The Philippines. Home to those who crave sun and fun. Also to bugs that make your household pet look like chump change.
But let's back up. After our shoot in Guilin we flew to Beijing for B-roll (read: touristy sightseeing). We climbed the Great Wall and hyperventilated until we saw stars. We went to the Forbidden City, an excellent example of how architectural art can be built to impress and overwhelm, yet maintain an intimate and tasteful touch in the details. What really threw me about Beijing was the pollution. You'll see in my photos that an object can't be even more than 200 feet away without beginning to get lost in the smog. It's worst in the downtown core, but it still impedes a clear photo at the Great Wall, more than two hours of driving away.
So we fly to Manila. On the night we came in, it was eerily calm. Very dank, moisture hung like thick blankets in the air outside of the airport. We woke the next morning to the typhoon.
It just looked like heavy sheets of rain with wind until it blew out a transformer outside of my window. Then I noticed that all the huge billboards were rolled up, people were struggling to cross the street, the outbound lane of the highway was packed. I had breakfast and met up with the local camera guys for the equipment prep. Even whilst getting into the car in the covered entrance, I could feel the fury of the wind. No word of a lie, the rain was literally blowing sideways.
Camera prep, bags packed, travel south to our shoot location. I've heard that most of the hotels in Manila had to be evacuated the morning after, so we barely dodged that mess. Our shoot is about an hour or two away from Manila, so the weather wasn't quite as bad. Just loads of rain, some moderate wind. We're currently at a resort in the area, which is essentially in the middle of the jungle. Lizards, bugs, mountains, spiders. There's just no escaping it. But here's the key: the favourite food of the locals is fried chicken. I'm home!
We shoot tomorrow, head back to Manila on Friday to shoot B-roll, and then it's just a "short" hop to Vancouver, and Toronto after that. Hello, homestretch.
But let's back up. After our shoot in Guilin we flew to Beijing for B-roll (read: touristy sightseeing). We climbed the Great Wall and hyperventilated until we saw stars. We went to the Forbidden City, an excellent example of how architectural art can be built to impress and overwhelm, yet maintain an intimate and tasteful touch in the details. What really threw me about Beijing was the pollution. You'll see in my photos that an object can't be even more than 200 feet away without beginning to get lost in the smog. It's worst in the downtown core, but it still impedes a clear photo at the Great Wall, more than two hours of driving away.
So we fly to Manila. On the night we came in, it was eerily calm. Very dank, moisture hung like thick blankets in the air outside of the airport. We woke the next morning to the typhoon.
It just looked like heavy sheets of rain with wind until it blew out a transformer outside of my window. Then I noticed that all the huge billboards were rolled up, people were struggling to cross the street, the outbound lane of the highway was packed. I had breakfast and met up with the local camera guys for the equipment prep. Even whilst getting into the car in the covered entrance, I could feel the fury of the wind. No word of a lie, the rain was literally blowing sideways.
Camera prep, bags packed, travel south to our shoot location. I've heard that most of the hotels in Manila had to be evacuated the morning after, so we barely dodged that mess. Our shoot is about an hour or two away from Manila, so the weather wasn't quite as bad. Just loads of rain, some moderate wind. We're currently at a resort in the area, which is essentially in the middle of the jungle. Lizards, bugs, mountains, spiders. There's just no escaping it. But here's the key: the favourite food of the locals is fried chicken. I'm home!
We shoot tomorrow, head back to Manila on Friday to shoot B-roll, and then it's just a "short" hop to Vancouver, and Toronto after that. Hello, homestretch.
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