Pre-pro - How we prepare to produce in the field

Next week, Forest of Ecstasy airs (here's the sneak peek). It goes down in my memory as one of the most physically taxing shoots I’ve ever been on and one that I proudly emerged intact from (except for a couple of toenails) with a tale of an exciting real life adventure to share.

As a producer, we do everything we can to prepare for our time out in the field. From dozens of midnight phone calls made to the opposite end of the world to set up interviews and sort out logistics to the task of mentally and emotionally preparing ourselves to be apart and out of communication from family and friends for days, even weeks at a time…. that’s all part of pre-production.

For Forest of Ecstasy, there was an added component of being physically up for the challenge. I knew we’d be heading out into the hot muggy rainforest, carrying all our gear on our backs.  I’m reasonably fit but, let’s face it, I don’t train for triathalons for fun like Adam Yamaguchi. To prepare, I went on weekly long hikes in the hills of Northern California where I live.  My husband acted as my personal trainer, encouraging me to keep those feet moving when I’d start to tire. We couldn’t replicate the humidity of Cambodia but we did load up my backpack up with bottles of water and handweights.  My husband said that other hikers we’d pass would give him dirty looks for letting me do all the heavy lifting!

In the end, this is what we carried on our backs :
- Satellite phone (for emergencies only at $8 a minute!)
- Videocamera and 4 big batteries
- Water purification tablets
- First aid kit, replete with quick clot
- Hammock with mosquito net cover
- Silk sleeping sheet
- Extra shirt
- Cans of tuna fish
- Plastic bags to protect the gear from the rain

Here’s what I really wished I had packed
- A pair of flipflops
- Extra socks
- Deet-laced mosquito repellent (to make the leeches drop off)

Of course, you can never be prepared for everything. And during the river crossing, Adam Yamaguchi couldn’t resist turning the camera on me at a particularly vulnerable moment.  Earlier in the day, I had overcome my repulsion of leeches—just pick ‘em off your neck with the left hand while filming with the right hand!—but making my way across the slippery riverbed was an unexpected twist in the journey.  I knew about the possibility of landmines but this water component was almost too much. I fearfully pictured a Siamese crocodile making a rare appearance just for us.  But forge ahead I did….


Joanne crosses the river (Video)

BTW, I wasn’t waving a white flag high over my head. That’s a double plastic bag with all the shot tapes that I’m trying to keep as safe as possible. And I can answer my joking question on why we at Vanguard do these things...to bring the story back to you.

Recently from the Vanguard blog:
An overview of Cuba: Past, Present and Future - by Adrian Baschuk
Don’t turn off the TV, yet - by Adam Yamaguchi
We warned you about the dollar…sort of - by Mitch Koss