Rehearsing with the Dzo

How I wish that the stuffed Dzo could walk. How I wish that the stuffed Dzo could carry a cart. How I wish that we could place a few humans inside the stuffed Dzo. How I wish we could use some kind of robotics on the stuffed Dzo.

Today was the first day with the real Dzo and I must say that a few things went well but something that didn’t go well was the injustice done to the poor animal. The animal is not used to carry a cart, specially a cart with 4 people and a few barrels and baskets.

We did extensively practice with the Dzo. First we put the cart on the Dzo. It did manage pulling the cart but the Dzo needed to be pulled by its nose in order to make him move. It went up and down a slope. There were 6 people holding onto the cart to keep it in balance. I wonder how we’ll manage a wide shot of the Dzo with the cart. Anyway, Digamber is going to come up with a solution.

Then the actor got onto the Dzo and rode it for a while, but again it needed to be pulled. The Dzo did try to retaliate at times and that did scare me a bit. I wonder how we’ll achieve the shots. I wonder how much time it would take. 3 days to shoot and I hope it’s enough for the practice.

Fairy Tales: a reality check

If we would have a giraffe with a cart. If we would have a flying girl. If we would have a talking Dzo. If we would have had a swimming elephant. If we would have a stuffed human. If we would have blue bees. If we would have had red grass – we would not be shooting this film but a Science Fiction Fairy Tale.

Most often things are convenience based. Sometime the film lacks reality and sometimes it becomes a fairy tale. Sometimes we need a stuffed dzo and sometimes we need a walking dzo. Sometimes we need a girl and sometimes we need a superwoman. Sometimes we need a 14 year old but we land up with a 22 year old. Sometimes we call it reality and sometimes we call it a fairy tale.

But where we stand is something to consider. We need a Dzo as our main lead. We need a horse for a return journey. We need a cattle market for the climax. But we have 16 days to shoot. One thing is for sure that some of us are aware of the reality, that’s why we changed the horse to a truck without affecting the story. What is to come, no one knows. But one thing is for sure – no horse is one headache less and some valuable time saved.

The art department is doing fine. They have the vodafone board ready and they have a stuffed Dzo. My friends, we are almost there. The fairy tale is about to begin.