So it is 2012 - happy new year.
I forgot to tell you about my head. Well, actually the left side of my face - and the fact that it is fascinating.
Picture the scene, Dubai to Dhaka flight, it's full and I have a right-side aisle seat sitting next to a rather elderly Bengali gentleman. He seems quite taken with my profile, particularly the bit with the ear and he spends the whole of the many hours (about 7) of the flight staring at it. The food arrives, no food just staring, I eat, he stares, I put on head phones - moving my head to avoid thumping him with my headphones - he stares, I fill in the immigration form - he stares, I go to the toilet and return, he takes up his position and stares. No words, no smiles, no interaction, just staring. Hmmmm.
Anyway, I've already been back for 5 weeks and managed to shoot the drama inserts for BBC Janala Mojay Mojay Shekha 2 (because you need a long title for a programme every now and again).
It'd been a pretty full-on January with the prep for the shoot for "Raisa in Bangladesh" and the actual shoot itself. That was full of moments! So - in no particular order ...
In excess of 20 hours in a car in 4 days travelling to and from location makes a girl go slightly insane (or in my case, closes the deal). But the upside of this was the creation of my first poem in Bangla - printed for all to read (!) below.
Janjot, khoub kharab.
Ha, ha, ami jani.
Janjot, khoub kharab.
Mary Hare - 25.01.2012
Now the driving was certainly suffering for my art - but the response to the first poem has been diverse. Several of the team have laughed - in that nervous way that they do when you are about to tell them off or embarrass them but some of them have started to quote it - the drivers think it's great - and one of the team wants it for their FB status... Yet, the fame is still just out of reach! I may be on a tee-shirt yet!
So - to the filming. A rather boutique sized crew, many familiar faces from when I was filming here before, and 9 days of working in and around Dhaka. The deal is to create 16 x 90 second inserts for the edutainment show (MMS2) incorporating English language that has been pre-determined by a syllabus. Oh, and they need the production values of commercials but the money is not quite in the millions (even if you count it in Taka!).
One of the team had managed to secure a day of filming at the international airport both in the arrivals/luggage area and also airside. This was a bit of a coup (no pun intended with the choice of words). I wasn't allowed airside - a foreigner with a camera - what could I possibly do with shots of the planes and the runway and the system?! And then there was the phone call.
Elizabeth: Mary, we have a problem ....
Mary: Okay, what sort of problem ....?
and off we go. The story goes that the military (airside) decided to scramble a plane (it had been a little quiet for a Tuesday, not much air traffic due to the fog) and it took off rather close to the plane that was coming in to land. The latter plane's pilot complained - rather graphically - about the situation. All would have carried on as normal until someone noticed we'd got a camera airside and may well have shot footage of the "situation". So - the military take our small crew into custody. Hence the phone call ....
Still, a little later, after screening the footage for the military and chattering about the programme, the team returns.
Two days later and the phone rings. We're in a factory outside of Dhaka and not all of the team have arrived.
Elizabeth: Mary, we have a situation ....
Mary: Okay, what sort of situation ....?
It would appear that the actress was 20 minutes late getting into the car in the morning. Not unusual - it's Bangladesh. Still, 20 minutes is the difference between an empty road, traffic and a traffic jam. Which meant that the vehicle was later at Gazipur, which meant it was just in the right place to join the ... riot .... Several hours later - many phone calls -burning vehicles, and a vast amount of paperwork that will need completing - the team arrives, safely and just in time for lunch (which is exactly where I would expect to find Elizabeth - who can smell food even when you're only planning what to make. In fact, when they left the vehicle (because the rioters were starting to burn them) she took the team off to a cafe for coffee and breakfast!). Sallyann - you would be proud - completed the incident report with Elizabeth and she said that she can see it in pictures in her head like a scene from a film!
Now, in the midst of all of this, there is Harriet and Vera. Harriet is the English Language Consultant for this year and Vera is the production manager. And Vera has taken a rather drastic route to getting sent back to the UK - she's pregnant. Hours and hours (sitting in traffic jams) discussing baby names. Some normal, some terrible, some funny - but for now we're calling the bump Hemingway. Hemingway is active at night, according to the scan he is a boy, he sleeps during the day, doesn't appear to give Vera morning sickness but does give her heartburn that makes her think she is dying if she eats three enormous meals in one day!
Harriet and I get to be "aunties" as Vera's husband is in Afghanistan and her family are in the UK and Portugal. The "aunties" are required to go to hospital checks (Harriet), provide pain au chocolat (Mary), gurgle and coo over the foot shot on the scan (Harriet and Mary) and generally ensure that Vera sits down enough and laughs and eats properly and drinks loads of water (but no whisky)! There are times when the last thing is difficult - but we are THE AUNTIES and we shall win!
During the filming, not that there have been times when we are unbearably bored, we have been deciding on songs to depict each day. So the day above - I predict a riot ... The local team traditionally wear very baggy trousers and are becoming masters at MC Hammer's "Can't touch this" - and Utpol, particularly, has mastered the art of that dance. We have, in fact, a song for every occasion. But, if there is a time when we just need a song, we now have "our song" which is "put the lime in the coconut" .... Yes, I know, as you're reading this you're getting concerned again .... I''ll be back soon!!
And on to mosquitoes... You may remember that I spent last year sharing my bedroom with Marvin - my very own relationship with an affectionate (!) mosquito. Well, a little more research, and it appears my relationship, once again, is confused .... Only the female mosquitoes bite - could go into details about this but the OCD of my research is a little dull, I know. I'm thinking of writing stories about Marvin - and we've come up with a title for a chapter "Marvin lives to bite another day".
The good news is that, just before I returned, I bought a small digital camera and have been taking a few photos. The bad news is that I can't seem to use it properly yet and the results are below for your viewing. So - to the filming. A rather boutique sized crew, many familiar faces from when I was filming here before, and 9 days of working in and around Dhaka. The deal is to create 16 x 90 second inserts for the edutainment show (MMS2) incorporating English language that has been pre-determined by a syllabus. Oh, and they need the production values of commercials but the money is not quite in the millions (even if you count it in Taka!).
One of the team had managed to secure a day of filming at the international airport both in the arrivals/luggage area and also airside. This was a bit of a coup (no pun intended with the choice of words). I wasn't allowed airside - a foreigner with a camera - what could I possibly do with shots of the planes and the runway and the system?! And then there was the phone call.
Elizabeth: Mary, we have a problem ....
Mary: Okay, what sort of problem ....?
and off we go. The story goes that the military (airside) decided to scramble a plane (it had been a little quiet for a Tuesday, not much air traffic due to the fog) and it took off rather close to the plane that was coming in to land. The latter plane's pilot complained - rather graphically - about the situation. All would have carried on as normal until someone noticed we'd got a camera airside and may well have shot footage of the "situation". So - the military take our small crew into custody. Hence the phone call ....
Still, a little later, after screening the footage for the military and chattering about the programme, the team returns.
Two days later and the phone rings. We're in a factory outside of Dhaka and not all of the team have arrived.
Elizabeth: Mary, we have a situation ....
Mary: Okay, what sort of situation ....?
It would appear that the actress was 20 minutes late getting into the car in the morning. Not unusual - it's Bangladesh. Still, 20 minutes is the difference between an empty road, traffic and a traffic jam. Which meant that the vehicle was later at Gazipur, which meant it was just in the right place to join the ... riot .... Several hours later - many phone calls -burning vehicles, and a vast amount of paperwork that will need completing - the team arrives, safely and just in time for lunch (which is exactly where I would expect to find Elizabeth - who can smell food even when you're only planning what to make. In fact, when they left the vehicle (because the rioters were starting to burn them) she took the team off to a cafe for coffee and breakfast!). Sallyann - you would be proud - completed the incident report with Elizabeth and she said that she can see it in pictures in her head like a scene from a film!
Now, in the midst of all of this, there is Harriet and Vera. Harriet is the English Language Consultant for this year and Vera is the production manager. And Vera has taken a rather drastic route to getting sent back to the UK - she's pregnant. Hours and hours (sitting in traffic jams) discussing baby names. Some normal, some terrible, some funny - but for now we're calling the bump Hemingway. Hemingway is active at night, according to the scan he is a boy, he sleeps during the day, doesn't appear to give Vera morning sickness but does give her heartburn that makes her think she is dying if she eats three enormous meals in one day!
Harriet and I get to be "aunties" as Vera's husband is in Afghanistan and her family are in the UK and Portugal. The "aunties" are required to go to hospital checks (Harriet), provide pain au chocolat (Mary), gurgle and coo over the foot shot on the scan (Harriet and Mary) and generally ensure that Vera sits down enough and laughs and eats properly and drinks loads of water (but no whisky)! There are times when the last thing is difficult - but we are THE AUNTIES and we shall win!
During the filming, not that there have been times when we are unbearably bored, we have been deciding on songs to depict each day. So the day above - I predict a riot ... The local team traditionally wear very baggy trousers and are becoming masters at MC Hammer's "Can't touch this" - and Utpol, particularly, has mastered the art of that dance. We have, in fact, a song for every occasion. But, if there is a time when we just need a song, we now have "our song" which is "put the lime in the coconut" .... Yes, I know, as you're reading this you're getting concerned again .... I''ll be back soon!!
And on to mosquitoes... You may remember that I spent last year sharing my bedroom with Marvin - my very own relationship with an affectionate (!) mosquito. Well, a little more research, and it appears my relationship, once again, is confused .... Only the female mosquitoes bite - could go into details about this but the OCD of my research is a little dull, I know. I'm thinking of writing stories about Marvin - and we've come up with a title for a chapter "Marvin lives to bite another day".
The first photo is in a village called Dhamrai - about 90 -240 minutes drive (!) from Dhaka. We created the Mela (fete) there in front of the ancient building (it's a Hindu temple). The wooden arrangement on the right is a bit like a big wheel (there is a name in Bangla and I can't remember it) and it is traditionally the centrepiece for a Mela. The designer told me that "it's like your Millennium Wheel". Think that is being lost in translation?
The next two photos are within the village - the first one was in the morning fog - not mist, fog. The second one mid-morning and it has apparently cleared ....
And the last one was taken at a hotel in Dhaka where we were filming. Roksana came to a meeting there and tripped over us. Roksana came to recce with me the very first time that I came to Bangladesh - she is on the photo looking at the art work in Dhaka at the University. Also on the photo - Elizabeth ("Mary we have a situation ..."), Milon who did my make-up for the launch of 'Bishaash' and Dola who designed and managed to get me into the frock and jewellery on the day and Nahid who is THE sound recordist in Bangladesh.
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| Nahid, Roksana, Mary, Dola, Elizabeth and Milon |
Now - for those of you who have been counting the days - the original contract was 4 weeks, it arrived and said five weeks and then it was a four week extension and then another 4 week extension and low-and-behold that takes me to the end of February and 4 months instead of weeks. For Darin - who said "see you at Easter" .. not yet!
So - off to watch a DVD. The last one was The Descendants - it stops at 5'30" and will play no more. The one before that was Ghost Protocol which was almost black and white and with a rather large head centre frame. The one before that was The Ides of March which seemed to have locked in subtitles - which would have been fine, except they were for The King's Speech. Hmmmm.
Mx
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