Prague Stories

Shot Calling

Questions

Everyday seems to have its own thrilling adventure…you’ll go for a ride you’ll never forget. First of all, I can’t believe its already August. After looking back at an entry I made just three days into our trip, I felt like I’d been here a month. Now it feels like 3 (months). With only a week and days left to cut our documentaries, enjoy our fairytales and prepare for our final screening, I can’t help but feel nervous and excited.

Before this week began, Clay and I had shot 8 hours of footage on our subjects for our final documentary: A wonderful and “arms wide-open” Gypsie family. Kim, a director for an abroad program here in Prague, advised us to visit Smichov for some interesting subjects and it turned out to be a life changing experience…aren’t they all? Shooting 5 consecutive days (thankfully 2 of those days with a translator) should set us on the right track and on schedule to have enough time to log and edit our new experience. There is such a great feeling when logging the footage you shoot…you have a chance to view it in its’ trapped in history, part-of-the-past form, from outside the box. I keep my eyes on their facial expressions, their gestures, language, and overall communication skills. Fascinating. The cut is coming, we must now enter the Dragons lair and tame the beast, and become one with its power and might.

9:47am: “I woke up, fell out of bed and dragged a comb across my head…” This is after staying up till about 6:30 am logging…and pushed myself into the bathroom for a cold shower to awaken my body. I got to FAMU for class lugging my bag and a camera&case that I swear weighs about 2 tons. After locking the camera up in Doc class location “Room 2,” I met up with Dr. Otto Urban and our Art and Architecture class for our weekly Wednesday excursion. We were going to visit the National Theatre and the Municipal building…Both equally as amazing and historical, significant of early Prague restoration and growth in the late 18th century. I really enjoy the contrast in taking an intensive production class with an equally enriching Art class…great combo.

After witnessing some sights and sounds (words cannot describe) from the busy buildings that had tourists frolicking everywhere, we retreated to an upstairs Café with the class for some coffee and a closing conversation to wrap up the “class day.” This is where I first felt the wrath of time…translated into a temporal state of sadness.

“Well,” says Otto, “It is only natural that you feel this way. You know, you have been living here, finding your way around, meeting people, learning the language and just when you feel you are about to be comfortable and settled in…you must leave.”

It’s true and I must come to grips with these emotions when they come…when it happens. I get the feeling no one really wants to leave yet…maybe just one more week…or two? If that’s not the case, love must exist in another location, or something of the sort. For myself, fortunately, I fall in love everyday, but even better yet, when you fall for “working hard” at what you love; what an intense emotion…
1:00 pm: Jan Sacher, a Czech TA for our class and newly made close friend of mine, was waiting for me at FAMU as I was running late from the Café. One of his friend’s, Mirek, is in a local band that is quite successful and after meeting them weeks ago and expressing my love for music, I pitched an idea for a video to shoot and collaborate on while I was here in Prague. Why not I thought? Ok, they said. Done. I can hear Jan’s words ring in my head, “Lets dooooooooo it!”

1:55pm: So we packed up my camera, Jan’s awesome tripod and for the first time in Prague, I was in a small hatchback (car) that wasn’t owned or driven by a taxicab driver…More connecting with this city and its’ people and I’m never going anywhere!!
Jan had done some great location scouting and after meeting briefly to talk about our shoot, the shot list, and what was to take place…I could not wait. Let’s roll baby!!

2:36pm: By “roll” I mean we have Mirek running down three-flights of stairs, random neighborhood streets, Jan at the wheel pulling off some amazing feats, and me…hanging out the rear of the car, hatch wide-open, camera on sticks with a rear perspective from the vehicle and a couple of rubber bands to hold everything (including myself) in place. What coincided the next 5 hours were some of the most thrilling moments of my life as a filmmaker. The shoot went well, and it is only 1 of 5 for our video. I can’t explain the feeling of collaborating with fellow artists in making magic…again and again, and again…We’ll keep rolling till the wheels fall off…and then some more. I love this town.

13:55am: Back to work.

Dobrou Noc.

Streetscape

Welcome Dinner

So it begins…!

Everything up to the moment was exciting and still existed mostly trivial. After 24 plus hours of carrying heavy bags, lugging equipment, traveling and dealing with various connections, deadlines and layovers from Austin to Ohio, N.Y. to Frankfurt, I arrived in Eastern Europe for the first time in my 24 years of existence. I felt confident. From the airplane window above to the tracking taxicab, my eyes were wide open and my mind…the same. Jumping in a cab for the first time with a Czech man who knew very little English and driving into the heart of Prague made me feel like I was in for something new, unique and absolutely mind-blowing. I was far from pause and I cannot remember how big my smile must have been. Immediately I was intrigued by the earth, the trees, the automobiles, the signs, the weather, and of course, the architecture. I kept thinking to myself, “Wow… can’t wait to get shooting; oh, the images I would capture…and eventually would end up capturing me.

My cab arrived at “Masaryakova Kolej,” our dorm which actually doubles as a local hotel. I ran to the nearest ATM to pull out some “Czech cash” (Krownes)…the cab driver was quite impatient: “Time is money,” he said, “And I don’t have much!!” So I did….paid him…and for the first time walked into one of the many buildings I knew I would enter in this great country. Wow. Oddly enough, I was running on time when I bumped into the only person I knew that was coming on this trip: fellow film-friend Alicia. She wanted to room together and since we were good buddies, I did too. I had some time to carry 4 out of my 8 bags and equip. cases up to the room before our first orientation with the Czech program director, Katka. We were to meet at 5:00 pm…or better yet, 17:00 o’clock.

You could feel the energy in the air. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I sent to my mother that may describe some emotions…the power of words…the power of words:

Incredible. Amazing. Unbelievable to the human eye. Survival.
Fear. Mystery. Talent. Power. Change. Faith. Love. I miss you.

Only a couple of words to describe what I have been experiencing here
in beautiful (krasnee) Prague. What a powerful land. The streets are
just as important as the babies we nurture in our arms. The pictures I
log onto my camera(s) and soon onto a website where I can post are
making me believe that I am dreaming alive. So excited, I must look at
them a million times and one to make sure I was the person taking them.
I have never felt so much respect, power, internal appreciation and
love, guidance, and struggle in my life…all for the better!

After the orientation, I could feel that there was a great group of us here. We all had to fly, fill out the paperwork, wait, sacrifice and accept the challenge of leaving our country for 5+ weeks. I returned to room 210 and unpacked my organized chaos; ready to transform from potential to kinetic energy. Meeting in the lobby for a walk to our welcome dinner, I began to feel peace and pride. I was also blessed to be in such a place with great people and at this time, a powerful, mystical, spiritual energy that was yet to be defined.

Final thoughts: We arrived the day of the World Cup finals. Italia won in a great shootout…I celebrated in “Restaurance Casanova” with a group of wild Italians and my two new buddies, Clay and Nicki…Four of the most powerful words in any language, anywhere: “Please and Thank-you…Yes and No.” We ate a great dinner at U Petnika and realized that good food and good beer is a lot cheaper than it is at home…Come to think of it, I am home….?!?! Na Shledanou!