The Making of a Documentary

A whole lot of photos from our second day of shooting the Drum Makers of Accra and our last day in Ghana so I'll let the photos tell the story. If you find yourself in Accra, head to the Center for National Culture, better known as the Arts Market on the 28th of February Road down by the seaside. Ask for Yussif or Jaguar who build drums and teach lessons at the Best Way Art & Craft Drum Shop. They may even offer to take you up North to their village on the Burkina Faso border.

Images of the Rastafarian God and former leader of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I can be seen all over Ghana.

Vân collecting sound of an impromptu drum jam.

Vân then taking some drum lessons from shop owner Moro (left), Yussif (center) and Jaguar (right).

Drum carvers find some shade from the 100 degree February sun.

This artist is carving the symbol "Gye Nyame" (accept God). It's a symbol of the Omnipotence and immortality of God and is seen all over Accra.

Goat skins used for the faces of the drums. They didn't have a vegetarian option.

Drums are not the only thing for sale at the Arts Center. The baskets are beautiful.

Happy boys with their baskets.

Directing the boys in the hot African sun. These were long, hot shoot days.

Yussif (left) and Jaguar (center) explain the importance of the Ghanaian drum.

The drum shop owner's daughter is not to be left out of the action.

This seven year old boy had more rhythm than I will ever have.

I turned the LCD viewfinder on my Panasonic HPX170 around so these children could see themselves on camera (it also gave me a great shot).

I could hardly understand how this instrument worked but this guy could play!

Scouting out my next shot. These guys played four songs for us as the sun went down on our last day in Ghana.

Had to have my audio level dial on "1" as these drums were loud.

A hole in the drum face didn't stop these young percussionists.

Yussif (far right) leads the song, first with his singing and then he danced.

Jaguar (far right) played the bass drums with energy.

Making this Doc Nearly Killed Us

Vân with the drum carving crew ready for business

Step #1 (well, after the tree is cut down and sectioned) is hollowing out the drum cavity

What a day! Went up north to the very small village of Okurase with our two 'drumming experts,' the subjects of our Ghana Drumming video, and it was much, much more than we bargained for. First, Yussif and Jaguar told us we would be back in Accra at 10:30am (we were suppose to start the day at 8am but Van and I got to their drum shop at 8:30). We got back to our hotel at 5pm. This was one of many communication problems we had with the drum makers/players.

A house made out of earth. This village didn't see many foreigners

We took Tro-Tro's, mini-vans where they crush four people on a bench where there should be two... three max. That means fifteen people counting the two in the front seat plus the two working who somehow fit in the vehicle as well. The shock absorbers, if they exist, suck. It is close to 100 degrees, don't even think about air conditioning. Paved roads are the exception. I think we spent about 5.5 hours in the Tro-Tros, counting the hour and a half waiting for it to fill at the Tro-Tro station at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

Step #2 Start forming the frame

Step #3 The next stage of forming the frame involves a machete

Nothing is wasted. The drum shavings are used to fuel fires back in the village.

The shoot was short, orderly and fun; a good all around experience. Jaguar and Yussif and two locals then took us on a walk through the village. I have seen many small, rural, earthen-house towns like this in East Asia, India/Sri Lanka and Africa before but Vân had not. It was fun. The villagers aren't used to seeing “oburoni,” which literally translates to “someone from over the horizon” but what really translates to “white person.” Vân (Vietnamese-American) got a big kick out of being called “white person” everywhere. They don't seem to say it in a negative way but they do say it all the time.

Jaguar explains exactly what is going on up here in "The Bush."

We then came back out to the road to get our tro-tro back to Accra. I forgot to tell you that I offered to buy the eleven workers water, food or beer for their 45 minutes of helping us. Yussif and a local convinced me to instead give them 5 Cedi (US$3.46). I don't like giving money in exchange for being in a documentary and I rarely do it but it seemed to make sense in this case. Well, when we came back out to the road from the village to get our tro-tro, the largest of the workers – and when I say large, think Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon but six-foot-four, three times as muscular and with less body fat, if that is possible – crosses the street yelling at us. He was beyond reason, but being that I am part Vulcan, I tried to explain to him, in a rational way, that not only were we not making any money on this film, we were loosing money. He literally was not hearing a thing I was saying. Funny thing was my total absent of fear. Vân was terrified and I should have been. I walked towards the very large, sweaty, angry man (who was earlier working with a machete) but Yussif insisted I back off and that he would handle it. He also suggested we try to wave down an Accra bound tro-tro ASAP. We somehow got out of the village with all of our blood in our body (man I wish I had a picture of this guy! He avoided the camera).

Step #4 A fine-tuning shaver is used to smooth the exterior of the frame.

Step #5 A tool I have never seen before smooths out the inner drum.

The finished product.

Job is done, the drum frames head down to Accra.

Cape Coast Castle

I knew my visit to the notorious slave trading headquarters The Cape Coast Castle would be difficult, but I had no idea how difficult it would be. I have never been to the site of the Nazi Concentration camp at Auschwitz or the Killing Fields of Cambodia or any site of mass atrocities. Our very animated tour guide, Eric, was excellent at explaining the demented history that took place here (a very dark skinned Ghanaian, don't let the western name confuse you).

We walked through a door that I am happy I didn't walk through 200 years ago

Tears streamed down my face as I stood at the Gate of No Return where over two million Africans exited the castle to board ships, usually bound for the USA or the Caribbean. Those who made it to this gate were the “lucky ones.” More people - and when I say people, I'm talking not only about men but women and children as well – died in the holding cells before they had a chance to be packed onto slave ships. The Africans who passed through the Gate of No Return were chained together in 'chain gangs.' Eric told us that groups of people would jump off the row boats that took them to the ships anchored off shore, preferring to drown than become slaves. The entire group of soon-to-be-slaves who were chained to these jumpers would all get pulled overboard with them. The stories were atrocious.

Africans leaving these shores today return that same day on their fishing boats

I have to say that the most disturbing stories Eric told centered around the stave traders and their religion. Located right above the men's slave quarters was the castle's church. While close to a thousand humans were chained together in dark, cold cells – urinating, defecating, vomiting and dying on each other – the slave traders were holding church ceremonies directly above them! Before the slaves went into these dark holding cells, they were baptized, given Christian names and then branded! And the names of some of the ships that took the Africans to the New World included The Good Ship Jesus and Glorious Mary. All early Portuguese slave ships had the name of a virgin or saint!

Canon balls were used to fight off pirates. The munitions with the wholes were filled with gun powder.

Barack and Michelle Obama were at this Castle July 11, 2009. The wreath they laid in one of the slave cells still looks new.

The wreath the Obamas left at the Cape Coast Castle

Neither Vân or I took this photo. Barack at the Castle just months before us.

In both our previous hotels we had air conditioning. This was going to be a hot night in Cape Coast.

Takes a community to pull in these fishing nets.

Good to be at the beach. The breeze helps in the near 100 degree heat.

Jesus Obama

With pride

Not sure who is more popular in Ghana, Jesus Christ or Barack Obama? Images and mention of the two can be found every which direction you look. References to Jesus and/or God are literally everywhere.

Didn't get a chance to eat here

If the Christians are right in their predictions on the end of time and Jesus decides to save the countries who acknowledge him the most, Ghana will be the first saved. It is truly unbelievable. Just about every car, bus, tro-tro (mini-vans turned into buses) and anything else with wheels has some reference to Jesus or God. But it's the stores that are the most amazing. Here are a few store names we saw from the window of our three-hour bus ride to Kokrobite Beach:

Jesus is Alive Furniture Construction

Seek Jesus Key Customer Service

Blood of Christ Engine Repair

God Will Do Welding

If I hadn't had a haircut right before I left for Ghana...

Oops, and it's in cement!

Can you walk on water with these shoes?

These are all real names of stores we witnessed. But the Obama thing is equally amazing. Everyone down here seems to LOVE our president. It could be because he visited the country about seven months ago. People in Buenos Aires, Argentina love Guns and Roses and I believe it is because it is one of the few mega-bands that actually toured the South American city. Or maybe it is because he is African-American and seems to care about countries other than the USA. Quite a few Ghanaians mentioned they liked him better than our last president.

"Change has come" says Obama and Ghana president John Atta Mills in this billboard

Chelsea is the #1 football team and next to Chelsea on the windshield is Obama

There are not many Americans traveling around Ghana. Most locals think Van and I are Canadian. When we tell them we are from New York City, America, their faces light up, usually followed by, “I love Obama!” No joke or exaggeration. 9.5 times out of 10 it's exactly the same. There are billboards all over Southern Ghana with Obama's face. Some just have Barack, some have Barack with Ghana's president John Atta Mills and some have Barack and Michelle. There are Obama stickers, Obama flags, Obama shirts... even Obama cookies! It is insane.

No high fructose corn syrup in these cookies

We did not see a single image of a black Jesus in Ghana. I can't count how many I saw in Amsterdam, Holland