Day 1
I was hired by Damaso Creative to DP testimonials and B-roll footage for their upcoming corporate film for Sharyland Water Supply this past week. Shot with their FS100 onto Atomos Ninja Flame in and around Alton, Texas. Lenses were a combination of Rokinon cine primes and Sony E-mount zooms. Key grip was Juan Torres with his grip truck. Grip/PA: Cyndi Rios (also associate producer and talent wrangler) and Janie Martinez. Thanks to producer/director/editor Mario DeLeon for inviting me onto his project.
Day 2
Damaso’s in-house DP Manny Botello was back onboard yesterday as we travelled across the Texas towns of McAllen, Mission, Alton, and Sharyland, shooting narrator vignettes with talent Ivette Vargas. I was hired as gaffer this time. Juan was back as key grip with grip Carlos, and Cyndi returned as associate producer/PA. Mario was back again in the driver seat.
Crew call time was 8 AM at Damaso Creative in McAllen. Because I live in Harlingen I had an hour commute so needed to be up by 6-6:30 AM. Traffic conditions en route become unpalatable by the time you reach the HWY 83/281 interchange in Pharr. The cars are just stopped.
Our first location was a lovely historic mission situated a few hundred feet from the Rio Grande River separating Texas from Mexico.
We were visited intermittently by the US Border Patrol and their very loud helicopter which kept interrupting audio takes. It also flew lower and slower over our heads each time! We think they were busy looking for someone.
Second location was the original water plant in Sharyland. Because it was a wide shot, we had to wait for cloudcover before rolling.
Our third location was the gorgeous Mansion on Shary whose owners allowed us to film against the backdrop of their home and private pond.
Lunch time! I ate tacos. Then, I ate tacos the others were too full to eat. Chased by Mexican Coke in a glass damn bottle.
Fourth location was the Sharyland Water Supply main office where Ivette recorded her outtro (and had slight difficulty saying “rural”.
After Ivette wrapped, the rest of us headed back to Plant 3 where we captured a few shots of technicians in one of their labs.
Besides the ~10 MPH wind and the clouds which kept playing peek-a-boo with the sun, nature was kind to us. At 8 AM crew call in McAllen temperatures started at 71°F and did not reach the nineties until we wrapped at 4:30 PM in Alton. Occasionaly passing cars would rudely honk at us throughout the day. Sometimes a plane would fly overhead on its way to McAllen-Miller International Airport, ruining takes. Otherwise, it was a pleasant and productive day.
Here is the final video as provided by director Mario Deleon at Damaso Creative. I shot the interviews of Sherilyn Dahlberg, Lisa Helle, Roel Treviño, and Joe Guzman, plus some of the b-roll of the hard hat-wearing workers at the construction site and water plant.
