured on Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern (they, too, served cuy, though it was $15/plate, while steak was only $4/plate). 

After lunch, we went to a huge angel statue in Quito, that I don't remember the name of. We could see the place where the Battle of Pichincha took place. The battle was being celebrated that day. Then we went to see churches, like the Compañia Cathedral and the Basilica of San Pedro. 

The next day, we got up very early to travel to Bahía...