Sunday, February 7, 2010

On Overcoming Stage Fright (do it anyway)


"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it."
-Mark Twain

Day 2 of production happened on Friday. Interviewed James for a second time, then interviewed the Chairman of his orphanage organization, and after that shot the meeting itself. The shoot presented some technical difficulties, mainly to do with audio issues. The thing about Kibera is that it’s a pretty noisy place, as there are so many people jammed into a small area. There is music, there is singing, there are planes overhead that rattle all of the structures that are made out of thin sheets of metal, and there are kids. Lots of kids. Kids that like to scream, to laugh, to shriek and to holler. All of this can be a major challenge when recording audio, and I am trying to take steps to tackle this issue. The interviews themselves went pretty well, and my guide Peter remarked that I appeared more comfortable and “less nervous” than my first day in Kibera. Damn, I thought to myself, I thought I had my cool as a cucumber poker face persona nailed. I guess that’s why I am a director and not a performer. I suck at acting. When I was breaking everything down and packing my gear up, this kid came over to ask me questions about what I was doing. I told him I was making a movie about young people in Kibera. He said he didn’t have a job and asked what he could do to help. So I told him he could do an interview. I gave him one, and a couple of bucks for his time. I have to give this guy credit and a shout out, because I could tell he was kind of nervous and embarrassed to come up to me, but it took guts and I have to give him props for that. Thanks Edwin.
Photo above taken by Peter Opudo.

2 comments:

  1. this narrative of yours proves to be more inspiring every time i read it. i was totally going to chicken out of something today and then read this post and couldn't. xo, adriana

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  2. hahah. glad to hear I was able to help and inspire. hope whatever it was...was a success!

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