I spent Easter directing the photography (DP/Cinematographer) for a documentary film in Gbenikoro, a village in northeast Sierra Leone, West Africa. It was scorching hot and the Sound Engineer, Ben Clore, a talented 31 year-old Virginian who was on his first trip to Africa, frequently asked for a break. I empathized with him but kept shooting because I knew that the Director, Kewulay Kamara, and Producer, Steve Zeitlin, wanted to document as much of the memorial as possible - processions, discussions, musical performances, speeches, recitations, and bovine sacrifice.
Kewulay (above right) was born in Dankawali, a nearby village in northeast Sierra Leone. He moved to the United States after secondary school for college and is now a dual national. Finah Misa Kulé (which roughly means The Lineage of People destined to Voice their King's Heritage and Vision) deals with tradition and persistence. Kewulay began by writing and staging a live performance with traditional music similar to the way oral history is recounted in many African villages and courtyards. This helped him order his general approach to what promises to be an powerful, cinematic family epic.
Thanks to digital P2HD technology, we were able to review the footage at regular intervals. While we sat in Freetown's Lungi International Airport waiting to board our return flight, Steve (above second from left) looked at more of the footage that Kewulay and Ben (above far right) had reviewed until the wee hours of our last night in Sierra Leone. Steve was also pleased. Ben, who as I said was a great crew mate, explained to Steve that I consistently got the subject's facial detail while keeping the brightly sunlit sections within limits so the editor could bring out detail in post-production. I think it was then that Steve fully realized the challenge a DP faces when cinema verité style shooting African subjects in the noonday equitorial sun! The 2/3 inch chips in the Panasonic HPV 500 were a great asset on this shoot! Thanks, Steve, for renting that camera.
Ben and I shot the production stills included above and in the following slide show using Canon and Nikon point and shoot cameras.
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