Estoy Rico

My brother-in-law and I secretly planned to create a mini-documentary about my grandfather and present it as a surprise gift to our entire family during the holidays. Keeping the production under wraps was challenging, especially since my grandparents lived in a different part of the country, leaving us with limited time and resources. We flew in for a weekend, and the entire filming took place within an 18-hour window.

After landing, we drove straight to my grandparents’ home and set up for the interview. I had prepared a few questions beforehand, but I knew that once my grandfather started talking, he would naturally carry the conversation. I was confident that I would gather enough content for the video. After the interview, my grandfather took us to the spot where he was born, known as “the Y,” the junction of three rail lines, to capture some b-roll footage.

During the editing process, I had hours of footage featuring my grandfather’s numerous stories. I wanted to avoid overly specific details to ensure the video would resonate with the whole family. I focused on his comments about “Estoy Rico,” which embodies our family dynamic and connects to his background and upbringing. In the end, I stitched everything together, incorporating historical photos of the region, to complete the video.

Given our tight schedule and limited equipment, I had to be resourceful. I shipped LED panels ahead of time for the interview and packed a folded roll of diffusion in my carry-on. Upon arrival, I used household items to rig a diffusion frame and positioned the LEDs to create a simple ¾ key light. For the outdoor shots near the train tracks, we left an hour before sunset to capture softer, cooler, and more diffused light, enhancing the emotional and reflective tones of those scenes.