Photos from Miami Shoot:





Got a late start today, because Matos was scheduled to be interviewed this morning rather than last night. Met everyone downstairs at noon. Transferred the grip gear to the truck and the camera gear to the van (basically we just took everything out of both trucks and switched it to the opposite truck). Spent some time setting up an in-camera look for the exterior shoots. Drove around South Beach filming B-roll. Picked up a snack at Starbucks (after passing hundreds of local cafes, grrrr).

Shot another interview with a man who had been jailed for 20 years because of his part in the Cuban Revolution. Packed up and went back to Versailles, the famous restaurant where we shot last night. This time it was to eat! It was packed, just like yesterday, and now I know why... The food was excellent and just unpretentious enough to be cheap. I had chicken in garlic sauce with rice and fried plantains. Shared some flan for dessert (which may have been the best flan I've ever had). Finished it off with a couple Cuban coffees. After dinner no one was in the mood to shoot again, but our interview subject had already arrived at the restaurant. So we packed in all of the gear and got started. It went smoothly and we finished around 1:45 am.

Photos from Miami Shoot:










Met Bob and Maya at Full Sail to prep the gear. We spent a few hours opening all of the cases and going over the camera equipment. Bob picked up a van. Maya and I waited hours for him to return. When he finally came back, he picked me up and drove me to the truck rental place. I drove back the box truck and we all loaded the HD gear.

Bob and I got a quick bite to eat at Crispers before hitting the road. I drove the box truck to Miami, while he drove the van. It drove surprisingly well, although it was incredibly loud inside the cab (I later found out that neither door was closed all the way). Consequently, I could not listen to the radio or talk on the phone, because I could not hear either one.

We hit a few patches of traffic on the way down, but got in with just enough time to eat at Pollo Tropical before heading to the first shoot. There were authentic Cuban restaurants all around and our first shoot was INSIDE one such establishment, but the producer decided to feed us fast food instead.

The restaurant where we were shooting was one of the most famous Cuban restaurants in Miami. We interviewed Huber Matos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huber_Matos), one of Castro's right hand men and a general in his army during the Cuban Revolution. He didn't speak very much english and conducted the entire interview in Spanish. I couldn't understand much of what he was saying, but it was easy to feel the intensity of his words.

Speaking of the language barrier... We were shooting in "Little Havana", which might as well have been part of Cuba. No one spoke english. If we didn't have the film's producer with us, we would not have been able to get around. Next time I'll bring a guide book.

Afterward, a few of us (the rest of the crew had arrived in time for the shoot) went to a little bakery/cafe for some Cuban pastries and coffee. Fantastic! The coffee was like a small shot of espresso with a bit of foamed milk and a lot of sugar.

Got back from Kung Fu a little while ago. They worked the hell out of me today. Harder than usual. But I love it. I was sweating so bad that my glasses wouldn't stay on my face. During the application part of the lesson I was working with my friend (and Rick's sort of girlfriend) Toni. We were working on the double shoulder grab and defense technique, but she laughed hysterically every time we tried it.

School is back in session, so I'm busy. Thirty five new students. I'm so bad with names, I hardly know what to call any of them. They seem more creative, or at least more prepared than the last class. During the sunset shoot, the HD group set up an elaborate scene involving an organ, saxophone, guitar, TV, fake tree, umbrella, candlestick and various other props. They started with a close shot of an actress sitting on the TV, then pulled out to show all of the other props. Finally, when they pulled all the way out, they revealed a wall with a frame. The frame was cut out so that the entire scene shown like a painting on the wall. Keep in mind that they had to haul all of the props and the fake wall out to Lake Underhill for the shoot.

Not too much is going on besides my class. I have been working on some new videos for Big Picture DVD and trying to keep Emily entertained. She has been bored as hell. Trying to get a job to keep herself occupied, but has very little to do in the interim. She has, however, been working diligently on her arts and crafts projects. She has a few new paintings finished and is working on crocheting a skull and crossbones sweater for me.

Lindsey came into town yesterday. She always comes to town with an incredibly ambitious schedule of what to do every minute of her trip. Last time she was here most of her activities involved Emily; by the time she left, Emily needed to sleep for 24 hours straight. Luckily she has a friend coming later this week, so Em should be off the hook.