First Night Shoot

 Things have been progressing nicely with “Higher Learning.”  We just completed our first night shoot of a party sequence.  Started blocking our shots around 5 p.m. and finished up at 5:45 a.m.  We got 13.5 pages in the can with about an hour of work filming the hottest band in Kenya - Sauti Sol - that was not scripted but will be a very important part of our scenes.  So I would say we shot around 14.5 pages really.  That is a lot of work, especially when you do it mid-stream of a normal shooting week. 

The crew and cast are such hard-working and dedicated people.  They obviously love the industry and love being a part of the creation.  Most of the crew were up early in the day as they had to get prepped for the shoot.  As was I.  So we plowed on through and got it all done.  And the scenes are literally beautiful.  Marius’s work on camera is absolutely top notch.  I am a very lucky director.

I must say when the band played and the background artists started dancing and cheering to their music, it brought tears to my eyes.  I was so moved by the emotions and the privilege of being able to witness such a unique Kenyan cultural event right before my eyes.  Their music is just beautiful and the young people of Kenya adore them.  Rightfully so. 

We shot several exterior scenes and several interior scenes.  It is so mild here that I only needed to wear a light jacket to keep warm and my CANADA hat. 

Unfortunately I didn’t get any still photos of the band but I did get lots of great footage on my camcorder.  I have the director trainee grabbing footage of behind the scenes work so I can compile a little documentary of my trip to Kenya and my work here.  She will also be interviewing various crew members and cast members as we progress.  Should make for a very interesting documentary. 

Well, I have to prep for tomorrow’s shoot.  Meanwhile you can have a look at some of our cast.  All of them are wonderful actors.

 

This is the character Sanjiv played by Melvin and the character O.O. played by Tash.

 

This is the character Linah played by Marion.

 

 These are the characters Reba and Felix played by Wanja and Junae.

This is the character King played by Nick.  Nick is also a radio personality in Nairobi.

 

This is the character Jessica played by Janet.

 

This is the character Aida played by Veronica.

You will see more characters on my next blog.

Neil