Last we left off, I had just boarded the ship and summarily been thrown into my first assignment. I was caught completely off-guard and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. After some reassurance from John, my boss and senior videographer, that things would get better, it was time for the other shoe to drop.
"I may be going on a conference in Seattle, in which case you'll be on your own."
"OK, when?"
"Two weeks from now."
Cue jaw dropping.
I had barely made it through my first day, now I was being told I'd have to go through a whole week solo. Naturally, panic began to set in, despite John's adamant claims that he wouldn't leave unless I was fully capable. I had two weeks to go from neophyte to competent worker.
Throughout the week, I would shoot (and watch John shoot) a variety of events on the ship, as well as get my first taste of Alaska by filming tours on land while the ship was in port. Our three stops in Alaska were the towns of Ketchikan, Juneau (Sarah Palin's backyard, though I had no idea who she was at that point), and Skagway. I went whale watching and canoeing past a glacier in two days. Little did I know what the next week had in store...
By the start of week two, I had a basic idea of the routine (which would get flipped since we spent one week going from Vancouver to Whittier, AK, and the next week going from Whittier back to Vancouver) but was still a little (ok, a lot) nervous about the impending conference that would shove me into The Shit, Do or Die. I went around filming events, as usual, getting used to the idea of shooting and editing back to back (our turnaround time is daily), when John gave me the news of my tours for the week.
"You're doing whale-watching again."
"Great." (Half sarcastic, as I actually wanted a shot at getting better footage)
"Oh, and you're going on a bear sighting tour."
YES.
And here I thought the grizzly would be my white whale, hence the blog title dedication.
While we were docked in Ketchikan, I boarded a six passenger float plane and flew out to some small island in the Aleutian chain, and was escorted by a crusty old mountain man named Diamond, no lie, to a platform on a ridge overlooking a creek just teeming with salmon.
As soon as I set up my camera, I spotted a bear feasting on a rock in the middle of the creek.
I proceeded to shoot about 30 solid minutes of footage of three black bears, just hanging out and catching salmon. It was, and so far still is, the best highlight of my brief experience. When I got back to the ship to upload and edit my footage, John was actually jealous. Things were certainly looking up.
Naturally, that was the best time to learn that, yes, I would be flying solo only my third week in. The usual schedule was lightened considerably, but I'd still have my hands full shooting, editing, and burning about 100 DVDs by myself. The photo staff was extremely understanding and helpful, and I couldn't have done it without their help. James, one of the Assistant Photo Managers, became my new roommate and would cheerfully help me adjust to the idiosyncrasies of ship life (and love, but that's later).
James is, simply put, a Superman fanatic. Not a Superman fan, but an honest to God fanatic. He was also once a professional wrestler in South Africa, so he even resembled Superman in a way. We bonded over our love for DC flagship heroes (Batman being a long-time favorite of mine, with Burton's 1989 adaptation serving as the first movie to inspire me to pursue filmmaking), despite our sharply contrasting political views. Despite never being an American citizen, James is a decidedly strong conservative and die-hard McCain supporter. This would lead to some interesting and spirited debates (but never arguments).
John came back, and I went into the tail end of my first month with a new sense of confidence. I would spend my last four weeks in Alaska shooting a variety of tours (including ziplining in a rainforest canopy in Ketchikan, which was a disaster in terms of usable footage), shooting sailaways out of the ports, and slowly learning the ship events back to front.
After six weeks, it was finally time to say goodbye to the Great White North, and begin our trip south to L.A. and Mexico for the rest of my term.
In the interest of conserving battery power (and internet time), I'll leave off here for now. Fear not, dear reader, I'll update more often, hopefully with more amusing anecdotes (and pictures, if I can find better bandwidth).
Until next time...
