Tag: pueblita paisa

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Colombia

Medellin Punk Concert

Punk Concert in Medellin
Punk Concert in Medellin

Day 3 in Medellin and we were able to sleep in for a change. The only thing on our agenda was to grab some b-roll (extra footage) from Pueblita Paisa and then hit the big punk concert in Barrio Castilla, which featured my amigos Los Suziox and some other bands like the famous Colombian rock band Aterciopelados and Konflict who came all the way from Slovakia.

After shooting Pueblita Paisa it started to rain, foreshadowing a pattern that I’m afraid will follow us the rest of the trip.

We got to the concert way early and the rain delayed things transforming the concert area into a muddy mess.

Enjoying the Concert despite the rain

Early in the concert, I was afraid a riot was about to ensue when one of the policemen made a young punk assume the position while he searched him. Things were thrown, a crowd formed but just as quickly as it all started, it dispersed without any incident and the punks headed back to enjoy the music peacefully.

The bands were great and we got some really nice footage of the punk scene in Medellin as well as some great footage of Los Suziox on stage (see video below).  We scheduled a shoot for Sunday night to see them in action at their rehearsal.

With Andres from Los Suziox before their set

After Los Suziox’s set, we left around 8pm because we were set to visit Penol/Guatape early the next morning on top of all of us being a bit tired of being cold and wet.

I enjoyed the concert immensely and felt it was a good day. A day at  a punk show with lots of positive energy and good people…life is not bad indeed.

Los Suziox on Stage
Categories
Colombia

Medellin

Paula from Medellin Tourism

1st day of shooting and we get an early start meeting with Paula from Medellin Tourism office. Paula has a whole agenda planned for us so we start the trip off with an intense schedule that includes stops all over Medellin.

We begin at Barefoot Park where I am forced to remove my shoes and wade around in the water, grass and sand and get in touch with Mother Earth. The park is tranquil and the weather is splendid but I am in desperate need of a tan. I probably haven’t been this white in months… why didn’t we start in Cartagena?!

I’m pretty nervous and not used to the camera following my every move. This is going to take some serious getting used to.

We head from there to the Metro Cable and take the cable car up to the barrio Santo Domingo, and to one of the five new libraries the city has constructed in poor areas throughout the city. The views from the Metro Cable are stunning! And looking down gives you a glimpse of barrio life from above. It’s a must do when traveling to Medellin.

Metro Cable - A Must Do In Medellin
Barrio Santo Domingo

After touring the library, we break for lunch and meet one of Paula’s counterparts, Cristina, from the Medellin Convention and Visitors Bureau. We have a delicious lunch and head over to Parque Explora to take in the science museum. It’s full of schoolchildren and the most memorable part was going in the earthquake simulator which simulates a 6.0 Richter scale earthquake. To be honest it wasn’t that bad, but that is of course without buildings collapsing around you.

Pueblita Paisa @ Night
Pueblita Paisa in the daytime

By the time we finished Parque Explora it’s getting late so we fight rush hour traffic and head over to Pueblita Paisa, which is a reproduction of a typical little town in Colombia. The view is incredible but it’s too dark to shoot much so we’ll have to come back tomorrow to get b-roll.

We head back to the hotel and I grab a quick workout before we head out for some legendary Medellin nightlife.  Our first stop is Woka in Parque Lleras, where we order a drink called La cucaracha or something like that and the bartenders set the bar on fire. Good TV!

Nightlife in Medellin

From there we head to a couple of really cool clubs and end up the night in Sabaneta at a place called “Dulce Jesus Mio” (My Sweet Jesus), that is a real trip. It felt like Halloween inside the bar with so many people dressed up in costumes, but to be honest I was so exhausted that I couldn’t really enjoy it. I just wanted to go to sleep. It was 3AM and I’d been up since 6AM the previous morning. All in all, a pretty intense first day!  Travel ain’t easy!

Renzo shooting in Sabaneta
Categories
Colombia

Getting Ready

Medellin's Pueblita Paisa

Getting ready for our first day of shooting tomorrow and it’s going to be ROUGH.  What a way to start off a 20 day shoot, and travel schedule with a 15 hour day our very first day! Welcome to showbiz right? As I’m well aware this is not a very glamorous business 99% of the time. Actually, you could say the same thing about traveling.  It’s a lot of grunt work and grit along with moments of pure joy and enlightenment that sustain you, and make it all worthwhile tenfold.

I’d be lying if I said I don’t have some mixed emotions about being in front of the camera after all these years behind the camera.  It’s got to be authentic or I just won’t be able to do it.

I’m a pretty confident guy, but just to be safe, I’m really hoping that by shooting this a bit documentary style, I’ll get over the self consciousness of having cameras follow me around after a couple of  hours.

The love of travel and the creative process of producing will keep me going. Of course, the real challenge won’t be until edit when I’m forced to look and critique myself over and over and over. Ouch! I sure like critiquing other people’s work better, ha, ha!

Medellin's Pueblita Paisa

But I’m excited to get started.  Colombia is a great country and most travelers in the U.S. at least aren’t aware of all it has to offer these days so we are really excited to bring this information to people.

Tomorrow, bright and early, we’re shooting with Laura from Medellin’s Dept. of Tourism…she’s done a great job of putting together a jam packed agenda for us.  After that, it’s rehearsal with local punk band Los Suziox.

And we end the evening at the wee hours of the next morning, partaking in some legendary Medellin nightlife. As I said, I’m super excited and I’ll rally, but tomorrow is going to be exhausting. I better get off here and get some sleep tonight…for a change.