I carry a small paper notebook on every trip, and it’s often more useful than my camera. Names, phrases in a local language, the smell of a kitchen, a joke someone told — these are the details that disappear by the time I sit down to edit, unless I write them down.
What goes in it
- Names and spellings of everyone I film
- Quick sketches of a scene or a route
- Ideas for shots I missed and want to get tomorrow
- Lines people say that I want to remember exactly
When I start editing, I read the notebook first. It reminds me what the story felt like from the inside — and that’s the story I want viewers to feel too.
