Just saw an interesting film the other day on P.O.V called "Calavera Highway". It documents the trip of two brothers as they travel with their mother's ashes back to Texas, where they grew up, near the Mexican border. Along the way, they visit with their five other brothers and trace their Mexican roots, at one point crossing the border to uncover some of their father's past. It was interesting to see the perspective of another filmmaker on a story similar in theme to the one I am working on. Check out the link to view a clip, or read more about it at the website.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2008/calaverahighway/

On my thesis, I have finished shooting what will most likely be the first half of the film, which all takes place here in Rochester. Now begins the fun of logging all that tape and beginning to develop an editing script as I try to put together what I have before we embark on our trip to PR in December to shoot what will amount to the second half of the film (roughly). It has been difficult to find time to keep up with blogging while shooting these elements, so perhaps as I log these elements, I can recount some of those events.

It's strange how I often don't really know what I have until I go back and look at it later. I have ideas for things that I know I want, but with documentary, you never know exactly what you are going to get, and how it is going to fit into the final film. 

I knew I wanted to get everyone into the car to take a trip back to the neighborhood where my wife's parents grew up here in Rochester, as they used to do when my wife and her sister were younger. I had an idea that this could be a fruitful trip in terms of learning more about the family history and seeing where they came from, but it's impossible to plan for the moments that occur. I can only be prepared to react to the situation and capture it as it happens and then sort out later how it will fit into the narrative.

Similarly, I spent months restoring some old photos of my father in law's family, that had been recovered, unbeknownst to him, from their garage. They were severely damaged by water, but I managed to salvage and reprint many of them so that my wife and her sister could put together an album. I knew that it would be emotional for them, but also and important piece of their family narrative, so I wanted to document them giving the album to him. It was indeed emotional for everyone and though, it is difficult to separate myself from that situation in the capacity that I must while capturing it on video, I knew it could be a potentially important moment to help interweave his story into the overall narrative in the film.

Being so close to a story makes it that much harder to step back and be objective enough to know when something is working or not, but it will be even more of a challenge as I begin to edit the film over the next few months. At the same time, I cannot completely remove myself from the process, because I am a part of the story, and I have to use care as I consider how my voice will play a part in guiding the viewer's experience of the story.