A Second Wind!
I was feeling bad about that last post. I don't like to whine. I WAS pretty tired and that remains the case after doing some intense shooting this past weekend. We had a successful weekend which helps bolster my spirits.
Mother Nature was helpful early Saturday morning with a lovely blue sky, which nicely offset the white steeple and old wooden cross of St. Francis Xavier Church of Chippewa City, Minnesota. What a wonderful little place that stands as a sentinel alongside the highway. The Indian mission church had fallen into disrepair many years ago, after the last Mass was said around 1936, until some concerned former parishioners and the Cook County Historical Society stepped in to fix it up. The church interior is very unique, with rough-hewn logs and a robin's egg-blue ceiling. The ceiling makes you feel as if you are worshiping under the sky. Very nice.
We interviewed a couple of wonderful Native women about the church and spent most of the rest of the afternoon videotaping the interior. The clouds started to thicken and the atmosphere turned "moody" when we moved off to the church cemetary, across the highway, to do a little more shooting. The low hanging clouds added an appropriate feel to the site, which included some interesting Native graves.
Sunday was very windy, with low hanging clouds and "spits" of rain. We were at the the end of the road, (or is it the begining?) where the original alignment of the highway remains at the Pigeon River, which was the old border crossing between Minnesota and Canada. The Ryden family used to own a resort, cafe, bar and gas station there until everything was moved several miles down river to the current border crossing. Four of the five Ryden siblings braved chilly weather to patiently sit in front of one of the remaining log tourist cabins to talk about the old days. Some very funny stories were told and I have my work cut out in trying to winnow it all down.
From the tip of Minnesota's Arrowhead Country to the southern stretch of Highway 61 is several hundred miles of road, and we traveled it all Monday. We finished up shooting at the Le Duc Mansion in Hastings and toured the quiet, historic village of Frontenac several miles down the road. Frontenac remains largely the way it did decades ago. Dirt streets. No street lights. Lovingly restored, grand old homes that front Lake Pepin.
My task in the next few days is to log all the tape we shot. For those not familiar with this mind-numbing process, "logging tape" entails listening and watching EVERYTHING on a tape and writing down the time each soundbite and bit of footage comes up. Logging drives me insane but it is a necessary part of the process. After logging tape, I know exactly what soundbites I want to use and which bits of footage fit well. How much tape did we shoot? Oh, about three hours. Cheez-Its and other snacks made logging marginally tolerable. Wish me well. I'll be back in touch!
Mother Nature was helpful early Saturday morning with a lovely blue sky, which nicely offset the white steeple and old wooden cross of St. Francis Xavier Church of Chippewa City, Minnesota. What a wonderful little place that stands as a sentinel alongside the highway. The Indian mission church had fallen into disrepair many years ago, after the last Mass was said around 1936, until some concerned former parishioners and the Cook County Historical Society stepped in to fix it up. The church interior is very unique, with rough-hewn logs and a robin's egg-blue ceiling. The ceiling makes you feel as if you are worshiping under the sky. Very nice.
We interviewed a couple of wonderful Native women about the church and spent most of the rest of the afternoon videotaping the interior. The clouds started to thicken and the atmosphere turned "moody" when we moved off to the church cemetary, across the highway, to do a little more shooting. The low hanging clouds added an appropriate feel to the site, which included some interesting Native graves.
Sunday was very windy, with low hanging clouds and "spits" of rain. We were at the the end of the road, (or is it the begining?) where the original alignment of the highway remains at the Pigeon River, which was the old border crossing between Minnesota and Canada. The Ryden family used to own a resort, cafe, bar and gas station there until everything was moved several miles down river to the current border crossing. Four of the five Ryden siblings braved chilly weather to patiently sit in front of one of the remaining log tourist cabins to talk about the old days. Some very funny stories were told and I have my work cut out in trying to winnow it all down.
From the tip of Minnesota's Arrowhead Country to the southern stretch of Highway 61 is several hundred miles of road, and we traveled it all Monday. We finished up shooting at the Le Duc Mansion in Hastings and toured the quiet, historic village of Frontenac several miles down the road. Frontenac remains largely the way it did decades ago. Dirt streets. No street lights. Lovingly restored, grand old homes that front Lake Pepin.
My task in the next few days is to log all the tape we shot. For those not familiar with this mind-numbing process, "logging tape" entails listening and watching EVERYTHING on a tape and writing down the time each soundbite and bit of footage comes up. Logging drives me insane but it is a necessary part of the process. After logging tape, I know exactly what soundbites I want to use and which bits of footage fit well. How much tape did we shoot? Oh, about three hours. Cheez-Its and other snacks made logging marginally tolerable. Wish me well. I'll be back in touch!
posted by Cathy Wurzer at
8:38 AM
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