Global Filmmaking

iPhone recordings

2011-03-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Now that I am back in the states, I have better internet for posting video clips. Will post a few iPhone clips first and then move on to video clips in the not so distant future. I tried the iPhone on this trip as the "blog" camera and was not happy. To hard to hold and I was either recording video when I wanted to take a pic or vice versa. Funny how I mention the camera lens is not wide enough for "Self Documentary." Is that even a real thing?

Day Five shooting complete & on the road home

2011-03-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

So this quick trip is now 12 hours away from being done. Just the last leg home with one tired, smelly and slightly cranky white guy (of course that is my daily condition).

Day four included b-roll in a very, large street market setting. A little overwhelming, so today we went to a smaller market and that worked out better. We also went to the Firestone rubber plant and talked to people who have been affected by the toxic waste dumped into the river. Interesting to see thousands of rubber trees lined up in acres and acres of fields. From there I jumped on the plane finished with a whirlwind trip and some pretty interesting locations.

Liberia is an interesting place; overcoming a civil war and trying to stand on it's own two feet is not easy to do.

I am so tired I would be dangerous to drive (or operate a keyboard) so I will cut it short. Stomach a little queasy from airline food and lack of sleep.

Included a picture from Day 4 - Enjoy and will post again once I get home and sleep for a while!

Day four complete...

2011-03-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today was a so -so day for shooting. Tried to collect b-roll in the main market center. A little overwhelming to the be the white guy with a camera and trying to be discreet, so I thought I would include some images from day three. Look at the places I get to go for those of you who think I am riding the high life overseas. Hot water and A/C is out in the hotel, but over all I have slept well at this place (thanks to a ceiling fan above the bed). Tomorrow we head off to the Firestone rubber plant to interview people suffering from toxic waste. I also get to head home in the afternoon. Great news, but I am a little concerned that the shooting will get pushed as late as possible and something will go wrong. I do not want to spend the night in the Liberian airport.

Will get my butt kicked on the flight home as it is 24 hours in an airplane or airport. This time you know what you are in for, the movies you have seen, the hour sitting in Accra, Ghana is not a break but a drag and new people to share a very small space with - but hey, I'm heading home :-).

Day three complete and I am exhausted...

2011-03-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day of shooting. Stressful, as everything is with run and gun shooting on a DSLR, but interesting topics to cover.

We started of with environmental issues and visited a community that has open sewage running through their area. We interviewed people in a food shop next to the sewage river about health concerns and what can be done to help. Was hard to get close to it, but I've learned to bring gum and keep chewing, ignoring the smell. Next was a community built around a small lake/stream that floods during rainy season. No help from the government, so they started to build their own retaining wall out of swamp grass bundled up in knots. Last stop was talking to children selling items in a very large market area. Why do they sell? How much do they keep and who gets the money? Interesting to see children with no real hope, but just trying to help their family survive in most cases.

On a side note, someone stole our hubcap while we were moving slowly in traffic. I was in the back seat and some people started to point and shout at the driver as a young man ran away with his hubcap. He stopped the car in the middle of the road and gave chase, but came up short. Just earlier someone stole his turn signal light when it was parked. People steal parts off of cars to sell. He even said later they will try to sell your part back to you (if you don't get a good look at them). Also got a good case of sunburn today. Hopefully I will not become a crispy critter tomorrow. All par for the course.

Sorry about the lack of media and quick write up. Slow connection and it is after midnight. I am beyond tired. Will add media after the trip.

Day two of shooting & internet issues

2011-03-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

We completed day two of the five day trip. The most interesting part of the day was our trip to the Rock Community. It's a large rock quarry where men, women and children live and work. We went to interview people (including children) about the conditions they live and work in and talk about poverty and how it affects them. It was hard to find people to talk and I had someone with me who did not understand interviewing, which basically meant he would feed them enough of the question and answer, that they only had to respond with very brief answers. I was just trying to keep up with shooting, much less directing and interviewing while shooting. The images will be strong, not sure about the interviews. The sad part about poverty is it is a cycle. Parents have children they can't support and once a child can make any amount of money at all, there is no hope that they will ever go to school. I am surprised with the people we have interviewed, that many point to loosing someone, a father or mother, early in life and how much that affected them and changed the course of who they have become. We ended up offering the chairman of the Rock Community some money. The person I was with had no Liberian money, so I offered some US dollars. $10 was a good amount and it turned out I had $9 or $20. So he got more and was a happy camper after that.

I think this blog will be more of a post trip blog since it is hard to load images and I am still tired (the heat does not help). At least I kept lunch down today, which was a mix of rice, greens, meat, chicken and fish. Every bite had a bone.

Also having some issues with the internet today. When the power went out during the day, it never really came back up to speed (slower than dial up, but hey it was something).

Only going to include one picture from today and that is me with the small children that live in the Rock Community. They didn't really want to come close and take a picture.

Happens to me often overseas...

1st day of shooing in the can, I mean, hard drives...

2011-03-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

It's 12:30am here and we wrapped up the first day of shooting. The biggest news is that we finished the day/night by buying prostitutes in downtown Monrovia. We first tried to talk to some of the girls about taking some time to speak about their lives on camera. That wasn't going to work, so we went inside an "establishment" to try and work out a deal. Remember I am traveling with equipment, one white guy (not white like me, family comes from India) and four Africans (one female). I was asked to put away my camera that was sitting on the table as it was making the other patrons nervous. We eventually went through a maze of hallways and rooms with two girls waiting. Once the room boss saw the group and equipment (two Africans and the two white guys) he started to freak out and kicked us out. We then went to an even shadier street with the girls and found a room there.

The interviews were nothing fancy. I made a crazy shotgun mic boom handle grip thingy out of spare red rock parts. Had a grip, long shotgun with the zoom H4N mounted on the grip so you could stand close, boom from underneath and watch the zoom recorder. Had one led light I used to back light the girls so you could not see their faces. Didn't look great but we recorded their stories of loosing parents at young ages and no work. Tough girls.

Will have more to say and try to upload pictures tomorrow. Out of time and I need to catch up on sleep and get this jet lag. Was starting to fall a sleep while interviewing a UN official in the afternoon. I did manage to stay awake when we interviewed the Liberian speaker of the house.

On a side not, ran into the personal bodyguard of Charles Taylor. Huge guy that has no future now, but he does want to tell his story. Was with Taylor from the beginning and now is looking for handouts.

Could be an interesting documentary film...

Made it to Liberia!

2011-03-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Brussels was my first stop. Bumped to an aisle seat in in the extended leg room section and had no charge on the bags! (+1 for United). Have you ever went on a trip and not really checked the itinerary until you're heading out? Well the wife asked what my layover was in Brussels and I was like "I don't know." Turned out to be five hours long. Oh, so fun...

Second leg was another oops, as I did not know we were going to Ghana to pick up some people on our way to Liberia. Oh well.

Made it through customs, even though the lady said I had to pay a tax on the equipment. Said I have never had to do that. Debated with her for a while and she let me go. Close one.

After that it was waiting outside while my pickup people show up 45 minutes late and then it was out to dinner.

Now off to bed. Will post pics sometime tomorrow!

Have pics but really slow connection and I have been up for 0ver 28 hours.

Getting on the plane

2011-03-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hold on. Only 26 hours until I get to the other side.

Films from my last trip

2011-03-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here is link to videos from last years trip to Nairobi. Thought I would let some of you see my work. Enjoy!

MediaServe Videos

5 trips but worth it!

2011-03-19T14:22:00.001-07:00

So I was getting a little concerned at how the Liberian embassy was running, or I should say, "Not running." The first two out of three times I stopped by it was a national holiday - in Liberia.

Since I was leaving on Saturday and out of town Friday, Thursday worked out great. So what if it adds some grey hair. I've got plenty anyway.

On the road again...

2011-03-15T10:21:00.001-07:00

So I am thinking about blogging through the next trip. I leave Saturday for a week in Liberia, Africa. Want to help me decide to blog or not?

Here's the deal. If I get a reply from someone (a person) to this post to say "Do it, John!" I will blog my next trip.

The digital ones and zeros are in your court.

Bring it.

Blog post, only one year later...

2009-12-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hello folks.

Not sure if anyone is following this blog, but I thought I would post an update. 2009 was very slow - 2010 will hopefully be better. The glass is always half-full people!

Okay, if anyone replies they get a special surprise....

John heading out again...

2008-12-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

I will be leaving tomorrow (Tuesday) for the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Miami. Three different projects in 6 days - yikes. No laptop going with me, so no updates. Will send a link to some pictures after the trip.

See ya!
John

First video from Yosemite trip...

2008-10-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

My next adventure begins...

2008-09-09T08:34:00.001-07:00

I'm all for being aware of your surroundings, but this is just a little too much information. Which leads me into my new post. I will be traveling with my brother Tim to Yosemite National Park on Wednesday. We plan to hike Half Dome and venture around the park before heading into San Fransisco for the weekend. Should be a lot of fun, and the good news is you get to come along! Ain't cyberspace great. We have started a new blog so we might share this great adventure.

The new blog is called "Nut and Chocolate" and follows are trip through photography and video. I invite you to follow along! Check it out here: Nut and Chocolate

Scary moments in my life - Part 1

2008-09-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

So you think traveling the world is dangerous...

"First Time"
This is Mason, my new driver in the family. He is on the main road for the first time in his life. I don't remember much detail from my younger days, but I do remember the first highway drive (in Tennessee even) .

"His view"

Is it just me or does this look like some sort of video game? I can only imagine what something simple like "approaching traffic" feels like the first time "approaching traffic." There is a certain level of "I think I am going to die" when sitting beside the 15 year old with a learners permit. I mean, one day they are sitting on the couch and the next day they are sitting behind the wheel.
Scary stuff.

"Jedi Knight Driving Method"

So I told Mason, if you really want to be a good driver you have to use the force - you have to feel it. He knew immediately what I meant and drove the next ten minutes with his eyes closed. I thought it was cool, but apparently the people next to us thought it was dangerous - whimps!

Skyhouse Films returns to it's first love...

2008-08-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

So it looks like we are back together - of course she cost me a hundred bucks to get her back, but I figured how many relationships like this are going to come along in a life time? Seems an email account that the domain was under died or was dropped by GoDaddy, so I was never contacted about accounts I had with them and sure enough Skyhouse Films was one of them. Kind of scary when you call tech support to figure out some issues and they say "somebody in Texas owns skyhousefilms.com" (while you check in disbelieve and are amazed at the used cell phone add that comes up in place of your web page). Two panic filled days, but all is good now.

Won't let that happen again...

Skyhouse Films ran away with another lover...

2008-08-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Read it and weep - I know I am. Somehow, and we still have not come to a final conclusion from GoDaddy, I lost my domain. Skyhouse Films belongs to another. The other looks to be professional web grabber uppers. I sent them an email about what it will cost to get it back, we will see. I am not hopeful that anything good will happen. Looks like it is time to drum up another name, here are a few in the lead so far:
isuckatwebstuff.com
isuckatbusinessstuff.com
isuckatmanagement.com
ijustsuck.com

I am kinda leaning towards the last one.

John has birthday today :-0

2008-08-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

I turned 42 today (lucky me) and went on a hike with my brother Tim. More news on an upcoming journey involving me and my bro. Stay tuned and enjoy the pics!

Photograph on National Geographic.com!

2008-08-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

I recently submitted one of my favorite photos from the Navy mission trip. It made it as one of the twelve "Daily Dozen" shots for this week. Here is the link to the site here

I am in the running for having my shot selected to go in a future edition of National Geographic magazine (pretty cool), but I need your help. Each month the Daily Dozen picture gets voted on by viewers. Go to the web link and cast a vote/rating for my image (look under voting machine and you decide what to give it). Each month they pick one to three winners from the four Daily Dozen groups that month. Any would help would be great!

Cool beans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made the local paper...

2008-08-15T05:33:00.000-07:00

Not too hard when you contact them, but hey it's an interesting trip - I'm almost interesting (almost). FYI, working on adding photo's of my last three years of international work, also an overhaul of the blog and trying to find enough projects to keep the family fed. Had an interesting meeting about a project originating in Cuba. Will be entering some photos in contests this fall and looking forward to more photography opportunities.

Anyway, here is a link to the article online: here

More post coming about life and some future trips - one is going to be a lot of fun and you get to come along...

Hosting a family and friends screening...

2008-08-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

I will be hosting a get together this evening at our home. Family and friends will come over to have some food and then view some pictures from the trip. I love stuff like this; just hanging out, eating some "grill food" and exploring the world through media.

Will update with some pictures this weekend!

From your "international correspondent"

John makes it home and some Darwin shots

2008-07-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

I made it home safe after 32 hours of riding in airplanes. Not a lot of fun, but the backside of a long trip never is. No real issues with flights and luggage, so count your blessings. Here are some images.

Enjoy!

Sunset from the Mercy deck on our way to Darwin, Australia. It was one night and two days of travel.

My last breakfast on ship. Gotta give credit to the Navy - not to bad.

Made anchor in the morning and this was our view of Darwin. A small but very nice city with shopping, beaches and plenty of natural habitat.

This is the small port we came into. We arrived on a private boat and had to go through customs just to the right of this picture. That's Australian Navy ships in the background. Don't get to comfy with the scenery. We had large carp swimming around the pier (crystal clear water) and the boat helper told us he has a nice picture of a 13ft. croc sunning on the boat ramp about 25 ft away from the customs area - ouch!

A little beach music - Australian style. Had to dig the local grooves. This guy was way cool playing the dijerie doo (Sp?). Hard to believe one person gets all that sound out of those things. Also had a drummer to the left. Loads of fun!

Some pics from the last few days...

2008-07-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

Cutest Kid Award

This little guy was at one of the medical clinics we drove to yesterday. I tried to get his attention as he walked by (sometimes I look like a large tree to little kids because of my height and the fact that people in Asian countries tend to be smaller in size). I gave him the little "speeze" sound and he never looked up and then his mom saw me with the camera and yelled to him "photo" and he looked up instantly and started smiling like a professional. I have a series of great shots, but this one highlights his big round eyes. The white in front is part of the gum he was chewing and not just his front teeth.

The USNS Mercy is to the left of the moutain range. I beleive this is a morning shot.

This is my filmmaking buddy Malcolm. We are attending last nights closing ceremonies for Timor Leste. They had shrimp, roast beef, egg rolls, the Pacific Fleet band and a big cake cutting ceremony.

This is the after party party. I fotgot to mention that beer and wine was served at the ceremonies :-). This was a group that met for a sing and dance get together under the flight deck. What a hoot! Three guitars and "Brown Eyed Girl" sung multiply times, but my favorites were "Family Tradition" by Hank Williams jr., "Johnny Be Good" and JR Cash songs (although Brown Eyed Girl is always good). In this shot there are Navy guys playing the guitars, Aussie gal doing the dancin' (with some in the background), Canadians clapping in the green shirts and some civilians in street clothes. They also had a small group of people dancing behind them (more people came and went as the two hour session ebed and flowed). I decided to take pictures of the shindig because it was such a neat setting and another reason was to playfully blackmail the person we report to from the Navy (and no I will not point him out with the guitar). At first I was shooting directly with the flash unit into the crowd and then decided to bounce the flash off the ceiling. I cranked the iso up to 1600 and let the motion affect the picture. I love the way it adds to the static shot. Can you just hear the music with everyone singing out:
"Do you remember when we used to sing, Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da"

Not to confuse you with life seeming to be one big party, here are a couple of shots for the work I am actually doing on the ship. This is a girl getting transfered from surgery to a recovery bed. She had surgery on her leg and they needed to keep them straight so she was transfered using the sheets. I was following a nurse named Candy on the far left from Project Hope.

This is Diane in the kids ward from Project Hope. A mom and son get dinner and some instructions. He is in for cleft palette surgery. Over 70 were performed by Operation Smile.

A Kids class from Florida or California made these cards for the sailors. Pretty cool to have them posted everywhere with encouraging messages. A group of people on the ship wrote return letters. Pretty important to support the troops. It makes a difference!

Do you remember these two people? They were the ones I followed in the military truck to the helicopter site for transport to the ship. The son had his operation and was doing fine. If you go to a clinic and meet people, when they see you on the ship they give you a big smile and wave. What a journey for this family and a very happy ending.

Night time on the ship with a 30 second shutter release. The streak on the left in the water is a small boat going by that patrols the area 24 hours a day while we are in port (two of them are out and about). The sun had set about 30 minutes before and I used my small tripod to record some pretty cool night stuff.

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Need to head off to bed; it is very late (1:30am) and I have 6:00am wake up. We are heading to Australia and are entering the bigger water now as I can feel the ship rocking. They say it can get rough and we had to make sure everything was secure around us before going to bed.

Enjoy the pics and I would love to hear your comments!

Internet acting up, John feeling down...

2008-07-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Will have some pictures to post later today. Internet has been hit or miss the last few days. I am still feeling under the weather and will head to sick call after this post to get some cold medicine. Doing a little shooting and hanging out on the ship. Three more days and we are on the road to Darwin, Australia.

Stay tuned...

Some pics from the MedCap...

2008-07-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

The MedCap was on the other side of the Island of Timor Leste. It is basically a medical clinic with adult/peds docs seeing patients with dental (extractions) and Opto (eyeglasses). We went by helicopter and stayed from Sunday through Friday. Here are some pics from the trip. They are out of order (blogger, I hate you), but I will leave comments for each picture...

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We had an Australian security detail working traffic for us. They were big, strong with muscles and guns. We had no problems :-)

This is one of my favorites (other one coming up). This little girl was afraid of me, not the first time mind you, so I shot this from the hip walking by her. I guess, for me, it was capturing her at a time when she was unaware. It is simple, but she was lovely in the red dress. I have a lot more of her.

Dr. Jonathan Green (my new friend) from Project Hope exams a patient. I have a ton of patient stuff, but wanted to give you a just a few. I didn't even notice the camera guy in the background. They flew some media people out for a 30 minute photo op.

I love this dental picture because of the man's shirt. My son Trey would love that shirt. Of course, I love the overhead view and wide angle lens.

This is another one of my favorites. This lady was traveling to the landing zone for transport to the ship by helo. I scored a ride in the back of the truck with them. The little girl on the right is going for a cleft surgery. I love the positioning, the lighting and the way they are holding each other. I believe what adds power to this shot is the eyes looking into the camera. There is a level of uncertainty about what is next. At the LZ, the women started crying as some of her children showed up to say goodbye. Can you imagine living in a village all your life and then getting in a truck, on a black hawk helicopter and flying to a hospital ship for surgery?

The Aussies set up a line to control the flow of people entering the gate.

Group shot. These are the 23 people on the trip. A few civilians, reservists, public health, Navy, Air Force and Army. I was behind the camera. Notice the dog? This was the dog who stayed with us at our place. We named her "Ribs" Not a hard guess as to why. We plumped her up some before we left.

Me on the Black Hawk helicopter. Pretty fun ride. On the way back they gave us the extra special version and swooped through mountains and valleys. Way cool!

This was the LZ (landing zone for you non-military type). The Australians base camp was just to the lower right of the picture.

Shot from the town bridge on a little walking tour.

Riding to the place we are going to stay in the back of a big mititary truck. Watch the bumps cause it gets rough.

Man peeks over fence as he waits in line. The clinic was run at a local school. Not uncommon to have glass embedded in the top of the concrete wall in other countries.

Thanks for looking through the pictures. I have about 1495 more, but it is pretty slow to upload on the computers here. It is nice to keep you posted and show you some of my world.

Health update: Was able to take a three hour nap today. Still feeling under the weather. Hopefully this cold will turn around soon, if not, off to sick call...

Thanks for following along....

I am alive...

2008-07-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hey there.
Made it back after 6 days in the jungle (or small town in the mountains).

Wanted to let you know I am back and in good health except for a cold I have picked up sleeping next to a window. It would not have been so bad if I had brought sheets and blankets on the trip. Somehow I missed that memo. So I went with nothing but the sheet on the bed (if you can call it a bed) and my towel as a blanket. I was very tired and usually get run down and pick up the a little cough. Need to rest and take some Comtrex...

Will post some visuals very soon. I will also find out what's next. Overall we had about 1000 people come out to the clinic. One case of some really bad foot disease that no one could explain, lots of TB patients and some interesting Australian security detail with big muscles and big guns and a couple of really cool Black Hawk helicopter rides.

Some firsts for me:
-MRE for lunch daily (meals ready to eat)
-Actually using the Asian "squatty" toilet (whole in the ground)
-Black Hawk helicopter ride
-Taking a shower in the toilet (hose water - did that twice and it was bad...)
-Loving being back on the ship! (and I thought it was tough here, but now - 5 star hotel!)

Made 23 new friends on the trip. Will have some pictures later. Have to get some ready for the ships Ops briefing tonight. They will be showing some of my pictures :-)

See ya!

Saturday news and reviews...

2008-07-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Word up...
Just wanted to report the latest happenings and include some video clips and pictures. Today was the first day off the ship since Singapore. We (Malcolm, my filmmaking counterpart), went in to Dilli to the opening ceremonies. Pretty low key, but was worth the effort. I have a couple pictures from the helicopters dropping stuff off and picking stuff up on the pier. But first up is the latest news from today: I will start with the little news I told you about in the previous entry, I am leaving for a five day trip to the other side of Timor. We get to fly by helicopter over the mountains to a fairly remote place and set up for what they call a MedCap. It really is like a medical clinic with doctors and nurses. She see a lot of people and I am excited to go. So no communication for five to six days :-( The other new is that we tried ot run another Doc film discussion group, but the DVD player did not like the DVD and would sputter on playback. Kind of a bummer. We had about 20 people. Will pick back up with it when I return.
That's about it for new news. Here is a look at the mess hall and the food we eat:

I have more clips but time is against me and I need to get at least SOME sleep. These are some pics from the trip in for the opening cermonies:

Well folks I gotta run. I will be off the air for a few days and will be back with a whole bunch of pictures and stories. Stay tuned and keep those comments coming!

Enjoy.

Pictures and updates...

2008-07-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hey there.
Almost 11:00pm here and I am wiped out. A few interesting pictures for you to see. First up is another sunset with a helicopter doing manuevers and the one after that is the helpicopter working on take offs and landings on the flight deck. It is always windy on the ship and the take off/landing spot is not that big of an area and interesting to watch them ride those birds in wit hthe wind. The helicopters are of course very loud and shake the top of the boat - especially when you are eating below in the mess hall. Pretty cool to watch them take off and fly away...

Next up is a the shirt I made and wore at our "Shellback" event. It was done in marker and all the red washed out (or on me). I was "DJ Dish-Wog." Everyone was a Pollywog before finishing the event and now is a bonna fide Shellback. This proves I was there and the sore muscles prove I had to do lots of push ups and sit ups.

The last picture is what happened tonight. We sailed by a VOLCANO!!!! It was really, really cool. Just this massive rock sticking out of the sea spitting out ash or smoke (or something) and I have the shots to prove it:

It would spit out stuff every once in a while from the center. It is not a lava volcano, just a smokey one. Really fun to go by it; lots of people out taking pictures.

NEWS UPDATE...

Here is what I know from my schedule. We are arriving in East Timor in the morning. We go on shore for the opening ceremony (10:15am our time - we are 13 hours ahead). Lots of big wigs from the country including their president. Then it is back to the boat for the rest of the day. I am trying to get another film discussion group together for the evening. They cancelled the one for tonight because of some Navy training. They have also asked to run them on the ship's closed circuit tv for everyone to be able to watch - pretty cool. We will still get our group together and discuss the film. We can only fit about 40 people in the room, so it can't get too full. Apparently they like docs. Part of it is people hungry for good content and not just movies and lot's of people in the military with world experiences that connect them with global issues.

I will save another special announcement for tomorrow's blog.

Thanks for following along.

Enjoy!

First ever doc film group meets on Navy ship!

2008-07-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

We had our first documentary film and discussion meeting tonight in the officers lounge. Things went pretty well, especially after the sound was fixed at about 15 minutes in (surround sound issues). Had a decent group of about 25. Good news - they want to continue tomorrow night!

Next film up is "The Devil's Miner" (a Tom Eckblad favorite). Fun to get back in the swing of things. It has been a year since I ran one of these things. We had Navy, Canadian and Australian military present, along with some civilians.

Can't wait for another film and discussion time.

Enjoy!

Movie clips at sea...

2008-07-10T00:07:00.000-07:00

Just some clips from around the ship. They are smaller in size and shorter in length because of file size restrictions. More to come later...

Scenes from the ship...

2008-07-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics while we travel. We arrive at East Timor July 12th. Two more days to travel and we will be there. I am also working on some small video clips from the boat. Did my first load of laundry this morning at 5:00am. It is tricky to find the time when one of the other 1000 ship mates is not trying to get some laundry done!

Looks like I will run a documentary film and discussion group tonight in the officers lounge. We will watch the Beauty Academy of Kabul. Wish I had Tom Eckblad with me (they would love the long hair Tom!). Should be interesting.

Enjoy!

Sunset day 2

Sunset day 3

Flight deck

Ready and watching

Bug Spray on steroids

From the bridge

Running at night

Just finished the "Shellback" test - I made it!

2008-07-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Four hours of yelling, screaming, crazy songs, exercise nazis, blowing dirty water out of tie down holes on the flight deck, crawling through oatmeal, oranges, drinking special juice blindfolded, hose spraying, gatorade swimming and a whole lot more - welcome to the Navy. This is a rite of passage for people crossing the equator on a navy vessel. It was used as a test for shipmates to make sure you had what it takes. Now the Navy has toned it down, way down. They don't even swear at you anymore (although there were a few slips...) and of course, no picture taking at all. You even had to sign a waiver form to participate.

So you will have to trust me on this one, it was fun! Except maybe waking up at 5:00am and eating green eggs and ham without be able to use utensils. I will take a picture of the shirt I made and that will prove it!

Steel beach is tonight (casual dress and cook out). Looks like the cook out will happen in the mess hall because of high winds on the flight deck. I will take some pics and movies and send them off.

Gotta run and grab some chow.

Enjoy!

Movie clips from the USNS Mercy...

2008-07-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

From the boat:

In the Boat:

Here are the pics (fingers crossed)...

2008-07-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

Front of the ship

Side of ship with gangway to port. Six stories of converted oil tanker.

Actually these are kept warm in Singapore. Maybe they don't dig the cold coffee!

Layover in Japan.

Snack food we had in Japan (at least I had one).

Waiting in Singapore airport. No ride and we spent the night - bummer.

Downtown Singapore.

Cross walk signs or aliens are on the loose?

Some pics from the start...

2008-07-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

Starting to post some pics. I needed to clear stuff with the Navy first and now try to manage the blinding slow speed here on the ship. I am also exhausted and can barely stay awake as the computer churns out the goodness. It is 9:50pm here and I was up at 5:15am.

Enjoy the pics!

PC woes...

2008-07-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey there.

Just a morning update. I have been attempting to load up some pics and videos on the lounge PC's but can't seem to get them to work (did I mention I hate PC's?). Spent the last thirty minutes and need to go to plan "b" - find my USB jump drive that is locked away in the hospital admin closet. The closet only one person has a key for on the ship....

I am off to breakfast and then to catch the morning sunrise. the sun seems to rise late and go down early. We cross the equator today and they have some kind of initiation ritual for people who have not crossed on a Navy ship before - sounds fun! (tatoo's and hazing here we come). After you cross on a Navy ship (and perform the "deeds") you are called a "shellback." Anybody have any background info on that? We are also working on fire drills and man over board drills today.

I am also thinking about getting my haircut in the barber shop! What do you think? What some video of me getting my head shaved by a Navy hairstylist?

Let me know what you think - cast your vote and we will see if John gets the chair!

Will work out the posting bugs and have something later today.

Enjoy!

The ship is on the road...

2008-07-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

Of course the ship is in the water, but you get the idea. We left port today at 2:00pm and have made our way through the Singapore straights. The good news is that I am in the NGO internet lounge and I have just set-up my locker, which means I have access to my computer for pictures and videos - a brave new world is about to begin! The connection is really slow, but I think I can manage. So get ready for some images and video clips. The down side is once we reach East Timor life will get very busy and not sure how much posting I will be able to do.

So we are on the high seas and begining to settle into the slight rocking of the boat. Last night was a trip into Sinapore for some sightseeing and dinner. I was able to grap a shower (stinky john) and get into some clean clothes.

I will let the pictures do the talking pretty soon, so get ready.

Also, drop me a comment if you are following along. Would love to know who is watching!

Eye Eye Maity (somebidy help me with spelling :-)

Enjoy!

Stuck in Singapore...

2008-07-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

Well we just did the airport hostel (yes singapore has everything!). This place has to be my favorite airport. Not really a hostel, but we did manage to get a 4 hour napping slot (darkened room with your own couch like area) and a shower (private of course - rated the best shower I have ever had!) and internet for a bout $41. Well worth it...

So we arrived in Singapore at midnight and never had our ride show up. Around 3:30am we bagged it and tried the hotel airport (did I say Singapore has everything?), it was around $200 a night, so we opted for the "lounge" hotel.

Still can't upload any stills as I am at an internet terminal with no access to ports. Good news is we find out (or checked emails) and we do have a satellite phone number for someone on board the ship. In about two minutes I will try to give them a buzz and hopefully someone from the Navy will swing by.

36 hours traveling and I haven't touched the real world yet. Funny how we look at life through the exterior, eyes see and we judge and understand based on that. Wouldn't life be awful if all we knew of other countries and people was from visiting their airports?

Gotta get to boat...

Enjoy!

Landed in Tokyo...

2008-07-05T00:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update from an internet terminal in the airport. Pictures will come later, but wanted to catch you up.

I have been traveling 13 hours on a plane from Dulles Airport and now have a 3 hour layover in Tokyo, Japan (Naritia Airport). Will take the 6 hour flight to Singapore and then head right to the Navy ship. Did I say "Navy Ship"? I will be three weeks on-board the Navy hospital ship "Mercy." We will travel to East Timor in Indonesia. I will be doing filmmaking and photography for Project Hope (www.projecthope.org).

Follow along as "I be all I can be" (or is that the villiage people?).

So far no problems except for the lack of sleep (3:30am east coast time as I write).

Hang on - it should be fun!

john

The next adventure starts...

2008-07-01T05:59:00.001-07:00

Hi Campers.

Wanted to come back and give you the news - Johns on the run.

I will be leaving this Friday (yes that is the 4th of July Friday) for a 25 day trip... and I am not heading to Woodstock.

This will be the longest trip away for me and my family. No real choice in the matter as it starts and it don't stop till it's done. It will be my longest trip, but my most stationary. I will be on a Navy ship the whole time. I might need therapy after this one (okay, more therapy than I already get).

More details to come. Might switch the blog over to Word Press. I am also finishing up a editing project for International Justice Mission, so time is really tight.

Hang on folks, time to follow the lonely traveler again.

At least this time I won't get lost as much - I hope...

John

NAB fades into black

2008-04-17T20:37:00.001-07:00

Well I made it through 4 days of walking and talking. I am so tired I could drop and not move for two days. Never thought standing with camera gear and talking to every stranger that walks by would be so tiring. This is a picture with Danny and his wife Shulimate at the DV TEC booth (which of course my spelling of Shulimate is way off I am sure, so sorry).

Sitting at the Aunties Annie Anne's pretzel store getting ready for a red eye flight back. Sorry about no updates, to tired to run around with the camera. I did have Nate Clarke tell me I made it on a podcast video clip walking in the background. I will post the link when I find it!

Didn't get to see much, but was impressed by Red, DV Multi Rig Pro (where I worked), final Cut Server, Adobe Premier Pro, Panasonic Cameras, people playing back hi-res footage from Macbook Pro Laptops at their booths, J-lab LCD Monitor and Red Rock Micro Matte Box.

Things not so impressive: Wedding shooters (sorry, I just call it as I see it), Japanese and Chinese companies at the show that don't speak english, short people (okay, I am tired and need someone to pick on), people in suits, 8 dollar cheeseburgers and people who have money to actually buy new equipment.

Thanks to Matt at Mcgee Digital for allowing a roommate to tag along (do you get the bill for the midgets?).

Fun time had by all. Now back to work that pays the bills!

John

Small update

2008-04-16T00:55:00.001-07:00

Have been working the DV Tec booth and not made it out and about much. Will start to take pics and do some video Wednesday and Thursday. Hit the invite only Panasonic party Monday night (snagged a ticket from my old Pany rep in Minneapolis - I spent about $500k while in MN and he owes :-).

Thursday night is the big Final Cut Super meet. Lot's of great goodies. It all becomes a blur after a few hours. Not the place you want to wander around in.

More reports to come later. Will more than likely be post NAB.

John

John arrives in Las Vegas!

2008-04-14T00:54:00.000-07:00

I have arrived for a few days in Las Vegas, NV. I will be working the National Association of Broadcasters convention for DV Tec. NAB has about 100,000 techies looking at the latest and greatest TV equipment. I hope to post some updates and new equipment reviews as I make my way around the convention .

More news to come later, right now I need to get to bed - it is 4:00am East Coast time!

John

John learning to edit on Final Cut Pro

2008-04-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, it had to be done. I switched from the edit system I have used for the last 13 years to Final Cut Pro. And this is pretty much how my first day went. As I entered uncharted waters the help of "Final Cut Pro for Avid Editors" was a boost to my shattered self confidence. Sure the picture is a little dramatic and it actually turned out to go better each day - enough to say I finished my first editing project. Will see if I can post the project as it is material from a faith based org doing work in sensitive areas (yes, ignore the lightning bolts in the FCP window, this is serious stuff).

And I have figured out how to export the right aspect, so I can actually post clips now.

Woohoo!

Flying home!

2008-03-19T10:16:00.001-07:00

After yesterday's 15 hour day, I am getting ready for the trip home this morning. Will take 10 hours with the time change and lay overs - o' what fun...

Thanks for following along!

John

Door People 2

2008-03-19T00:15:00.000-07:00

Video clips from today

2008-03-19T00:07:00.001-07:00

So here are two almost the same clips from my digital still camera. I asked one of the actors (the on camera guy) to record some will I ran camera. At least I thought about you while I was doing something else (a rare thing for me).

Shooting with the Canon XH-A1, handheld rig, Brevis 35 adapter and Ikan monitor.

Enjoy!

Production stills from today

2008-03-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Since I can't seem to work out exporting clips in the right aspect ratio (will research that one), I have decided to show some pics. They are from an interview done today. A few things to notice: small room, minimal lighting and "it's not my tripod." What a wonderful start to the day when you are setting up and realize the tripod is back at the hotel. Had to borrow one from the church we were shooting at make it work. And yes they are all the same interview...

Also shot another scene from the scripted piece and captured some b-roll from a training meeting.

Enjoy!

One day of shooting done

2008-03-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hey there.
Benn working on exporting some footage and a no go. Aspect ratio is off on the 16x9 HD material. Man, I hate technology. I tried, but can't seem to get it to work.

More interviews tomorrow and collecting footage for second project. Will give it one more try.
John

John arrives in Phoenix and meets Shaq!

2008-03-16T02:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the second part is not true, but the first part is true - does that make it a half truth? We can call it marketing...

Anyway, I made here and it is 5:24am my time. Small delay in Denver and then another delay with the rental car. I flew Frontier and the bag check was not working so I was able to scoot on board without paying for an extra bag or weight. The above pic is is one weary guy ready for bed and the equipment I get to lug around.

Tomorrow I will be filmming at a church and doing some interviews in the afternoon. I should really unpack all the gear and get it ready for tomorrow, but I am too tired. Need the rest.

Will update at the end of tomorrow.

Thanks for following along.
john

Delays in Denver, new camera clip

2008-03-16T02:03:00.000-07:00

Testing out my new still camera that I use for video clips. Looks like I will be able to edit the clips from this camera (a Panasonic). My microphone is not as good, but hopefully I can tweak it a little. We will call this an update, but it is really a test.

Enjoy!

Saddle up campers for "Domestic Filmmaking"

2008-03-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

Yup, you read it right, John is on the road again. This time I am heading out to Phoenix, AZ (I must be attracted to hot sand). You think it will be a piece of cake because it's America? Guess again!

I leave Saturday evening for four days of shooting two different projects. One is the domestic side of the international trip (remember that one?) and the other is a fun little promotional piece for Frontiers. This time I think I can bring you some behind the scenes footage and fun updates. My edit system is working and I am off to get a new still camera that will record in a video format I can do some quick editing so the adventure is a little less choppy. I have heard some people watched clips in reverse (mainly because I have to remember to load them in reverse :-).

We will give it another go, so follow along and as always:
Enjoy!

john

Some pics to share

2008-03-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Made it home with small delays and big "D"

2008-03-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

Hey all.
Just wanted to let you know I am save and sound in Virginia. Came home last night tired, under the weather and with the big "D." Can you believe I go through Turkey, Morocco and France and eat whatever I want and then have some food on the airplane and it causes me extra trips to the toilet - funny. I think it was the sour cream salad dressing or the piece of cheese I ate that maybe the outside covering was not suppose to be eaten. Anyway, thanks Lufthansa.

Get to shoot tomorrow so it is only a day to rest and get the gear back together and pick up an interview in DC. Busy, busy.

Thanks again!
John

Heading home

2008-02-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

The time has arrived and I am starting to pack for an early morning flight. Can't wait to get back to good ole Virginia.

Don't know if I will be able to blog anymore on this trip, so I wanted to say thanks to everyone who followed along. I will keep the blog going, so this is only the start - more trips, more fun, more walking. Stay tuned...

Catch the latest updates on Flickr and Vimeo.

Thanks again!

john

Parking in France

2008-02-28T13:12:00.001-08:00

Look, the cars are not big, why the trouble with parking them?

Can you say - "wine with every meal!"

Flickr pictures updated & Vimeo clips added

2008-02-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

Catch the latest images.

You know what to do.

Hunt for Food 2

2008-02-28T02:12:00.001-08:00

Here is a clip of the never ending walking and humanities need to sustain itself - basically I am getting food. More clips at the Vimeo site.

Enjoy!

Looking for Hotel

2008-02-28T01:39:00.000-08:00

Here I am in France looking for my hotel. The saga continues on the Vimeo site.

Enjoy!

Hotel Hunt 1 from JOHN GYOVAI on Vimeo.

New pictures and videos added!

2008-02-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

Catch them on Flickr and Vimeo.

You know what to do...

Made it to France!

2008-02-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

I am in my hotel after another long day. Luggage is on it's way and hopefully will make it before the interview is suppose to start (some items are in the luggage bag, but could do an interview without it).

Had a two hour delay leaving Fes, Morocco, so that made the luggage transfer not work. I also had a time finding the hotel in France. You should catch the videos on the Vimeo site to see what I mean.

Last meal in Morocco

2008-02-27T01:42:00.001-08:00

My last meal in Morocco.

I ordered a pastry (different than the one I wanted, but no worries) an American coffee (thick, small, black with lots of sugar cubes) and a banana (I received a banana shake instead of the banana I pointed too). It was a good and fitting meal for my send off and summed up the entire trip so far (odd, not what you expected, but pleasantly surprised).

I leave for the airport in five minutes and hope to make it through security without any troubles. One guide told me they will take your tapes if they think you are a professional without permits. For me, I am just a big white tourist and I have the video clips to prove it!

Hopefully I will post from France sometime today.

Thanks for taking the journey with me...
John

Tuesday update and new clips added to Vimeo

2008-02-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

Having trouble with Blogger again. Wanted to let you know there are some new clips on the Vimeo site. Will be booking my hotel for France in a few minutes through the web. I leave in the morning for a 12:00pm flight and will arrive at my final destination around 7:30pm. Interviews the next day, spend the night and then leave early in the morning to come home - woohoo!

Spent the day wandering around collecting some footage. Nothing to exciting. I am tired of filmmaking the sneaky way. I have a couple of pics, but can't seem to get them to load through blogger. Nothing special, so I will just skip it for tonight. I watched some of Barber Shop 2 on the TV. I have not seen any fun TV in a while since CNN International edition is the only thing I can get. Fun to laugh at the TV (Yes, I laugh at the TV, that's where the sound and picture comes from).

Went to McDonalds today. I can't resist trying fast food in other countries. I ordered the McArabia - it was not good. Didn't have the camera with me, so you don't get to see the packaging, but I get the feeling they are making it to be like the street food. Whatever sells I guess, my favorite part is the McDonalds pant the employees where - they were snazzy.

Will talk again soon.

I will see about internet connection while in France, I don't know but will try to make it work.

Anybody watching the short clips on Vimeo?

2008-02-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to check and see how effective it is posting pictures and videos on another website. Has anyone watched the video clips?

My plan was to post everything here, but blogger seems to lock up during some video clip transfers.

Let me know what you think?

Vimeo and Flickr websites updated

2008-02-25T13:21:00.001-08:00

Catch all 85 pictures on the Flickr site (sorry so many and no descriptions yet, but you can figure them out!) and some new short videos on the Vimeo site.

Find the links on the right side and

Enjoy!

Longer update and trip details

2008-02-25T13:11:00.001-08:00

Writing on the way to the desert. We have been traveling for five hours and have about two and half to go. A really nice trip so far. We are traveling through the Middle Atlas in Morocco (one of Morocco’s mountain ranges). I am listening to John Lee Hooker and enjoying the sights. It is stunning to say the least. Beautiful mountains, rustic, majestic and diverse. The great thing is we are in the middle of the mountain range. Not beside, but up and down and in-between. Not sure where they shot the original Star Wars but this looks like some of it. Lot’s of pictures from the little camera, so enjoy. I also ran into an American photographer traveling on assignment. The driver from yesterday stopped and was leaving at the same place we just pulled into. Just a brief talk and looking over some gear, but nice to meet a fellow traveler. I told him I would love to do more photography and he said he would love to do more video – too funny. I enjoy being on the road as long as the sites are good. I would rather see something new, especially natural beauty, than spend time in a city. I find the countryside fascinating. We will see what the next two days hold. Hard to use the time on the road when I need to be busy collecting footage, but the rain has not made it easy. Can collect some footage on our way. Just picked up a nice shot of a Berber woman with some tattoos on her face (traditional markings). Café’s seem like the best place to film people and street life. Have to spend more time having tea!

Here are some of my thoughts on the trip so far. It will be a longer post, but I have the time and want to catch you up to date.

Flights to Turkey and the initial trip were not exactly great. I came into Turkey with no firm plans; they did come together at the very end. I don’t sleep well on planes, airports or new places, so it all catches up to me when I go for 36 hours without sleep. Stayed with the American doc and then two other families in Turkey. Was sent with a note when boarding the returning train to have a taxi take me to a hotel close to the airport, it turned out the train ride was more than twice as long as expected. I did ride with a young college student and we spoke the whole way (or attempted to speak). He said he was an atheist. I guess this should not surprise me, since turkey is very secular. If you are interested in learning more about the very, very interesting period going on now in Turkey, look for the current Newsweek cover story on Turkey. Some really interesting things are happening. While I was in country one news report was about a young man who through acid on the legs of a girl who he said was wearing her skirt too short. Another story was about head coverings and the right to where them at government jobs and school. Another story was the Kurds and some rioting and government clashes in the north. The Turkish people really hate the Kurds. Still a little shocking to have someone just come out and tell and they are dirty gypsies and terrorists and the person hates them. So on the last night, after the long train ride and my new young friend helping me with the taxi driver, he said there were no hotels in the area the note told him to go. It turned out we went to downtown Izmir, which is about 25 minutes away from the airport. He took me to a two star hotel and it looked like a dive, then a three star hotel and I ran in and no one spoke English. It would not have been a big deal, but I had a very early flight and not that much Turkish money left (I needed to get some) and no dinner. The time was 10:00pm. At that point I told him to take me to the Hilton, which the American doctor two days before told me this is where the Americans stay when they come into town. Off to the very expensive Hilton and it was worth every penny.

The next day was a long one - Izmir to Istanbul for a 7:00am flight. Couple hours in the airport and then on to Casablanca. While traveling to Morocco I sat next to a conservative Muslim women and we talked about Islam and Christianity the whole way. It was an eye opening experience on so many levels. Too much to talk about here, but I learned a great deal. There is so much more to my faith and the religions of the world outside of America. We are definitely a blessed country, but very little history as it relates to the rest of the world. The forefathers did a great job of thinking through so many items that effect a society. In one sense it would be easy to live out your religion in a country that you are born into that religion, are taught to memorize it’s holy words, have no competing thoughts or ideas, not allowed certain items that might interfere (alcohol, art and freedom of speech to name a couple) and is works based to enter heaven (we all love to work for our rewards). Really makes you want to understand more about the three monotheistic religions. Maybe this is the start to learning more about Islam.

I had a nine hour layover that I had hoped to head into the city for some footage and a chance to capture the world famous Mosque along the coast. After talking to cab drivers, rental agents and general confusion; in which I would have rented a car but they could not communicate the driver position or what side of the road they drove on – like Europe they said, which I thought that was opposite of the USA, so I didn’t want that and it turns out “like Europe” meant the rest of Europe, not Britain, because the cars and roads are the same as the US. I ended up having a couple of slick guys drive me into the city, which was not all that close to the airport. I wouldn’t recommend this, as you must walk out the airport like your heading to the parking lot and then they come and pick you up. Same for the drop off, they zip in like it’s a drug run and keep moving, all this and no background on who the people are and how to communicate with them. My driver did not speak English and the deal was $50 for five hours and it turned out to be 2 ½ hours. You win some you loose some. I am also too nice for stuff like this, as I could have started to raise a fit and maybe squeezed out more time or less money.

I eventually made it to Fez and had a good time in the Medina (market place with a labyrinth of streets and alleys) and then headed out to some Roman Ruins the next day. It was raining both days and I make the quick decision (also based on some arm twisting by the guide) to head to the desert. I previously wrote briefly about the experience and now am traveling back to Fez. Spent the night in the desert, rode camels and drove for two and half days. Had some market time and ran into the American photographer again who is with his girlfriend and had lunch together. The desert was fun and we had good weather. I was in a small group with two American men on some vacation time. Now it is back to Fez where we are heading into rain and snow. Bummer. Will figure out what to shoot my last day in Morocco and then off to France for some interviews.

Will be home on Friday – I can’t wait.

Off to the desert - for real

2008-02-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

So we stopped at a hotel on the way to the desert. Nice place and I had a pretty good sleep. Sore throat is coming on and still feel like I need two days of sleep/rest. Off to video at a market and then on to the sand dunes. Hopefully will work out the video clips, but have my doubts. So it is pictures for now and I will make sure to do some video from the small still camera.

We will see about internet. If no,t I will be back online Monday night (Monday day for you).

John

Last night's blog dinner pic

2008-02-23T12:54:00.000-08:00

Uploading some pictures at the cafe that has wi-fi last night and I ordered an omelet with coffee. It was yummy!

Pictures updated on the Flickr site

2008-02-23T12:41:00.001-08:00

Lots of pictures from the road trip today on the Flickr site.

Made it to the hotel after 8 hours on the road. Beautiful trip. This has to be the new motorcycle ride for some people I know who might be interested (Tim!). We passed a bunch of guys hauling dirt bikes on trailers to the desert. Hopefully the rain will stop (it is causing the electricity to go out in my room) - so pray for no rain!

Feeling a little under the weather. Sleep has been little and cold rainy conditions do not help. Will try to get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow we are off to a market and then to the desert. Getting ready to send off a bigger overview of the trip. Should be later tonight. Need to continue to work through technical difficulties with laying footage into Final Cut Pro.

Not sure if any of this is interesting to any of you (except the family). Still trying to figure out how to make it interesting. Sometimes I forget to pull the camera out, like today when we (the driver and I) stopped for some food and the guy who was fixing our food finished off the meat on a hind quarter and walked over in front of our table and threw the big leg bone in the trash can in front of us. Didn't take long before the dogs got it. Too funny. Don't ask if anybody washes their hands, I am kind of suprised I have not hugged the toilet yet. I do have hair coming out in weird places...

Riding in style

2008-02-23T01:48:00.001-08:00

Off to the desert and wanted to check the web before I left (having trouble with Final Cut Pro). The driver is nice and we have a new Mercedes van to ride in style.

I might be out for a day or two depending on the internet connections.

See ya!
John

Heading to the Desert

2008-02-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

Well I have decided, and I might add while the rain was pouring, to make the long trek to the desert. We will see if it works out and turns into interesting footage. More time on the road is not something I look forward too, but it has been rainy here and hard to shoot. Hopefully we will hit some interesting places along the way and I can capture some village life. Leave tomorrow morning (Saturday) and return on Monday. I will then have another day to capture some footage around the Medina and Fez. It does not look like I will be able to talk too much religion with someone on camera or capture religious life on camera, might have to do that back in the states. You can only go so far towards shooting around a Mosque. I was able to film people in the market today, so that went well. most of the trip has turned into tourism, hard to break out of that when that is the only way to get around (as a tourist). I also can't seem to get the footage from the video camera into the computer to show clips. This trip has been filled with those kind of technical challenges.

At times I have felt very lonely and isolated. I really have felt like a foreigner for the first time in my filmmaking. My most trips have been with people I know or at least have met and we work together in country. this has been a little different as it has been guide based or on my own. Not seeing other Americans is not new (Myanmar) but not being with Americans is another thing. I guess I miss the family as I was very busy for the last month before I left for this trip.

Another downside will be lack of internet. I was just starting to catch up on some things (and figure them out) and now will be on the road without . So if you don't hear from me, everything is okay, just no connection.

That's the update.
John

Picture updates at Flickr site

2008-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

See the new ones, no videos today.

Popular sandwich from the street vender

2008-02-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

It's food, not terds!

So it may not look to good, but it is yummy.

Today the guide went to the butcher, picked out some meat, he added some onion, garlic and green stuff (brain does not work enough to think of the name), ground it up and worked it into a ball and put it in a plastic bag. We walked over to the cokker guy and sat down and they cooked it up. Pretty good stuff!

Milk shake mania

2008-02-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

Treated myself to a milkshake last night. Sorry it is sideways, blogger does not allow you to tweak, so I am keeping this way!

Funny thing is they give you sugar cubes. What am I to do with sugar cubes?

Milkshake was a scoop of ice cream and malt mix. Not bad, a little different. Cost about 25 cents.

New videos added at Vimeo site

2008-02-21T11:44:00.001-08:00

Click the link on the right to view new videos!

Enjoy.

Pictures at a new flickr site

2008-02-21T11:34:00.001-08:00

Here is the link to a new Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalfilmmaking/

Catch all the pics at this new location.

Enjoy!

Blogger working again!

2008-02-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

Hey gang.

Here is the deal. Blogger is working at the new Cyber Cafe across from the hotel I am staying for the next 6 days. I will continue to blog and make this more informational with some pictures. I will add videos to my Vimeo site. So please click the link on the left to see videos. I should be updating every day now. I will also upload some larger files from the normal video camera (work footage and could even do some in HD). I will be transfering all my footage to my photography drive as I was told today by guide that they like to take your footage at the airport inspection if they think you are a professional and did not get permits (ooops!). I will transfer the footage to the drive and at least have a back up in case they take my tapes.

One day down in the Medina in Fez. Pretty incredible sights and sounds. I have also created a Flickr account to post pictures. I will be dumping all my small camera pics and will start to go through the better still camera pics soon. I just found out I did not bring my charger for the digital still camera. Too much of a rush out the door and for some reason I tossed it or it did not make it in my bag. Will see how to fix that, I do have two batteries. Please check the side of the blog for the link to the Flickr account.

That's it for now...

On the road to Ephesus video clips...

2008-02-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the clips from the little still camera!

Trouble loading video clips...

2008-02-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

Hey gang.

Having trouble loading video clips. Will have to wait until I get to a stable internet setting, hopefully that won't be backhome :-)

Here's a pic of the home I stayed in last night. It was cold and the family let me sleep with the heater in the room. I loaded up on shirts (long and short) and doubled up on pants and socks. Still cold. Ambian to the rescue.

Tomorrow is shooting around Aydin, Turkey and then back to Izmir by train. I will be traveling like a school kid with a note in Turkish for the taxi cab driver to take me to a hotel near the airport. I'm not worried... not a lot.

Dogs love me - Ephesus road trip pictures

2008-02-18T11:20:00.000-08:00

So the dog's at John's house love me - I think...

Here are some pics on the road to Ephesus. Yes I drove. I gave a ride to one of John's friends to a town right before Ephesus. He did not speak a word of English. The only times we spoke, well kind of, was some hand directions he gave after we started driving out Izmir - the wrong way of course. The we went by an airport and he started drawing pictures of a stick figure and lines pointing to a circle. I finally figured out he was asking how much the plane ticket was to Turkey (not a picture of "this is how I am going to kill you"). Of course I blew his mind with my high priced multi country air fare. Guess he thinks he can never make it out now.

Enjoy!

Coldest Church Ever

2008-02-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Back online for a little bit...

Sunday we went to the Coldest Church Ever - Anglican! Okay before Nate Clarke gets upset, let me explain. As we we're reading the Nicene Creed, I noticed some smoke/mist in front of me. It was then I realized it was my breath!!!!

No heat in the Church (and no lights). I took communion from the Priest (do they call them Priest's? - probably not would be my guess - clarify Nate...). These last two days are the coldest recorded this year.

Coldest House Ever

2008-02-16T23:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the "Coldest House Ever." To be fair and in all honesty, I had a heater running full blast all night. Add a couple of blankets and some sleeping bags and I was a few degrees past toasty. The first pic is my booties (hey now, this is a family blog!). It is customary to leave your shoes at the door, so they will give you something to wear in the house if it is cold (they also believe your plumbing stops working if you walk around on cold floors for a long time). The other shot is the owner and American Doc "John." This is him just lounging around the house - trying not to catch a cold. He is a recently turned empty nester with his wife visiting the states, you get the picture, guys love stuff like this - get the house warm or just put stuff on?

Last shot is my wife in two small cases. I will go over production gear soon and start talking technical stuff when shooting gets going (probably Morocco).

I am off to Church with John and then I am suppose to drive myself to the biblical town of Ephesus where the Apostle Paul stayed and wrote to the Ephesians. Did I mention I am driving myself? Oh yes, I will be recording some video of that!

Why do you think I am going to Church before I start driving in Turkey?

John arrives in Izmir, Turkey!

2008-02-16T11:17:00.000-08:00

Made it to the first stop on the trip - Izmir, Turkey. I am staying with a wonderful American doctor who has lived in Turkey for the last 18 years. Here are some shots of me in my room and loading a clip to Vimeo. Shooting some around town and then down to Ephesus for more footage (and me driving!).

Catch it all tomorrow!

ps. All my love to the family: Ang, Trey, Mason and Mallory. Good to talk to you - I miss you already!!!

Saturday video update from Germany...

2008-02-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

Catch an update in Germany form one brain dead traveler!

Sleepless in Germany...

2008-02-16T02:14:00.001-08:00

So what does a guy do with no sleep and in the middle of the night, yet it is morning and people are busy doing there thing? You try to sleep when you can or you stay up and crash and burn later. For me, with cell phone alarm ready (behind my hand), ear plugs in and spot claimed on the row of seats (two people sleeping in the same area) I gave it my best try... This lasted about 2 minutes and then I just got up and wondered around. Oh well what can I say I'm a light sleeper!

Ten dollar breakfast!

2008-02-16T02:09:00.001-08:00

Can you believe this was ten dollars in the Munich Airport! I even have proof with the receipt laying on the tray (okay so it was $9.80, but I left a tip to make it ten even - call me generous). The croissant was tiny and the OJ was not the more expensive "Fresh Squeezed." Yikes it's expensive in Europe; but the people dress cooooooooooooool.

"Lost in Germany"

2008-02-16T02:04:00.001-08:00

So I have made it half-way to Turkey. Bonus points to all who can name the group who sings the song in the title heading (I would guess my brother and maybe my brother in-law).

Thursday update...

2008-02-14T22:02:00.000-08:00

So you no doubt have heard the news about FedEx (if not bounce down to the video clip). I have about 8 hours of work to do in a 4 hour time slot before I leave. Still no firm plans for Turkey or Morocco. Talking to a travel agent in Morocco so hopefully that will work out. Turkey will work out at the last minute (I hope). I think I will pack a suitcase, as I was really trying to live out of a carry-on and small tripod bag for tripod, light stands and reflector holder. It's a roll of the dice as ti if it shows up where you do, but I am sure I will need the space.

At this point I need sleep and will shove whatever I can into a bag and suitcase and figure it all out over there. Just can't forget the tickets...

Office picks with new still camera...

2008-02-14T21:52:00.001-08:00

Trying to fit all this junk into one bag to carry on the plane. Looks like it won't happen. I actually think I can do it, but will run into trouble hauling 30 tapes and clothes . If I didn't need those two things I could do it. Pics from new Sony digital still camera. Res is set to VGA mode for computer uploads. Also added the video clip - the fun has just started...

Video clip of office from still camera

2008-02-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

Wednesday bites the dust...

2008-02-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

Here is the update for Wednesday:
Placed my final order for gear - a travel tripod. I recently sold my last one as it was stinky, not smelling, just stinky to use. I swore off using travel tripods, but things happen (kind of like travelers rash - don't ask) and I needed something to hold a camera for interviews. I don't expect to use it much and even purchased a still camera tripod and will add a video head to it. The plan is for it to come in on Friday at 10:30am before I leave at 12:30pm. I mean really, what could go wrong? It's FedEx and I am sure something won't happen like the package they did not deliver today because of "Ice." The great thing about last minute stuff is you loose good judgment and start making decisions like: I will buy the $114 tripod and pay $48 for shipping.

One small project done and off the books and one more to finish up tonight. Then it is a day with the family. Still no hotels booked, but I did wire money into a business account that I will use to book hotels and rent a car in Turkey. My new bank and the new business account I opened will not let you use their bank card overseas, or, in fact, Canada and Mexico - welcome to my life in the country :-).

Still expecting the Canon HV-20 from Nate Clarke at Fourth Line Films to come in from FedEx (the "Ice" issue). A little more shopping, prescriptions to fill (Ambien and Travelers Diarrhea), packing to begin and finding stuff to do in other countries once I get there. Plenty of time...

Video Clip using Brevis Flip 35mm Adapter

2008-02-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a short interview clip from the Brevis 35mm adapter I recently purchased. This is part of a short video I am finishing up for Project HOPE (www.projecthope.org). Also wanted to test adding video clips to the blog site. Expect more, but slightly more exotic...

Daily Blogs start today...

2008-02-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

Will start the official blog today. More details coming as I spend a few hours in the Dulles airport before my flight on Friday. Believe me, I will have plenty of time for the details.

Today's update:
Received my international cell phone. No homies, you will not be getting my pounds and digits (old school lingo for phone number for you white folks). Fun stuff. Very expensive for calls, but valuable to have. I can use just about anywhere in the world and I have a UK number. More trips coming up, so I thought it would be good to have my own.

More gear purchased...
I have been on a spending rampage on gear. Ordered $500 of goodies from B&H. We are definetly in the overnight shipping category for everything. Still have more to get. Deciding on a new still camera and a new pocket camera.

Country update...
No hotels booked. No real plans. Nothing concrete. Not exactly the way you want to leave on a trip for two weeks in three different countries. Hopefully it will come together in the next few days (plenty of time).

Still finishing small projects here in Virginia. Needing to be done, looks like tomorrow. Worked till 4:30am last night (or this morning). Will work again tonight.

Welcome aboard friends. Prepare for the blogging adventure of a lifetime. Especially if you are young...

John

To Bravely Go Where No Man Has Gone Before

2008-02-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

coming soon...