Sometimes traveling for work has its perks. In this case, we had to head out to Grand Junction, CO for an interview shoot. We had a few hours free after the shoot so we headed over to Colorado National Monument. It was a great side trip – totally empty, stunning scenery and a close encounter with long horn sheep. Enjoy the snaps.
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Airline Travel Tips for Filmmakers
We’ve flown on nearly every major US airline in the last year, close to 100,000 miles. Not all of it has been for filmmaking, but we have done enough trips with all of our gear to get a solid lay of the land when it comes to flying with film equipment. Oversize baggage fees, media rates, waived fees, damaged equipment, delays, cranky agents, nice agents– we’ve seen it all. In the process we’ve learned a few tips that can greatly help you on your next flight with your gear. Which airline is far and away the best for flying with film-making gear? Read to the end to find out!
(Not) taking too much stock in every shoot.
Sometimes I feel like I have amnesia about how indie shoots have gone in the past. Through rose-colored glasses, I believe that every shoot was a successful endeavor and had gone exactly to plan, when that was not the case at all. This glorified hindsight leads me to crave perfection on my current shoots, causing me anxiety before and after. I wonder frantically: Does this content add to the story? Will it appear random? Does it connect to the characters? Was it shot creatively and was the approach thoughtful enough? Is this the best use of my time? Perhaps T.S. Eliot was really onto something when he said,” anxiety is the hand maven of creativity.”
Deciding which medium to tell a story
Our recent travels through Southeast Asia were a sensory overload of colors, sounds, smells, people, and nature we’d never seen before. The compulsion was to immediately turn the camera to every single sight, an urge that slowed as the trip progressed. In fact, our best photos and video were taken towards the end of the trip because our eye for the unique became more discerning. Our growth as storytellers has taken a similar trajectory; we’ve developed better eyes and ears for what is interesting and worth telling and more importantly, which medium is best to tell it. There’s the written word, sound, video images and still images, all mediums we employ as storytellers. Some stories call for all while others may only call for one or two mediums. But how to decide whether a story is worth making into a film or if it’s better as an article or a photo? Below are a few questions I ask myself before I decide to start making a film.
Fall Leaves
Went for a nice walk through DC today. All the leaves are pretty much at their peak. Enjoy the photos! [custom_frame_center] [/custom_frame_center] [custom_frame_center] [/custom_frame_center] [custom_frame_center] [/custom_frame_center] [custom_frame_center] [/custom_frame_center]
Sa Pa: Rice Paddies & Happy Water
It was eight weeks into our trip and we’d seen rice paddies up and down mainland Indochina. Rice paddies in flat squares and those that climbed up mountains. Paddies with little budding plants and those full to the brim. But it’s fair to say we hadn’t really seen rice paddies until we visited misty Sa Pa, a Northern Vietnamese town near the border of China. These are like lush carpeted steps leading to another world, the vast expanse of which is only revealed in the fleeting moments when the mist lifts.
Life in Hanoi
As tourists we’re drawn to the historical sites, museums, and natural wonders; all the places the guidebooks say we should go. But my favorite moments while traveling are those in which I witness the everyday played out in new and interesting ways. We arrived early in Hanoi off a night train, so we spent time wandering the city and soon found ourselves at Hoan Kiem lake where hundreds if not thousands of Vietnamese were exercising. Actions such as rubbing the belly or poking fingers in the ears derive from traditions of Chinese medicine, which many Vietnamese practice.
Floating Mountains: Halong Bay & Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam
The creative director of the move Avatar must have been inspired by Halong Bay in Vietnam as there are few other places in the world where mountains appear to float weightlessly. While the imaginary planet in Avatar has mountains that suspend mid-air, Halong Bay’s mountains soak in pools of blue. Sunsets soften the edges of the sharp cliffs, color the sky and offer reflections that make sky and sea indistinguishable.
Lenou’s Library
While in Laos, we spent an afternoon with Lenou Sypasurt, a young man with an extraordinary vision for his country: to increase literacy among children. With money he saved from working as a dishwasher in Australia, he rented a small house near Luang Prabang and converted it into a library and classroom. Above is a short pro bono video we produced about Lenou, his library and the kids who visit it to help raise money and attract volunteers. Enjoy, and visit his site if you’d like to help out!
Merchants & Emperors: Traveling in time in Hoi An & Hue
The shopkeepers and emperors of old Vietnam had it made. A pharmaceutical salesman resided in a intricately carved wooden storefront with a lush atrium and lacquered inlay furniture while his emperor had an entire landscape of temples built for his final resting place, with room to spare for his wives. Such elegant use of space is on display in both Hoi An and Hue, two stops along our journey from South to North Vietnam.
Dunes & Fish Sauce in Mui Ne
Craving some more beach time, we headed to Mui Ne, a small beach town along the coast of Vietnam. It appealed to us more than the more popular beach town of Nha Trang for its sand dunes and fishing village along with its quiet beaches. We spent our first afternoon lazing by the beach watching the kite surfers who travel from all over the world to catch winds that build to 20 knots. An evening dip in the hotel pool up on the hill above the ocean was the perfect closer.
Cities in contrast: Phnom Penh & Saigon
I first fell in love with Phnom Penh after a chance encounter with the crispiest tastiest grilled squid on earth during a bus stop between Siem Reap and Kep. Upon returning to Phnom Penh, we visited the central market again for the heavenly dish, served with cold cucumbers, herbs and a dash of homemade chili sauce. This was a no frills spot; just a small roadside stand with food served on melamine dishes. Yet the taste and the service was five star. It’s a microcosm of Phnom Penh, a shabby city upon first glimpse yet one oozing with character. Despite being Cambodia’s capitol city, Phnom Penh’s demographic is decidedly rural in nature, in large part because of Pol Pot’s reign of terror over the wealthy and educated classes.