filming one of the challenges in the Amazon jungle

Working Crew on Amazon Survivor pt 5 –

And We’re Off and Filming! 

On Monday Nov. 4th filming began. That should have been quite an exciting event at the Survivor production area, it would seem. Most assuredly it was exciting for the contestants who were taken out into the jungle somewhere, divided into two tribes and sent off to their ‘homes’ for the next 39 days.

And it was probably exciting for the reality cameramen who headed out at 4:00 am to film that opening event then promptly began filming the contestants in their camps 24/7.

Ariau Amazon Tower hotel upriver from Manaus – Brazil

But back at the hotel for the rest of us crew, it was rather a non-event, something that was taking place ‘out-there-somewhere’. We never really got any sense that filming was going on. In fact, the hotel area became rather deserted because so many camera and sound guys were out in the jungle. It felt like nothing at all was going on rather than one of the production’s main events kicking off.

Nevertheless, it proved an exciting week for us on the Dream Team.

On Monday morning, while all the reality camera crews, directors and contestants were way up river somewhere starting out their new lives, my Dream Team accompanied the challenge camera crews and other directors out to rehearse the first challenge game. A very fun one, I must add!

challenge rehearsal in Amazon

As usual, my team helped carry everything in to the area and set up the game. Then we ran through the course while being filmed. Afterward, we helped haul everything back out of the jungle.

That afternoon we had a long session rehearsing the first tribal council, complete with repeated walk-ins and several hours of sitting on set while the directors, camera, lighting, sound and art guys finalized details.

Beginning that week, my team’s schedule would follow that of the challenge camera crew. Whenever they were scheduled to rehearse a challenge or tribal council, so were we. When they g0t a day off, so did we.

Brazilian caiperoshka

And so on Tuesday we suddenly found ourselves with a day off, after eight straight days of work. That meant Monday night was finally a night out. Two weeks after most of the production and film crew had arrived, I finally got to hang out at the bar, socialize with the camera crews and drink a couple cocktails.

Even though I was still taking antibiotics for bronchitis I was too impatient to wait any longer. I indulged in two local Brazilian cocktails called caiperoshka. They were pretty tasty and potent. In fact, I was swaying around for hours.

We all started at the bar but later moved down to the beach, where they kicked on some music. We all danced in the sand until early morning. I got to catch up with old pals from Thailand Survivor and also meet some new crew members who hadn’t been on the Thailand show.

Surprisingly, a few camera guys recognized me from a completely different film project they had done in Krabi, Thailand about two years earlier. They had been filming ‘Ámazing Race’ and I had just met the contestants by chance.

some of the cameramen on Survivor Amazon

As a result, I was randomly interviewed by the camera guys…who just happened to join this Amazon production. Oddly enough, on the Thai survivor production, a couple of camera guys remembered me from that very same incident in Krabi. Apparently it’s a small world among reality tv show cameramen.

On Tuesday I slept until noon then enjoyed a leisurely afternoon, exploring more of Ariau Amazon Tower Hotel’s further walkways in the jungle. In the evening a group of us Dream Team-ers, art crew and camera guys all watched the great film ‘Snatch’, complete with microwave popcorn.

Wednesday was another exciting day: It was the first time the contestants were scheduled to participate in a challenge game. And therefore, the first time the losing team had to attend tribal council to vote off one member. And I was there for it all!

helping set up a challenge game on Amazon Survivor

Early that morning my team headed out with the challenge camera crews, as usual, and helped set up and rehearse the first challenge. I was quite excited… up until the grand disappointment: We all had to leave before the contestants arrived!

We weren’t allowed to watch the game that we had just helped rehearse! The company doesn’t want any important information about the contestants or show to leak out. Fair enough. (personally, I found it a little silly since we all found out who won the game anyhow.)

setting up a challenge game in the Amazon

That afternoon we went to the tribal council set to help rehearse for the very first Survivor Amazon tribal council.

Behind the scenes note:

Whenever the contestants arrive at a challenge area or the tribal council, the area goes into ‘lock down’, which means nobody can enter or leave the area. Generally, the directors try to get the Dream Team off-site just before lock-down. But that day they couldn’t squeeze us out. So we all had to hang around, hiding out in absolute silence, while tribal council was filmed.

We weren’t allowed to watch the contestants arrive nor watch the filming. But I did manage to spy the contestants arriving from afar while hiding out in the jungle. That was really exciting. Even though I couldn’t see any faces, there they were: the mysterious, secret contestants.

sneak peak: contestants arriving to Tribal Council Amazon

Then we had a long 2-hour wait in the dark until filming ended, after which time we were able to catch a boat home. I did manage to find some light and read a book at least.

Thursday proved to be yet another exciting day, perhaps the most exciting of the entire production. I had a big surprise in store. I didn’t know it until that day, but part of the Dream Team’s job was to re-enact the challenges after the contestants play them. We were dressed as the contestants and filmed by helicopter.

So we all returned to Monday’s challenge game, dressed up as ‘stand ins’. We ran through some parts of the challenge while a helicopter whirled overhead, making fly-by’s. Now THAT was exciting! (And we’d all be ‘secret famous tv stars’ as well. lol)

The helicopter shots took up most of that day. With the remaining time we posed for close up shots with a famous still photographer. He comes to each Survivor production for about two weeks to take special shots.

Dream Team members preparing for still shots on a challenge set

I had already met him on the Survivor Thailand show, so I knew he was a really nice guy with an uncanny way of interacting with people. Since he remembered me from the Thailand show, he was particularly friendly with me at the Amazon production. He actually reminded me a lot of my brother, a lighting guy for TV commercials and films in the US.

Friday was a bad day. We all boated out to the show’s second challenge area for rehearsal. The game itself was actually quite fun and I imagined it must look hilarious on camera. But I had horrifying memories of it from the first time we had played, one week earlier.

The previous week we went out in a cold never-ending hard rain. It had been the only day I didn’t take warm clothes or my good gortex raincoat. So there I’d been, freezing and terrified that I’d get pneumonia on top of my bronchitis.

Dream Team heading out to rehearse a challenge game in the Amazon

Quite unfortunately we’d had to run the whole game twice. I was so miserable that I would forever have bad vibes about that game and location. In fact I almost believed that site was jinxed. Every time we went out there, BLAM, along came a cold, heavy storm. And Friday was no exception.

We set up the game and got the camera guys positioned before warnings of the storm came. Then quite suddenly ferocious winds whipped the trees, dark threatening clouds closed in, and finally a huge deluge fell from the sky.

Much to my surprise and relief, everyone took cover to wait out the rain. It was too heavy for filming. One hour later it was still pouring, so the director postponed rehearsal until after lunch. We were saved from playing in the rain.

We all boated back to the hotel for lunch then returned to the site. Amazingly, that time we rehearsed the game without rain.

testing an Amazon Challenge game – in sunshine!

After rehearsal we had to clear the game area in anticipation of the contestants’ arrival. Once again, we were banned from watching. In fact, it was decided that our Dream Team could not watch any challenges at all for the remainder of the production.

That news was really a drag. After helping set the games up, rehearsing with the camera crew, and being right there on site, it was almost heart breaking. But I had to admit they had good reasons.

It was hard to find a spot near the games where 16 people could stand, unobtrusively, and not get into any camera shots. And why should the directors or cameramen have to worry about spectators getting in their shots?

In addition, the more spectators, the more chance someone would make noise or somehow distract the filming procedures. And so, disappointing as it was, we were all shuffled away to the ‘refreshment tent’.

Not surprisingly, to me anyhow, it began raining again. Every time on that game!

Survivor Amazon camera tent

Most of my teammates hung out on the boat, but I stayed at the camera tent where I amused myself by exercising, reading. and catching a few distant peaks at the game. I could hear the two teams yelling and cheering, which made an exciting afternoon since I could follow what was happening and who was winning.

We didn’t get out of there until dark. At long last the game ended. We all helped haul out an immense amount of camera equipment and load it onto the boats. Then we all collapsed into the boats ourselves, squeezing  in around all the equipment, and returned to the hotel for a well-deserved buffet dinner.

And suddenly another week had gone by.

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Be sure to catch the previous episode of this series where I explain the overall production & filming of Survivor Amazon

You can read the whole series here. And be sure to come back for the remaining episodes, coming soon!

cheers, Lash

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You might also enjoy:

Working Crew on Survivor TV Show: pt 1- How I Got Picked Up to Crew Working Crew on Amazon Survivor pt 2 – First Week in the Amazon Working Crew on Amazon Survivor pt 4 – My Job on the Dream Team Working Crew on Amazon Survivor pt 7 – Cruising on Crew