Twelve hours completed. Twelve hours to go.
This afternoon we meet Ban Ga for his second shoot. Before filming, we sit and drink glasses of strong tea and talk about the village women who carry food in hanging baskets, selling their wares in the streets of Hanoi each day. The government has pledged to shut down these unlicensed vendors but it’s precisely this kind of activity that epitomizes the city for so many people, locals and tourists alike. Ban Ga, a painter as well as a filmmaker, recounts a story of watching these women crossing Long Bien Bridge on their way to the market, their faces red with exertion and beautiful in the changing light and shadow. Too beautiful to draw. Do these women describe their lives as “beautiful” too?
In the evening there’s filming by bike, fried rice and pickles, and some good laughs.
Fourteen hours completed. Ten to go…
Interesting stuff! Glad the teaching is going well.
Dad XX
More beautiful pictures.
How many hours a day to you two work any how?
Is each student only allowed so much time ?
Rhelda
Thanks, Rhelda! These days we’re pretty much going around the clock but production ends tomorrow night and then the load lightens up a lot.
Each student is responsible for two hours in the 24-hour cycle. They’re allowed to start their shoot half and hour before the allotted hour and go half an hour after if need be. So if a student’s time is 3 pm, we meet at 2:30 and they must be finished by 4:30.
The catch is, they’re only allowed to film 90 seconds of Super 8 footage and then that 90 seconds gets cut down to 60 seconds for the final film. It’s definitely a challenge!