Two Pictures a Day in Amman

Semaine 6
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by Gilles Porte -  AFC newsletter n°245

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Gilles Porte, AFC, et Samuel Lahu, son assistant opérateur, sont actuellement en tournage en Jordanie. Ils se sont accordés pour nous envoyer chaque jour deux extraits du journal en images qu’ils tiennent quotidiennement sur le film 3000 Nights, réalisé par Mai Masri. Prenez connaissance des images de leur sixième semaine passée à Amman.
Incident light - So that the light of the spotlights (6K Cinepars in daytime and 5K Tungstens at nighttime) has enough of an impact, I had the wire grilles above the interior courtyard leading to the cells cut and hinges put in… Handling these grilles is still very dangerous due to their heaviness! <i>iPhone (Gilles, July Wednesday 2)</i>
Incident light
So that the light of the spotlights (6K Cinepars in daytime and 5K Tungstens at nighttime) has enough of an impact, I had the wire grilles above the interior courtyard leading to the cells cut and hinges put in… Handling these grilles is still very dangerous due to their heaviness! iPhone (Gilles, July Wednesday 2)
Green backdrop - Layal's cell. Delay. A hastily improvised green backdrop for a special effects model. <i>(Samuel, July Wednesday 2)</i>
Green backdrop
Layal’s cell. Delay. A hastily improvised green backdrop for a special effects model. (Samuel, July Wednesday 2)
Nour - Nour is the first name of Layal's child in the film… Nour is also the name of Mai's production company… Nour is above all the first name of Mai's eldest daughter who is playing the role of an Israeli soldier in <i>3000 Nights</i> and sometimes falls asleep in a room near the entrance of the prison… Anecdotally, Nour's regular place of residence is Manhattan (New York)… <i>iPhone (Gilles, July Thursday 3)</i>
Nour
Nour is the first name of Layal’s child in the film… Nour is also the name of Mai’s production company… Nour is above all the first name of Mai’s eldest daughter who is playing the role of an Israeli soldier in 3000 Nights and sometimes falls asleep in a room near the entrance of the prison… Anecdotally, Nour’s regular place of residence is Manhattan (New York)… iPhone (Gilles, July Thursday 3)
Psychedelic lights - Commute Zarqa-Amman. End of the week, listening to the psychedelic trance, I don't know where we're headed. <i>(Samuel, July Thursday 3)</i>
Psychedelic lights
Commute Zarqa-Amman. End of the week, listening to the psychedelic trance, I don’t know where we’re headed. (Samuel, July Thursday 3)
Syrine and the tortoise - Aqaba... Red Sea... Southernmost point of Jordan... Water temperature: 29°C... Depth: 11 m... Duration of the dive: 38 min... <i>(Gilles, July Friday 4)</i>
Syrine and the tortoise
Aqaba... Red Sea... Southernmost point of Jordan... Water temperature: 29°C... Depth: 11 m... Duration of the dive: 38 min... (Gilles, July Friday 4)
Amman in triple time - Amman, 2<sup class="typo_exposants">nd</sup> circle (day off). New room, new view. Three events are taking place at the same time: shooting, Ramadan, and the World Cup. Today, I will not be participating in any of them. <i>(Samuel, July Friday 4)</i>
Amman in triple time
Amman, 2nd circle (day off). New room, new view. Three events are taking place at the same time: shooting, Ramadan, and the World Cup. Today, I will not be participating in any of them. (Samuel, July Friday 4)
Anyes & Syrine, and Gilles - Wadi Rum Desert, 7 a.m. ...<br class='manualbr' />Diptych: Anyes & Syrine by Gilles / Gilles by Syrine...<br class='manualbr' />“Framing a shot in order to obtain a beautiful horizontality… Asking the subject to let him- or herself fall and waiting until the last moment to take the photo and cushion the fall… Preferably choosing as a surface water, snow, a mattress or… sand!” <i>(Gilles, July Saturday 5)</i>
Anyes & Syrine, and Gilles
Wadi Rum Desert, 7 a.m. ...
Diptych: Anyes & Syrine by Gilles / Gilles by Syrine...
“Framing a shot in order to obtain a beautiful horizontality… Asking the subject to let him- or herself fall and waiting until the last moment to take the photo and cushion the fall… Preferably choosing as a surface water, snow, a mattress or… sand!” (Gilles, July Saturday 5)
In the barber shop - Amman (day off). Note to self: let beard grow in order to have the opportunity of going to the barber. <i>(Samuel, July Saturday 5)</i>
In the barber shop
Amman (day off). Note to self: let beard grow in order to have the opportunity of going to the barber. (Samuel, July Saturday 5)
1-0, long live France! - When I show up in “the camera cell” a flag – put up by Anton (clapper/loader) reminds me that I lost 50 Jordanian dollars by betting on France's winning the World Cup… <i>iPhone (Gilles, July Sunday 6)</i>
1-0, long live France!
When I show up in “the camera cell” a flag – put up by Anton (clapper/loader) reminds me that I lost 50 Jordanian dollars by betting on France’s winning the World Cup… iPhone (Gilles, July Sunday 6)
Zarqa - Camera cell: we are exactly halfway through shooting. <i>(Samuel, July Sunday 6)</i>
Zarqa
Camera cell: we are exactly halfway through shooting. (Samuel, July Sunday 6)
L'air conditionné de MustaphaMustapha's air conditioning - I wonder under what title we will be able to include Mustapha, who is responsible for the air conditioning on set, in the credits… <i>(Gilles, July Monday 7)</i>
L’air conditionné de MustaphaMustapha’s air conditioning
I wonder under what title we will be able to include Mustapha, who is responsible for the air conditioning on set, in the credits… (Gilles, July Monday 7)
Majd in his watchtower - Zarqa: Majd, the Palestinian 4<sup class="typo_exposants">th</sup> assistant director, spends three hours as an extra in his watchtower dressed in a Israel Defense Forces uniform. He will always be out of the frame, and so there won't be any call sheet this evening. <i>(Samuel, July Monday 7)</i>
Majd in his watchtower
Zarqa: Majd, the Palestinian 4th assistant director, spends three hours as an extra in his watchtower dressed in a Israel Defense Forces uniform. He will always be out of the frame, and so there won’t be any call sheet this evening. (Samuel, July Monday 7)
Day for night - Due to Ramadan, I have decided to film scenes that take place indoors at nighttime during the day by building special light-blocking vestibules, since a part of the lighting is supposed to come from outside… Here, technicians are paid the same whether they work during the day or at night… Besides the unimaginable heat indoors, we have underestimated an important factor: the wind in the blacks makes it very difficult to use live sound during this scene… <i>iPhone (Gilles, July Tuesday 8
Day for night
Due to Ramadan, I have decided to film scenes that take place indoors at nighttime during the day by building special light-blocking vestibules, since a part of the lighting is supposed to come from outside… Here, technicians are paid the same whether they work during the day or at night… Besides the unimaginable heat indoors, we have underestimated an important factor: the wind in the blacks makes it very difficult to use live sound during this scene… iPhone (Gilles, July Tuesday 8
Décor borniolé et mouchoirs en papierBlacks on the set and paper handkerchief - Zarqa: a side effect of Ramadan is that we've been filming the nighttime shots during the daytime in order to avoid the long evening prayers. The set of the cell has been prepared with blacks, Stephanie, the makeup artist, has been spending her days sponging perspiration off the actresses. <i>(Samuel, July Tuesday 8)</i>
Décor borniolé et mouchoirs en papierBlacks on the set and paper handkerchief
Zarqa: a side effect of Ramadan is that we’ve been filming the nighttime shots during the daytime in order to avoid the long evening prayers. The set of the cell has been prepared with blacks, Stephanie, the makeup artist, has been spending her days sponging perspiration off the actresses. (Samuel, July Tuesday 8)


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