Santa Monica Productions has just wrapped yet another successful shoot, this time in the western province of Huelva for the strawberry farming industry .
In April we were requested to supply the logistics and local support for a German client to shoot HD footage for an corporative film in the West of Andalucia.
The project was about the production, harvesting and distribution of strawberrys in Huelva “strawberry capital” of Europe. A massive cash crop and local industry.
We were asked to shoot a day in the life of a farmer during the frantic recollection period between March and June – so our production manager travelled down beforehand to Moguer an apparently sleepy white town to meet the producer and director and set –up contacts with local people in the industry .
We needed to see what the whole process would involve and also visit the co-operatives where the fruit is packaged and talk to the labourers.
It was important to organize a casting for farmer, farm-workers and farmers family and to scout some outdoor locations.
The migrant berry pickers are generally sourced from several African and eastern European countries and are mainly women (as they have a more gentle touch when collecting the fruit).
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After a hectic forty eight hours we had the initial framework in place and returned to our respective bases to finalize the shooting schedule.
Day 1 - three weeks later, saw our production manager and two assistants en-route to Faro Airport to collect the foreign crew ,(Faro is only an hour and a half from Huelva and has great connecting flights to Germany).
The schedule was really tight, immediately after the 2 days we had allowed for shooting time , our clients were commencing a four week globe-trotting documentary and could not be delayed.
Our greatest worry was the possibility of rain as we were shooting with a minimum of lights on location, fortunately the new Red 1 digital camera systems are very adaptable in low light situations.
Day 2- rolled around and at 0530 in heavy rain and with worried looks we loaded up the gear and drove to the co-operative in Moguer to film the farmer arriving at first light, the rain stopped and the camera rolled.
farm owner
We then wrapped quickly on that location and moved on to the farm to record the workers leaving their bungalows, collecting their equipment and going into the plasti- tunnels to commence picking.
pickers going out to fields
Commercial strawberry collection is a highly organized process, the pickers move along the plants which sprout out of half meter high ,linear mounds of coconut-fibre packed into long plastic wrapped forms with internal irrigation.
They collect the fruit and place it in clear plastic boxes on small 3 wheeled trolleys which are pushed along the rows as they go.
picking under the plastic
Once the trolley is full- the worker takes the fruit to the collection truck where each box is graded for quality and weighed.
Strawberries are very delicate and prone to fungus, water damage and bruising so they cannot be collected in the rain.
The minute the truck is full- it rushes off to the co-operative where the fruit is checked, graded again and packaged to be loaded immediately onto refrigerated trucks.
The trucks then distribute the produce all around Europe.
Shooting the various processes took all day as working with non professionals on camera is time-consuming and we wrapped at 1600 hrs and returned to the hotel.
Day 3- we were up very early to film our farmers day beginning ,leaving home, loading the truck, arriving at the co-op, unloading and various shots of the produce truck on the road and around the town.
Once more we finished before dusk in order to film our farmer having a well earned glass of wine and some tapas (of course!) with his partners and co-workers.
We wrapped up the equipment and enjoyed some fine local food and conversation with our hosts.
Day 4- found the Santa Monica Productions crew driving the clients back to the airport with the shoot finished and a happy client.
