Day 7: City as Studio

Today marks one week of being in Quito, so we are quite obviously complete and total experts on this city now. In actuality, I think we’ve now spent enough time here to feel comfortable and truly appreciate this city for what it is.

We had the opportunity to venture out on our own to shoot for our first video assignment. I spent the morning with Madisen and Amy at Parque La Carolina. The park boasts dirt bike trails, a running track, a skate park, various playgrounds, vendors, a lagoon for boating, and plenty of children and teens practicing for their respective sports teams. Some children pushed large tires across long playground fields, which made me wonder if the CrossFit fad is really so pervasive that Ecuadorian youth have taken it up. I hope their WODs went well.

Going somewhere new today provided us with a fresh perspective and the desire to capture the unfamiliar environment around us. I chose to focus my video assignment on the bike path. There were myriad Ecuadorians biking, running, walking, scootering, pushing ice cream carts and roller blading; I parked myself at the path’s edge and let all the passerby become the subject of my shooting. The park was quiet and allowed for total concentration, and I found myself completely zoned into the world of the camera.

Before we departed, we all wanted to get a glimpse of the skate park. Expansive, concave cement was plastered with vibrant and vivid graffiti art – the words and phrases showed how the bikers and skaters had taken ownership of this space. It seemed as though some of the boys noticed the cameras and added some extra flair to impress, which was welcomed by us.

After a couple more photo ops – see Amy and Madisen with the Quito sign below on the right (featuring a small child), as well as Amy on the playground-turned-workout equipment on the left – we made our way back to the hotel. I asked the cab driver about a total jam that was playing on the radio, and lucky me, he knew the name of the artist: AU-D. He’s Ecuadorian and is considered to have been one of the first rappers here. As an avid fan of hip hop and rap, I was pretty stoked, and now I plan to bother everyone with constant AU-D songs. I abhor his Yankee hat, but this video is undoubtedly fantastic.

A quick and cheap vegetarian lunch gave us fuel for an afternoon of editing, editing, and more editing. After a few hours of work, I went to David for some feedback. There was no discernible look of disgust on his face after viewing my rough cut, and he even provided me with some helpful tips. I consider that a success.

Until next time,

Izzie