Video Documentary of Day at HATS

It’s Day 3 in Deschapelles, Haiti. It’s really, really hot right now.

The thing about the weather here is, you are never dry. Even fresh out of the shower, your skin starts clamming up immediately and your fresh clothes are already slightly soaked through with sweat. The Haitian sun is brutal and the humidity is pretty hardcore. It’s actually pretty funny- it’s “cold” in Haiti right now. Some of the kids are wearing sweaters.

I’ll be honest – I’ve been off the grid completely for the past few days. I was the only chump who left his iPhone at home. So no music, no internet- nothing. I refuse to even look at the blogs until I get home- so I’m going to try to give my own perspective here, I’m trying to avoid regurgitating what the previous guys have written about.

There’s a difference to your own experience when there’s a camera between yourself and the subject. It sort’ve separates you from the kids and the activities a little. So the struggle is – do I get the shot? Or open myself up to the experience? I guess the answer lays in between, because the unique opportunity I get, is to experience it again when I’m editing this documentary. And when the documentary is done, I get to share the experience with you. So, fair trade.

But Haiti is beautiful, and yes, a bit dangerous but also beautiful. The kids are precious and they’re so fascinated by my camera and the GoPro I’ve been using – they aren’t used to the technology at all. In fact they rarely have electricity. So being off the grid, no internet, no phone has been an amazing experience (although I’m typing on a computer right now). As much as I love technology (which has allowed me to pursue my passion of filmmaking), It’s been a very special opportunity to film these children in a genuine and natural environment where they are not used to being on camera all the time.

So I’ve been told that I have 30 minutes to write this blog. Being the video guy, I decided to do something a little different. Here’s a preview of this video.

Excuse the rough audio and the unfinished clips. This is just a teaser.