This blog entry is from September, when I shot the San Francisco performances for Hoopdance Evolution. It's now 25% off for pre-orders!
Exhausted. Call time was 530am this morning. I got up and 5, grabbed a shower, and started cooking eggs for Annie, Chika and Jasmine. Annie and Chika are co-starring with me and Jasmine is doing costumes and make-up. I shot all the studio material for these DVDs, then went to Hoop Camp and then came direct back to San Francisco to do this week-long project of out-takes afterwards. Reminder to self... no more overbooking!
It's the end of day one. I'm sitting here, feeling achey and pretty comatose, after 5 shoot locations and costumes and about 20 moves later. Leading to the couch where I am sitting is a strewn pile of wigs, makeup, boots, costumes and food debris which I carried up the stairs by the armload and dumped so I could sit down and relax for the first time today. My throat is sore so I can't really talk .. I think I may be catching Annie's cold.
We had a mini van which we changed clothes in and basically every shot had to be taken about 10 times over. Many takes had to be repeated to make sure that we were synchronized, or because we dropped hoops, had costume malfunction, etc. It was sweaty, hard work, during which we had to smile and beam positivity to the camera. Called on lots of divine assistance! Wigs casting shadows which had to be adjusted. Smudged lipstick to be fixed. Boobs popping out of little tops which had to be neatly packed away. Bobby pins for last minute adjustments. Every outfit neatly arranged on hangers with matching adornments in ziploc bags... You wouldn't think that arranging 12 outfits would be such a big deal. But, we needed 3 of each. Meeting with designers, choosing the looks, making sure each one is cohesive and then keeping it all organized with matching items has been a big job and I am SO grateful that Jasmine has taken this over for us.
At some shoot locations in sketchy parts of town, there were crackhead and homeless people leering... or gang members pulling up, blasting tunes from their car while they lined up sitting on the rear bumper to watch our reps. (Specifically for the shoot location pictured with this blog). One guy waching even started doing our counting for us after a while 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. We kept a sense of humor! Tried to stay focused and forget we were wearing tiny glittering hot shorts and afros at 7 am on busy San Francisco streets.
Lots of blips which people watching the glamour in the final product will never see... Annie suffered from painful cramps. I had a sharp and perpetual pain in back back which I have been nursing the last couple days. I had to keep dosing with pain medication. In between shots, the mantra from my husband, Kramer, our director, was "we are ___ behind. Let's pick it up." Cold weather on bare bodies. Forgotten costume pieces we had to live without. And learning new choreography on the spot when things planned previously didn't work out. Everyone was such an amazing team under these conditions! I am in awe.
Chika was a non-stop beacon of light and happiness -- I kept looking at her and wondering how she radiated such perpetual joy, especially when she claimed to be so nervous. "Think of cute Asian boys!" I would yell, and her smile would explode from ear to ear. Jasmine fluttered between us, making changes to makeup, adjusting costumes, mother henning. Scott snapped pictures and gripped. Matt held a lighting shade and helped with the boom. Logan shot careful film shots, sweeping back and forth and panning here and there with fish-eye lenses.
We would do the moves, with jumps and looks of glee, as long as we could muster until collapsing down into heavy breathing, hands on knees to catch our breathe, lanky and long in tall dance boots which made the footing unstable. We shared words of encouragement with each other when we noticed looks which said, "how can I possibly go on?" I feel overwhelmed with gratitude that everyone was so invested in making this creative dream come true.
It was totally worth it! When I caught glimpses of the footage it was spectacular. So far beyond anything in the Hoopdance for Beginners DVD -- cinematographically, fashion-wise, technically, and more.
The whole process of making Hoopdance Evolution has been one of trust. These two DVDs are more like art than a pre-strategized product. It is not designed to meet mainstream standards. It is not designed to be broken up into 10 DVDs to milk customers for their money. It is designed to be gorgeous. It is designed to inspire. It is a gift of love and and joy that I really hope will make people's lives brighter.
The focus is on high production quality, beauty, delivery of a massive amount of material with clear instruction, sumptuous costumery by San Francisco designers, MTV-like camera work, scenic urban locations and creativity. It has been coming together more like a painting, and I am feeling like a patient mother in the throws of birth. I am trusting the process, even though it is exacting an energetic price from my body. My spirit needs some nurturing to rejeuvinate from the massive outpouring!
There are no stoic and distant shots... rather sweeping close ups, lots of looks of elation and bliss. There is so much emotional investment in our performances! We are transmitting goodness. We gave it every ounce of energy we had... the result? A rainbow explosion of beauty and radiance. Yay!
So now I must face the piles of strewn tights, booty shorts, wigs and more, organize the shoot lists and costumes for tomorrow and hopefully squeeze in a bubble bath too. Trusting and breathing.... this is going to be fantastic!
xoxo
Christabel