Day 13: 2nd Workday with APAK
Today was our first working day with APAK. We woke up and headed to the office to gather our equipment and meet with our directors. My group, Group 2, is focusing on the political/social/economic aspects of the documentary, and our primary goal is collecting interviews that consider the incentives of increasing the cultivation and distribution of penco. We conducted several interviews throughout the day with respected figures in the community, both in Cayambe’s municipal center and further out in the community. We also shot footage around other parts of Cayambe for B-roll, and did some brief interviews on the fly, that APAK refers to as “Box Pops,” to get opinions from the people of Cayambe in the municipal area.
It was incredible having the chance to work with Edison Quichpe, the project’s leader, as well as Edison Muenala, our group’s director from APAK. Within our group, Sarah and Chase were our primary sound technicians, Becca was our photographer, Lauren was our interviewer, and I did camera work. It was a really amazing experience because each member of our group was willing to adapt to the variety of situations we were placed in, and excited to learn and help each other out when needed. We also loved working with Edison M., who gave us very good guidance and suggestions. The most rewarding (and challenging) part of the day was trying to communicate throughout the workday with Edison M., and our language barrier became less and less of an issue throughout the day.
It was also a great day for language immersion because of the nature of our interviews. I was able to gather most of what our interview subjects were speaking about, and our interactions were a great way to put our comprehension into practice. Even though there was a ton of work that many people on the Dialogue are unfamiliar with, we had a great day full of joyful moments, learning experiences, and total exhaustion by the end! We’re greatly looking forward to the rest of our production week, and are super grateful to APAK for including us in this amazing project!