Traveling back in time
I love when I have the chance to reconnect and work with friends on projects, and this year I had the opportunity to work on a feature length documentary with a group of them. Legends of the Lost Ark filmed across the globe – starting in Bogotá and ending in Jerusalem.
This production sparked a lot of personal firsts – first feature length documentary project, first time traveling to South America, first time operating as DIT to name a few.
Old friends, new projects
Traveling to Colombia with Stephen (Director) and Brian (Director of Photography) was a thrilling experience. Who knew that filming biblical reenactments would take us to South America?
We spent a few days in Bogotá prepping equipment and meeting the crew we would be working with. Day 1 of production was a few hours by van into the countryside at an old mine. Space inside was limited, so I spent most of the day in my editing tent.
New Faces, Fast Friendships
One of my favorite parts of production is meeting new people. I met Josh (1st AC), Becca (Producer), and Michael (Director of Digital Strategy) for the first time through this project.
In addition to being extremely good at what he does, Josh is one of the most positive people I’ve met and his Spanglish facilitated fun relationships with many of the Colombian crew members.
Becca and I worked closely on location as I transferred cards and assembled reenactment footage. It was challenging, but extremely rewarding to be able to present edits for her and other producers to evaluate on set. Without Becca, many aspects of this project would have fallen through the cracks.
Michael became one of my main travel companions as we traversed across Colombia. His humor helped keep spirits high throughout the two weeks we spent on the road.
Headed to the Wilderness
Day 2 we flew north to Riohacha before spending Day 3 driving to Cabo de La Vela. Cabo is extremely remote, and we were there during the windiest part of the season. As a result, my media management had to be relocated from the tents to the inside of one of our transport vans for Days 4 – 8.
During these days we filmed in multiple locations on the peninsula ranging from ravines to dunes to constructed sets. Everything was set in the ancient Middle East, so imagine actors in sandals, turbans, and robes flowing in the wind.
Back to Civilization
Day 9 we traveled back to Riohacha and spent Days 10 -12 filming nearby. These environments were much more hospitable – river and field – and without the intense wind and dust I was able to rejoin the rest of the production at my editing tent.
By this time the caterer, Ed, had realized that I had a weakness for Oreos and was providing me with a healthy supply each day.
Final thoughts
This leg of the production was challenging, but extremely rewarding. Same-day editing is intense, but providing the production with rough edits was instrumental in assisting key decision makers as we adapted and filmed in a foreign country.
Working with friends is a gift, and something I’ll never take lightly.
Shoutout to my Colombian friends Jenny and Danny who not only translated tirelessly for me, but were also such genuine and kind people. I hope our paths will cross again someday.
