Production stills as of January 2009.

The high tourist season is over here on Death Beach until Semana Santa in April.

2008 came and went without a single death on the beach, solidifying the first "saldo blanco" for the first time in Zipolite's history.

The lifeguards worked their butts off in December and January so far, keeping people from going in over the waist. I actually had a few people complain to me (because I follow the lifeguards with my camera and tripod up and down the beach all day) that they felt persecuted against and wanted to go swimming and not just wading in the water. It usually stops the complaining when I explain that deaths have dropped from 60 a year since the "Delfins" have been working.

My trips to two rural communities here on the coast proved to be quite fruitful in terms of developing the narrative structure of the film. Firstly, seeing the work that Piña does (rehabilitation based in the community, or RBC and the people that benefit from it was quite amazing. Education about disabilities is basicaly non existant in rural Oaxaca, as is knowlwedge about how to develop the abilities of people with downsyndrome or cerebral palsy or lack of hearing or sight. Flavia, the director of Piña and a big promotor of RBC plays the roles of therapist, parenting consultant and motivational speaker with people that have maybe never even gotten an official diagnosis of their child's disability.

Secondly, Piña´s emphasis on letting people with disabilities play important roles in the household and in the community, made me think imediately of the lifeguards. They constantly talk about the role that they play in Zipolite and the lack of apreciation that they feel. The give and take of interdependent relationships between the different sectors of a community popped out at me in both cases. The roles need to exist and they need to be apreciated just as much. Without either the people to fill them, or the motivation for the work to get done, the community loses.

So in this first month of 2009 I see my work begining to lay down in front of me brick by golden brick. There is a lot of ground to be covered, but I feel strong and I have friends with me, and on the horizon I can already see a glow of emerald green.

Filming

Lots of filming this week. I've been thinking about what it is I have to do, and have come to some interesting conclusions.

While initially I'm making a film, that does not really explain anything. Day to day, I'm recording images and sounds and then putting them into my computer to rearrange later with music and other elements.

In the moment, I have to keep in mind the thousands of little details required to get interesting shots: is my iris open enough? Can I hear whoever is taking without them blowing their levels? If no, why not? Is my shot crooked? And so on.

In between moments, I have to keep in mind the story and themes of the film. Is what I'm shooting really relevant to THIS film? Is there something I could do to change what I am seeing to make it relevant? That last question might make some film makers uncomfortable- changing reality can be a slippery slope. I decide case by case what to make of an image or a sentence. Sometimes though, changing an angle can make a big difference in the power of an action, for example. Or asking someone something can take the place of a voice over later on in post production. And if I am choosing to shoot something in the first place, chances are it has something to do with my idea for the film. So making that connection clearer doesn't change my intention.

In the editing suite, later on, the decisions are less immediate, but equally important. Especially when working with a 90:1 ratio of images shot to images used. Essentially, I find myself deciding how to represent what I see in an effective way using pictures and sounds of it. And there's a lot of it.