The above video (click on link) is a finished product of countless hours of editing, recording, and translating during the dates of November 25 - December 5th. While most of the filming had been completed prior to our vacation, we had hardly cut any scenes and/or translated interviews, much less construct a cohesive plot to the movie. Most of these days were spent working for the full 14 hours, only breaking for meals. Why the rush? Our goal was complete by December 3rd, when Saint Patrick's Church (sister parish of Resurrection Priory) was having a dinner with our visiting Superior Padre Pedro. Unfortunately, we ran into trouble with some subtitle problems, and were delayed a bit. We finished the movie by the 5th, and (with a few uploading problems and copyright issues to resolve) we got the video live on the 8th. I hope you can take some time to enjoy it...
"Behind the Scenes" for Resurrection Priory: Fulfillment of Life & Spirit
Justin and I split the work according to our strengths and resources. While Justin worked tirelessly on historical context, translations, and cutting interviews, I spent time developing a plot, cutting transitional scenery, and writing the script. We worked together on the thematic element of the documentary, and it its truly amazing how easy it was to put the final product together. Lots of interviews matched themes from other interviews. They tied in well to the historical context and "feel" of Guatemala, and we are very proud of what we were able to accomplish. The video was shot mostly by my new D3100 Nikon SLR camera, yet a few scenes (more than you might realize), were actually taken with an iPod video clip recorder when the SLR's battery died. Many of the photos in the beginning of the movie were taken from the monastery's photo lab (the same one from which I rescued old photos from water leakage earlier this fall).
Questions during interviews were created and posed by Justin, while I filmed. Questions included, "What was your calling to the monastic life? What makes the Benedictine life different? What is your calling (responsibilities) in this monastery?, etc." I was impressed with the answers that were given. The whole experience was very enlightening in learning the ways of the monastery and its supportive efforts towards a very needy community. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I can see filmmaking as a developing, ripe interest.
December 8 - December 12
Since its release into the cyber-world, the documentary has ranked up a couple hundred views (probably a dozen from myself, checking for any mistakes and, of course, raising the view count). The birth of Resurrection Priory's presence has sparked an interest in further online exposure. Next step / project? Making a website. I've found that this is easier said than done. Plenty of information has to be complied. Once more, Justin and I have to sit down, talk about themes, what we want it to look like, what we want to emphasize, and draft a few ideas. Obviously we will show history, photo gallery, current events, etc. I've never actually constructed a website before. I have confidence in myself to learn, but I am intimidated by one outlying factor: everything's gotta be in Spanish! We'd like to have a running product up by the end of the month, but it's most important to get a basic foundation of ideas first. I'll keep you all updated.
Lately, its been the same-old work routine, enter website publishing work. On Saturday, the Spanish Classic was on (Barcelona vs. Madrid). We all watched the game in the Gringo room, ate snacks and drank pop. Today, we met up with some girls from the university to play basketball down at San Marcos Park. We formed 6-on-6 teams against a few young guys playing there. Justin and I ran nonchalantly up and down the court while these young Guatemalan guys tried to show off their ball skills. Only problem? They didn't have any. In fact, it was a surprise to see these Guatemalans not double dribbling. Basketball is the next most popular sport to soccer here, but they must lack coaches. In general, Guatemalans stink at basketball.
Not so bad for us! First time I've seemed like the hotshot on a basketball court in... well, forever. It was a fun time, and the girls (who we met teaching English at the university) were fun to hang out with. They want to take us on one of the tourist stops next weekend (Semuc Champey, possibly!), so we've got some nice local guides to show us around now. All is well... December is passing quickly.
Last week, Veronica (Texas girl on the Nitewinds Snorkeling Tour) sent us her pictures from the trip. We didn't have a camera, so we were very thankful for these. Take a look at the fine places we got to visit:
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| Silk Caye |
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| Bubbles, Veronica, Gas |
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| Image from Hatchet Caye |
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