En
FrTwo Pictures a Day in Amman
Fourth week
Gilles Porte, AFC, and Samuel Lahu, his Assistant Cameraman, are currently shooting in Jordan. They have agreed to send us two images extracted from the daily photographic journal they are keeping during the shooting of the film 3000 Nights, directed by Mai Masri. Have a look at their fourth week of work.
Give me my baby!
60. Int. Infirmary - Prison - Day
Layal’s hand is being handcuffed to a metal frame. (...) Layal’s hands chained to the bed… (...) She tries to reach out to the baby but the handcuffs cut into her hands and feet. She realizes that her hands and feet are chained to a bed....
- LAYAL : Give me my baby!
After three takes, Alia (the script superviser) asked me to confirm whether this scene was supposed to be taking place indoors and at nighttime! I reread my call sheet for the day and my screenplay… The scene is supposed to be taking place during the daytime according to both documents, but on Alia’s screenplay, scene 60 takes place… during the night! Ossama (the executive producer) who happened to be passing through the set, whispers in my ear that in any case it’s better to have the birth take place in the daytime, due to divine light and bla bla bla… Finally, after checking with Mai, she decided to film the scene in daytime… Photogram (Gilles, June Tuesday 24)
Layal’s hand is being handcuffed to a metal frame. (...) Layal’s hands chained to the bed… (...) She tries to reach out to the baby but the handcuffs cut into her hands and feet. She realizes that her hands and feet are chained to a bed....
- LAYAL : Give me my baby!
After three takes, Alia (the script superviser) asked me to confirm whether this scene was supposed to be taking place indoors and at nighttime! I reread my call sheet for the day and my screenplay… The scene is supposed to be taking place during the daytime according to both documents, but on Alia’s screenplay, scene 60 takes place… during the night! Ossama (the executive producer) who happened to be passing through the set, whispers in my ear that in any case it’s better to have the birth take place in the daytime, due to divine light and bla bla bla… Finally, after checking with Mai, she decided to film the scene in daytime… Photogram (Gilles, June Tuesday 24)
Zarqa
Infirmary set, we are filming with a baby for 4 hours today. We’re waiting for him to digest his milk. Anas, the 3rd assistant director, is taking advantage of the break in shooting to take a well-deserved nap – we’ve been pulling 12-hour-long days… (Samuel, June Tuesday 24)
Amman at dawn
In Jordan, labour unions don’t exist and, as a result, labour laws aren’t exactly the same as in France… The entire team was supposed to work for 14 hours per day (including transportation time to and from the location), including one 6-day week… In the end, it was decided that only the director, the director of photography, the first assistant director, the script supervisor, and the actors were to arrive earlier in order to practice blocking and staging without costumes or makeup… Samuel will therefore not be discovering the dawns of Amman alongside me during my morning commutes to the location… Note: Samuel decided to change drivers that very evening when he realized that his basic calculations didn’t add up with those of a Jordanian assistant who plays guitar every evening in a luxury hotel in Amman… (Gilles, June Monday 23)
Trip from Zarqa to Amman
Two 40-minute trips by car every day, here with Anton, the second clapper – he is better on the evening journeys than the morning ones… (Samuel, June Monday 23)
Special effect
69. Int. Palestinian cell - Prison - Day
Layal and Fida bathe Nour in a plastic bucket. He is about one year old (...) Nour laughs and splashes the water excitedly. The bubbles rise up and float around them casting a magical beauty to their dismal surroundings.
How many times did Mai ask Samuel if the camera had properly filmed the moment when the completely unexpected happened? It was a welcome surprise due to our “special effects” budget that put greatest emphasis on the off-screen… And of course, Nour never agreed to take a bath in front of the camera! Photogram (Gilles, June Sunday 22)
Layal and Fida bathe Nour in a plastic bucket. He is about one year old (...) Nour laughs and splashes the water excitedly. The bubbles rise up and float around them casting a magical beauty to their dismal surroundings.
How many times did Mai ask Samuel if the camera had properly filmed the moment when the completely unexpected happened? It was a welcome surprise due to our “special effects” budget that put greatest emphasis on the off-screen… And of course, Nour never agreed to take a bath in front of the camera! Photogram (Gilles, June Sunday 22)
Zarqa
I’m working with two clappers, one for the set, one for the backups. Ahmad, the clapper on set, is learning how to use the video head under a rain of shadows – it is terribly hot outside. (Samuel, June Sunday 22)
Elyes, Bedouin child
Desert of Wadi Rum. Included on the UNESCO’s List of World Heritage Sites. I give a white pencil to Elyes, a 6-year-old Bedouin child. (Gilles, June Saturday 21)
Amman
Day off. Now, I know my way around the shortcuts in the city center: Amman stripped of its exoticism. (Samuel, June Saturday 21)
France 5 / Switzerland 2…
Southernmost point of Jordan… Village of Wadi Rum… Near the border with Saudi Arabia… Raya (Production Coordinator) had warned me: “You’ll never see so many stars again in your life!”: France 5 / Switzerland 2… (Gilles, June Friday 20)
Oobe Club, Amman
Day off. France has won 5-2 against Switzerland, Stephanie, the head of makeup, and I only saw the stoppage time. (Samuel, June Friday 20)
Dancing curtain
A curtain is dancing to celebrate the end of our 1st week of filming… Fred (the 1st assistant director) and Mai (the director) are planning out next week’s first takes before each taking their “2 days off”… (Gilles, June Thursday 19)
Zarqa
(Guest photo by Stéphanie) There are now a few of us taking “photos of the day”. This evening, Stéphanie has photographed the first and last beer of the day: Osama, the production director, has just informed us that it is strictly prohibited to bring alcohol to the shooting location because it is a military facility. (Samuel, June Thursday 19)
Sodium light
Hussein (the production designer), Mai, and I decided during preparation that the cells of 3000 Nights would always be lit at night with a sodium light that would emanate from the passageways… Photogram (Gilles, June Wednesday 18)
Zarqa
We have been shut inside the same cell for the last few days. Hussni, the gaffer, has been whiling away the hours with 2 6Ks and 6 Kino Flo 4x120s… (Samuel, June Wednesday 18)
Scene 23/ Solitary confinement cell)
23. Int. Solitary cell… Prison. Day
Layal is thrown into a tiny dark cell. She bangs at the iron door desperately. She gropes the walls with her hands. They are smeared with stains and the names of 16 prisoners scratched with fingernails. She throws herself repeatedly at the door, finally collapses on the ground. Cockroaches are crawling everywhere (...)
Filming in a real cell that measures 2.5 metres long by 1.5 metres wide… Choosing it because it has a 3m high ceiling where we can affix a 575W (HMI) spotlight… Then wrapping that spotlight in black paper… Giving that paper a few jabs with a utility knife… Adding a bit of smoke, 25 plastic cockroaches, and, most importantly, the additional 3 live cockroaches previously captured somewhere on location… Especially, not saying anything to the lead actress before locking her into her new cell with its armoured DOOR and hoping that that the sound engineer has done his best to adjust his settings to prevent the sound from saturating when Maïssa realizes that real, live cockroaches are milling about in the midst of Mai’s “cinéma vérité”! Photogram (Gilles, June Tuesday 17)
Layal is thrown into a tiny dark cell. She bangs at the iron door desperately. She gropes the walls with her hands. They are smeared with stains and the names of 16 prisoners scratched with fingernails. She throws herself repeatedly at the door, finally collapses on the ground. Cockroaches are crawling everywhere (...)
Filming in a real cell that measures 2.5 metres long by 1.5 metres wide… Choosing it because it has a 3m high ceiling where we can affix a 575W (HMI) spotlight… Then wrapping that spotlight in black paper… Giving that paper a few jabs with a utility knife… Adding a bit of smoke, 25 plastic cockroaches, and, most importantly, the additional 3 live cockroaches previously captured somewhere on location… Especially, not saying anything to the lead actress before locking her into her new cell with its armoured DOOR and hoping that that the sound engineer has done his best to adjust his settings to prevent the sound from saturating when Maïssa realizes that real, live cockroaches are milling about in the midst of Mai’s “cinéma vérité”! Photogram (Gilles, June Tuesday 17)
Zarqa
Rami, the first assistant director for the preparation, is leaving the project tonight. He hadn’t told us. This is a difficult, and slightly sad, time. He remains impassive. (Samuel, June Tuesday 17)
(Translated from French by Alex Raiffe)
- Have a look at the pictures taken by Gilles and Samuel during their third week.
- Have a look at the pictures taken by Gilles and Samuel during their second week.
- Have a look at the pictures taken by Gilles and Samuel during their first week.
- Read or reread Gilles Porte’s description of this project.
