The Tribe

Production Blog online again!

2011-04-06T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone

It's been forever since I did my last post and pretty much everyone moved on, including myself.

Still, due to the wide release of the film, I decided to put the production blog online again so you'll be able to read the "hopefully" interesting diary about our experiences in the jungle.

In the meantime, the film also successfully aired on German TV station Pro7 about a month ago.

Have fun reading our stories.

Andy

Good German News :-)

2009-03-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I promised some "Tribe" news this year. All German fans are going to be excited. "The Tribe" called "The Tribe - Die Vergessene Brut" will be released on Bluray and DVD in Germany on March 27th. You'll be able to purchase it through Amazon.de. It's distributed through Splendid Film.

http://www.splendid-film.de/filminfo.php?id=24750

Everyone else, including US fans will have to be patient for a little longer. I'll keep you posted.

Andy

Ps.
The German DVD/Bluray has an English track but be careful, it'll be released in PAL/Region Code 2. Standard US DVD Players won't be able to play back PAL/RC2.

Finally some news...

2009-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

After almost two years, I finally have some news for you guys. "The Tribe" will be released on DVD in 2009.

I got tons of questions regarding "The Lost Tribe". Yes, this film exists and No, it won't replace "The Tribe" but also be released as a separate film in 2009. I do not have any information on the shoot of "The Lost Tribe". This blog only represents the film that was shot originally since I was part of the production team. I was not present for principal photography of "The Lost Tribe". So fans of the original cast, stay tuned, the film will be out soon. I'll keep you updated as I receive new info from the production company.

Andy

The Good, the Bad and the Great News

2007-02-28T01:09:00.000-08:00

Well you may have been looking for some information about the new film "The Tribe" and all you can find is an empty blog... There is a reason for this, so please continue reading :-)

I'll start with the good news: The Tribe will be coming to US theaters, nationwide. This is all the information I can give you for now.

Followed by the bad news: The distributor asked me to take off any and all information about the film until it's official release. This is a marketing decision that I completely respect. Like everyone working on "The Tribe", I want the film to be as successful as possible. Instead of the blog, I will be concentrating on the Behind-The-Scenes Documentary during this year that will hopefully be on the DVD, once released.

And last but not least, the great news: I had the chance to look at a few scenes of the film during my stay in the US and guys you can look forward to something. The film looks simply amazing! Chris would call it "mindblasting". With the additional scenes, shots and effects that were put in, we don't simply have a movie but a blockbuster.

So stay tuned, keep the link bookmarked and once the release comes closer you may find some information on this page again. For now I'd like to thank everyone reading my blog and have a great time.

Andy

P.S.
I'll leave the comments feature active for the time being.

Reshoots, to make it perfect!

2007-01-22T12:42:00.000-08:00

This month are reshoots on the schedule. Like in every other movie, during post the producer, director and editor want to make their film perfect. And only after seeing a rough cut, they know what they have to cut, add or change.

Cut is easy (mostly), add or change a little more difficult. For reshoots, a smaller (sometimes bigger) team returns to the location to pick up some scenes. So in our case, only that we can't really go back to Costa Rica (even though we'd like to. I think we all miss Pura Vida). So the challenge is finding a location similar to the original and of course LA is perfect for that. It pretty much offers everything you need, that's why it's Hollywood :-)

In any case, as you can see. The finishing of the film is coming closer and I'll keep you updated. This week, I'll also finally add the long awaited blog entry from the editor's bay.

Happy New Year, the big 2007!

2007-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

A Happy New Year to all of you. It's going to be a big one :-) Maybe we'll even see the finished film this year!

I'll try to post news on this page more regularly. I owe you guys the editor's entry straight from the cutting room that will follow soon. I promise. So stay tuned!

A big sorry and some good news!

2006-11-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

Alright, guys, I'd like to apologize for my lack of news. I promised the trailer a couple of months ago but there were some changes and complications to get it properly online... The good news: I have the trailer ready for upload and hope to get it on this site within the next days.

Thanks to everyone for checking and I hope you'll love the result :-) More updates will follow. Including a exclusive look into the editing bay.

Latest Tribe Update

2006-08-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and I'm sorry for not updating the blog in such a long time... Many things have happened and I had a lot to do (see above) :-)

I'm happy to inform you that "The Tribe" sucessfully entered Post-Production.

Producer Mo, Director Jorg and Editor Jessica are working hard on the cut of the film. They're supposed to lock picture soon what will be followed by reshoots, CGI effects and lots of sound work. I'll be reporting on my blog again more often.

I also have some good news for all of you. The official movie trailer will be released, soon. We're aiming for next week already. I've seen some of it already and let me tell you: "It looks amazing!!!!!!!" I can't wait to be able to show it to all of you :-)

So stay tuned and check back!

Wrap Party

2006-06-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, that's it, folks... It's a picture wrap for "The Tribe". And of course it's time for a party! What would be a better place than our cave system to have a cool party :-)

Aiken unplugged :-) With Helena and Rebecca in the back.

And more party guest arrive, including our First AD Jonathan and Chris, our DP.

And it was Josh's B-Day. Happy Birthday!

Andrea (with wig) and Jorg :-)

Our PDs Nicole and William, also joining the party.

And here's Jessica, our editor (left). Her job actually just really started :-) She'll be editing for the next months.

Besides Marc (who the camera couldn't find), only Kellan from all the cast members joined the party. He brought some friends.

Production Coordinator Michael with his girlfriend.

And in the end of the night, a group shot: Jonathan, Susanne, Joel, Andrea and myself.

It was a great experience, lots of fun and I will miss you all!

That's a Picture Wrap! (Production Day 36)

2006-06-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

Last day of shooting... We finally reached the day after months of preproduction in LA and Costa Rica. Then a little more than a month of principal photography in Central America and another 3 weeks of shooting in LA... Today really is the last day.

So we featured some more stars of the film: Trained rats. Aren't they cute?

Still, I don't think Jewel was that confortable in the middle of them: About 20 rats around her feet.

Thank you also LA crew for working hard!

And also a thank you to Jewel who ran through the jungle, was dragged through the mud and fought her way through the misty cave and its critters :-)

Even though this is the last day, it's not over for Jorg quite yet. Him and Mo will enter post-production where they'll work closely with Jessica our Editor for the next months.

And the last of our ADs to introduce: Katie.

The fogger was present, too.

And one of the last shots...

Besides animals we also had some pyrotechnics today.

Jewel firing a flare gun.

And that's a picture wrap for the Tribe. William and Erin after a long day.

And of course that's also a wrap for Terry our amazing Stunt Coordinator and "Main Creature"!

And a wrap for Jewel and her stunt double Helena!

For Co-Producer Joel it will continue in Post. Here he is with his girlfriend Susanne.

Ladies and Gentlemen. This is officially my last Production entry. I will be covering the post production process, too. Check back for updates, more pictures and hopefully soon a trailer.

Thanks again to everyone for reading my production diary and stay tuned for more,
Andy

Critters of the Cinema (Production Day 35)

2006-06-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

And here we are, Day 35 on the stage...

And already early in the morning Aiken had to run with his steadicam.

Jorg is making sure that everything is setup in the cave. Also the critters...

Today it's a snake, or two...

And back to one, Snake! We need another take.

Snake meet Rebecca and Steve, our make up artists.

Mo is calming Jewel about the critters :-)

Rebecca getting Jewel ready for the shot.

Besides snakes, today involved climbing.

Chris overviewing the set...

A great scene in the film! And that's it for today. More critters tomorrow!

Ira's exit (Production Day 34)

2006-06-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Again I'd like to apologize for the big delay but I will post the last production entries within the next few days... So keep checking for the big production climax :-) Above a lonely Panaflex in the middle of the stage...

Today was Marc's big cave sequence and he did an amazing job. Don't forget, even though we're in a controlled environment, the stage is full of soil, dust and fog. But at least no mud, right Marc?

To give lights more of a direction and also give the scene a misty feel, we had a fogger on all day long.

Our PDs Nicole and William making sure that the props look right.

Electrician RJ helping to recreate the Bamboo Prison for a pick up shot. We couldn't go back to Costa Rica for that one... :-)

With a few much thinner bamboo sticks, some gaffers tape and C-Stands the illusion is complete.

What's Chris doing on Mo's lap? :-)

Our two make up artists Rebecca and Steve transforming Marc into Ira.

And today is also a wrap for Marc. Thank you again for all your hard work and dedication. You are one amazing actor, Marc!

So Marc's gone but a part of his body is still with us :-) It's a replica for a specific scene, created by Barney Burman and his amazing team.

Josh also likes to stand in from time to time :-)

During lunch we open the large elephant doors to air through.

Our ACs at lunch.

And that would actually be David and me :-)

Sorry for the delay...

2006-06-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been so hectic that I wasn't able to update the blog but I will catch up tomorrow with some great pictures and news...

So stay tuned!

Day of Friends and Family (Production Day 33)

2006-06-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today, Saturday is visit day. A lot of friends and family members of our crew came to visit the impressive set.

The Notary Family: Stunt Coordinator Terry and his wife Rhonda with their kids Sky and Willow.

The guy behind the guy behind the guy. Mo with friend Marcus.

Joel with his girlfriend Suzanne and her son Jeremiah.

Mo's friend Mamz who supplied us with his Rolce Royce. Thanks again!

They all came to get a glimpse of what's going on here.

Sorry, access denied... (for now)

And that's how it looks from behind.

Or from the top.

And today is a wrap for AD Jonathan. Thanks again for your hard work, we'll miss you.

Welcome to the flight 401 to "The Tribe".

And another Steadicam shot for Aiken.

And to close the day: Ashley who is leaving us tomorrow... :-(

Caves with Sushi (Production Day 32)

2006-06-23T01:23:00.000-07:00

And that's our second day inside the caves...

We're still shooting in the same part of the cave.

How about going through the roof? :-)

Chris is making sure that there is enough light...

...while Gaffer Miles and Grip Mike help him out.

And that's the sound department or Nano's US competition :-)

Greg and Norah make sure that we cannot only see but also hear the cave.

The Jibarm's mascott :-)

Special FX Make Up Hugo and Jessica during lunch... Always stay mobile...

Hmmm, does it get boring up there?

With a little help from Terry :-)

Steadicam Operator Aiken with Make Up Artist Rebecca.

And that's a picture wrap for Justin... Only Jewel and Marc left...

Justin brought everyone Sushi for his wrap!

That was awesome. Thanks again Justin and see you at the premiere!

Going deeper underground... (Production Day 31)

2006-06-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Stage 1, where the magic is happening inside :-)

It's nice to end the shoot on a sound stage at a studio in Hollywood. After the super hot beach, the jungle full of surprises, the heavy rain and the rocking boat last week, it's nice to be in a controlled environment.

Josh, our 2nd 2nd welcomes you to the set...

Wow and it looks good.

So far we have only used a small part of it.

Our standins Scott and Charla.

DP Chris explaining his next shot to Producer Mo.

Steve our Additional Make-Up.

Also our lighting team is enjoying the advantages of a sound stage.

And the adventure continues for Jewel...

Our Production Designer Nicole working...

Last looks on Justin, executed by Rebecca.

Everything alright, Chris?

Art Department's David resetting the set.

Who's looking through the hole...?

Our cute Production Assistant Ashley :-)

And lots of bones for tomorrow...

A Thank to our Families

2006-06-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

This entry is dedicated to all our families that give us constant support in what we're doing and believing in. Filmmaking is in my opinion the best job in the world but not the easiest. So we all enjoy the support of our loved ones. So thank you! On the picture you see the Ramchandani Family, our Producer Mo with his mother and brother when they visited the set in Manuel Antonio. They both flew in from England to support Mo.

Right now we're still prelighting the cave and tomorrow (Thursday) our shoot will continue. So see you tomorrow!

Bye Marina (Production Day 30)

2006-06-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

That's officially our last day on location. On Wednesday we'll be shooting on a sound stage for another week. And then we'll wrap already... Time flies...

Today's day started off pretty overcast.

Everyone had to be careful on the boat since it's constantly moving.

Due to the overcast sky, we had to cheat sunlight.

And that's Miles "Santa Cruz" Anderson's job :-)

Under the "eye" of Chris Popp.

Our Key Grip Mark.

Justin making sure the boat gets from A to B :-)

And that's a picture wrap for Kellan Lutz! Thanks for all your hard work and see you at the premiere :-)

Our "Tico" AD Jonathan with UPM Rob.

Wow, what a nice dinner...

And lots of fun for Jewel.

And that's also a picture wrap for Nikki Griffin. Also thanks to you and see you at the premiere!

Aiken our B-Camera Operator joined us again.

2nd 2nd AD Josh.

2nd AD Del with Rob.

And to wrap the Day: Katrin, our LA Wardrobe Assistant.

That's Phat :-) (Production Day 29)

2006-06-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today, it was time for Ira, played by Marc Bacher, to show off. He didn't drive up in some normal car... No, but a sparkling new Rolce Royce.

I know, Marc would have loved to keep the car :-)

Lauren, played by Nikki Griffin, joined in, too.

As you can see, her character was shopping...

Ira with Producer Mo.

The rest of day was spent on the boat at the marina.

That's where today's blog ends. One of the films I directed participated in a LA film festival so I spent the rest of the day there. More from set, tomorrow...

Out in the sea (Production Day 28)

2006-06-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

Jorg and Chris walking to the picture boat. Today the whole team will be shooting on the picture boat. Unfortunately there wasn't space for me on the boat, so I couldn't take any pictures. I spent the day on the support boat where we had lunch.

Our team was ready to leave...

Our boat was equipped with a pirate flag... What could that mean?

As mentioned at lunch we connected the two boats.

And everyone could eat lunch on our "pirate" boat :-)

Kellan, Justin and Jewel enjoyed their time off!

While they were shooting on the picture boat, we kept ourselves busy.

Then, the wrap... Heading back towards the sun.

Again, I'd like to end the day with an amazing sunset!

Aye Aye Skipper (Production Day 27)

2006-06-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

And here we go, our first day of production in LA, home of filmmaking! And what an interesting day it was... After the jungle of Costa Rica we found ourselves on a boat today :-) Actually two boats. The picture boat with our actors (top) and the camera boat with the crew (bottom).

Early in the morning the crew is ready to leave.

A special head made it possible to cancel out the wavemovement...

No that's not Leo Di Caprio... It's Marc Bacher :-)

Then on open sea...

Jorg made it hard for Erin to see the shot :-)

"10-1"

Our Coordinator Miles in a little speed boat.

Producer Mo with AD Jonathan.

That's where we were hooked on during lunch... Looked like straight from WWII.

Director Jorg.

And the day ended with a beautiful sunset at the marina...

Another 3 Act Day - Act 1-The Cave

2006-06-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Today's day can be broken down into three acts again. Cave, Marina and Meeting are part of today's LA tech scout. So let's start with Act 1: The Cave.

Since it is pretty much impossible to shoot inside real caves, we built them, the way we wanted them :-) And doesn't it simply look awesome?

Designed by William and Nicole, our Production Designers...

...and built by Daniel Pemberton, who already built the Pirate's Ship in the Goonies, Edward Scissorhand's castle and the visitor's center in Jurrassic Park. We're so proud to have him on board!

Nicole demonstrated us how Liz will enter the cave.

It's pretty much built, now it's Chris' and Miles' job to get some light in it.

Hello? Who's looking up?

Good view?

The first meeting inside the cave.

Jorg explaining what he wants.

Act 2 - Marina and Boat

2006-06-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Second stop on today's schedule and also Act 2: The marina with a boat trip out in the ocean where we will be shooting for two days.

Mo's ready to sail out.

Our boat team navigating.

Our UPM Rob and Co-Producer Joel enjoying the boat trip.

"That's it, that's where I wanna shoot!"

Work can be fun too, especially on a beautiful day.

Meeting-on-a-boat.

Jorg and Chris found the right spot :-)

Act 3 - The Meeting

2006-06-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

And to wrap the day up a small production meeting, also Act 3.

It's clear now what we will be doing for the remaining shooting days.

And that's it :-)

Muchos Gracias Costa Rica!

2006-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

And this is the last entry from Costa Rica. That's why I'd like to go back and show you one more time how beautiful this country is. Enjoy!

But to get the real thing, you'll have to go there yourself :-)

And here we are at the San Jose Airport.

Bye, bye Costa Rica!

That's a wrap for Costa Rica!

2006-06-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

This entry is completely dedicated to the extremely hard working Costa Rican Crew. Mucho Gracias Ticos y Ticas!!! You all rock.

Even though there was language barrier (due to our lack of Spanish :-)), I can say: We did it! With joined forces. Thank you also for letting us shoot in your amazingly beatiful country. There are so many wonderful places I'm gonna miss and I'm sure the rest of the LA crew, too.

Good luck to all of you and hope to see everyone again soon!

Here are a few pictures from the wrap party (at 6 in the morning :-):

Last day... I mean night... (Production Day 26)

2006-06-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

And here it is... After 26 shooting days we finally reached the last day. The Costa Rican crew wrote their national saying onto the slate: "Pura Vida". What means pure life... Don't worry be happy...

An almost full moon gave us some light what made it much easier to walk from the hotel to the set :-)

A smooth night with lots to do...

Jewel had to get into the dirt for a last time. "What's up there?"

It's only a tarp :-) Just to be sure, another one was built to cover the set but it didn't rain.

Monica and Malalo were having fun.

And of course it was picture time: The producer team Mo and Joel.

Director Jorg and Script Supervisor Erin were having fun, too.

Barney's son Anton visited the set and he already found the right person to spend his time with: Jessica :-)

And a "James Bond" shot...

Yes, Jewel, it's time to go home :-) You did it!

Mission accomplished!

Con gusto!

2006-06-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

Everyday Juan Rodriguez and his team from Betelgeuse Catering prepared us fantastic food for our lunch breaks.

There was so much variety... Everyday they surprised us with different food.

Not only typical Costa Rican food was served but also specialities from all over the world.

And they made us a good bye cake...

Since it is the last day of our shoot, I'd like to thank our exceptional catering team for cooking every day 5 star meals for us. You guys are great!
Pura Vida Betelgeuse!

Gooooooooaaal :-)

2006-06-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

A big morning for the Costa Ricans and the Germans. The opening game of the Soccer World Cup in Germany: Costa Rica vs. Germany. Even though everyone worked till 6 AM, at 10 AM it was time for some TV :-)

Projected onto a big screen, Director Jorg (due to his nationality a big Germany fan), a few others from the crew and many locals got together to see the game.

And there it was the first: "Gooooooooaaaaaaal" for Germany.

And then one for Costa Rica :-)

And Germany won! Congratualtions. That made Jorg's day :-)

Almost done... (Production Day 24)

2006-06-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

We're almost done with our "on location" shoot in Costa Rica. Only one more night in the misty forest...

It's also so called "crunch time". Lots to do in little time...

The last shots at the bamboo prison...

"Kickass Liz"

...back in the mud :-)

Our hardworking Co-Producer Joel with Steadicam Operator Aiken.

It's Mo's world :-)

And the second location for tonight...

First it needs to be lit... And that's our Gaffer Miles' job.

DP Chris is hiding from the possible rain :-)

So does Soundmixer Nano...

But we were lucky... No rain tonight :-)

Mud, muddier, muddiest? (Production Day 24)

2006-06-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

If yesterday was the day of the rain/tarp then today has to be the day of the mud. Due to heavy rainfalls the freshly planted grass by our art department evolved itself into one big mudslide or brown ice field.

Welcome to the mud set surrounded by bamboo.

The motion blurr is actually helena flying.

And a third camera joined our production today for highspeed photography.

Hmmm, what could Jewel be scared of?

Nikki with Helena as explorer Myra.

The Thing?

It's Matt's last day of visit. Have a safe trip home!

Jessica was voted the set hottie of the week :-)

Malalo thinking about how the mud affects her wardrope department :-)

Jewel: "Firefly fans where are you? Come and save me!" :-)

Jorg's new commanding method.

Matt helps afters Jewel's wrap. Good husband :-)

On a personal note...

2006-06-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Blog Readers,

I just wanna thank all of you for the compliments that you guys posted and all the interesting comments. It's fun reading them. I also wanted to apologize that I don't get to post answers or thanks lately. I've been kinda busy in the jungle :-) We are really greatful for all of you reading about our adventures and it's a lot of fun for me to keep you updated!

So keep reading and posting comments. There is much more to come :-)

Alright, gotta go back on set. Today we'll shoot a very interesting scene and so far no rain. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Andy

Saved by the tarp (Production Day 23)

2006-06-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

Just in case it should rain (the weather report promised good weather), our crew put up a tarp over our location. The evening started dry but soon enough the tarp became useful. Not only useful but necessary. Without it we would have had to wrap for the night. It rained continuously without a break until early in the morning...

What a location! We call it the bamboo prison.

And it looks pretty scary at night.

Our crew enjoyed to be covered for one night and not to have to stand in the pouring rain.

Also Jorg enjoyed being dry.

Our stunt and rigging team had to wait for their turn.

June 6th 2006 thats 06.06.06. Freaky...

And here's Terry Notary, Senior.

Our three hardworking PAs: Oscar, Flo and Alejandro.

Jewel getting ready for her stunt.

Nikki is teaching her what to do :-)

Lunchtime: Director Jorg explains to Jewel and Matt what we'll shoot for the rest of the night.

Producer Mo happy about the shoot.

Olga takes care of Craft Services for our shoot. The company is called "Changarro". Add a .com and you'll see their newspaper :-)

Hang in there Jewel only a couple of more nights :-)

Here comes Helena Croft... I mean Barrett :-) She's Jewel's stunt double.

Flo and Freddy having fun on set.

Our "Stand In" Helena at 4 in the morning :-)

And that's a wrap, also for Charlies Angels :-)

Shall we shoot or not? (Production Day 22)

2006-06-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

After more heavy rain the production had to face the same question again: Shall we shoot or not?

Thankfully rainfalls stopped earlier than expected around 8 and even though it was really muddy we were able to shoot.

Back to the hollow log...

Rebecca gives Jewel the last touch ups for the "warpaint" scene.

The steadicam has to capture everything.

And Jorg and Chris can watch everything on their little portable wireless monitors. Sometimes a little Telemundo would interfere with the shot :-)

As a precaution, the grips built a tarp on top of the set. We didn't need it for the rest of the night.

Jewel getting a few last directions.

The fun never stops, even at 4 in the morning covered in goo :-)

Jaime, is working hard on the cave exit for Thursday night's shoot.

Barney and Jessica are prepping for the creatures.

And Steadicam/B-Camera AC Christian keeps himself ready.

Around 5.15 AM, the morning broke... And the shooting ended.

Total Rainout... (Production Day 21)

2006-06-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

That's what it looked like after the setup... Rain, rain, rain...

Usually it stopped after an hour but today it just went on.

It looked great in the light. But that didn't help the production...

Art Director Jaime trying to get a hold of his department.

Jonathan with umbrella, ready to call it a night.

Not everyone had an umbrella ready but our crew got creative.

The sound team fled to the car.

And then after a meeting it's decided that we won't shoot that night.

We had to surrender to the weather after a 7 hour wait. Let's hope the next nights are going to be better!

Still we had a local visitor on set :-)

Back to night... with some rain...(Production Day 20)

2006-06-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

And again we switch back to nights. Unfortunately the weather doesn't wanna play along. It started raining around 4 PM and continued...

...for many hours.

The raindrops were huge!

This meant waiting for the crew... Jorg wanted us to watch "Conan" :-)

So we watched while it was raining cats and dogs outside.

Finally around 9 it started to clear up.

The jungle looked amazing in the soft rain but it makes it so hard to shoot!

Our local grips built a tarp that covered our set for any further rain.

Jewel in make up getting ready...

And that's our set piece that was built for many weeks: The hollow log.

Mo and Jorg on set, not happy about the weather situation.

And the last touchups for Jewel.

Daniel with his "new" hand :-)

Ready to fight?

Hmmm... Sitting in a tube?

Even after spending hours in that log, Jewel kept her humour :-)

And then it was time for Helena to take over...

Erin, Script Sup from outer space :-)

Towards the morning everyone got a little Punch Drunk. Also Alegxey and Monica.

Lauren times 4

2006-06-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

We did not only have one Lauren on set but two... or three... actually four!

But isn't Nikki Griffin the Lauren we'll all see on the big screen? That's true. Nikki is Lauren but "The Tribe" is very stunt driven. We couldn't have Nikki do all those stunts so let me introduce the 4 Laurens:

Lauren Number 1 and also the Lauren you'll see on screen: Nikki Griffin.

Lauren Number 2 who did most of the stunts: Helena Barrett.

Lauren Number 3 who did the stunts no human being was able to pull off (without getting hurt): Proteus Lauren.

Lauren Number 4 who jumped in due to Nikki's early departure: Casey, our Key Rigger Jared's girlfriend.

And that's it :-)

Double Birthday!

2006-06-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

And we don't celebrate one birthday today but two! Jewel our star of the film and Mo, the producer, both turned a year older. And that's reason for a big party!

Jorg made sure that there was a huge cake ready for them.

And after wrap we all went to the best club in San Jose: "Vertigo".

Mo's new nickname: The Mouth :-)

Here with Justin celebrating.

And the party never stopped.

We had a lot of fun, thanks for the party, Mo!

The Beach in the Jungle (Production Day 19)

2006-06-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

Due to rain, we lost one night at Manuel Antonio beach and instead of driving back, the production decided to bring the beach to our current location in the Martino Jungle.

The only thing missing is the ocean but sound effects will take care of that.

Justin with Jewel. It's all of the actors' last night in Costa Rica with the exception of Jewel that will continue fighting through the jungle.

Kellan enjoying the "beach" :-)

Marc and Nikki... Wait a minute... Nikki had to leave a day early so Casey put the Lauren costume on for this scene.

Mo with his birthday present: A T-Shirt from Jewel. (more later)

And that's the back.

Chris and Jonathan enjoy a beach free of visitors and tides :-)

Director Jorg with his last directions.

Justin's last Costa Rica shot.

And Kellan's last Costa Rica shot. Have a safe trip home guys!

Lots of setups... (Production Day 19)

2006-06-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

Another day at our aged campsite.

From far away you only see a spot of light... It makes it easy to find the set :-)

Besides the US crew, the production company hired many local "Ticos y Ticas".

Jewel as Liz discovers the secret behind the creatures.

Stundcoordinator and Movement Coach Terry with Stuntgirl Helena.

Jewel with her husband Matt.

Justin's new fashion trend. I'm not sure if it'll make it...

Mo with ATV... Everyone out of the way :-)

Who is doing the slate???

I guess the same thing that attacked our Sound Mixer Nano.

Our visitors of the day.

Daniel doubling as Jake getting gored up...

...while Helena is waiting for her stunt.

Jewel leaving the set after an effect shot...

...and Kellan coming from effects makeup for his scene.

Casey, Jared's girlfriend played a creature today. It looked great!

Helena being prepared by Nikki for a stunt as Liz.

Production Design

2006-06-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Our Production Design team created the 1922 campsite we shot a couple of nights ago. Interior and exterior. Since we have to shoot the present now, we obviously couldn't wait 80 years to get an aged campesite... That's were our PD team comes in again.

They broke the new looking tents down...

...then they build an old looking, broken and weathered one. They covered the floor in moss and aged all the tools and books. Result: 80 years passed within 5 days.

Here is William giving his creation a last touch.

Look at this amazing job!!!

All the credit goes to our Production Designers Nicole and William and of course their hard working art department team.

80 Years later... (Production Day 18)

2006-06-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

No, it's not Jurassic Park but The Tribe :-) This is the aged campesite to be exact: 80 years have passed since Myra spent her time exploring in her camp.

Back in 1922...

...and now in 2006.

Chris our DP and Miles the Gaffer looking at the next shot on the scissor lift.

Also William and Jaime are checking out what will be in frame.

Michael Suter, our PA from LA and Joel our Co-Producer. Michael flew in today with some film stock. It's faster than mail...

Everyday we have a local visitor on set.

Terry is supporting Fabian on our B-Unit to get the canopy ready.

Panaair, the new flying camera by Panavision :-)

Today we were shooting high up in the tree and not on the ground. Aiken, our B-Camera Operator was pulled up into the canopy with the camera to shoot down.

Kellan did his own stunts and Nikki was doubled by Helena.

And there we go...

The stress is starting to wear :-)

Manuel Antonio Beach cheated into the Jungle of La Garita.

Jewel's husband Matt joined us today. Welcome to Costa Rica.

Kellan spent quite a few hours in the tree.

Hugo is preparing one of the creature masks...

And Aiken back on the ground.

Taking his role too serious…

2006-05-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

What you see here is the rest of Marc Bacher’s chair that unfortunately gave in to the rules of gravity and Galileo Galilei (or maybe it was someone else). Everyone blamed his intense preparation for the role of Ira but we found out that the chairs are pretty instable, after more talents faced the same fate…

Later on the same thing happened in Make Up... Coincidence?

Marc is an amazingly talented actor that is playing the part of Ira. He has been working extremely hard towards his acting goals after moving to Los Angeles. Marc was one of the famous “Groundlings” and worked on different TV Shows. There is no dull moment around him, he was born to entertain people. I’m sure Marc is incredibly happy to be on board of this film. But not quite as happy as we are to have him :-)

Thanks Marc to make Ira become alive. You’re amazing!

Hanging Nikki (Production Day 17)

2006-05-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Our cast with stunt doubles. Nikki with Helena and Kellan with Daniel.

Today really was the day of stunts. Mostly Helena and Daniel take over that part for our talents but sometimes they are needed for closeups or prefer to do their stunts themselves...

Jonathan briefing Terry, early in the morning.

Nikki and Kellan with Jared.

And there goes Nikki's stunt: Hanging upside down... And she did a great job!

And Kellan was there to support her.

Great job, Nikki!

Our Transportation Coordinator Alegxey handling the ATV.

And Jewel's first stunt: running!

And Jewel's second stunt: falling!

Look at who was visiting the set (thanks for taking that picture Aiken!)

More often we have A and B camera rolling at the same time.

Stand In can be a hard job sometimes :-)

Nano our Sound Mixer really didn't wanna get wet!

While Valeria is drying her paperwork in the microwave :-)

The day ended with a big meeting...

The Martino Jungle (Production Day 16)

2006-05-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Another day at the Martino Jungle on our "backlot".

Here are Marc and Nikki... Wait a minute. That's actually her stunt double Helena :-)

Helena has to do most of the hanging or being pulled in the air...

Thanks to the Jimmy Jib, we'll have some shots looking straight down.

Douglas, one of our Riggers had the honor of playing "creature-leaping-through-trees-making-leaves-fall"

Two Kellans? Actually...

... Kellan Number 2 is Daniel Case Number 1. He's one of our Stunt Performers and also Kellan's double.

A lot of stunts Kellan actually likes to do himself.

During the break, our filmmakers like to cuddle with the cast :-)

Protection against the rain?

Justin and Jorg having fun on set :-)

Stunts and more... (Production Day 15)

2006-05-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Kellan discovered how much fun stunts can be...

Everyday our hard working art department dresses each set location. So every plant in the jungle is nicely placed :-)

Our wardrobe team: Maria and her new assistant Victor.

Jewel has a lot of fun :-)

And Nano, our sound mixer is always listening...

Also Nikki delivered her amazing first stunt.

"Only one more take..."

Welcome back to Costa Rica, Justin!

And Kellan had to fall a couple of times... It looked amazing!

Rebecca and Nikki during a break :-)

Our riggers pulling the line!

"Gunwrangler" Jared.

Terry preparing Marc for the gun.

Our hardworking Art Department. Jaime, Nicole and William.

Best Boy Freddy.

And towards the end of the day, Script Supervisor Erin informs Director Jorg about the missing shots...

Here comes the rain... (Production Day 14)

2006-05-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Our first day shoot at the Martino Jungle. Everything went smooth until Murphy showed his face in form of several inches of rain... More later...

Our group fight their way through the jungle.

To make the jungle look more interesting, before every shot the art department waters down the leaves.

Our riggers getting ready for an effect shot.

Director Jorg and Kellan discussing the next shot.

Yes! Making movies is fun :-)

Some scenes require two cameras.

The real star of the day. Our dead panther...

...one more amazing effect creature straight from the shop of Proteus FX. Here with the team: Jessica, Hugo and Barney.

I had a little job, too. This time it was shaking the trees :-)

Everything is humongous in this country. Look at the fern!

And here comes the rain...

Chris and Jorg are waiting for a clear sky...

Without luck. That's a wrap for today.

Last, the promised picture of the interior of the tent from yesterday's shoot.

First Nightshoot (Production Day 13)

2006-05-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

So, here we are back at wonderful Hotel Martino after our journey from beach to riverbed and now finally to our "backlot" location. The set is literally 1 min from my hotel room. It's awesome. And day 13 was our first night shoot. I'd lie if I said that everything went smooth but at least we didn't get rain. Nights are always very different from days because... Of course, there is no light! But later more...

Our trucks arrived on time for a lot of unpacking...

The standard equipment for tonight was a flashlight... Or also a headlight in this case.

Besides the mud, the only place we could still see the rain (from the day) was our awesome set: A 1920's explorer camp. Designed by Production Designers William and Nicole. Created by Art Director Jaime Fernandez. It simply looked amazing, I was blown away by the exact work those guys did. The inside is even more amazing, I'll post a picture later.

Here is Jaime overviewing his "babies".

And of course William and Nicole, too.

Our awesome performers for tonight: Helena as the British Explorer Myra.

Barney as Guard Hector.

And Hugo as Guard Jose.

"El Director"

Chris our DP, still happy at the moment :-)

The condor, sounds like a bird but it's actually a scissor lift with powerful lights on them.

Producer Mo with AD Jonathan... How did they grow bunny ears? Maybe Jorg can answer that...

Also some stuntshots were on the schedule. The ATV driver: Our stunt coordinator Terry with Aiken, our B-Camera operator in the back...

...chasing Helena through the jungle...

I'll be updating the other days tomorrow.

From Z to A…

2006-05-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

This is our hard working transportation team. Transport Capitain Alexey and his drivers made sure that we all made it back to Alajuela, where everything started a few weeks ago. We will be shooting here for the next two weeks and then return to LA for the sound stage work.

Internet is in and out at our current location. As it looks right now I won't be able to update the blog until Sunday (with Friday night and Saturday day shoot). Please check back...

Last river day (Production Day 12)

2006-05-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

A short last day at our green river...

Normally the riverbed is dried out and our Production Supervisor said that he had never seen water in there. Well that changed with "The Tribe".

Water + Soil = Mud. And that was the formula for every day at our fairytale location. We literally carried many pounds of the riverbed back to our hotel :-) We learned that the moss-covered rocks are the safe ones and not to touch the beautiful looking red frogs or flip over rocks (under which tarantulas live…)

As mentioned it was our last day before the move back to Alajuela where we stayed during pre-production. It is also our main location where we will be shooting for the rest of our stay in Costa Rica.

Here are some impressions of the day:

Unloading the camera truck...

Due to the water, the grips had to bild a platform for camera and a walkway for Jewel.

Lizzard out of the box, also provided by Proteus FX.

Run, Jewel, Run!

What a team! Director Jorg and Producer Mo.

Up in the trees: Scott alias "The Fox".

And in the end of the day, Sarah, our 2nd AD, distributes the call sheets for the next day.

Production - Day 11

2006-05-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Another day in paradise... Early in the morning we started our day with a jib shot. In general a very smooth day. There was no rain to disturb us and no fog either...

Oscar and Valeria were our featured stand ins.

Our transportation team at breakfast...

And.... ACTION, Jake! Kellan Lutz followed by Marc Bacher and Nikki Griffin.

Jewel completely in her character Liz.

While Producer Mo is having fun with the girls.... and Aiken :-)

Kellan getting into character...

Competition? No... colaboration! Make Up Artist Rebecca and SFX Make Up Artist Barney... :-)

Nikki after being attacked by a creature... You really don't wanna mess with them :-)

Some directions for Kellan and Jewel.

And some more for Kellan...

Aiken working his Steadicam.

Maria Coronas, our Key Wardrobe and her assistant Carlos.

Production - Day 10

2006-05-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today was the day of fog... and some other things :-)

In order to keep the fog going it first has to be contained. Not easy in an exterior location.

Then a few silks are added to light the fog.

And then of course the fog. It looked like the forest was burning...

But where did the fog come from? Right here... Those things are loud but fog everything in within seconds.

Lil' Nikki :-)

Today we also used some lights.

And something else was shining in the fog: Our Jewel :-)

And here comes the blogmaster :-)

Besides fog we had to fight with some rain. Pretty much all day long...

Director Jorg explaining the shot.

Our Make Up team: Rebecca and Nikki.

What's that behind Jewel?

Towards the end of the shooting day, Marc Bacher got to fire a gun (of course not a real one... but still damn loud!)

Then Marc had his big scene that blew everyone away!!! Awesome job, Marc!

Production - Day 9

2006-05-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Day 9 at the Green River:

Jewel having fun with Mo.

Oh god, another 20 setups in 4 hours???

Our amazing Jewel ready for the next scene.

Lizzard in a box presented by Proteus FX...

If you can't walk in the slippery river bed then fly... That's what Director Jorg told himself...

The two ladies looking so comfortable I won't mention by name so they won't get in troubles... :-) But let's say without them we wouldn't have Craft Services or Wardrobe :-)

From Poncho to Winter Jacket. Script Supervisor Erin is ready for every possible environment. Rain, Malaria Mosquitoes (even though they don't exist here...) or an erupting volcano... :-) Just kidding. Erin is litteraly the light on the set. She's always in a good mood and one of the most hard working people I've met.

Production – Day 8

2006-05-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Rio Corinto or we call it the “green river bed”. This location is simply amazing and looks like J.R.R. Tolkien’s middle earth. The difference is, “The Tribe” won’t feature hobbits but other creatures… And that’s exactly the theme of the day. Our creatures live in the trees. We dedicated this whole day to their movements in the canopy. How did we do it? Just keep on reading and you’ll find out:

When we arrived at the location, it first looked like a scene from “The Blairwitch Project”. About 30 sticks on wires hanging from the trees.

Soon though it was clear that they all are connected to branches and by pulling them it will give the illusion of movement in the canopy. Terry Notary, our stunt coordinator, transformed a bow and arrow into a rigging tool that allows him to shoot fishing wire over the branches and then attach the thicker cords to it and finally the wooden handle.

So there were more than 20 people, ADs, Grips, Visitors, PAs and pretty much every position on the set that had the time to pull those ropes during the shot. It looked amazing and you’ll be able to see the results at the theater, soon.

It was fun, too :-) Right Valeria?

Here are some more pictures from the day:

Is it working out? Yes it is!

Both, DP and Director agree on the direction the camera should point at.

Also AD Jonathan agreed :-)

Our Stunt Coordinator Terry Notary with his wife Rhonda.

A day of handheld shooting up... How's your back, Chris?

The grips built a platform for the camera team otherwise it would have been impossible to shoot on the slippery rocks...

The last day for our visitors from Germany: Jorg's sister Angela and her friend Toni.

A local visitor to the set...

And of course Producer Mo was overviewing the set.

Yesterdays update will follow in the end of the day!

2 Days without Internet

2006-05-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I’m back… Unfortunately the internet isn’t very reliable in this part of the country. Due to the heavy rainfalls, internet can go out for several days. So, let me backtrack what happened the past two days… (I will also backdate the entries for easier overview.)

From the Beach to the Jungle

2006-05-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Today was big moving day. We left Manuel Antonio Beach and made our way to the middle of the country where we will be shooting for 5 days at Rio Danta and Rio Corinto. Both of the locations are amazing and even throw some shade onto Lord of the Rings :-) During the 5 hours bus ride we had a lot of entertainment thanks to Nikki Griffin and Marc Bacher.

Freddy Cubillo was our driver for the trip.

And of course our standard stop at the Crocodile Bridge.

Justin, Jewel, Marc, Angela and Toni fascinated by the reptiles.

Tomorrow we’ll be back on set with our own predators :-)

Production – Day 7

2006-05-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

What a day, what a day… Initially planned as a night shoot, but changed to a day shoot due to the fights with the sun, rain, tides, visitors, and other random issues. So we had a lot of catching up to do. It’s really hard to shoot in such an uncontrolled environment. The weather keeps changing constantly… It’s overcast then sunny then suddenly it rains. And by saying rain, I don’t mean the tiny raindrops falling from the sky but more like the divine shower :-)

Again, we managed to get what we needed, knowing that we actually were lucky because it could have been much worse…

Here again a few pictures from set:

The day started off with some sun. We enjoyed it while it lasted...

Sexy Nikki, our Make Up and Hair Assistant.

Nicoa, our 2nd AC/Loader doing his job.

Mo talking to the upcoming storm. "Just give us 2 more hours and we can finish..."

Snapshot of our cast. How cool it looks through a broken mirror ... (i didn't break it!)

Most of the scenes where shot with A and B camera. Chris Popp operates A and Aiken Weiss B.

Alberto our courageous Boom Operator.

Our Assistant Directors: 1st AD Jonathan, 2nd 2nd AD Valeria and 2nd AD Sarah.

A bloodtrail leading into the adventure!

Towards the end of the day the storm finally arrived...

Tomorrow we will move to a different location. We’ll be leaving the beach and heading towards Rio Corinto in central Costa Rica. I’m not sure if I’ll have access to the internet… So please keep checking.

Production – Day 6

2006-05-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Not much happened today due to the weather… Unfortunately a storm was coming up so the team decided to cancel our night shoot and instead start early tomorrow again in order to catch up with missing shots.

That’s why I’d like to use the opportunity to introduce our hard working office team. While we’re shooting on the beach there are many people working behind the scenes at our production office.

Here are Monica Albonico, our Office Production Assistant and Rodrigo Rojas, our Production Coordinator. It looks like they’re having fun at work!

Monica preparing the call sheets for tomorrow.

And last but not least, Francesca Albonico, our Production Accountant. I learned that both Monica and Francesca have a Swiss passport but both of them haven’t been there. Quite a Swiss community in Costa Rica. :-)

Here are some pictures from the set:

Jorg looking through a super wide angle lens for the last shot of the film...

As usual we had some wildlife visiting us... See ya tomorrow!

Production – Day 5

2006-05-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

Hmm, what happened today? A lot… As usual it was hot, hot, hot… Even hotter than the days before. Don’t know what’s going on :-)

Since it’s already midnight and I have to get up early again (also standing in the sun all day long drains your energy), I’ll dive right into the pictures:

Our Gaffer Miles telling the sun where to throw its rays :-)

That's the way to move the camera... Sebastian, our 1. Assistant Camera, found out how to do that while looking cool :-)

Director Jorg's sister Angela and her friend Toni from Germany are visiting the set. Angela already booked a part as stand in :-) Here on the picture with AD Jonathan.

Valeria, our 2nd 2nd AD (cool position... Why not 3rd... I don't know...)

Hey and I made onto the blog, too...

Nicole... No drinking on the set! :-) Actually those are all props for the movie.

Nicole on Tatoine... or the beach of Costa Rica. I know there are a lot of pictures of her on the blog and I don't know why... Maybe it's the amazing hat :-)

Sometimes hills can be cheated in films...

I'm not the only Swiss person on set. Alejandro, one of the Set PAs also carries the little red passport (even though he has never been to the coutntry...)

After a little stunt (Justin trying to make a point...) he unfortunately hurt himself. Good that we always have a medic on set!

During lunch, Jorg, Nicole and I were able to get a first look at the Alpha Male of our creatures. Wow, they are simply amazing! On the picture you see Barney and Jessica doing the last touch ups for the make up test.

And that's how the day ended... With a beautiful sunset. See you tomorrow.

Production – Day 4

2006-05-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we all experienced something that we’ve never seen before.

It was raining early morning. Everyone was afraid of not seeing the sun for a while but suddenly a hole in the clouds opened and the sun showed its face. What an incredible sight in the pouring rain.

Unfortunately the day didn’t go as well as the others. Many things didn’t work out and Murphy’s Law really hit us. One of our life rafts opened too early, the tides have never been that strong and washed all the props away, the sun kept burning down (hotter than ever) and other things kept the whole crew busy. Still, even though it was a long and tiring day, we achieved a lot.

Not only the crew but many visitors of Manuel Antonio Beach got some excitement when for the first time our creatures showed up. It felt like they were marching into an arena. People stood there with their mouths open wide, I even heard some kids screaming :-) Poor stunt guys, it was already brutally hot without wearing a suit and masks.

A lot of people joined us for the stunt shot and in the end quite a crowed lined up besides the camera. Even though there is a lot of wildlife in Costa Rica. Not every day you'll witness a new kind of creature :-)

My camera caught a small glimpse of them… The picture is slightly manipulated since we don't want to spoil the surprise for you...

And as usual, here are some more pictures:

Finally a picture of Erin Tambellini our hard working Script Supervisor. I know that she has many fans at home that will be excited to see her picture. Erin is always ready to keep continuity, even in pooring rain (and poncho) :-)

The Jimmy Jib Team finally was able to put their crane in work. Aiken Weiss was operating the jib...

...while the A-Camera team was burning under the sun.

Our Best Boy Freddy Salazar. As chief electrition he'll be taking care of power and supporting Miles our gaffer. Take a close look at his eyes...

Our super raft that came a little early...

Nano Fernandez our local Sound Mixer. He loves sound and we can all see his passion on set!

Director Jorg with Jewel as Liz, ready to leave the island (in the film of course...)!

And finally I'd like to welcome Nicole Lobart to Costa Rica. Her and William Budge are the production designers of the film. Nicole had to supervise the construction of the cave in LA and just arrived yesterday to support William here in CR.

Tomorrow will be the official day off but I will definitely write another entry on Monday. So enjoy your weekend.

Production – Day 3

2006-05-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today was a hot day… The sun burned down, starting already at 7:30 AM and continued for the rest of the day. Other than the almost unbearable heat, everything went smooth and the filmmakers were able to shoot what they planned.

The biggest challenge besides the heat were the tides… Every shooting day has to be scheduled according to the high/low tides and today we had a big high due to full moon. So many times we heard someone shout the word “water!” and suddenly the whole set was flooded and the camera was standing in the ocean…

The highlights of the day were:

Marc Bacher’s amazing stunt scene, trying to free a suitcase… It made Tom Cruise's impossible mission look pretty small (all of them) :-)

On the third day Jorg’s voice was finally overpowered by the loud noises of waves braking at the shore. Ergo, he got a little present that he hopefully won’t abuse… I already have nightmares “Andy!!! Andy!!! Where are you?” :-)

Again a few more impressions from the set. I’ll try to introduce some more crewmembers on our day off (that would be Sunday), so (all aunts) keep reading!

Set on the beach.

On top of the rocks I had the perfect overview of the set...

Chris Popp or Lawrence of Arabia?

Director Jorg with his talents Jewel and Justin in front of video playback...

Property Carlos holding one of the props. Hmmm, what could have happened to that umbrella?

More tomorrow, last day of this week (Sunday will be our day off!).

Production - Day 2

2006-05-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

The motto for today is “stranded…”

As smooth as the first the second wasn’t… Finally the sun revealed itself in full force. It was great for cinematography but pretty hard for the crew. The white sand intensified the heat by reflecting the sunrays. Ergo, the crew worked a little slower than the day before what made Jorg worry a little…
In the end, even though a few rain drops made their way from the clouds to the beach, the filmmakers were able to get all the shots that were scheduled and even wrapped early. Again, a few impressions from the day:

A hot and sunny day...

We welcomed Kellan Lutz who had a little delay getting to Costa Rica :-)

Thanks to video assist, the director is able to see on a little (and big monitor) what the DP sees through the viewfinder.

Justin and Jewel not in the rain but sunshine...

Marc and Nikki had fun all day long... Unfortunately there is no sound available to this picture...

Nikki enjoying her time on set.

And another cast member was welcomed, today: Producer Mo Ramchandani. He'll be playing the character of Mo (only his voice will appear in the film).

That's it for today... See you tomorrow!

Happy B-Day Number 4

2006-05-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

This time we celebrate a “local” birthday :-) Gabriel Jimenez, who was born in Costa Rica and holds the titel Assistant to the Producer(s) on the film. He’s a very hard working and reliable person to the complete satisfaction of his bosses. This is Gabriel’s first feature film (but definitely not his last one :-))

At night he became the “official” party guide who always knows about the nightlife in each town. Also there he can shine, our “Tica-magnet”!

Happy Birthday Gabriel and thanks for your hard work!

Production – Day 1

2006-05-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, finally the day arrived. After months of preproduction consisting of rewrites, meetings, storyboarding, meetings, scouting, meetings we finally reached this day. At 4 AM we made our way to the magnificent Manuel Antonio Beach.

After a healthy breakfast the camera team started setting up for the first shot. Unfortunately there is no access way to our location for cars so everything had to be carried in… Not an easy task considering the weight of all the equipment.

Even the sun played along and the initially overcast sky cleared up. To Chris’ satisfaction we had sun all day long what made the jungle look great!

Then the first shot of the film... followed by many more. Everyone on the crew worked so hard today and it has been an amazingly smooth first day. Looking forward to many, many more...

See below some impressions from the set:

Production... Production... Everyone is busy :-)

Aiken Weiss, our Steadicam operator.

Two of our stars from the film: Justin Baldoni and Jewel Staite.

And of course our awesome Director/DP Team: Jorg Ihle and Chris Popp.

We will have another 4 AM call tomorrow. So I'm off to bed... :-)

The 1. Read-through

2006-05-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Like on every movie, today took also the first read-through place. That’s where the whole cast sits together with Director and Producer to read through the script (as the name already explains). This way every cast member gets the chance to ask questions but mainly it helps to get the chemistry flowing…

Justin will play Jewel’s character Liz’s boyfriend Peter (what a sentence…). Since I don’t wanna give away too much of the story, I can’t get deeper into their relationship. Both of them are extremely talented actors and it’s going to be great working with them!

On the other side of the table is the other part of our talented cast, Nikki and Marc, or also Lauren and Ira in the film. The two of them are also working on their screen relationship and thanks to Marc’s amazing sense of humor there is never a dull moment.

Well, that’s it guys. This is officially the last day of preproduction, tomorrow we’ll start shooting the film. I’m looking at my call sheet and see that it says 4 AM call and it's 10 PM right now... That means I should go and get some sleep. So check back tomorrow, it’ll definitely be an interesting entry!

The Beach 2

2006-05-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

I think a storm is comming up...

Another day at the beach this time with talent reinforcement. I would like to welcome Jewel Staite to Costa Rica. Due to her appearance on a Sci-Fi convention in Australia (for her character Kaylee from Firefly/Serenity), she had to fly to LA then straight to Costa Rica via Mexico City… For everyone who doesn't know Firefly, you don't know what you're missing out. Joss Whedon's amazing TV show about cowboys (and girls) in space is out on DVD. I promise after watching the pilot the DVD set won't give you a rest :-) Jewel plays the sweetheart mechanic Kaylee, and won over the hearts of many fans all over the world!

And today she’s already at the beach discussing her character Liz with Director Jorg. Jewel’s character will lead through the movie and she’ll have to face a lot of action in the Jungel.

Chris our DP got some reinforcement, too: Gaffer Miles Anderson. Miles brings a huge amount of knowledge to the production that helps Chris plan his lighting. Now, I have a feeling that they are both praying in their hotel rooms that it’ll stop raining soon (around 3 it started pouring and it hasn’t stopped since).

Mo spent his time taking revenge on Justin since he threw him (with Marc’s help) into the water. What a great karma between everyone, it’s so much fun!

Later on, Justin tried to hunt an Iguana but without success. You gotta be quicker than that Justin! :-) Again, I’d like to mention how amazing the wildlife is here in Costa Rica. There is a little wonder in every corner, you just have to open up to it.

Who is that?

2006-05-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

I just received a memory stick with some pictures from yesterday… And I think it is Mo our producer with Justin Baldoni, one of the actors. But where are they and what are they doing?

Justin asked me to mention that he was dragged into that strip club (yeah right? :-)) and definitely cleaned the pole before dancing on it. I’m happy that they had some fun! It’s pretty much the last time of being able to relax completely since tomorrow is the big day!

One day with Sadilek...

2006-05-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

… and you’ll understand what I’m about to tell you :-) Joel Sadilek is our Co-/Line-Producer and could also be called the central nervous system of the “The Tribe”. He’s one of the hardest working people on the crew that is responsible for pretty much everything that happens on an administrative level. He also wrote the budget for the production and is the one that has to keep it under control. Besides that he also takes care of accounting. And all of that not in his home country…

Joel has produced many features and shorts and entered our film with a lot of practical experience. Sometimes it seems like nothing can get Joel stressed out, maybe with the exception of my interviews :-)

It’s great that Joel found some really good local people in Costa Rica to support him like Sergio Miranda (Production Supervisor) and Rodrigo Rojas (Production Coordinator). Together they make an awesome team that keeps the ball rolling.

Thanks Joel for all your hard work! We all appreciate it.

The big one

2006-05-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

One last big production meeting before the shoot was on today’s schedule and it really was “the big one”. AD Jonathan led the whole crew through every scene of the script where all the departments were able to give their input from a technical point of view. That’s the way to figure out if everybody is ready and understands Jorg’s vision.

The meeting lasted for exactly 3 hours 54 minutes and 40 seconds with a little 5 minute break in between. At the same time it started and stopped raining 3 times, about 20 monkeys crossed the rope that connects the hotel canopy with the outside and I drank 5 cups of soda plus one cup of water (it was an extremely hot day). But please don’t think that I didn’t pay attention :-)

But seriously, it was one of the most important meetings and it helped everyone on the crew to understand what’s going on in each scene. With that, I’d like to finish today’s blog entry. Only one more day…

And here they come… :-)

2006-05-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed this day, not only because of the weather and the beach but mainly because (parts of) our cast arrived. Marc Bacher (left), Justin Baldoni (middle) and Nikki Griffin (right) joined us for a refreshing change. After weeks of pre-production they now introduce principal photography that will start on Wednesday. We’re still waiting for Jewel and Kellen that will join us soon.

Welcome to Costa Rica, guys. It’s gonna be fun!

Jack in the boxes

2006-05-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hmmmmm…. What could be in those boxes that were dropped off in front of Joel’s (Co- Line-Producer) hotel room?

It says Proteus FX on the side of them. What could that mean?

Alright, I’ll give it away. It’s all the creature suits and special effects make-up that arrived via cargo from Los Angeles. Barney Burman and his FX team filled them up with all different kinds of goodies that will make our film not only look awesome but also very different from others. Proteus FX stands for Barney’s company that’s based in the San Fernando Valley.

Keep checking for updates, maybe you’ll soon get a glimpse of the content…

The Beach

2006-05-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's a hot day (and that already at 7 in the AM). And another location gets the “tech scout”, where the director and the DP present their shots to all the department heads (lighting, production design, props, electric…) to look at them from a technical point of view. Also to help the assistant director to schedule all the production days.

Even though this process is rough and it seems to never end, everyone is on it… And some people even have fun :-) (like AD Jonathan with DP Chris) At the same time it is also a relieve for the Jorg and Chris since every shot now gets locked and the film completely comes together.

Of course there are many intermezzos to watch the little monkeys stealing food from the innocent beach guests. These monkeys are unbelievable. Nature gave them a natural mean look what doesn’t fit at all at the first look. “There so cute!” you here from everywhere but once they start stealing your food and even fight for it, the face suddenly gets a complete different meaning.

It was a long but successful day. With a few exceptions, everything was solved and with every day that passes, everyone gets more ready to shoot this thing. The excitement but also stress of the close start date is definitely present. Tomorrow we will finally welcome our cast members. So check back for my talent-welcome-blog-entry.

The three act day

2006-05-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today's story will be told in three acts: Worries, solutions and the move to the beach.

Let’s start with act 1, worries…

Most of the time shooting a film is so much fun but there are the days, things just don’t seem to work out. Today was the final day of tech scouting at our main location in La Garita. It was also the day our creative heads were forced to let go of certain places they really wanted to shoot at. So a lot of scouting and previsualization work, done by all the creative heads, was crushed in moments. Certain things were simply not possible because of logistics, time or budget limits. Then again that’s part of the business. On every film, the makers wanted more but had to face the limit at some point…

Enough of negative content for today, let's move on to act 2. To every problem or worry is a…? Anyone? Solution, of course. So instead of breaking their heads in an office (where most of the people brainstorm) our crew was able to do that in the beautiful jungle. And after a few compromises and each other’s inspiration, everything could be solved. (Let's not talk about the weather... But that would be going back to act 1 :-))

Third and last act, our move to Manuel Antonio. Around 4 PM we boarded the bus to our next location where we will be shooting and staying at for the next 12 days. The wonderful hotel Byblos will be our base camp and my alarm clock is set to 6.30 AM in order to continue our tech scout at the beach tomorrow morning.

The End.

Filmmakers in the mist

2006-05-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

If you’re looking for a wonder then visit the rainforest early in the morning. The first sunrays push their way through the dense canopy and create an incredible painting right in front of your eyes. At that moment an amazing feeling of peace overwhelms you and somehow everything in the world seems to be in order…

For Jorg, Chris and William this treat happens every morning around 7 AM. The three are still looking for the perfect locations to shoot certain scenes. The beauty of the rainforest at dawn completely inspires the three.

It’s not always easy to find the right location. There are many limitations that unfortunately don’t allow to shoot the film with complete creative freedom but everything also needs to be practical. Many beautiful locations are inaccessible for the camera team or can’t be dressed the right way. Then most of the forest is too dense, what keeps the sun from striking through the leaves. Without light, no movie. So lighter forest is needed that will be dressed to make it look more dense… Crazy, hum? That’s what we call suspension of disbelief.

Only one more day of scouting in La Garita, Alajuela. Tomorrow we’ll be leaving for Manuel Antonio where the shoot will start on the 8th of May. Soon we’ll also welcome the rest of the crew and of course our amazing cast. The countdown is running…

Itsy Bitsy Creature, climbed up the bamboo tree…

2006-05-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

…and that’s Terry’s goal. Our stunt coordinator is working hard to achieve this with all his students in so-called Creature School. Helena, Dorian, Daniel, Dan with their latest (local) addition Andrea visit this workshop everyday in order to not only move and act like the creatures but become one.

Every session starts with 20 minutes of listening and only listening. As Terry mentioned to me, most of us human beings lost the ability to listen without constantly thinking about things (What do I have to do? What should I be doing…?). Almost like meditating, all the guys find their corner to listen to the sounds the jungle has to offer. And believe me, it’s not easy to turn this inner voice off…

This is only one of the exercises that will help his students to go back to the state most of the animals are in. Other exercises contain the ability of being in “soft focus”. I can’t reveil too much about the creature but certain senses are very developed. Soft focus gives them the ability to listen to all their senses and not only one. Then of course there is a whole study about how they move and communicate.

Here is Dan in his “retreat” position. Today happen to be his birthday. Not a bad place to spend this day, right Dan? Everyone on the Crew wishes you a Happy Birthday! Everyone at home can post a comment if they want :-)

Daniel and Helena also double three of our cast members for stunts and besides Creature School, practicing all different kinds of tricks on wires keeps the group busy. I’ll definitely report about the stunts later.

Camera Marathon

2006-05-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

DP Chris Popp’s first production duty is to make a camera test where he under and overexposes film stock to check it’s contrast and latitude. All the windows of the test room had to be blacked out that no daylight strikes onto the test subject (in our case Chris himself). Different exposure of film stocks can change the contrast or push certain colors in the end product. Usually film types have all different names or numbers and believe me, it can get pretty confusing...

Alright now it’s getting technical, with my first lesson in Cinematography: Chris is mainly shooting Kodak 5218 film where the 52 indicates 35mm stock, the 18 defines the type of stock, in our case 500 ASA (light sensitivity) tungsten balanced (3200º K color temperature) Vision 2 (higher resolution, low grain) film. Still with me? Don’t worry, that’s actually none of our concern, we’ll leave that to our DP. All we have to do is enjoy Chris Popp’s amazing cinematography at the theater while enjoying movie butter covered popcorn :-)

Sebastian, our 1st Assistant Camera is keeping track of every shot by writing notes onto the camera report and marking the white board. Today, he’s also the one running the camera since Chris is in the shot. Now the test is going to the lab and Chris will use them as a reference for the jungle shoot.

Terry Notary

2006-05-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

First we had Nicole Lobart design the creatures on paper together with Barney Burman who then went on to create the masks, suits and prosthetics and now we need someone that can make them become alive…

And that’s were Terry Notary enters the game. Terry is not only our Stunt Coordinator but also choreographs the creature movements. And he definitely knows how to move! Once you see Terry performing, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. You’ll completely forget about the suit or mask and only see the creature standing in front of you with all its raw power and astonishing elegance.

For many years Terry performed at Cirque du Soleil until he entered the film industry where he made himself a name as stunt coordinator or movement coach on countless productions. He not only taught all the “Apes” how to move in Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” but also doubled Tim Roth. He coached the X-Men and introduced Superman into zooming through the air in Bryan Singer’s new installment of the super hero franchise.

We are amazingly happy to have Terry on board. His huge experience, expertise and understanding of movement redefined my way of looking at the creatures. Thanks to Terry the stars of our film now have a soul!

Rig me up, Scotty!

2006-05-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

Jared Eddo (left) and his team are responsible to get all the wires going that will later on be digitally removed from the film. Wow, a lot of work to simply take them out again… So why even put them there?

Those rigs not only make it possible for our creatures to jump amazing distances but also our actors to be thrown around or hung up a tree. At the same time they serve as safety since they can control a performers landing/fall. Equipped with machete, bow and arrow, many (I mean loads of) ropes and everything else that excites the climber’s heart the guys spend hours to put up the rigs. Then they pull the right ropes to make the creatures jump…

And by the way, we do have a Scott(y) in the team :-) Scott Cosgrove is the one hanging in the tree on the picture… and also caries the coolest nickname: Silver Fox. Him, Douglass Snivley (top right) and Terry Notary Sr. make Jared’s team complete.

A story of roads…

2006-04-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

The roads in Costa Rica are very narrow and usually there is a pretty deep pit on each side. In other words don’t drive too far to the right or you may join this unlucky truck driver we saw on the way home. Thankfully he was completely ok.

Rollercoaster 'Costa Rica-Style'

2006-04-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

My birthday present from Jorg was a Canopy Tour, something I always dreamed of doing since watching “The Medicine Man” in my childhood. I joined Dorian, Dan and Helena, our stunt performers who will play the creatures in the film. Helena will also play a character in the opening scene of the film.

What is a canopy tour? Explained in a few words: Everyone is put into a harness, gets equipped with a helmet then hooked up to a steal wire and the rollercoaster starts from tree to tree through the impressive canopy. Don’t forge to sign the liability waiver, though :-)

Here is Dan taking off into the unknown…

And Dorian arriving on a 140 meter long cable.

In the middle of the tour was the so called “Tarzan Swing”. One of the biggest swings I’ve ever seen. Our guides hooked us up and gave us a good swing out into the green. Here they are with Helena.

The picture that Dan took of me really describes the amazing feeling it was. Don’t look at it for too long.

Is this Spiderman or Tarzan?

Then a few more cables with the last 250m ride.

We had so much fun! Thanks again for an amazing experience. So everyone on vacation down here go to “The San Lorenzo Canopy Tour” :-)

All paths lead to Rome…

2006-04-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

That’s at least what people say… And it felt like our taxi driver was looking for Rome instead of Alajuela.

Gabriel, Mo’s assistant explained him in Spanish how to get back to our hotel. It was only William and myself that participated in the adventure ride called “How the *@#$ do we get back?” Well, it started pretty smoothly. It felt like we were going into the right direction but… Soon he took a turn (into a one way street) up the hill and we both knew that couldn’t be right.

With our combined 3 word Spanish vocabulary (4 if you count “Dos Pinos”, the local dairy company and not including curse words) we tried to explain him where we needed to go. Suddenly the driver pulled into a car cemetery (at 2 AM!) and honked/whistled. William and I were just looking at each other with a “What is he doing?” expression on our faces. It would be a lie to say that we weren’t worried for a few seconds inside that perfect “Horror” movie location…
Before he got out of the car, we convinced him to turn around and get back to the main road. Once there, he saw another taxi ahead of us. Immediately he started flashing the lights and honking like crazy until the other taxi stopped (in the middle of the street of course). After exchange of information the ride continued but only a minute later, the driver pulled over and got out of the car. Again, William and I didn’t know what was going on…

Finally the other cab drove in front of us and guided us back to the hotel. What a ride! Thank you again, driver, he really did everything to get us back and was really nice. It was the first time he entered that part of town :-)

Duo Birthday

2006-04-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

It’s B-Day time… On April 28th William our Production Designer celebrated his birthday and only a day later, I celebrated mine. Lost on the calendar for the past weeks I was pretty surprised. Mo, our producer took us to a club downtown San Jose to celebrate.

Also Terry our Stunt Coordinator enjoyed the party, free drinks (that Mo offered) and the many hot girls on the dance floor. He also showed us how the creatures from “The Tribe” would move to the music… Immediately it was accepted as a new dance style!

It also sparked some ideas for the next project: A Horror-Action Musical! :-)

Mo, enjoyed the party, too. He even convinced the owner Adriano from Resort Martino, where we’re staying, to join us.

By the way, if anyone is interested in visiting Costa Rica. I recommend to stay a few days at the Resort Martino. The rooms are great, the food is amazing and it also offers an incredible Spa. Check it out http://www.hotelmartino.com/

Raindrops keep falling on my DP

2006-04-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

It can’t rain all the time but… let’s say pretty often :-) I mean, we are in the rainforest, it’s pretty obvious. A little rain won’t destroy Director of Photography Christopher Popp’s day. He is equipped with the right anti hydro gear or simply umbrella.

Chris was born in Germany and worked in Television for many years until he followed his dream to study cinematography in the United States. A wise move! Chris already won the ASC Award for Best Cinematography right after graduation from the famous AFI Conservatory. Then he photographed the Hindu epic “Lakshya” what kept him in India for almost 150 shooting days. Later on, he even received the Indian equivalent of the Academy Award for his outstanding work.

Everyone is extremely happy to have Chris on board. Not only for his amazing talent and work ethic but also his unbeatable humor. Chris, you’re the best!

Oh Camera, My Camera...

2006-04-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

A big day for DP Chris. His baby arrived :-)

In a total of 75 boxes fit all the camera gear provided by Panavision, Los Angeles. The film will be shot on Super 35mm Film (3 perf) in the amazing looking 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Not the right subject for Pan & Scan fans (right Mo?) but the right format to go with for the big screen.

It’s now 1st Assistant Camera Sebastian’s job to unpack and check everything. They will spend the next few days shooting some camera tests. The exposed film will be going to the Lab in LA for development and transfer (in our case a Digital Intermediate) where Chris will be able to look at the footage next week. He’s returning to LA for a couple of days to overview the whole DI process and see the camera test first hand.

The Mo Factor

2006-04-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

The first thing that comes to my mind is: You don’t wanna **** with Mohit Ramchandani :-)

The Tribe’s producer was born in Bombay, India, grew up in Hong Kong, China and was educated in London, UK. He entered the entertainment industry with a business background.

Mo is known for his tough negotiations and strict business rules. But underneath that think skin (many Hollywood agents and lawyers are very afraid of…) is the nicest guy you can possibly imagine with a great talent for finding and developing a good story.
Playing pool has become his favorite hobby during the time off. He's beaten pretty much everyone on the crew but I have a feeling that he'll find his opponent soon. The crew is steadily growing... :-)

Mo’s hard work doesn’t stop, not even in the deep jungle. Here he is on a conference call with a writer in LA for the upcoming project “Cold Fear”.

Thank you again for giving me this opportunity, Mo and good luck on your journey, producing this film!

Scout away..., Rainforest!

2006-04-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

What would you like to get first? The good or the bad news?

Well, let’s start with the good ones. The rainforest is simply amazing in Costa Rica. Everything is alive and wherever you look it’s like a painting. Anyone, who ever dreamed of flying through the canopy like Sean Connery in “The Medicine Man”, can actually do that here. Many national parks are setup with a canopy tour rigging.

We found so many locations, one more beautiful then the other but…

…now the bad news. Everything we visited was completely inaccessible. Most of the places you have to walk for a while and the trails are super thin. That’s were logistics can beat production value. But then again, that’s not really true. There are so many beautiful places in this country that we found a replacement in a heartbeat.

One thing was for sure; I haven’t sweated that much in a long time. It was so extremely hot and humid that sweat was literally dripping from my skin like a waterfall. I think Jonathan our AD shared my opinion. :-) I felt like I was swimming the whole day. Then of course the mosquito factor was hitting us hard, too. Without repellant they would have eaten us alive.

But nothing could destroy that amazing experience...

Planet of the Creatures...

2006-04-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

Since the rainforest reaches right down to the beach, many animal visitors from the jungle introduced themselves.

First we met the closest ones to our human race: monkeys. Wow they were fierce and bold! A few girls had to learn it the hard way. Quietly a few monkeys approached their bags while swimming. The girls realized it but too late. While one of the monkeys already grabbed a pack of coconut cookies (wrapped in plastic) the other monkey kept on fighting with the girls for the bag…

Later on, they ate the cookies, one by one sitting on the tree…

Also a nice Iguana paid us a visit. It somehow smelled the fruit in our cooler and wooooosh, was it already sitting on it. Even our threats didn’t really make it move. “This is my territory!”

On the way home we also met some crocodiles… Good that we were on a bridge quite in safety :-)

A day at the beach

2006-04-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning at 5 AM it was time to leave the resort and go scouting for our beach scene. So we left Alajuela and drove towards Manuel Antonio, what will represent the beach of our uncharted island in the story. And what a beautiful beach our characters chose to crash.

The sun was shining bright and not even the ocean was able to cool us down. While everyone around us was sunbathing and relaxing, our job was to figure out where exactly we are going to shoot everything.

Mo checked out the view from the top of the hills… Strictly checking out locations and nothing else… Right?

…while Director Jorg Ihle and Cinematographer Chris Popp decided on the direction they are going to shoot in. Or maybe not?

And “The Tribe” goes to…

2006-04-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

… Director Jorg Ihle.

Jorg was born in Germany and graduated from the directing program at the famous American Film Institute. He wrote "The Tribe" with Mo Ramchandani, who produces the film.

Everyone would love to have his job but not many are ready to do what comes with it… A lot of hard work and dedication to the project 24/7. Directing means having story for breakfast, locations for lunch, castings for dinner and a little bit of meetings for desert. Hey, I agree, it’s not only the most beautiful job in the world but also one of the most rewarding ones. You help the audience to escape their everyday lives to share your story, capture their imagination and entertain them. Giving people hope and dreams that have none…

So everyone who truly loves to tell a story using this visual medium called film must also be willing to take on the workload that comes with it. And that’s were my job comes into play: Make everything as easy as possible for Jorg by assisting him. Am I doing a good job…? I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him :-)

Good luck on your journey Jorg, I can’t wait to see the result!

Dude, where should I shoot this?

2006-04-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

One word: Location scouting… Only a few are being served on a silver plate but most of them you simply have to go there and find something to match the image in your head. In our case it’s jungle, jungle and some more jungle :-)

I realized that my retina already has a green tint… No actually it’s a lot of fun. Almost like playing Indiana Jones. Every scout comes with an adventure and I’ll soon post more about it. But for the beginning a few amazing jungle pictures... Costa Rica is one amazing country! And we all are grateful to be able to shoot here, at earth’s paradise.

We are leaving for another 3 day scout tomorrow to a place without the hub to the world or also called internet. So, I will update the blog once I get back on Tuesday.

Enjoy your time off from reading :-)

The Tribe inside a box

2006-04-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

What? I thought that everything in connection with the film comes from outside the famous box… True, but when Director Jorg and DP Chris sit down to storyboard, every shot has to be put inside the box. To be accurate a box that has the aspect ratio of 1:2.35 also knows as cinemascope. A wonderful format that supported so many movies in the history of filmmaking.

This is not an easy task that kept the two awake for many nights during many weeks. Jorg explains Chris what he needs from every shot in the film/how he wants to tell the story then Chris brings in his visual expertise so they can find the most unique and interesting shots possible. Both of them are very strong visually and most of the time their ideas completely match.

Today is a big day, all 600 shots are storyboarded and ready to be shot.

Production Meeting a la Central America

2006-04-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here we go, everyone ready to jump into the pool? Wait a minute… Let me take a closer look… This is not a bunch of people sunbathing; no it’s actually the first production meeting in Costa Rica :-)

Don’t let the environment fool you. It may look like an easy going get together but a lot of issues need to be resolved. The nice weather and vacation feeling doesn’t always help to stay focused and work hard but the “Tribe” team doesn’t have a choice. Only 3 more weeks to principal photography and lots of things still open: Locations, props, communication flow, effects… Chris (DP), William (PD) and Jorg (Director) working out solutions while hotel guests are splashing around in the pool…

Jonathan Southard (right), our Assistant Director, joins the team with Sergio Miranda (left), our Costa Rica Production Supervisor. Jonathan already made sure that James Cameron’s Titanic sank so keeping the Tribe set running should only be a small task for him… Sergio worked on countless productions shot in his home country and is able to bring a lot of experience to the table. The team is starting to become complete.

The Daily Planet

2006-04-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

From now on I will be updating this blog daily if the environment permits it (Internet access). Almost all the key crew is in Costa Rica now, so lots of things are happening.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

A day of freedom and friends

2006-04-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today was my official day off since the rest of the crew arrived late at night. My plans were to sit at the pool, read some good literature (scripts :-)), listen to music on my iPod and do nothing. But then I got an offer, I just couldn’t refuse…

Even though I was only in Costa Rica for a few hours I was already able to meet some amazing people, actually two families from Orange County that spend two nights at the same resort. After running into each other already at the airport, we immediately became friends, and by the end of their stay I almost became part of their family. So I spent my free time with them and in the afternoon we all went exploring to the nearby waterfalls. You see them on the picture standing on the bridge: Brad, Suzanne, Devin, Blake, Patti and Val.

Nature is simply amazing here in Costa Rica. It feels like everything has been untouched by men. Since it was a holyday, everyone else up there were locals having picnics at the falls and we all really felt like “Gringos”. No one spoke English and we didn’t speak Spanish… Thank god for good old sign language. :-)

It really was an adventure and thanks again guys for everything, I had such a good time. You all are awesome! I hope the rest of your vacation was as much fun as this day.

Buenvenidos a Costa Rica

2006-04-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

The first Blog entry from Costa Rica :-) On time I arrived at the San Jose international airport after a 6 hour flight where a mini bus from the hotel picked me up. The only problem presented the luggage. Not only my own but also the plenty suitcases of a few other guests visiting the same resort. There were so many bags that the door broke during the attempt of closing it and finally a person had to sit in the back to hold it closed.

Then I arrived at the Resort and I'm super happy. What a great place, I'll soon post some pictures.

Well, I’m out!

2006-04-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

I never really introduced myself… My name is Andy Attenhofer and besides having a fun time blogging, I’m Jorg’s personal assistant. I’m also shooting a documentary on The Tribe mainly covering Mo’s and Jorg’s journey of making this feature. So a “making of…” only a little different.

And today is my last day in Los Angeles, at least for the next two months. We all are leaving for Costa Rica to shoot 80% of the film in the jungle on location. We will return in June to shoot the remaining 20% on a marina and sound stage. In two days our official CR pre-production will start until principal photography, set to begin on May 9th. That's also gonna be the time where the whole cast will join us…

So, adios y véale en Costa Rica!

What a Team!

2006-04-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Producer Mo Ramchandani with Director of Photography Christopher Popp.

Even though they like to tease each other and Mo manages to get Chris’ blood boiling from time to time, they are one amazing team. Both of them know, in their own category, how to make this film brilliant.

Mo developed and wrote the “Tribe” script with Director Jorg Ihle. They both own the LA based production company “Avatar Entertainment” with many future projects in the pipeline. One of them called "Cold Fear" (based on a computer game) in development.

Chris Popp is one of the most talented DPs the world has to offer. He brilliantly photographed “Lakshya” where he captured the beauty of India for almost 150 days of production. His work was so outstanding that he won the Indian Academy Award for Cinematography as the first foreign person.

The Big One

2006-04-18T17:58:00.001-07:00

And here it goes… The last production meeting before leaving the US.

The main subjects are “scheduling” and “how the bleep do we get all that stuff down there…” Due to limited availability of film equipment in Costa Rica, everything missing has to be shipped in big cargo containers.

The most famous films that have been shot there are “1492 – Conquest of Paradise”, parts of the upcoming Mel Gibson movie “Apocalypto” and a secret tip “The Blue Butterfly” (http://www.thebluebutterfly.com).

Joel Sadilek, our Co-Producer and man of the hour (also called the Tribe’s central nervous system), has to organize the shipping, the booking of the hotels, plane tickets to Costa Rica, … besides all his other duties as a producer. Lots of work and not much sleep. Rob Spence, our UPM for Los Angeles helps him and will coordinate everything in the US once Joel leaves for CR.

Also the two production designers William Budge and Nicole Lobart are getting everything ready for Costa Rica. Their biggest duty for now is to coordinate the construction of the cave that will be built on a sound stage in California. At the same time principal photography will start abroad. They also have to coordinate what kind of props are available locally and what they have to fly down.

Des Kaisers neue Kleider

2006-04-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

No this is not about Hans Christian Anderson's German fairytale but I though the title was fitting...

Talking about fitting... Today was time for some fashion. The goal to give all characters the right look and of course style for the film. Swinda Reichelt, our costume designer welcomed all the members of the cast to her amazing looking Studio in Venice, CA and presented her choices and creations to Director Jorg Ihle.

Of course Marc Bacher enjoyed this "show". His character Ira, a newly rich that had been treated bad all his life is finally able to show off with his hot girlfriend Lauren and of course the "Bling".

Swinda enjoyed every minute thanks to Marc's never ending humor.

Nikki Griffin that most of you know from the success show "The O.C." was also part of the fitting and will shine in the film with the latest fashion. She will be playing the part of Lauren, Ira's girlfriend.

Why is Lauren with Ira? According to Marc: because of Ira's amazing look :-)

Jorg was very happy with Swinda's hard work and was able to see his film coming together (costumewise).

Only one more day and one more meeting and I'll be on the way to Costa Rica. As Jorg's assistant I'm sent to the location earlier to prepare everything. One more day and so much to do... Getting shots (there are all kinds of bugs you can pick up: Malaria, Hepatitis A,B,C,D... , Jungle Fever, Typhus, Leptospirosis,... don't let the doctor scare you), getting the right outfit for the jungle and of course most importantly "the mighty mosquito repellant"...

Tomorrow, the last production meeting before our relocation... Check back!

Sign your life away... :-)

2006-04-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day for at least one of our talents: Marc Bacher.

Marc will be playing the character of "Ira" and is signing his contract (picture).
Marc, you're excited right now but wait until the super spiders, crocodiles and scorpions are chasing you in the jungle of Costa Rica. Do you have any idea how big everything is down there? Regular ants are the size of cockroaches... :-)

But nothing can stop Marc from playing this part and let me tell you, he is not only one of the most talented and dedicated actors I know but he’s simply perfect for the part.

Marc mentioned in an interview that he was working for several months to get in "shape" for the Ira character :-) Post a comment if you’d like to find out what he did…

Good luck Marc and thank you for being part of this adventure!