pre movie Barrow

1. my sound cart in the hotel room
2. David Fleming buying coffee at our new favorite coffee shop. This is the only game in town.
3. Me (James) in front of a whaling boat. Whaling season starts today, april 7, and is done in these boats that are caribou skin stretched over a wooden frame.
4. The Barrow graveyard is simple. The Inupiak people that inhabit Barrow are are warm and welcoming, but not flashy in life or death.

First day in Barrow, Alaska

I live in Maine and I spend plenty of time outside in the winter and yet I'm surprised at how cold it is here. We will be spending 12+ hours a day out on the ice for at least a week of this shoot and it could get dangerous.

My equipment cases arrived off the plane unscathed, although my sound cart that was shipped UPS a few weeks ago took a few hits and will require some repairs to be operational. Nothing that cant be fixed though! I have a tremendous amount of prep work to get ready for the movie but with daylight lasting from before 7am to well past 10pm I'll have no problem staying awake and getting it done.

I've met many of the crew members and a few of the cast and everyone is so nice. I found out whaling season starts this week and many members of the community are getting ready. They hunt whales in traditional caribou skin covered row boats and throw harpoons at the whales. The harpoons apparently have a charge in the tip that explodes on contact. I'll photograph the setup if I get to see it.

I miss my family but I'm excited to get this movie started. More posts to come so stay tuned.-James

Lurking at the Anchorage airport.

I started my trip to Barrow Alaska, the furthest town north in North America and some 400+ miles inside the arctic circle this morning at 9am when Sara and Ava dropped me off at the Portland Maine airport. It was a tough goodbye because I wont see them until May 9th or 10th.
After checking 5 bags and cases I had some breakfast and boarded a plane to JFK in NYC. I think the production manager booked me on a cheap flight because after hanging around JFK for almost 4 hours I flew to Phoenix AZ. US Airways has no tv's on its planes so I read a bunch and slept a little. I raced across the Phoenix airport to make my connection to Anchorage and I boarded a very full aircraft. The only empty seat I could see as I walked down the aisle turned out to be mine, right next to a young mother and her 6 month old baby. My first 2 thoughts were ugh, 6 hours on a plane next to a baby, and why are they flying alone? We talked a bit, (the mom and I) and she shared with me that she was flying home to Alaska after attending her husbands funeral. Its amazing how a few words can change your entire outlook on a situation. I no longer felt sorry for myself for sitting next to a baby. The mother, Victoria, was really holding it together and so good with her son. It made me feel so thankful for my family.
I'm writing this post from the Anchorage airport where I'll spend the night. My flight to Barrow is at 6am (4 hours behind eastern time zone) and I think its about 5 hours. I'll take some pics when I arrive. Meanwhile I'm going to drink some coffee so I dont fall asleep and miss my flight!

for Carlos

Last day in Puerto Rico

Today is our last day in PR and we wrapped around 6pm. After a rejuvenating  swim in the pool and loosen up with a glass of wine in the hot tub We are all going out to supper to celebrate our host, Samantha Brown's birthday. I'm flying home tomorrow and have 2 whole days to re-pack for 5 weeks in the arctic circle. Stay tuned for a more in depth PR post and some final pictures.
James