Thursday, May 22, 2008


Finally!! Here’s one of the hundreds of photos of the big day last Saturday night.


And it should be a snap to blog about it, right? The details are VERY fresh in my mind, as I spent yesterday seeing every single moment of it over and over and over and OVER again.


You see, though we spent good money to have someone ‘professional’ actually film and edit the event, it just wasn’t shaping up into something viewable. I went over to the Studio Magic/Magix Photo Plus place yesterday to approve the final cut of the proposed dvd.


It’s a simple, rather run-down little building. As I got out of the car, a fat white hen ran across my foot. Maybe the "Plus" in the name of the place meant plus poultry?

Almost immediately, a small group of curious neighbourhood children showed up. They were pretty shy, but very polite- each shaking my hand, the girls adding a little bouncy mini-curtsey. None of them had pants on.
But then, it was pretty darn hot. I kind of envied them.


I sat in a plastic garden chair (best seat in the house) and watched the film. TWO hours long. Nothing was left out. I think that Pierre (the proud owner of the SMPP) is used to clients that are happy with sheer volume. If you pay 100 dollars, you want a BIG film! But I am one of those ADD adults you hear so much about, I guess. Just can’t sit through a two-hour long Burkina-style dvd. Too much Sesame Street as a tot, perhaps. All those catchy songs and changes of scenery.


But honestly- there were three adult baptisms right in the middle of the service. It was ALL in our film and I don’t even know any of the people.


“Do you have some time?” I asked Pierre. “We need to sit down and change a few little things…”

We worked for two hours and then broke for lunch.

“Have you ever had a client do this before?” I asked. “Edit the film with you?”

“No.”


But he’s a great guy and seems to be taking it very well. Maybe he calls me The Client from Hell behind my back, but that would only be just and well-deserved.

He seems to want us to be happy with the film. And we almost are.


We’ve spent fours hours on it so far. But just a bit more work tomorrow morning and it should be done.

5 comments:

Bridget said...

Fat???? white hen??? The skinniest chickens on the planet live in Ouagadougou. There must be greater forces at work than you know. If you work hard enough, who knows??? Cannes perhaps or Sundance for sure will beg for your indy.

Anonymous said...

Love this cinema verite style.

Just wanted to say that I think everyone's hair--EVERYONE's--looks fabulous in that pic. Beth, for all your fussing, the end result for you is really great! And I know Mal wanted curls, but the straight is so lovely - Alexa's work well for her shape of her face too. Oh, and yes, I guess as a Catholic I should note something else about the day other than hair. Umm, was the food good?
-mlw

Momma Bee said...

You will definitely remembered in Ouaga for a long, long time...

Beth said...

"Beg for my indy?" More like beg for mercy. But you'll get to judge for yourself, mom. Your copy of it going in the mail as soon as it's burned!

MLW- A woman after my own heart- that's what you are. I figure that if anyone wants to know what goes on at a Mass, they can look in Wikipedia, like normal people. This blog is strictly for my whining and ranting. I don't have ROOM here for facts.
And hey-thanks for the compliments!!

And Babs- Yes, I think it's safe to say that I'm leaving my mark on Ouagadougou. In fact, there may be scarring.

Benoit Lescarbeau said...

Have you asked for added special effects?