May 2008

A remarkable women

Two years ago last week, my grandmother Mama Chila passed away. I’m not sure I can describe what an important person she was to the family. It was due to her pure determination that we were even reunited.

After the war, she went back to El Salvador to look for lost grandson. She asked questions people didn’t want to hear and had doors slammed in her face. She kept pushing until her dream of finding me came true.

When we were reunited she played a crucial roll in bringing the two families together. The first letter she wrote to us after our initial visit was to my younger brother Derek. It started “Dear Grandson.” This was a very meaningful gesture because Derek was not related to her and the reunion had been hard on him. She knew the only way this would work is if we became one family. She set the tone right away.

Since I can’t put into words what she meant to us, I want to share with you my last memory of her.

Remembering our last days

In May of 2008 I went down to Central America for three weeks. Mama Chila had started to get sick the fall of 2007. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to go visit but I was pleasantly surprised to see her condition had improved. She was a little frail, but up to her old tricks, cooking, cleaning and doing chores around the house. I gave her a big hug and greeted the rest of the family. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this could be the last time I saw her.

I’m pretty sure the first thing she asked me was if I was hungry. She would make a traditional Salvadoran dish called pupusas. Knowing that I was coming she had already gone to the store gotten all the ingredients. Mama Chila and my aunt got to work right away.

They must have been really good that day because I ate a lot. I had four for five for lunch. Then I had another two as a snack and three more for dinner. As if I knew this was the last time I would enjoy her cooking, I had more than my fair share.

She loved to cook for me. I think it was her way of taking care of me. I had my own life in American and didn’t need anything from her. The one thing she could do for me, that she knew I loved, was to cook. I didn’t even have to ask. She was always ready when I came to visit and if I didn’t eat at least four she would ask if something was wrong.

This was our relationship. We never talked much about life or about the events of the past. We just had those little moments together. I think they were special in there own way. After everything we had been thought, the separation, and the joinery to reunite, the only thing we needed was that.

The little things

I hate to go
But I can’t stay
Stuck between worlds
A life almost complete
Bittersweet like lemonade
It’s the little things you miss the most
A hug on a rainy day
A joke no one else gets
Off on my own, until I return
And I remember why
I never want to leave

- Nelson/Roberto

My sister comes to visit

It’s been a little quiet on the blog and Facebook page over the past week. That’s because my older sister Eva was visiting me from Costa Rica. She was here for about 10 days, even though it felt like much longer. I was so busy having fun with her that there wasn’t much time to post updates.

We did a lot in the short time we had. I was her personal tour guild and I took her all around Boston. We went to a Red Sox game, went on a Duck Tour, and walked all over the city. She really got to see and know Boston.

Some photos from our time together. More to come!

Getting to know my world

I think it was interesting for her because she experienced a little bit of my life. Not only where I live but what it’s like to travel like I do. You’re constantly torn between the people you love and the life you have. Just when you have adjusted it’s time to leave.

It’s not easy always being on the go but it’s the life we have. What’s the alternative? Sure we could all live our own lives and see each other every couple of years or so. That just seams like a waste of the second chance we have been giving.

On the road again

Speaking of traveling, I will be going down to Panama at the end of the month. This will be a very short (for me) 10 day trip. Mostly, I will be helping my father’s business with some computer upgrades but I will try to take some more great photos as well!

If you weren’t able to join us live, don’t worry we saved the video. There are some problems with my audio. Eventually I will re-upload this interview with better audio but I thought it was more important to get this up for all of you.

As always, we would love to hear your feedback and thoughts about this interview.

Watch live: http://bit.ly/AnasMiracleLive

You don’t need any special programs. If you can watch a video from YouTube you can watch the interview. I will be broadcasting starting around 5pm as I setup for the interview. If you are around come hang out.

Hope to see you tonight!

Seth Godin is one of my favorite authors and marketers. He really understands the state of marketing in todays world. If you aren’t familiar with his work then I highly recommend you check out some of his books.

His basic theory is, marketing is about finding a group or tribe of people, that share the same world view, and doing stuff for them. This could be helping them connect or introducing them to something new to talk about.

Building a movement

I recently listened to a talk he gave about the new dynamics of publishing. It’s a great program and only 40 minutes long. I highly recommend you take a listen even if you are not in the publishing industry. I think these rules apply across industries.

In the speach he talks about finding a tribe and building a movement. This is so important because it’s not about you the author, film maker, company and all about the tribe.

I’ve been talking with john about this very idea. The one thing we still trying to figure out is who is the audience for our documentary and who’s in the tribe?

Who’s in the tribe?

I realize this story is about me and my family but it can be so much more than that. It touches on so many aspects of the human condition and is too important to be just about us. There is so much that people can learn about life and each other from what we have been through.

One could say that the tribe is adoptees or people who have been touched by adoption. It could also be people who care about human rights issues. It could people who are interested in history or family. It is really hard to narrow down but I know that I must narrow it down. A tribe has to have insiders and outsiders.

Why do you like our story?

As people who are part of the Fan page or reading this blog I’m wondering why do you like it? What do you get out of our story and how can we help you?

I want to share with you some of my take aways from the event. There was a lot of information covered so I’m only going to share what is relevant to a documentary film, like the one I am working on.

Cameras

The two camera we talked the most about where the Canon T2i, 7D and 5D Mark II. While there are a couple more cameras that are capable of doing full HD video, these three have the most options.

The main different between the camera is in image. This has to do with the size of the sensor used to record the images. The T2i and 7D use the same size sensor and produce a similar image. The 5D uses a full frame sensor that produce an athletic image like no other video camera. To see an example of this camera in action check out this years season finale of House.

The 7D does seam to have some more advantages over the 5D and that is probably the camera we will end up getting. Unless you love the look of the 5D then the 7D should work just fine. I asked him if one was better for interviews and he said either one worked great.

Lenses

Philip stressed that lenses are the biggest investment. Ideally you want a lens that will work on both the 7D and 5D. Since the sensors are different sizes, the optics change for each lens. I’m still trying to understand this myself but it’s something to research if you are going this route.

For interviewers he recommended the Canon EF 70-200mm because its light and works with both cameras. It’s very challenging to keep the camera still when shooting so image stabilization is a must.

Video

You will want to shoot in a very flat color. Turn the contrast and saturation all the way down. This will prevent loss of detail in the image and make it easier to color match the video in post production. A simple solution for color matching is Magic Bullet software. You can easily create a style for your film by draging and dropping effects onto your video.

If are going shoot with moving subjects you will need some extra equipment. It’s nearly impossible to get a stable image with out it. Zacuto has a number of products for DSLR cameras that will make it easier to keep the camera still. One piece of equipment that was recommended by someone other than Philip is the LCD ViewFinder. It’s nicer the Zacuto version because it attaches by a small magnet stuck to the camera.

Audio

The take way here is DO NOT use the camera as your main source of audio. You can use it for reference audio but the quality is not good and there is no way to monitor it. You want to use an external recorder to capture the sounds and then sync the audio is post production. You can use PluralEyes software to easily match up the audio and video. It is so easy Philip was even able to give us a live demo and it worked perfectly.

For a recorder he recommends the Tascam DR100 over the Zoom H series. The main reason being that the Zoom recorders have problems closing files. You could loose and entire interview if you run out of power. The Tascam uses a rechargeable battery and two AA for backup. It also does not have the file closing issue.

Big Take away

The biggest take way from the workshop was that Philip is basically a one man film crew. With these cameras he can create stunning imagery with out all the equipment you would traditionally need.

This is great news for John and I because this is exactly the situation we are in. We want to create something that looks great with out breaking the bank.

After this workshop I am excited about the possibilities and can’t wait to get started. I want to thank Philip and everyone else who made the event possible. It was just want I needed to put my project in perspective.

One question I get a lot is: What was it like for your families when you were reunited? It’s difficult to say because it was an emotional time for everyone. We were people from two completely different backgrounds thrown together by chance. Our own real connection was through me and I was only 16.

While I never felt hostility between my two families it was obviously hard for all of us. My adoptive family now had to share me with a whole group of people. My birth family had just found a long lost relative and wanted to get to know me. Thanks to a lot of hard work and understanding by both families, we slowly became one family.

At the end of July my older sister Eva will be visiting us and I thought it would be a great time to address this subject. Eva, my mother Margaret, and I will be sitting down to share our thoughts and experiences about this interesting time.

We would love it if you would join us for this exciting discussion. Will will also be taking your questions. Since this is being film for the documentary there is a chance your question could make it into the film! You can RSVP for the event on Facebook or Eventbrite in case you’re not on Facebook.

My new Canon T2i

In part 3 I talked about the drawbacks to using digit still cameras for film. In this part I’ll be talking about the equipment we are looking at.

Picking the right camera

We are looking at a number of the Canon’s high end still cameras, spesifically the Canon T2i, 7D and 5D. Each of these camera’s are capable of taking full 1080p HD video. Thats a technical way of saying they take video at the highest video quality commonly used. While there are other brands that are able to take high definition video Canon cameras are more widely used for film projects.

Earlier this week I bought the Canon T2i. We probably will not be using this as our primary camera. There are some issues with focusing when using external equipment that would make it hard to use during the interviews. We would not want to do an entire interview only to find out later the focus was off.

The body is smaller than other cameras. This means it’s not as durable and it may not work with bigger lenses. I am getting this for more of a personal camera. It may also be used to film some “B role” material for the doc.

For our main camera we are looking at the 7D or 5D. These are the camera’s most widely used for filming. They do not have the focusing issues of the T2i and have other additional features.

There are also rumours that Canon will be announcing a new camera geared more towards video in the coming weeks. It could have a rotating display among other advanced video features. Since we are not in a rush to make this movie there is a chance a newer camera will be exactly what we are looking for.

Learning the Equipment

In order to better understand how to use shoot with these Camera’s I am attending an all day work shop with Philip Booom taking place this Saturday. I meantioned Philp Bloom in part 2 when I posted a video he did using these Cameras. I’m very excited to be learning from the best. I think it will be a good experience and it will cover everything from what lenses to editing.

About #140conf

The other week I went out to the #140conf Boston TweetUp. For those of you not in the know, a TweetUp is a networking event for people on Twitter. This event was all about the #140 Character Conference taking place September, 14Th. in Boston. Begin a pretty heavy twitter user I had herd about #140conf before but I wasn’t excatly sure what it was about. Thankfully, the founder of #140conf Jeff Pulver was there to enlighten us.

He described it as a confrence about the real time web, but also a platform for people doing interesting things to shine. Jeff tires to get celebrities and other big names to speak at the conference to build an audience then opens it up to lessor known people to speak. There are individual talks wich last no more then 10 minets and group talks that are no more than 20 min. The idea is to have lots of different people present a wide range of ideas.

My Pitch

Of course this sounded like a great opportunity for me to talk about the documentary project I am working on. I promptly wrote up a proposal to speak. Below is the proposal I submitted. Let me know what you think.

I would like talk about my family’s incredible story and how the real time web is helping us share our story.

This past December I sat down with my family in Central America to interview them about the past 12 years since we were reunited. We used ustream to broadcast the event to our friends and family. It was an interesting experience for some family members who had never herd or seen my father speak about what happened during the war.

From that first interview I started doing more interviews with other family members about different aspects of the story. My goal is not only to share our story with the world but to make a documentary from it.

The internet has always played a big role in my life and in reconnecting with my birth family. In 1997 our home number was found by doing an internet search. Over the past 12 years we’ve used, AIM, Skype, Facebook and many other programs to keep in touch.

I’m fascinated with the power of the web to connect people and share information. The #140conf seams like it is a celebration of this idea. It would be an honor to be able to share our story with a group of like minded people.

How you can help

Jeff was big on saying he wants people to tell him who should be speaking at the confrence. If you think I would make a good speaker at #140conf and you are on Twitter you can drop Jeff(@jeffpulver) a line. Please don’t spam him but you could say something as simple as:

I would like to hear @dewittn speak about #anasmiracle at #140conf

Every little bit helps!

Since the end of El Salvador’s civil war the situation in the country has steadily declined. The war was suppose to improve life for its people. Instead the country has become less economical stable and more violent. Now a country the size and population of massachuessts has an average murder rate of 16 people per week. Over 2,000 people have already keen killed this year alone.

My family is no stranger to this violence. A cousin of mine almost died when her husband went on a shooting spree, attacking her, killer their baby and himself. She recovered both mentally and physically but other family memeber were not so lucky. An uncle on the other side of the family witnessed his son’s murder when they were carjacked.

I hear a lot about how violent the country is. It always makes me ask if everything my parents did was in vain. They gave up so much to try and change things. Here we are 30 years later and it’s about the same if not worse. My family made it and are better off now but what about everyone else?

Maybe it’s the violence or the state of the country but the thought of going back “home” makes me uneasy. I don’t think anything bad is going to happen but I know this will not be like visiting Panama, which is much safer. My family has been asking to come back and I never go. I feel bad sometimes but its though when my immediate family is not living there anymore. Even though I’m nervous I think the trip will be good. It has been a long time coming and I can’t wait to see my family.