The Planetary Producer: Part 1 - South America

This Article - Introduction

In past articles, we've taken you to the Amazon, to Moscow, the Gulf War and an operating room. Sooner or later in your production career, you will be asked to travel too. Believe me, no matter how much traveling you've done, you're still going to learn something new on every trip, if only because there is so many new things to use every time you go.

A fellow I met on the road, Alfonso DeLara is a cameraman for CNN. He owns a BetacamSP camcorder, carries full lighting kits, a field editing package, a BVW75, the works. A specialist in Spanish speaking countries, Alfonso takes a minimum of 12 rolling anvil cases wherever he is assigned. He hires a local soundman, a PA and in those certain lovely places where disappearing doesn't require a magician, he hires a "fixer." A normal day of production can run, naturally into several thousand dollars and Alfonso is known as one of the best and best priced.

But we aren't going that way, my friend. We're going to try to prove that you can get broadcast quality field production - anywhere in the world - with the same kind of thinking that showed us that we could get broadcast quality editing from a desktop computer. It's our old GFAC rule again: Good, fast AND cheap!

This multi-part series follows an actual documentary video production. The client; a global securities firm. Like most productions these days, the budget is tight. It's just you and me, baby, and our client, Marv, a most savvy traveler. We're going to limit our gear to just what one person can carry. No porters, no fancy rolling racks. This is like your desktop production center concept carried - well, carried in just your two hands!

For extra excitement, we're going to write these articles as we go, experimenting, testing, adapting and well, maybe falling on our face a few times, but that's the fun of a global production on a shoestring budget. Are you ready?

The Diary: Day Two - Caracas, Venezuela: I have an epiphany today. Entering the State Museum of Art, I find an 18th Century portrait of a young woman by a Venezuelan artist, Tavol Tavol _______, in front of a bank of audio casette players. I press Play; "Perhaps she is sad because she has been promised in marriage to a man she despises." The lecture, like so many in art museums, speculates endlessly about the motivations of the artist, but the narrative is so fascinating I consider buying a copy of the cassette to pitch as a feature film. Eventually the lecture tells me that the portrait is a self portrait. The woman was a painter that painted under a man's name to be accepted by the Accademy. The Accademy awarded her the most prestigious award until they discovered Tavol was a woman. They withdrew the award, but the public was outraged and made the Academy reinstate the award, assuring the artist's career as the first great woman painter of Venezuela. What a story! I asked the curator if I could buy a copy. "Well, I think the artist sells them for $10,000 along with a copy of the portrait."

"What?" I went up to the portrait and discovered it was a cheap reproduction. The curator followed me to explain, "Tavol is a real Venezuelan artist, but the cassette you've been listenting to is the work of another artist, Terry Smith, an American." I get it now. Smith manipulated my expectations to create an impact of great enlightenment. How can I make my video so that it packs a wallop like this? I feel suddenly empowered to go out there and make every shot count.

The Article - Packing for the Road

Let's start by packing for the first leg of the production - South America. "Captain" Jack Pollock, our firm's wise travel advisor's rule, "Take twice as much money and half as much clothing as you think you'll need." is difficult to follow. We're going to spend just two days in each country (that means we'll have to pack to live out of the suitcase), flying from New York to Caracas, Venezuela, then to Bogota, Columbia, east to Rio de Janiero, Brazil, then to Buenos Aires, Argentina, west to Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile, up to La Paz, Bolivia and finally to Lima, Peru before heading home to dump our tape, sleep and get ready for the next leg (the second part of this series).

Our trip is departing in the North American Fall, which is the South American Spring. In addition, we will be crossing through three temperature/altitude zones; Tropical (Venezuela, Columbia and Brazil), Temperate (Argentina, Chille and Peru) and High Plains Drifter (Bolivia, which varies from 10,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level from LaPaz to Lake Titicaca, our location). We figure we'll need three complete sets of clothes, but we follow the Captains advice and double our pocket cash allotment.

The Diary - Day Three: Bogota, Columbia

My client gave me a clipping from a magazine for CEOs with an ariticle about guarding your safety when in dangerous countries. It listed the top twenty most dangerous countries. This trip, we were going to visit four of them. One of them was Peru, which I've been visiting every two years since the days when Bermudes was President and violating curfew meant you got shot not questions asked. Peru today is safer than Brooklyn even though New York City has sunk below Cincinatti in crime.

The magazine, for Peru at least, is a lie. Bogota, however, I'm not sure about. The road from the airport features an armed guard every hundred yards. For miles. Armed with a machine gun. My client, who believed the article, has hired a fixer to drive us around. Maybe this fixer is very good. The hotel he picked surpasses my expectations (a bedroom, office, stereo system, two baths and a working fireplace). He takes us only through the safe parts of town. He keeps his left hand on my camera and his right hand on a handgun (licensed) between shots (my shots, not his). Maybe this fixer isn't so good. Maybe the magazine is a lie here too and the fixer shares his profits with the writer. Some writers take bribes. Really.

The client's rep takes us to lunch with her husband. He tells us all the drug cartels have been broken up. Good. Now the drugs are handled by hundreds of "cartelitas" (small cartels). Worse. The client tells me that her family is into politices. Two of her brother-in-laws were politicians but were murdered by the oposition party. "It's common." Maybe the fixer is good. Really good.

The Article - Dress for Success

Some road warriors dress as if for battle: combat clothing, knapsacks, hiking boots, etc. This is fine if you're a strict employee, but in this age, most of us are entrepreneurs. We may be working for one company during the shoot day, but during coffee breaks and after hours, we're on the phone checking voicemail and looking through the yellow pages for new clients.

That's why we suggest choosing road clothing which can be as appropriate for getting new business as for getting new footage. An excellent source of such clothing may be found in a catalog dedicated to savvy travel: TravelSmith. Both women and men are offered a wide range of dress and casual clothing (the basic black dress as well as several respectable suits) that refuses to wrinkle, can often be washed by hand in the hotel bathtub and left to dry overnight.

TravelSmith, a cataloguer specializing in travel clothing (800-950-1600) offers the Classic Travel Blazer from , with matching trousers featuring a total of 6 secret pockets for stashing money, passport, floppy disks, DV tapes, a lens cap, whatever. The ensemble is also completely wrinkle proof, so you could pack it, rolled into a ball and it will fall out, ready to wear to an impromptu client meeting or a night on the town with the broadcast development VP you met on the plane.

Another item which seems to eat up space is underwear, which, if packed one set per day, move about your luggage from the clean section to the dirty sack like a flock of sheep. We cut this down to two sets of Coolmax undies that can be washed in a sink and dry in a few hours. They also wick sweat away from the skin, aiding in hygiene and comfort for camerapeople and other labor intensive workers.

The Diary: Day Four: Bogota, Columbia

We're in the airport checking in for our flight to Rio De Janiero, Brazil. I've been speaking Spanish and translating for my client whenever necessary and sometimes when it's not necessary so I can practice. I don't know the word, "vacuna," which is what the counter clerk is requesting of me. She makes a hand gesture that looks like an injection in the shoulder. Ha! "Vaccination!" Certificate of vaccination. I haven't got one. My client has. He's going to Rio. I'm not. I'll have to stay in Bogota tonight, travel to Caracas in the morning and then to Rio. The Brazilians don't require a vacuna for yellow fever is you're coming from Caracas.

And then I stop thinking in Spanish and start thinking in Brooklyn again. In Brooklyn, I'd bribe somebody. Mentally, I translate "bribe" into Spanish. "Is there a doctor here in the airport?"

Yes. There's a doctor in the first aid center. The doctor isn't qualified to inject me with a vaccination but she is qualified to write me a phoney vaccination certificate if I swear that I had a vaccination within the last year and provide a witness. Benjamin Franklin was my witness.

The Article - Equipment

Because this project is a one-man shoot, our camera required several tough parameters. First, it had to be light enough to be carried - along with stock tape, tripod, sound, clothing, etc. - by one person. Second, it had to be broadcast quality. Third, it had to look non-professional enough to get past customs officials without putting up thousands of dollars in taxes or tax collaterals. Fourth, it had to have a wide exposure and focal length latitude since we would not be using artificial lighting. Finally, the camera had to be reliable enough to trust on the road with little expectation of repair or replacement.

The camera we chose was the Cannon XL-1. The LX-1 can be packed tightly in its own metal travel case, complete with extra lens, two microphones, headphones, ten one-hour tapes, three bateries, recharger, optional CR-900 (CHECK) dual baterie holder and optional dual-XLR microphone input adaptor. This case is just barely small enough to fit in most overhead luggage compartments on jets and in a pinch, can be sent into the cargo hold. (Substitute the contents of your carry-on bag carry the camera on board! NEVER CHECK A CAMERA.)

The quality of the XL-1 is apparent when brought back to the editing suite. We transfer our tapes immediately to BetaSP and to JVC Digital-S source tapes for storage and input directly from the camera to our DPS Perception nonlinear editor. The results are indestinguishable from native BetaSP tapes with the exception of oversaturated areas that tend to look flatter but not any less objectionable than oversaturated scenes from a BVW-400.

When going through customs, it's always tricky. We found it best to always tell the truth - that we were working as professional phtographers. Avoid calling yourself a "producer - productor," "videographer - videografo" or "news reporter - periodista" in South American countries. The first two words have unclear meanings and the second, in certain political climates may be interpreted as a hostile appelation.

Call yourself a "professional photographer - fotografo professional," show your camera right away and emphasize how little time you will be in country. Often, if you are only staying a few days, customs will not fear that you are going to sell your camera (without the usual 100% or more import tax), or use it to start a revolution. Read our notes below for specific experiences.

The XL-1 was excellent going through customs. While a lot more technical looking than a Sony VX-1000 (which is like border grease itself), it still looks like the kind of gear a dentist uses to film his kids ripping through the Ramada Cancun. Little do they know these cameras are becoming the standard sidearm for first world city news shooters.

When equipped with the standard 16x1 and the optional 3x1 interchangeable zoom lenses, the XL-1 offers a wide enough latitude of focal distances and exposures to require very little, if any lighting in documentary or ENG situations. We found ourselves locked into tight 8 x 10 foot offices for interviews, and simply twisted off one lens and on with the other to get the whole room and still have a bit of zoom range for cutaways and editing alternatives.

As far as taking a beating, we want to say no matter how much you try to baby the gear, it will, most certainly, get bumped around a bit. Carry a pack of lens tissues. The slightest bit of dirt on the XL-1's wide angle lens will show up big time whenever the light is forward. Take care not to bump the little protrusion that houses the shutter control buttons and otherwise trust that Canon put this baby together to last and last it will.

The Diary - Day Six: Rio De Janiero

We're shooting near a heliport where they aerial tours of Rio. I've picked the place because it allows an interview where you can see the Christ statue on Corcovado over the interviewee's right shoulder. Only trouble is, clouds have moved in and you can't see the statue. I try praying. In twenty years of video production it's never rained when I was ready to shoot (the eye of a hurricane saved me on one occassion). When prayers don't work, special effects do. I kill the zoom, buy a photo of the statue and composite it in with Digital Fusion.

Then the client suggests we rent the helicopter for an aerial shot of our client, driving his car along the Copacabana. I tell him it won't work, but it doesn't matter, he wants the ride anyway. We use a cell phone to try to line up the shot. The pilot refuses to take the door off the helo so I can get free movement. He thinks I'm crazy. I tell him I do it all the time, even when I shot inside the cooling tower of the Hope Creek nuclear reactor. The client thinks I'm crazy. Helicopter shots cannot be handheld with a telephoto lens trying to grab a target on the ground. Forget prop planes, of course, they're worse. The wind through the tight window throws the camera around and the piston vibrations make me feel I'm shooting a Mac 10 submachine gun.

While flying, I'm noticing horrible RF interference lines in the XL-1's viewscreen. Well, I said it wouldn't work. The client's car is wobbling around in the viewfinder like a moth around a candle, and that's at full wide angle.

Later, in the editing room, the RF lines are not in the shot. Take note, Canon tech support, this is only a viewfinder phenomenon. The client loves the shot. I think the client is crazy.

The Article - Electrical Power

North Americans, who live in a place where the culture is homogenous for up to five days driving in any direction will be fascinated to note that in South America, the electric plugs change shape and arrangement every 300 miles or so. For your reading pleasure, I've included a chart that was kindly offered by the folks at Magellan's (800-962-4943), a cataloger specializing in travel hardware (like TravelSmith, but more gadgets than clothing).

When abroad, you may find that you need a whole bag of AC plug coverters to be covered. Don't try sticking bare wires in the socket and hot wiring your gear. Many locations have 220 volts which can throw you across the room or across eternity if you ground yourself.

Magellan's sells handy Combination Converter Kits ($7.85 to $32.85), tailored for the countries in which you are traveling. Complete in their own pouch, they take little space and can save your project from disaster. Magellan's also sells telephone adaptors and voltage converters for those producers with more complex needs.

The Diary - Day Eight: Buenos Aires, Argentina

It's a disaster. I had plugged my battery charger into the wall socket during my off day, which was, conveniently, raining. When I returned, there was no charge. I find out that hotels often kill the power in your room when you are out.

When traveling to exotic locations it's always a good idea to shoot lots of b-roll for possible sale to stock video houses and for use in your future productions. These shots should be free of fancy camera work, like zooms or pans. Focus on local scenes of interest, such as the "logo locations," like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. There will, however, come times when you see an absolutely fabulous shot and the need to grab the moment demands a camera that can respond.

The XL-1 is designed for such "quick grab" situations. In fact, it is designed for several quick grab situations; the ultimate, the f-stop lockdown, the shutter speed lockdown and the "subject up against a backlight" situation. By quickly rotating the master control dial to any one of several positions, denoted by cartoon icons, you can arm the camera and start shooting in a New York nanominute.

The Diary - Day 10: _____ (10 miles north of Valparaiso, Chile)

We're on our way to Valparaiso, a Pacific coast resort town, resembling a cross between Miami and the French riviera, to shoot a seaside interview. This small town is where the locals live, populated by fishermen and their families. They haven't noticed I've arrived and two daughters hurry to equip their father's fishing boat as he nags them to hurry. If I take another minute to set up the shot, they'll see me and the scene will change.

I flip the XL-1's master power dial to the green rectangle, point and shoot. I get the scene before my observation changes it and I get their reaction as they discover me, a cheerful, "Hola!" and a beconining of the hands for me to come closer and see the unusual baiting techniques.

The Article - Bagging It

The selection of luggage can make a very significant effect on your production. In the intensity of production and travel, equipment and clothing (both clean, dirty and disgusting) may often become one packing category. Examine your total load and consider whether a "hard side" suitcase will serve better than a softside. For two weeks in South America, I carried five pieces: a Samsonite Jumbo EZ Cart for clothing, the Canon XL-1 metal carrying case for the camera, extra lens and mikes, a lightweight Bogen/Manfredo ____tripod in its canvas case, an Orvis _____ soft side carryon for the ditty bag, raingear and incidendtal equipment, and an Orvis ______ soft briefcase for my laptop, paperwork and eyewear.

After two weeks of lugging this gear around, I swore that on my next trip, everything would be on rollers. The Samsonite EZ Cart has its own, excellent roller system and looking like R2D2, it can hold enough clothes for a month on the road. The other bags, however, would have to be trimmed down or fitted with rollers.

Of particular mention is the XL-1 hard case. It barely fits in some of the overheads and most ticket agents will reject it unless you put up a fight. Skip the fight. At the check-in, remove the camera, stuff it with your down jacket to cushion the remaining gear, and carry the camera on board. Remember to carry a fresh battery and tape, too, in case the plane goes down and you want to capture the best documentary footage of your life. (I know this sounds crazy, but I'm sure I'm not the only cinematographer who covers this option.)

The Diary - Day 11: LaPaz, Bolivia

On the flight from Santiago to LaPaz, I meet an American civil engineer who is supervising the digging of a vertical shaft more than a mile into the earth. It's for a gold mine. His next job is to dig to long tunnels through some mountains. When he finds out I'm a video producer with Spanish fluency, he says he's going to need a video production company to make a video about the tunnels. Do I have my business card? What kind of work have I done? Would past clients recommend me? All of these answers and more are in my standard company brochure. Where is my company brochure. In my briefcase in the overhead. By the time we depart the plane, he has read the brochure and promises to watch my show reel the following evening.

The Article - Pack for Sales

Don't forget to pack a few show reels in the local TV standard, some brochures and lots of business cards with your international website or email emprinted thereon. You just might regret carrying all that stuff all the way around the world, but then again, all it takes is one casual request from a potential client and your material could be instantly working to get you the next assignment. You might even be contracted on the spot for doing a little moonlight job during your current assignment.

If you really get tired lugging them around, stop into the local American embassy and ask to speak to the local Department of Commerce operative. Often you can arrange to have your show reel and brochure placed in the department's resource library. Often, local businessmen use these facilities for references to US companies.

The Diary - Day 14: Lima, Peru

Peru is my favorite South American location. Within 200 miles from the coast, you can find tropical beaches, elegant mansions, 1890's Arizona mining towns, modern cities, Lawrence-of-Arabia deserts, high sierras, Alpine peaks and dense jungles.

While pre-producing a vampire episodic TV show here, once, I found a 20 room, furnished mansion, dating back to the 1500's for a $500 per-day rental fee. This time I was just doing some interviews and street scenes at a bank. An uncanny fact to note: South Americans and Peruvians particularly, can speak for hours in front of a camera with little or no preparation or prompting. Ask a Latino to speak candidly about - say, his job - and he'll give you enough for a book on the subject. Do this with a North American and he goes, "Humma, humma, humma." like Ralph Krampton explaining a late night at the Lodge to Alice.

The Article - Wrapping Up

Traveling home with a small box of tapes that represent the entire cost (in money and time) of the project - tens of thousands of dollars - is a discomforting experience that builds in intensity with each successive location. Having wrapped the project, the principal mental activity is centered around what could go wrong with the tapes.

One thing I tried to do was keep the camera and tapes from going through the X-ray machines at check-in. This often led them to be passed close, if not through the magnetic metal detector gate. My opinion, after significant travel is that the best option is to send the camera and tapes through the X-ray. Requesting a hand check in third world countries gets you a lot of unecessary attention and in some cases, even gets the military police involved in your affairs. Not wise.

After returning from my trip, we dubbed all the mini DV tapes to BetaSP backups and VHS review tapes for the client. In ten, one hour tapes, I found only two hits, each a mosaic breakup of the center area of the picture, significant enough to render at least part of the scene unusable. In both cases, I had shot "safety" scenes.

Never let client tell you, "That was the best take. Let's move on to the next setup." Always ask to shoot a "safety." Consider the cost of going back and shooting even one lost scene. Isn't it worth whatever cost - a lost flight, an angered host, a lost hotel reservation - to make sure you've got what you need twice?