Leaving Istanbul and Arriving in Cairo

Istanbul has an amazing mix of the old with the new.  In this one photo there is the new city in the background, the old byzantine fortress in the middle and a modern tanker in the foreground.

Our Shoot in Istanbul was a challenge.  We needed traffic, but it became difficult to get around the city and to stage shots.  In the end, we managed to get what we needed, and we learned many lessons to bring with us to Cairo.

As we wrapped and said goodbye to our local crew, we packed our gear carefully so that everything would be in order when we passed through customs.  Upon leaving our hotel our production coordinator and location manager appeared to see us off.

On our car ride to the airport we realized that we drove to Asia to begin our shoot, then returned to Europe to finish our shoot and now were about to fly to Africa.  Three continents all on the same day.

At the airport we had to show our carnet to customs and open our cases for an inventory.  All cleared, we went to our gate only to wait for our delayed flight.  On board the two and a half hour flight went quickly. 

A few hours later we arrived in Cairo.

Final day before our shoot in Istanbul

This morning we had some time to explore more of the city.  The morning is interesting because there is so little activity.  Everything starts to come to life after 2pm.  And by the evening it is teaming.  But in the morning, the streets are relatively empty.

We walked from Taksim Square to Galata Tower, then rode the tram back to near our hotel, and walked up the hill past the football stadium.

Later in the day we went out again, to see inside Hagia Sofia and some of the other local sites that we missed in our rush the other day.

  

    

Hagia Sophia is remarkable in that what is now a museum was previously a Mosque, and prior to that a Patriarchal Basilica.  The historical significance of the site of the great cathedral was appreciated enough that they preserved the Christian iconography even after converting the great cathedral to the great mosque.  This  is a unique and interesting juxtaposition.

After leaving the mosque, we watched a woman make a rug at a loom in a store front.  She was amazing at her craft.

  

Although we are only in Istanbul for a few days, I have seen more of it than I often see of locations when I shoot a film.  Sometimes I can be in a place for months without seeing more than my hotel room and the specific locations we shoot.  But thankfully, this shoot has provided the opportunity to see a bit more and to soak up some of the local culture and history.

To anyone who has not been to Turkey, I have to recommend it highly - and we have only just scratched the surface.  I haven't been to Sweden in the Summer, but if I were to go back on vacation, I would definitely give summer a chance. 

 

Tomorrow after our shoot, we fly to Cairo.

Istanbul Location Scout

We had a successful location scout today.  We drove all over Istanbul from the European side, to the Asian side, and back again.  We were looking for locations that were distinctly Istanbul, while at the same time were not typical tourism marketing photos.  We were in search of the “real Istanbul”

Along the way we found neighborhoods, mosques, roadways, and signposts.  Some are perfect for our purposes; and some, while interesting, are not appropriate for the spots we are creating.

We had a delicious lunch at Vira Vira Balik Restaurant (at a fish restaurant) overlooking the Bosphorus Sea.  There we mapped out our production day, and in the process determined the areas where will will shoot, and the areas that we simply won’t have time to shoot.  Our time here is limited, in many ways as much as it was in Sweden.  There we were limited by the short daylight hours.  Here, although the sun is up for longer, there is not the volume of traffic that we want during this holiday until later in the day.

We will begin on Friday shooting an interview, followed by an interview while driving.  After that, we will shoot two cameras for most of the rest of the day.  In a few locations we will shoot together, but at other times Doug and I will split up to cover different action simultaneously.  Then we will join together again at the end of our day to finish our shoot of our hero driving at a snails pace making his way through the heavy traffic at a weekly occurring bazaar.

Tomorrow we will finalize the production details, and with luck, do a bit more exploring of the city, before our whirlwind Friday.  Friday we will shoot, then get to the airport to fly to Cairo.

First Day in Istanbul

We finished our shoot in Sweden and made it to the airport with time to spare.  We are now in Istanbul prepping for our shoot on Friday.

The first thing that struck me when I stepped out of the terminal last night was the cosmopolitan feeling of the city.  It is reminiscent of New York or Paris.

This morning we walked from our hotel to find a place for breakfast, but made a wrong turn and ended up eating at a place that was not great. 

The rain has come and gone all day, between bursts of sunlight.  With only one day to shoot, we are all hoping the weather cooperates. 

This afternoon we went sightseeing and then to lunch.  There is so much to see, and it is all very different from what we are used to.  The architecture is very unique and the terrain is also striking, which adds to the overall feeling of this gorgeous city.  Although we don’t actually scout locations until tomorrow, we were all struck by the enormous visual potential, especially in stark contrast to what we recently left behind in Sweden.

We ate lunch at Zinhan Kabap House, and the food was fantastic, as was the view.  The ever changing light provided countless opportunities for interesting photos in every direction.  

After lunch we walked to The Basilica Cistern, the 1600 year old underground water storage facility built by Byzantine Emporer Justinianus.

 

From there we walked past the Hagia Sophia to the Blue Mosque.

 

After the Blue Mosque we went to watch the Whirling Dervishes.  They were amazing.  The music was hypnotic, and the whirling was mesmerizing.  The setting was not the best, but it was something to experience.

 

After which we picked up the laundry that we dropped off earlier in the day.  This proved one of the most unusual experiences.  (9 of us dropped off our laundry, and they didn’t separate it, so we then had to dig through the still damp clothes to find our own.  They then weighed it and charged us accordingly.  They weighed it still damp, and in our bags – very strange.)  It took a long time, but we finally sorted it all out and now have clean clothes which will be drying in our rooms for the next few hours.

 

Tomorrow we will scout our locations and create our shot list.  After that, time permitting we’ll try to see a bit more of the city, including the inside of Hagia Sophia.  With any luck we’ll get to Topkapi Palace too.

Finishing up in Sweden

Yesterday’s shoot and race to the airport to get back to Stockholm was a bit crazy.  We shot a full day’s work in less than 3 hours of daylight.  The air was dry and cold, the snow was waist deep and the light changed quickly and constantly throughout the day.  In spite of all the hustle and bustle, or maybe because of it, the results were terrific.  The footage looks great, the client is happy and we are off to a strong start.

Today was a day to prepare for the next two, which in some ways will be more challenging than the last.  We won’t be in the snow, instead we will be in the mud.  And instead of shooting material for one spot, we will be shooting for two with two different cars and two different drivers.  The days here in Stockholm are a bit longer than they were up north, we should have close to 4 hours of light each day, but on Monday, we check out of our hotel in the morning, drive 40 minutes to our location in the forest to shoot, then have to wrap to the airport.  Clean our gear, clean ourselves, change into dry clothes and board our flight to Istanbul.  I expect I’ll sleep from the moment I fasten my seat belt. 

After organizing our equipment and ensuring that everything is still intact, we had some time today to explore a bit, and to relax.  There were a few production issues to discuss, but most of the details have already been decided.  It was rainy and cold today, but not icy, and not snowy, so it wasn’t too bad.

  This morning on our way to the train station for coffee, we passed an interesting McDonalds – it was still early and almost empty, but much nicer looking that most.  So I took a photo of it. 

Later we went to the Royal Palace to see the changing of the guards; and then continued into the older part of the city for lunch.  It was nice to see a bit of Stockholm in the daylight. 

After taking care of some production and equipment issues, we went out again this evening.  We walked through an area that was full of people out to do their Christmas shopping.  There were food and craft vendors, retailers and tourists, all crowded into a long shopping boulevard.  The city is quite pretty with colorful lights, and an interesting and eclectic mix of old and modern architecture.  Like much of Europe, they have found a way to progress while honoring their past. 

  

The people here are very friendly, though not particularly polite.  They seem to simply go about their business, if you are in their path, they keep on moving.  The cars don’t slow for j walkers, and people do not hold doors, nor say excuse me – they simply do what they do.  I presume they are anxious to get where they are going, to get out of the rain and cold, to survive in a sometimes challenging and harsh environment. 

The food is rich, and deceptively filling.  Even dishes that are not particularly large can fill you up quickly.  Today was the best of our meals – I had Thai for lunch and boulliabase for dinner.  This is a great city in which to walk, it seems to be constructed on a series of islands, interconnected by bridges.  In many ways it is reminiscent of Amsterdam with its canals.  It is easy to get turned around or to meander down a road that curves around depositing you someplace different from where you anticipated.  But it is small enough and manageable enough to quickly become reoriented and to find one’s way back on track.

There is very little graffitti, but what I did see was unique. Here is a a bit of stucco that chipped off a wall, and within its boundaries, the shape has been labeled.

Traditional Dinner in Lappland

Tonight we drove about 40km to eat a traditional local dinner.  We dined in a tee pee of sorts. Apparently, the indigenous population lived in tee pee style tents, until they eventually replaced them with similarly designed wooden structures. Inside we were served thinly sliced reindeer cooked in cream with leaks.  Potatoes and vegetables - all warmed over an open fire.

There was also Lingenberry jelly and juice, bread, coffee, beer, wine, cookies, a full spread

 with something for everyone.  Outside the weather started snowing and was chilly, but inside the large fire was hot, but not smokey.

After our hosts explained the meal to us, we served ourselves and ate sitting on reindeer pelts on long wooden benches.  Instead of using the more traditional wooden shingles for plates, we used paper plates.

Now it's time to get organized for tomorrow and get some sleep - we have a lot to shoot in only a few hours of day light.  After we wrap at our location, we have to race back to our hotel, change into dry clothes, gather our personal gear and head to the airport to return to Stockholm.  It took a long time to get here, and it's certain to take as long to get back.

In Arjeplog: Lappland: Sweden

Yesterday we scouted locations about 50 km northwest of Stockholm, and found a beautiful area with little snow and lots of trees and mud, perfect for the "off road" sequence w

e want to shoot there.

We then headed north to our current location in Arjeplog.  (to see a live webcam click here).

In total it took 8 hours for us to drive to the airport in Stockholm, check in, board, fly, land in Lycksele where a few people got off before we took off again flew for another 20 minutes

landed in Arvidsjaur, gathered our luggage, met 

our drivers and drove to our hotel.  We are in a rather remote area just about 10 miles south of the arctic circle.

Today at noon, the sun was just below the horizon.  It last set two weeks ago, and will 

not make it above the horizon for another two months.

Today we scouted

 our locations for tomorrow.  Nothing can go wrong, as we have less than four hours of dim daylight.  After our shoot, we will return to our

 hotel to change into dry clothes, re-pack our gear and make the trek back to the airport (over an hour away) to return to Stockholm. Our hope was to shoot snow here (of which we have plenty) and to not shoot snow in Stockholm, but the word is that it's been snowing since we left, so we may have to make a few adjustments to our plans once we see the conditions there. Still with all we have to do, given a very tight schedule - there are beautiful locations.

A few things we have learned over the past few days is that there are no Starbucks anywhere in Sweden, but there are many, many 7-11s.  It's an expensive country, especially in Stockholm.  Gas is about 1.50 per litre - which is just under $6.00/gallon.