eKaqchikel 2008 - Prep Work and Dancing

eKaqchikel Project Site | http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ekaq2008&w=76298498%40N00&s=rec&z=t"target=_blank>Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos

Thur, July 17 - Our first full day back to Guatemala is usually spent confering with the teachers, firming up the scripts and laying out the schedule for the week to come. And while Marie and Valerie did this mental heavy lifting this morning, Lee and I did a thorough equipment check to make sure that we remembered everything and that it all made it down with a minimum of damage. Fortunately, it did.

The first year of the project - way back in 2004 - consisted of a production team of two: Marie and Lee. After the first year's experiences, they decided that the project would go much more somoothly with two cameras, so I was recruited for the 2nd trip in 2005 and subsequent years.

Since last year, we travel with two HD camcorders - the Sony HVR-Z1U - shooting in 480P, widescreen HD. We have the usual complement of mics to go with it, including a shotgun mic, two wired lavs, and a wireless lav. Lights are always difficult to carry around when you're trying to run spare and light, so we only have one - a Lowell soft light packed in a compact kit. The soft lights work wonders in the close environments we usually find ourselves in. We also have a collection of reflectors and stands to supplement the lights and for outdoor use. It's a pretty spare setup, but it's worked for us so far.

Yesterday evening we were invited to a dance and music presentation by our teachers. Wasn't sure what to expect, and I'm still not sure exactly what we witnessed, but it was lively! I captured a few clips with the Flip camera. I'll link them here once they're loaded.

Update: As promised I've loaded a video clip from the Thursday night song and dance performance by our teachers.

Shooting begins tomorrow morning (Friday) with a mock classroom setup in the teacher's hotel. Looks to be one of the more difficult of the trip.