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Inside the Vatican:
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National Geographic Television Special |
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Airs in the U.S. on the National Geographic Channel |
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Page ten of eleven John Bredar has produced more than 20 films for National Geographic Television, exploring often quirky topics ranging from cockroaches to sumo wrestlers to combat cameramen to the White House. Although he has produced five wildlife films, Bredar prefers to focus his lenses on people and the details of their everyday lives. To film Inside the Vatican, Bredar and his crew spent three months in Rome, living just outside the walls of the Vatican and doing battle to get inside. Q: What was the biggest challenge in filming Inside the Vatican? John Bredar: Access. Every day we would go in and do battle to get permission to film. To get the access and really get the understanding of the place was incredibly difficult. It's hard to say it's xenophobia, because it's not an ethnic thing, it's more of a wariness of outsiders. We needed to win them over and constantly earn their respect. Q: How did you end up winning them over? JB: Having the credibility of National Geographic behind you helps a lot. And appearances count for a lot. You have to show up every day wearing a suit and tie. And for field producers, a suit and tie is not usual attire. We called it wearing the full armor. If you're a careful observer, you'll see in the film that many of the men who work in the Vatican, like Arturo Mari the photographer, wear almost a uniform of dark suits, dark ties and white shirts. It's a matter of respect for the institution. Q: Taking a look at the Vatican, and other institutions like the White House, seems a departure from National Geographic's more traditional topics like wildlife and natural history. Where did the idea for this show originate? JB: The Vatican is an institution that has involved a huge amount of world history, and National Geographic has always been interested in the cultural side of the planet as well as the exotic. The Vatican perhaps doesn't strike the typical National Geographic Television viewer as an exotic topic, but it is. It has all the great elements: history, art, drama, religion. Q: You also produced the National Geographic Special Inside the White House. How was filming at the Vatican different from filming at the Executive Mansion? JB: Access was the biggest difference. It was extremely different at the White House, where National Geographic has a much more established connection. At the Vatican, first you have to get general access to the Vatican itself and then you still need permission to film from each individual entity. Inside the Vatican, for instance, we had to get permission separately to film in the basilica. Q: Why is it so hard to film there? Is it a security issue? JB: No. It has almost nothing to do with security, and almost everything to do with being around for 2,000 years. It's an organization that typically does not make itself available, because it doesn't necessarily find it to their own interest to open their operations up to outside view. There's a certain amount of wariness on their part to allow the place to be seen in a folkloric way, because for them, the biggest story is the pope and his mission. Q: Did you have any contact with the pope directly? JB: No, we never spoke to the pope. There was no interaction with him at all. We knew very clearly going in that he doesn't do interviews, and I never supposed that we would have a moment to throw him a question. But we felt that we got to know him a little through Arturo Mari, the photographer. Arturo's dedication to the pope is very impressive. Through some intimate moments with him, we were able to understand a little better that the Vatican is here for the pope and that he's the driving force behind it. Q: Was there anything that surprised you during the filming? JB: From the U.S., there's one perspective of the Church and it's not particularly hierarchical. But there, you're constantly reminded of how hierarchical it is—it's even color coded: black for priest, purple for monsignor, purple sash and skull caps for bishops, red for cardinals, and, of course, white for the pope. Once, when I was walking out of St. Peter's Square, I noticed a priest heading in my direction. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. He was nondescript, wearing just a gray shirt with a Roman collar, black jacket, and black pants. After he passed I realized he was a cardinal who runs the congregation that deals with saints. As he moved away from me I noticed a tiny detail that caught my eye: with each step his pants lifted slightly, and there were crimson socks. A cardinal, one of the highest-ranking clerics in the Church slipping around nearly incognito save for a splash of red at ankle level! Q: I would imagine that, with the Vatican dating back several centuries, you would have had to encounter some logistical complications during filming. JB: In filming the Gregorian calendar sequence, we found ourselves in a situation where we had to show a beam of sunlight cutting across the room and hitting a sundial on the floor. We knew we needed to find a way to put particulate or smoke in the air, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see the beam of light. We asked if we could use a smoke machine, but they said it would hurt the frescoes on the walls. We asked if we could just smoke a cigarette or burn incense. They didn't go for that. Finally, they suggested calcium carbonate. Having dropped chemistry in college, I didn't realize calcium carbonate was simply chalk. I could have simply gone out and bought a few erasers and banged them together. Instead, there I was, crouched in my suit, with a giant sieve full of chalk readied at the outflow vent of what must have been a vintage 1960s Eureka. I hit the button and the chalk dust went everywhere. Calcium carbonate, they explained, is completely inert so it couldn't hurt anything in the room. That was a good thing because after three hours of trying to vacuum and sweep and wipe the stuff up, we simply couldn't get all of it. We left a very chalky reminder of what it takes to make a good movie and hopefully, they will someday forgive us! Q: The White House and the Vatican are extremely influential institutions. Is it the power of these places that draws you to them? JB: It's not the power—what fascinates me is what animates these relatively inanimate institutions. These institutions are not built of stone; they're built of personalities of those who populate them. And those personalities are the souls of the institutions. I was so impressed with how dedicated some of these people are to what they were doing. Like the nun, Sister Angela, who has been repairing tapestries for 35 years. For her, sewing is a form of prayer. In the White House, people are dedicated to that institution, but they are still civil servants, and they talk about serving the presidency regardless of their own politics. In the Vatican, by definition, everyone is a true believer, and that's a big difference. Inside the Vatican: Front Page St. Peter's Basilica The Swiss Guards The Pope's Day A City-State The World's Most Beautiful Stuff The Holy See Electing a New Pope The Secret Archives The making of Inside the Vatican Kids Activity Guide |
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