The Production Phase...

This past weekend was the first time we really got out of the city of Accra for more than a few hours. We got to ride on a semi-coach bus with a view obstructed by a bath tub (yes, a bath tub. Apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to buy one in Accra and transport it for two hours on public transportation). After three hours or so due to traffic, we arrived in Cape Coast, a neat little town on the ocean. Two of the main things to see there are Kakum National Park and the Cape Coast Castle.

The Cape Coast Castle is a cool fortress-like building but really marred and ugly once you learn its historical past. This castle is one of the ones that was used to send slaves over to the Americas during the triangular trade. The whole coast of Ghana is lined with these forts, reminding people of the evils of history.

Kakum National Park is known for its wildlife, but mostly the famous canopy walk. You are about 40 meters (or 130 feet) above the trees on these planks of wood held steady by steel ladders and suspended by ropes and steel cables. It is a very rickety walk, but an awesome view of the jungle. There wasn't much wildlife to see besides butterflies and lizards in the park at the time, but somewhere there are over 50 elephants roaming around the park!


Back in Accra... After two weeks of working with these kids, they are finally ready to shoot their first short films. One group, Coconuts, has a Ghana meets The Goonies storyline, and the other group, Mangoes, has a story about friendship that would be a great addition to the Disney Channel's original movie catalog. The concepts and elements of the films were created by the kids with the help of all of the volunteers, as well as the costumes, props and other production design elements.


I worked with the Mangoes, the first group to shoot. We shot at two different locations, a school that is out of session for the summer and the volunteer house. Throughout the day, we shot five out of eleven scenes... Not bad for amateur film makers! The one crew member we were missing was the intern to run and get us all some Starbucks (or instant coffee because this is Ghana). But by the end of the week, the kids will have enough footage to make two ten-minute films...

Ishmael directing three of the principle characters