I am in Europe working on a film entitled TRUE NORTH. Items on this site will show some behind the scenes stuff but mostly just my personal experience.
This show will be filming in Norway and London. Being from Minnesota I have an edge on cold weather (I hope).
Locate Istanbul , Tromso and Svalbard on the Globe picture to follow my adventure.
My trip so far:
August 24 – August 27
Istanbul, Turkey
On Aug. 24th I flew to Istanbul, Turkey to accompany friends to the Turkish Grand Prix. We were guests of Scuderia Ferrari (the F-1 Racing team). For us yankees, F-1 is formula one racing and is the most watched sport in the world second only to soccer (football).
First we saw old Constantinople on foot. That evening we attended a huge F-1 party where I escorted Michael Schumacher (Schumi) and shielded him from the public and press. Missy Eliot headlined the show that began with belly dancers and all kinds of fun. It was hilarious because the crowd didn’t understand a word she was saying and never cheered.
Michael Schumacher is the most successful race car driver ever and is the second highest paid athlete after Tiger Woods, so escorting him was something special.
Next on Aug. 25th we flew a helicopter to the F-1 track and got fantastic views of old Constantinople while en route. Ferrari qualified first and second (qualifying is competing for starting position), with Felipe Massa (from Brazil) earning his first pole position and Schumi right behind him. I dined with Schumi again that night.
Arriving by helicopter again, we watched the Grand Prix from the Ferrari Pit on Aug. 26. Those cars are so loud they resonate in your whole body, making your nose run. Massa earned his first Grand Prix win and Schumi finished third because of a mistake coming out of the pit. That night I flew with the team to Bologna Italy and was hosted by Ferrari.
August 27 – August 28
Bologna & Milan, Italy – Oslo & Tromso, Norway
The next day Aug. 27 we flew another private helicopter to Milan and connected to our flight to Oslo.
We arrived in Tromso on Aug. 28 and began preparing for the film.
Pre-production Rehearsals Week 1
August 29 – September 1
Tromso Norway
In Tromso we attended film rehearsal and set up an office.
September 1 – September 2
Film Camp near bardufoss, Norway
The night before a Norwegian Nome stole my car keys, setting me up for an awkward morning retrieving new ones when the rental place opened.
For preparation we attended a training camp of sorts about an hour and a half drive south. There was training in shooting rifles, roping, herding and butchering reindeer.
Instruction came from a Sámi person (the aboriginal people of northern Scandinavia) named Tomas. He's the short guy with the knife. My god was he blunt and hilariously to the point. The Sámi are causation natives who herd reindeer and live in the Lapland region. They have slightly different features, flatter noses and pronounced cheek bones but all us whities look the same to me.
Tomas had me pretend to be a reindeer so my friend could practice lassoing as the photo shows. I also ate raw bone marrow and did other disgusting stuff like that, though I got worried about blood borne pathogens.
That night we saw a fantastic display of the Aurora Borealis.
Tromso is possibly the best place in the world to view the northern lights as there is a band that circles a certain latitude and concentrates right above Tromso. I've included a picture showing this.
September 3
Tromso Norway, Fjord fishing
On September 3rd we had a day off and took in some fishing in the fjords. We saw some wild reindeer on the drive home but did not have any luck with the fishing.
Uriel Noriega was murdered in Los Angeles
I heard word from Los Angeles that a friend of mine (a friend of Bill's) Uriel Noriega was murdered by a person he was helping with recovery. He was shot twice in the head and seven times in his body while waiting for an AA meeting to start. He was murdered by Scott Reynolds. Uriel tried to help Scott recover from Meth addiction but Scott returned to his drugs. Uriel obtained a restraining order on Scott for good reason. Uriel was 36 and had several years of sobriety. He was a very gentle and kind person. I will miss him.
Pre-production Rehearsal Week 2
September 4
Film Camp near bardufoss, Norway
We returned to film camp for training in dog sledding and wardrobe fittings. As can be expected, I was harnessed for some mushing myself!
I am learning so much! I learned what happens when you put gasoline into a diesel engine. WOW I’m an Einstein. The car goes Zoom, Putter Putter Putter Wheeze…. Kurplutz! In all honesty, I was thinking about the murder and my head wasn’t in the game.
I have today and tomorrow to organize things for the ship in Svalbard while my friend does ADR (audio digital recording) in London for the Danny Boyle film SUNSHINE. Wow that was a great script and he is my favorite contemporary director. Even so, I need the time to organize for a month near the pole.
On Friday we will fly to Svalbard, which is an archipelago just south of the north pole. We will board a ship called POLARIS and live on it for a month while we are filming on glaciers. Svalbard is so far north we will have to look into the southern skies to see the northern lights.
Production Week 1
September 10 - 16
Svalbard (Spritzberg), Norway
We flew an hour and a half to Longyearbyen, the main city in Svalbard Norway. After shooting the first week we get to vacation here for a day. Longyearbyen makes the Iron Range of Minnesota look like the South of France. It’s a pit… literally a coal mine coal dust covered pit. There are no trees, a few birds and people, polar bears (none sighted yet) and lots of wind. But being permafrost what could one expect?
After arriving we boarded the Polaris, a Russian Class A cruiser. I moved M. into the best cabin on the ship right next to the Capitan’s quarters. There was enough space to fit all her things and some of mine as well. Then I had the delightful task of jamming all of my things beneath a bunk bed and into a foot locker. The crew are all sharing rooms and I am roomed with the Unit Photographer or still photographer in a room smaller than my first dorm room.
The still photographer takes still photos while shooting, which are then used for publicity, key art (promotional posters), “The makings of”, (and placemats for breakfast if the photos are particularly bad).
We departed the same night we arrive, sailing for location where we will be shooting the next few weeks. I got a little sea sick before we even left port, but recovered rapidly.
The first location is referred to as Temple Mountain. Temple Mountain is absolutely beautiful. Again there are no trees, only rock, drift wood and bones, but the colors are ridiculous! The sun changes the landscape into new worlds hourly. The main mountain is majestic with a scar that resembles to people and an angel. The opposite is a glacier which glows blue and sends a bitter wind to torment us.
We have not seen any northern lights just yet because the sun’s glow never fades to reveal the stars. But the sunset lasts from an hour and a half to two hours. Once we were treated to a tall-ship’s arrival at dusk.
All this week we have filmed on a beach which is protected by the sea and mountain. The polar bears are a real danger so we have from five to seven scouts with rifles watching for them. Several of our Logistics Polar Bear guards are cute Scandies! I’m feeling very safe already!
Our new friends are very exciting. As honored guests, we are treated to the company of explorer Jason Roberts. Check out his imdb.com credits. Jason has worked closely with the BBC and has logged over 58 trips to Antarctica. When M. asked him what his next adventure would be, he said in all seriousness that he would like to see the northern lights from outer space. He has seriously seen and done it all. Eating with him is difficult sometimes as my stomach is always in a tight laughter knot from his anecdotes about bears, ice and snow.
The weather is already harsh though it is barely below freezing. We have enjoyed 50 mile/hr winds, meter high waves (really fun to ride the Zodiac boats in them) and sleet. When the sea is calmer I hope to take some photos of the Beluga and Orca populations that surround us. We will eventually come across a bear as there are more bears than people, but I have the cute Scandies to protect my yankee ass.
Because we work 6 days a week and only have one day on land, my blog will not be updated more than once a week. I hope all are well and healthy. Thank you for viewing my blog and send warm thoughts to the top of the world.
Production Week 2
September 17 - 24
Svalbard (Spritzberg), Norway
On our last day off last week we took a tour of a working mine. We rode five miles into a mountain lying on our backs while riding a Uherman car. The Uherman car was especially built for mine transportation, has no electrical components to ignite the methane (coal is compressed vegetation or old peat bogs and releases methane gas that is trapped inside of it when mined, methane is very explosive) starts with air pressure instead of an igniter, and stands about three and a half feet high. Passengers must lie down while riding because the mine tunnels are very short, the clearance while lying down was at best a foot and at worst three inches... the car had guardrails so just make sure you don't sit up above the rails. Our driver was way too enthusiastic to provide adequate safety, plowed into an underground river splashing us, rear ended another Uherman driving too slow, and even scraped the guardrail as we were airborne from jumping a bump. I don’t believe my survival instincts are properly working... I was perfectly relaxed, sleepy even while screaming down these tunnels on my back. At one point I was thinking this is really fun, like Space Mountain except without rails. Then I thought without rails doesn’t equate to without mortal risk. Still in one piece and smiling.
This past week was very cold and we finally got great shots of the snow. The crew has all become familiar with each other, partnerships have formed and couples have assembled and re-assorted themselves.
So far we have seen many wild seals, reindeer and a white fox. I found myself feeling a little isolated from the rest of the crew and not very useful, so yesterday I volunteered to help the crew disassemble our base camp. Now I am better and am and feel I’m a respected contributing crew member. We are moving locations tomorrow to a living and a dead glacier.
M. has been receiving shipments of meats, cheeses, wine and fresh vegetables from Italy. Wow green beans never tasted so good. Out chief tries his best but besides the ice nothing comes fresh, only frozen. Each evening we pass around a huge wedge of parmesan for the entire crew and host a terrific spread of meats, cheeses and bread sticks at our table.
The crew is quite the international mix consisting of over 17 nationalities. I am one of two Americans. My roommate is a lifelong professional photographer and has toured with several famous bands. I get a kick at throwing him band names to hear his personal anecdotes about them. His father is a particle physicist who was a member of the Nobel Prize winning team who discovered quarks (sub-atomic particles that boggle the mind, time and space).
Last night we returned to a snow covered Longyearbyen. Thank god for that because without it, the town resembles a charred scabbed wasteland. I stayed out until 4:30 am and am wondering if it was worth it today.
Production Week 3
September 25 - 30
Svalbard (Spritzberg), Norway
This week was the most enjoyable of all so far. Last week I was fortunate enough to get the blog updated with pictures and enjoyed a Thai meal compliments of my friend. It only took the ship two weeks to get used to me (most of you know I’m an acquired taste), but now that they have I am having a ball. I am tightest with an Ulsterman named Andrew and together we make the tweedle dumb and dumber pair.
On Monday we shot scenes where the actors were in small boats, giving me the opportunity to do some manual labor on shore. There were fresh polar bear tracks but no bears to greet us ashore. I love to work like a mule but was having so much fun I neglected my friend. Sorry about that.
We were in the territory where a brilliant blue glacier glowed. The winds kicked up and we had the most dangerous ride yet. We all got sopped by waves and laughed the whole way back.
Glaciers that are alive are ones that are moving, expanding and contracting. They have a bright blue color as much of the oxygen becomes compressed out, just like de-oxygenated blood. Dead glaciers are basically solid still blocks of ice and no longer sculpt the land. Their color is a dirty black brown ice.
When we were loading up the actors onto the boats on Sunday morning we experienced our first glacier calving. When a live glacier is heated by the sun the ice contracts, and then expands again in the night as temperatures cool. When this happens great faults are created near the edge and occasionally pop or break under their own weight. This is called calving and is accompanied by the sound of a thunder crash. When the huge ice chunks fall they create huge waves that wash ashore. We had to scurry to rescue our gear from the coming waves. This calving can take place as frequently as ever thirty minutes in the right conditions.
The following day we shot on land and eventually on my first living glacier. We had a 45mn hike to this location but it was worth every step. I had a fantastic day with my crampons (fiercely sharp ice cleats attached to boots for mountaineering) but found ice was easier to climb then to descend. When we returned for our zodiac trip back we discovered the bay that was clear in the morning was all iced over and blocked our passage. We managed to navigate our way through a maze of icebergs and returned safely.
