"BID TIME RETURN tells the story of the last family at the very end of time. Barbara and Ivan have a daughter, Tikki, who has Progeria, a rare disease in children which advances and accelerates the aging process. The entire population of the Earth has already evacuated through mysterious time doors. Time is reversing permanently on the planet. Everything will end. All memory will be lost. Nothing will remain. There is one possible last portal to open. Only one person can go through. Barbara and Ivan may have to make the ultimate sacrifice by saying goodbye to their daughter forever and send her through the time portal alone, praying there is a life and a new hope for her on the mysterious other side". - Jon Sorensen, Writer and Director
The location on the first day of filming was Tajao, a small fishing village about twenty minutes from Tenerife south airport. It was incredibly windy, the sea was rough but it added to the atmosphere of the film. With the crew and actors assembled, the cameras were set up shooting in two locations.
We started taking photos whilst everyone went about their work under the direction of Jon Sorensen and Director of Photography, Andy McLeod. Carla Sanchez 'Barbara', Gadi Cimand 'Ivan' were portraying mum and dad to their daughter, Tikki, a special child with Progeria, played by Erin Alonso. Although we didn't have a sound blimp for the cameras, we were able to reel off shots without disturbing the actors or the takes.
For the second day, we gathered in Teide National Parque in a car park in the area known as Lavas Negras. This is a straight road through the lava field which looks visually stunning.
Although we were there to take the stills, we also helped out setting things up when we could. The one thing we noticed straight away was the teamwork of Film!CanaryIslands and the special relationship with the director, Jon.
We took some marvellous photos during the scene where Ivan sits in the middle of the road to record messages to Tikki. Getting the camera low down on to the road, we were able to shoot an angle to get close in and personal to Gadi. To make the scenes possible, FIlmCanaryIslands crew members were stationed at either end of the road to stop traffic during the takes. Teide National Parque is an atmospheric setting where the temperatures drop off quickly as the sun goes down. Poor Gadi was in shorts, T-shirt and bare feet during much of the filming! His lemon grass tea made on his little calor gas stove for the scene, kept him going though!
Day three saw us Minas de San Jose in a car park viewing point. It is surrounded by Planet Mars landscape with sweeping hills interspersed with jagged rock formations. One such formation was chosen as the setting for the 'portal' which transported Tikki to her new time.
Various scenes were shot here using the Red camera, some with the huge 500mm lens and others in close up.
As usual, there was a lot of activity and we kept taking photos the whole time to record each important moment. Scenes included the moment that Barbara and Ivan had to let Tikki go through the time portal, a moment which brought about real tears.
A van was used where the camera is mounted on a hydraulic vertical pole which could extend to 100 feet. Again the traffic was stopped while the scene was shot. The camera van followed the family car driven by Ivan. The remotely operated camera captured a viewpoint as if taken from a helicopter. A visually and dramatic look as the car meandered through the landscape.
On Day four, we were back at the same location. A van was used where the camera is mounted on a hydraulic vertical pole which could extend to 100 feet. Again the traffic was stopped while the scene was shot. The camera van followed the family car driven by Ivan. The remotely operated camera captured a viewpoint as if taken from a helicopter. A visually and dramatic look as the car meandered through the landscape. We travelled in the van to take shots of the camera in action.
The location was then changed back to Lavas Negras to shoot various scenes including Gadi recording more messages to Tikki. Again we worked till night fall where the temperatures dropped again. All the time we were taking photos of the crew and actors working. Finally, all the scenes were complete. We had all our photos and were anxious to start editing them.
From the stills, we made a 'Making of Bid Time Return' which can be seen on Facebook on this link http://www.facebook.com/v/10150385051794801 along with the rest of the photos taken during the filming.
