The Last Day.

“OH my god, oh my god, we have to go down now, now. I’m going to pass out.” Words mean little up here in our steel cage, floating 100 feet above the kibbutz. The loud drone of the crane engine muffles Tessa’s voice as she falls deeper into her panic attack. Ben looks down at her as she grips onto the railing of the steel cage, holding on for dear life. If she would only take a deep breath and look at the amazing view few rarely get to see, she might just calm down. Ben keeps on filming. We only get one chance to use this crane to get aerial shots of the kibbutz.

It seems only fitting that our last day here began in a harrowing ascent 100 feet into the sky. We’ve gone on an emotional roller coaster throughout the last two months here, yet have managed to end up safely on the ground in the end. The lessons learned, the skills gained, and the experiences we have lived through have now become a part of us, and will remain long after we leave the kibbutz. No matter where this film ends up (as we now enter the daunting editing stage), we have already succeeded in so many ways. We have gained something here that no other journey could have afforded us.
One of our greatest challenges was overcoming our often debilitating uncertainty. Daily we would ask ourselves: “Do we have enough action?” “Is our cinematography compelling?” “Are we telling our story visually?” “Are we accurately depicting this place?” While our questions challenged us to improve and to think in different ways, it also heightened our doubts over our capacity to direct a good film. Our anxiety only crippled our ability to be decisive.

Another big challenge was keeping an open mind to the varying perspectives on this place while also maintaining a directorial focus. We also struggled with selecting a style in which to film. We originally intended to film verite, so we were somewhat unprepared to shoot the sit-down interviews we ended up conducting. Had we known interviews would be an element in our film, we would have purchased a light kit and been more selective in scouting locations for shoots. Some interviews were beautifully lit simply out of fortune. Others were plagued by fluorescent lighting, lack of interesting foreground and background scenery, and limited control of depth of field in those locations. We also intended the film to be singularly character-driven, but found that the story line also became issue-driven.

When we started filming people here, we did not conduct any screen tests. We just picked characters, asked them if they wanted to be a part of the film (naively ignoring whether they were really interested or not) and just started shooting. Looking back it would have been wiser to shoot test scenes with different people before committing to them as characters. It also would have helped to focus solely on people who were really interested in being a part of the film. No one outright didn’t want to be filmed, but it was very difficult to film people who just weren’t enthusiastic about being followed around by a camera. The biggest lesson learned: to choose characters that really want to be a part of the film, and fully understand what that entails. Sometimes you have to push a little harder with certain people, to get good content, but if the basic desire to be filmed is not present, all of your effort will be futile.

The lessons we have learned while here will seem minuscule months from now when we are deep in the editing process. While we can basically gauge the success of our production during filming (by watching the footage on the small lcd screen on the A1), we will not face the true extent of our triumphs and failures until the footage is displayed in all its high definition glory, over and over and over again as we edit it. A mic muff creeping into the frame, dirt on the lens, bad audio, and exposure issues will make us cry, yell and punch the wall. But a beautifully framed shot, a gorgeous sunrise and a deep and intimate moment captured on film will make us realize why we choose to make documentary films. We are glad our time here has come to an end, and we face the difficult task ahead with courage and hope.

And so not to end on too serious of a note (because our time here has also been full of fun and comedy), we present…

The Kibbutz Project by the Numbers

52 Days living on a kibbutz.

45 Hours of tape filmed.

1 Crane shot.

25 Minutes flown in a glider before puking.

68 Release forms signed.

29 Days until we got used to eating the food in the dining room.

1,476 Times we doubted ourselves.

50 Pounds of lychee consumed.

3 Visits a day to the Kolbo.

∞ Times that people helped us out.

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

This is not the last post of the blog. As we return to the States and start to edit the film, we will continue to write about all of our post production experiences. Also, before editing begins, we will start posting reviews of documentary films as we watch them, hopefully at least one a week. So keep checking the blog!