“Rodaje” is one of my favorite new words I’ve learned, and I’ve been using it a lot lately. It means shooting/filming, which is exactly what my crew and I have been doing the past few weeks.
We did our principal filming last Sunday and Monday night, from 6pm to 7am. Yes that’s right, a 13 hour shoot overnight.
The first night got off to a rocky start, letting me learn the lesson that always comes out of production: setting up lights takes a long time. We had scheduled way too many shots into that night, which was clear when we started an hour behind schedule.
Not to worry, with the help of an amazing crew we made it work. We were so lucky to have the team we had on this project, made up of volunteers from our class, other communication students, and our crew’s contacts in the Costa Rican film industry, all of which blew me away with their talent and commitment to this project.
Powered by coffee, snacks, and a midnight arroz con pollo, we made it through the first night in good spirits. Stressful as it was at times, we kept ourselves laughing and constantly in wonder of the magical thing we were creating. Every so often it would hit me, “we’re making a musical!” and I would get a peek at the monitor just in time to see how that 45 minutes of lighting paid off.
I remember a specific moment from that night, the lighting setup was taking forever, it was around 2am and I took a peek at the monitor. It looked like morning. Somehow, through the magic of filmmaking, this crew had some together to transform this story into a real thing. A vision was coming to life.
When we wrapped the sun was coming up, and we could hear the birds waking.
The second night was a blur for me. It turns out that even when you’re exhausted, your body doesn’t let you get a full cycle of sleep at 8am. Or 11am. Or anytime before you have to get back up to run the day’s production errands. Nevertheless, we all showed back up to set that night ready to go, still smiling.
This was the day of complex camera movement and extras, which presented a challenge this crew was up for, but left us fighting to make it until morning. We wrapped at 6am and packed up the space.
The day ended in a group hug, the whole crew bonded through the trials of two all-nighters in a row.
Every production I work on brings new lessons and unforgettable moment, and this one is no exception. I’m so grateful that so many members of this crew have become my friends, and I am constantly in awe of their talent. Seriously, we made a musical. I’ll always be proud of that.
Pura Vida 