Marissa on assignment in Tanzania
Our 2018 Travel Film Scholarship winner travels from her home in Costa Rica to Tanzania to go on assignment with professional filmmaker Brian Rapsey.
From the second she landed in Tanzania, Marissa began learning. These are the life lessons she learnt on assignment.
As soon as the plane landed in Tanzania, tears ran down my cheeks because I couldn’t believe one of my dreams was about to come true. Everything was so familiar—a clear sky full of stars, the wind blowing in my face, the dry weather, the scents, the people’s warmth—except for one thing, the experience I was about to live.
When I met Brian, it was late at night, so we didn’t have much time to talk. The next day, I confessed to him that I was very frightened and stressed out about the documentary, given that I didn’t completely apprehend the idea of the story, nor did I have much experience as a filmmaker.
There were so many technical concepts that I did not understand, after all, everything I had learned had been through trial and error and YouTube tutorials. Brian looked at me and said, “The reason you’re here is not because of your technical abilities, it’s because you know how to tell a story and have the passion to make other people connect to it too.”
Lesson #1: Passion is key
It was not until then that I had understood the first of many lessons. Although I had not studied filmmaking, I knew I had te drive for telling stories. Techniques and visuals are important, but they are nothing without an appealing story. You can have high-quality visuals, but if you don’t have a fundamentally based story, you really don’t have anything.
Lesson #2: Practice makes the master
The second lesson appeared on the third day. Brian’s mentorship went beyond my expectations, it was an actual hands-on mentorship; nothing I had ever witnessed before. He showed me how to get different shots from various angles in such a creative way. I wasn’t getting the shots I wanted, and Brian told me, “you get the shots you want with practice.
We all start from the bottom and as we grow, we eventually get to the top after a lot of effort, practice and determination. If I wanted amazing shots, practice was going to make me the master.
Lesson #3: Connect with people
The third lesson was persistent throughout the entire scholarship. I never realized how difficult it was to conduct a real sincere interview. I was asking questions in an intense and journalistic manner, but Brian explained to me the importance of connecting with the people and genuinely feeling and understanding what they’re saying.
Sometimes, we forget to listen. Connecting with others is about being "all ears" on the subject. There were moments when Brian and I were interviewing someone, and we caught each other’s eyes and laughed because we knew we had obtained such a genuine and beautiful answer.
For me, one of the most beautiful moments of the scholarship was meeting and connecting with the locals, understanding their culture and listening to their stories. It makes you empathetic and humane. Everyone you meet in life has something to teach you and the best part of the journey is the people you meet along the way.
Lesson #4: Pole pole
The most important lesson I learned was pole pole (meaning “slowly” in Swahili). When I heard the meaning of pole pole during my first time in Africa, it made a huge impact in my life, and this time I had to apply it quite a lot for the editing process. Editing was one of the best, yet most frustrating experiences of my life.
I had to surrender to the idea of a slow-paced process and comprehend that the editing work wasn’t going to happen from one day to another. Even though I wanted the final product, I had to go through all the stages of editing to get to where I actually wanted to be, and the comprehension of this lesson was pretty pole pole for me.
Lesson #5: Learn to fall in love with the process
Yes, everything in life is a process and it can be frustrating, but just as you embrace the laughter and knowledge, embrace the frustration and confusion as they come. Although I thoroughly enjoy editing, there were days where I was completely fed up with it, but with Brian’s constant support I learned how to fall in love with both the tedious and exciting parts of the process.
No matter how professional we are or how much we think we know about a topic, we never stop learning and that makes us grow both personally and professionally. At the end of the day, life is an unknown path and a non-stop learning process, we just have to learn how to enjoy the ride.
Living in Gratitude
I am beyond grateful with World Nomads, Brian and his constant support, the whole production crew, and a great friend of mine who tagged me on the scholarship’s post. This experience taught me more than any course could have. I definitely feel much more confident and prepared as an independent filmmaker than before.
To anyone out there reading this and wanting to apply, don’t hesitate it. I honestly never thought I’d actually win, but I applied because I knew I had nothing else to lose. Before applying, I remember watching the 2017 winner’s interview and reading his article at least 10 times (Jigar if you’re reading this, I’m a fan of yours). It gave me so much motivation to apply because I thought that maybe deep down there was a tiny possibility of me being able to win as well.
Even though I didn’t have much experience as a filmmaker, I knew this opportunity was for aspiring filmmakers and I definitely was an aspiring filmmaker eager to learn. If there’s one last lesson I could say I learned, it would be...
Lesson #6:
Find your passion and hold on to it, because with hard work and effort, dreams do come true.
