Snazzy Snaps & Travel Tales
Welcome to my travel blog! I've visited 30 countries (kickstarted by Remote Year) and 38 U.S. States. Click SUBSCRIBE to receive an email when a new post is published.
Prague Film Project: Princess
My friend and fellow Remote: Patrick is making one short film per month of Remote Year. As an experiment in Prague, he invited us all to pitch a story idea. I wrote 3 ideas and he chose 1. Here is a behind the scenes look at: "Princess".
My friend Patrick, aka Pootee the Explorer is making 1 short film per month of Remote Year. (You may recall I was an actor in his Bolivia: Salt Flat People film) As an experiment in Prague, he opened the plot to anyone who wanted to pitch a story. I wrote 3 ideas and he chose 1 to make into a short film.
I wrote a short and simple concept, and then Patrick took the ball and ran with it.
He side stepped out of the backfield, bowled over some defensive lineman, juked a couple linebackers out of their jockstraps, stiff armed a corner, did a 360 spin around the free safety and high stepped into the end zone for a touchdown! He even did a Beyonce style touchdown celebration dance.
I am so happy with the way this turned out and I think it was a great collaboration. Patrick and I have a similar sense of humor and our goals with Princess seemed to line up perfectly. And it was a fun production to be a part of from location scouting, to casting, to production, etc.
The plot centers on a ridiculously naive American girl who comes to Prague to find her prince. It's a musical of sorts, with some classic Disney elements. Laura Pounds was the perfect Princess!!!
Prague is a gorgeous city to film in and our actors are just as gorgeous!
Jonathan Black and Anhton Tran were phenomenal backup singers and dancers and brought incredible energy to the movie! And the amazingly talented Natalie Underwood provided the perfect voice-over to set the tone for the film.
We had an absolute blast filming. Everything fell into place in a two day shoot. Like, when we ran into these white birds on the Charles Bridge. Disney Princesses are always very animal friendly.
SPOILER ALERT : The rest of this post will contain imagery and info that you should not see before watching the film. So, without further adieu, here is Princess:
SPOILER ALERT : Film reveal info is just below these next few lines!!! Stop now and watch the film! Don't scroll down until you watch!
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Ok, now that you've watched the film, you probably know why I did not want you to see the rest of these behind the scenes pics.
Can't reveal the Prince before you watch the film!
Richard Hessler was the perfect Prince. He played it so well, and I think he even looks like a classic Disney Prince, don't you?
One of the challenges of making this movie was finding a Prince t-shirt. We tried a few different stores in Prague, but to no avail. I was forced to make a t-shirt. I think it turned out well.
After painting the shirt, I had to dirty it up and make it look "homeless" chic. I was rubbing this white t-shirt all over the ground. People thought I was weird.
But, the shirt wasn't getting dirty enough on the dry groundSo, I rubbed it in a dirty puddle. And then, i was worried that it was TOO dirty. It was really nasty and dark and almost obscured the word PRINCE. But, when it dried, I think it looked appropriately worn and disheveled.
The other big prop we needed was the Frog from Prague. Luckily, some typical Prague souvenirs are puppets. We were able to find this ratty little puppet that i think was perfect.
One of the funnier moments of filming came at the dinner scene. Richard was playing a homeless man, and surely was to be hungry. When she goes to toast with him, he chugged the glass of wine, picked up the bottle of wine, and chugged a quarter of it and then started WOLFING down the food. This was one take and we all could barely keep from laughing!
Well played, Richard. He nailed it.
Hope you liked Princess as much as we liked making it! The reviews have been funny so far. People seemed to love the build up but were a little shell shocked by the ending. People asked me afterward if I needed a hug.
Naw, I'm good! I'm a hopeless romantic. But, hey --- happy endings are for Hollywood.
Sunset Hill, Riegrovy Sady Park: Prague
Prague likes to party! Inside, or out, there are plenty of places to congregate with the community and enjoy the summertime vibes. One of the best places to watch the sunset over the iconic Prague Castle was right near my apartment: Riegrovy Sady Park, aka Sunset Hill.
Prague likes to party! Inside, or out, there are plenty of places to congregate with the community and enjoy the summertime vibes. One of the best places to watch the sunset over the iconic Prague Castle was right near my apartment: Riegrovy Sady Park, aka Sunset Hill.
It’s a big park, with several beer gardens. (FYI, open container alcohol is legal in Prague) Every afternoon and evening, people would gather on the hill for sunset picnics.
It’s a little touristy, but there are plenty of locals mixed in. Great vibes, and gorgeous views!
Check out the scene:
We went one night for Derryl Carter's birthday.
Just a couple of us, Leah, Derryl and I, but it was super chill!
I took a ton of snaps of the sunset behind the Prague Castle, and it was amazing to see how the colors changed over the course of golden hour.
Sunset Hill was perfect. Prague is utopian in many ways!
Skydiving Klatovy, Czech Republic
First time I leapt from a moving plane was in 2004, for cousin Rebecca’s birthday. We had a huge crew and it was one of the best days of my life! When I found out Remote Jacek was a licensed skydiver, I knew dive number 2 was somewhere in my future. Monday, 10 of us ridiculous Remotes drove out to Klatovy to get out kicks flying through the air.
Jacek, Signe, Kelly, Travis, Miranda, Samantha, Eric, Paige, Brecht, Adam and I!
First time I leapt from a moving plane was in 2002, for cousin Rebecca’s birthday. We had a huge crew and it was one of the best days of my life!
2004, Perris Valley, California
When I found out Remote Jacek was a licensed skydiver, I knew dive number 2 was somewhere in my future. Monday, 10 of us ridiculous Remotes drove out to Klatovy to get out kicks flying through the air.
Jacek in his element!
He normally smiles a lot, but I think he is just too overwhelmed with happiness to smile here!
Jacek leading the group in a slow mo Top Gun style walk.
On the first dive, the airplane exit was on the side of the plane, and I dropped out sideways. In Klatovy, their planes have a rear door. You have to walk to the edge and look out below you. This was waaaay cooler than the side drop, and an incredible way to start the jump!
Interestingly, I was not really scared, or even that excited about the jump. It was weird. Maybe because I’ve got 2 paraglide flights under my belt, I was a bit more comfortable? Or, the fact that my tandem dive guy had jumped over 15,000 times?
Don’t get me wrong--it was AWESOME and I loved it. But, I miss the stomach butterflies that were flying around for my first time!
Guess I’ll just have to do a solo jump next time!
4 of us were on the first plane -- Kelly, Signe, Brecht and I after the jump!
Here are some pics. First, Travis, our Remote Year Community Manager...
Next, Samantha...our Remote Year Operations Manager...
Travis and Samantha embracing! We sometimes call them Tramantha. Here, they are definitely one entity: Tramantha.
The Tramantha embrace got them all tangled up!
Eric and Adam got to wear cool diving suits! I just jumped in my plain clothes. At least I got goggles though.
Paige coming in hot!
Paige and Adam are on cloud 9 after their landings!
Probably the best shot I got --- Eric landing right near us.
If you've never tried skydiving, I highly recommend it! It is so beautiful to see the country from so high up. It's incredible to be able to fly through the clouds. And, flying through the air is an indescribable feeling.
Prague Welcome Party Fire Dancers!
Our first week in Prague featured a perfect Prague Welcome Party by our relentless leadership team of Travis and Sam. Once again, they upped the awesome party ante by bringing in traditional Czech fire dancers! It was nothing short of spectacular.
The party was held at the Vysehrad, an old historical fort built on the hill overlooking the Vltava River. I got there early and was able to take some sunset snaps of the river, marina, etc.
Unfortunately, I had a photo failure - my tripod broke! It was a really cheap piece that I bought back in Cordoba and I knew it was chintzy. BUT, it was very lightweight. Well, one of the screws got stripped and I could no longer tighten it. Bummer.
At least that happened after I got these pics:
The party was a little challenging for me personally, as I’m working west coast hours, and I got a last minute request from a client. I finished eating, and started working, right there at the party. Thanks to Arestia for this pic!
Finished up the client request juuuuust in time for the fire dance show!
Now, I’m working with a busted tripod and need to take long exposure shots. Super challenging, because I’m trying to hold the tripod still while taking 1-4 second exposures. But, with some careful hands, I was able to keep it steady.
And then...couldn’t believe it. My memory card was full. LOL Photo failure #2.
The fire dance show was only about 5 minutes total? And, half the time, I’m deleting pics from my memory card. Comical in hindsight, super frustrating at the time!
That being said, I think I got some decent shots.
And, special thanks to Diane Brashear for sharing her video of the show!
Kudos to Remote Year, and Travis and Sam for planning an awesome party, and giving us our own fire dance show! We are spoiled.
Street Art by Free Mozaik in Prague
I love street art. And, I love mosaics. One of the first things I happened upon in Prague (after my nap) was this graffiti mosaic wall by the artist Free Mozaik. Prague is one of those travel places that gets a ton of hype. “I’ve been to 30 countries and Prague is my favorite!” I hear things like that all the time. I’ve been here for 3 days and can already say, Prague lives up to the hype in SO many ways. And, I’ve juuust scratched the surface.
Not sure what PAIN HICSL is up top, but I guess just someone's tag.
I love street art. And, I love mosaics. One of the first things I happened upon in Prague (after my sleepless night travel nap) was this mosaic graffiti wall by the artist Free Mozaik. This is located on Chorvatska, ~6 blocks from my new place.
Prague is one of those places that gets a ton of hype. “I’ve been to 30 countries and Prague is my favorite!” I hear things like that all the time.
I’ve been here for 3 days and can already say --- Prague lives up to the hype in SO many ways. And, I’ve juuust scratched the surface.
It’s little hidden gems like this mosaic wall that make Prague so intriguing. (Well, that and the ~2,000 castles) It seems like every corner you turn, there's some wondrous sight to see. The city feels like an artist's dream.
Copious castle snaps coming soon.
In the meantime, check out this cool video on the "Making of" the Chorvatska mosaic wall, by Free Mozaik.