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| Essay Archive | May 9, 2004 |
BBC HOLIDAY IN NICARAGUA
Nicaraguan Tourism Receives a Major Image Boost
The late afternoon sun was beating down on the lush interior gardens of the Hotel El Convento in León. The entire BBC crew was losing patience. Presenter Kate Thorton let out a big howl, then cursed into the thick tropical air. A pick-up truck with giant speakers was passing on the street outside, doing laps of the city center advertising a dance party in two days time. We were all up against the clock as time was running out on 7 days of work and 3 days of shooting. Kate was trying to tape her summary of impressions on Nicaragua, in her words hung the balance of hundreds of thousands of dollars of potential income for the tiny fledging Nicaraguan tourism industry. The loud bass notes the pick-up stopped our tapping for the 15th time. Take 16 would be followed by others, frustrated by slamming doors, ringing telephones and forgotten lines by the presenter. Light was dwindling and we still had to shoot in central León the classic lines of the Cathedral, a street mural and some cityscapes.
Director Annabelle Rowe, who sat cross-legged with her shoes off on the hotel's garden grass, was squinting into a portable monitor when she yelled "action" once again. Cameraman Nick Cleave was sweating profusely glued to his eyepiece as presenter Kate Thorton went back into her summary. Sound technician Callum Bulmer had his headphones tuned to a radio-mike and his furry sound-boom and his eyes rolled back into his head hoping for a clear take with no urban sounds. The truck with the giant speakers passed again, its deep bass beating the crew into a frustrated frenzy. Kiwi Callum clenched his fist raising his tattooed arm into the air saying his was going into the street to rough-up the offending pick-up truck himself. Annabelle looked on patiently, asking for another take. The pressure of 3 brutal days of shooting was wearing the entire crew thin and I ran to get Kate and Nick some fresh pineapple juice. We finally got a clean take and went to the Convento's beautiful lobby to shoot a "link", the tiny film pieces that the program uses to connect two distinct travel destinations on the same show. We then sprinted in to Leon's city center to shoot a short history summary using a León street mural. More takes and more cursing as I watched the late glow of afternoon light slowly dying on the façade of the Cathedral.
I was grinding my palms and pacing back and forth as Kate did several takes on Nicaragua's late 20th century history. Annabelle finally asked me if we need to shoot the Cathedral at once, I nodded and she gave the order as Nick and I went sprinting with her into Central Park. I had seen Nick work slowly and precisely in the lakes, rivers, volcanoes and forests of Nicaragua, but with less than 5 minutes of spectacular golden light to work with, Nick Cleave filmed with a staggering efficiency and quality that still makes me shake my head in wonder. He shot two wide frames of the church, a pan and then started to shoot details of the church like he had been planning this for months. In reality it was the first time he had seen the Cathedral in his life. He banged out one beautiful shot after another. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, the BBC had gotten great shots of nature and people in the can, but we had nothing of Nicaragua's great colonial heritage, its timeless architecture, until the dying light of the final day of shooting. We went back to the mural to finish the short history piece with Kate talking and Callum recording the sound, then went up to the roof of the mayor's office to film the bustling city of León and a sunset of red clouds punctuated by silhouetted bell towers.
On the roof of the mayor's office I shook hands with the crew, director and presenter, the enormous weight of the most important tourism film ever shot in Nicaragua finally off my shoulders. A more difficult task as a guide I had never completed. I would sleep for nearly two solid days after I said goodbye to the BBC. It may seem like careless exaggeration to say the BBC Holiday visit was the most important tourism piece ever done on Nicaragua, but few who know the facts would argue. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, BBC Holiday is the oldest running television travel show in the English language. The program has a prime time spot on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. in the UK drawing 7-10 million viewers and is later picked up by BBC World which reaches more than 200 million households worldwide. The shooting schedule that I had designed, arranged and guided would lead to 5 hours of filming to be edited into 6 minutes of airtime, for a special program that will designate Nicaragua as the most important new travel destination in the world.
All who work in Nicaragua tourism stand to benefit from the airing of this program, slated to be broadcasted for the first time in late October or November. I chose the locales based on the contrasting yet complimentary images they would provide of nature and culture. I would first guide the program director, Annabelle Rowe to each site, then she would block out the shots in her mind (as I had while designing the program) and work on the script. When the rest of the crew left London they would have two travel days and then we would all meet up and get on with filming. Below are the 4 days highlighted as a sample of the 7 days total time spent by the BBC here in Nicaragua.
Director and cameraman block out a shot on the slopes of the Cerro Negro
Photo: Richard Leonardi
April 30: MANAGUA - SAN CARLOS - SOLENTINAME ARCHIPELAGO
Cameraman, soundman and presenter and 150 kilograms of sound and film equipment arrives in one piece to San Carlos on La Costeña's Cessna Caravan 208B. Motorboat transfer to Solentiname islands with no problems, where the director Annabelle and I are returning from a scouting trip of the Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge. We meet presenter Kate Thorton in the hotel dinning room. She is furious with small plane flight and small boat travel and rustic conditions of the islands, while raving about the "six star" hotel she just came from in Dubai and how many pop-stars she interviewed last year. Disheartened beyond description, I am sure that the BBC has picked the wrong person to host this "pioneering" kind of program. I run out of dinning room and into the forest to scream in despair. Director is stoic, her smile is mixed with concern. She and I both have to make this film work. For the director it is just one little travel film, but she must have the presenter on board. For me it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to help Nicaraguan tourism and image in general, the culmination of 8 hard years of battle to change Nicaragua's horrible international image. Camera Nick and sound Callum seem to love Solentiname and note that it only required 3 hours to arrive from the downtown Managua to this virgin wilderness. Big dinner of lake fish is liked by all.
May 01: SOLENTINAME - LOS GUATUZOS WILDLIFE REFUGE
4:00 a.m. wake-up knock on the door by our boatman Ricardo Henríquez and I dress and run to the kitchen to see that coffee is made for the trip. 4:30 a.m. at the dock and Callum attaches a radio mike to the inside of my tee-shirt and the crew films presenter Kate Thorton in the early morning blue light getting on one of our motorboats. 5:00 a.m. departure in two motorboats on Lake Nicaragua. Presenter has her game face on and is now being very professional. We arrive in early morning to the bird sanctuary of Isla Zapote, home to more than 10,000 lake birds. The island is busy, overflowing with birds and they are making a racket for soundman Callum. Cameraman Nick has no steady cam and shooting from lake (we cannot land there due to rocks) is challenging. Kate and I chat on camera and mike about the wood storks, cormorants, roseate spoonbills, white ibis and other species we see along the coast of the island. Weather, however, is not on board, overcast, so footage of island is likely to be cut. Transfer to Río Zapote in Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge lovely, sun comes out and Nick has adjusted quickly to boat shooting and grabs some great egret and heron shots. We encounter several families of howler monkeys and Kate interviews me once again. Nick films while Callum records my howler call, this will likely make final cut as well as my remark, "nature is king in Los Guatuzos, here man is just a footnote". Several links are filmed on boat and all kinds of boat to boat footage are shot without sound. I was fortunate to prepare Kate for a talk from international border on Río Zapote, which is marked by a small tree covered in bromeliads. She picks up the thread, commenting that the other side of this lone tree on the riverbank is the ecotour Mecca of Latin America Costa Rica and on this side of the tree Nicaragua, yet undiscovered, despite having 3 times more nature reserve. Boat journey to Río Papaturro in another part of the wildlife refuge and a visit to the "Friends of the Rio San Juan" research station. Walking interview shot with the foundation's director Fabio Buitrago on this fine example of sustainable ecotourism. Presenter is charmed and likes community theme, I find a thread and later explain how Hotel Mancarrún on Solentiname is also in this category. To my dismay director Annabelle refuses to shoot baby caimans and turtles that are being reproduced at the center, but Nick does grab some close-ups of orchids and more links and comments are shot from boat on river. We return to Isla San Fernando in Solentiname to film more links and lots of silent shots of the archipelago, with sunsets. The presenter Kate is starting to like Nicaragua and Solentiname, which shows in her on camera posture. Crew and I are exhausted mentally and physically.
BBC Cameraman focuses on Cerro Negro Volcano.
May 02: SOLENTINAME - SAN CARLOS - MANAGUA
5:00 a.m. wake-up and morning shooting of hotel. Annabelle, Kate, Callum and Nick film final comments on Solentiname and Hotel Mancarrún. Kate had planned to say that "you might as well bathe in the lake if you come here - since few rooms actually have baths." In reality all rooms have baths and comments like that would narrow our visitors to hard-core backpackers. I bite my lip and interfere once again with the script and Kate changes her speech to something more realistic and positive. Forest animals now accustomed to guide with primordial scream and look on impassively while I howl at the trees to blow off stress. Two boat transfer to Isla La Venada to interview legendary painter Rodolfo Arellano in his house while I translate off-camera. Soft window light and a calm impressive interview have director, cameraman and I beaming with pleasure. Very well done by all, with Kate at her very best. Later I take Nick and Annabelle to visit with Rodolfo junior who I have been preparing for 3 days to be filmed in his workshop. All artisan and lake view shots done with no voice, just video. Wrap-up for Solentiname by presenter Kate filmed on the front steps of Rodolfo's house and I go ballistic once again when she says on camera that "Nicaragua has no running water, no electricity and no sanitation, but the people sure are nice." I look for some forest in vain, and scream in public. I managed to get it re-shot to say "rural Nicaragua has no running water, etc..." Logistical nightmare of excessive gear, lunch and transfer to landing strip and then flight to Managua (with excellent with aerial shots of Solentiname) goes off without a hitch. Filming with no sound of Managua's "peace park" where AK-47's are buried as a visual metaphor to establish that peace in Nicaragua is now more than 14 year-old news. Presenter back in the Hotel Europeo is tired and stressed out about the lack of 24 hour laundry service and general lack of 5 star-ness of the hotel. I discover that the presenter Kate has only one set of clothes for the shoot and that she must wash and iron them nightly. Hotel staff goes into their office to scream. Crew eats at Pizza Hut on suggestion of tattooed Kiwi sound man who has criticized the US fast food chains (especially Starbucks) without rest the entire trip, claiming that they spell the end to the civilized world. Later our sardonic anti-fast-food sound-man is spotted with a Subway Sandwich napkin in his backpack. Crew exhausted. Guide in intensive care.
May 03: MANAGUA - CERRO NEGRO - LEON
Meeting of Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol 4x4's at hotel for 6:00 a.m. journey north towards Cerro Negro. Filming of Nissan Patrol 4x4 with Kate passing the shores of Lake Managua with Momotombo and Momotombito Volcanoes in the backdrop. Arrival to León Viejo highway where mountain guides Rigo Sampson and Lenín Obando are waiting for us in another Land Cruiser. We ride in a three 4x4 caravan along dusty earthen roads towards Cerro Negro with more 4x4 journey shots taken of Kate in the front seat of the Nissan. Not having to journey in boat of small airplane Kate now likes the country more and is thrilled to see numerous iguanas, orioles and turquoise browed mot-mots during the trip. She arrives to the base of the dark black Cerro Negro Volcano in good spirits. Cameraman Nick is also enthused having never climbed a volcano before (nor seen one before this trip to Nicaragua). Numerous links and other shots taken at based of Cerro Negro as presenter laughs off possibility of her climbing the cone. Her pink top and blond hair contrast sharply and wonderfully with black sand of Cerro Negro. The super back drop for filming is Maribios Volcano Chain, on a clear sunny day, with smoke and ash pouring out of San Cristóbal Volcano in eruption. Interview with mountain guide Rigo Sampson at base of volcano is filmed. I leave with the director Annabelle and presenter Kate to León to battle over script in Hotel El Convento. San Jacinto is sadly taken off the filming list for time constraints. Nick and Callum go up Cerro Negro with Rigo and Lenín and have a blast. Great interior shots of crater and volcanic range shot by Nick. Lunch at the marvelous Hotel El Convento. Shooting in gardens of the hotel with many sound problems thanks to city location and presenter messing up lines and going berserk. Noise from hotel doors, phones etc... has me running around insane as time is running out. Finally closing speech is on tape and other no voice shots taken of the garden and link shot in lobby. Final performance of presenter shot while walking along León mural, take after take after take while the light is dying. I was pulling out my, screaming last light on Cathedral and camera and sound and director sprinted with me to central park to shoot the Cathedral just before the sun goes away. Golden light shots of León Cathedral taken at the last possible moment, me dizzy with relief. Roof top shots from mayor's office of churches and volcanoes with final sunset wrap up the work. Handshakes all around.
REFLECTIONS
I pray that the final cut of BBC Holiday in Nicaragua shows all the beauty of this land and her people. I cannot thank enough the director Annabelle Rowe for putting up with my constant interference in her script and camera shots. Annabelle is a model of how to deal with a range of tense personalities without showing a ruffled feather or missing a beat. The talented, if moody, presenter Kate Thorton somehow managed to put up with my insolent insistence that she love Nicaragua as much as I do and hopefully left Nicaragua with added appreciation for the beautiful simplicity of life here. Cameraman Nick Cleave was a prince, always sharing with me a tip or two on the world of video and his enormous skills, while prodding me to move my still photography skills to his world of video. Our resident cynic for the shoots, sound technician Callum Bulmer, was always an interesting chat on a range of political subjects and showed me just how sensitive and beautiful professional sound gear can be. It was with great melancholy that I said goodbye to these consummate professionals.
Copyright © Richard Leonardi