"It’s a Wrap" Project Update: Published March 1, 2011
Tackling the Bolivian Amazon, Motorbiking around India, Trekking through the Himalaya’s of Nepal, Sailing from Colombia to Panama…none were as extreme and challenging as my most recent journey. Filming a pilot television show.
Tackling the Bolivian Amazon, Motorbiking around India, Trekking through the Himalaya’s of Nepal, Sailing from Colombia to Panama…none were as extreme and challenging as my most recent journey. Filming a pilot television show.
The South Island of New Zealand, more specifically the Queenstown and Fjordland Regions, yielded the perfect place for this effort. Far enough away to feel remote and exotic, yet still manageable for our target demographic, first-time, novice travelers. New Zealand is also a production teams dream. Offering a myriad of lush backgrounds, intriguing sounds, and jaw-dropping visuals to astound even the most trained eye. As far as filming locations go, New Zealand yet again fit the bill. Great infrastructure, English speaking, and “Sweet As”, easy going locals.
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9 weeks of consistent planning came down to 9 days of filming. As I soon learned, however, all the pre-production in the world could not prepare me for the variability and temporary insanity that comes with filming. Every little incident seemed catastrophic in my eyes. I had invested so much of my being into the show that it became my baby. I didn’t want to roll with the punches, I wanted to avoid them all together. Let’s just say, I got socked early on.
Striking a balance between travel television and reality is no easy task. Reality components must take precedence. Funny moments caught on film, interesting people bumped into, random happenings on the side of the road can all change the course of a storyline in an instant. These scenarios cannot be staged or scripted, instead their randomness become axles from which scripts are spun around. The proud writer in me, the writer who worked diligently on a variety of scripts during pre-production, was forced to take a step back so that the more versatile and free-flowing creator and producer within could step forward. It was no easy task but thanks to the help of my team I began visualizing, for the first time, the entire show. And what a show it will be!
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Weather emerged another challenge. I was told Queenstown can experience four seasons in one day, but I’d say it's more like six. Constantly changing and with it, our filming schedules. Kind of hard to film a scenic location when it’s raining cats and dogs. Or capture a beautiful hike when the camera man is struggling to keep gear covered. Luckily, Mother Nature did offer a reprieve towards the end of filming, lending itself beautifully to the remaining sequences. Phew.Then there was driving on the “wrong side” of the road. But that only took a few wrong turns into oncoming traffic to sort out. Luckily, all before the crew arrived.
And last, but not least, space...or lack there of. Living on top of one another, in a 4-bed dormitory turned production studio, was difficult enough, but bumping around those windy New Zealand roads in a confined, packed to the gills production vehicle, took the cake…and our stomachs. Motion Sickness rearing its ugly head on a few occasions. Let’s just say we all got extremely close on the trip. Despite these minor issues and nuances for a fledgling crew, the filming was spectacular. It still amazes me what a skilled group of four can accomplish. Tailoring our personal abilities to accommodate the often challenging road in front of us, each member wore about 13 different production hats yet carried each with confidence and professionalism.
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The most difficult part of any project is taking the first step and we have done that! A huge success in its own right! I am so proud of our team for what we have already accomplished and for all the successes to come. I would also like to thank each and everyone of you for the constant support and encouragement. Backpackers Wanted would be nothing without you! There is still much work to be done but we look forward to sharing our final product with you in due time. To the edit suites we go!
Filming Dates: February 3rd-12th, 2011
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