Pre-producing toddler behaviorPre-producción en el comportamiento infantil

Today an article caught my eye: Coping with the Caveman in the Crib. It talked about techniques to control toddlers with temper tantrums. After reading the comments by dozens of parents, I was surprised to find that nobody mentioned one of the most effective tools: anticipation. In filmmaking pre-production, if you are able to anticipate the conditions and potencial obstacles of the shoot, things will move along more smoothly once you start rolling. It seems to me that a positive dynamic with a toddler works in a similar way: anticipation will lower their levels of anxiety; in my experience, a regular cause for temper tantrums is uncertainty. Here is my response to the column, in case some parent may find it useful:

I have a boy who is almost three who rarely throws tantrums; he is very cooperative in private and public places. Today at the supermarket an elderly lady congratulated me because he was so well-mannered and helpful (he was picking the peaches and putting them into a bag). What’s the secret? One of the first concepts he learned was “I promise…” and he also understood it works both ways. If he wants to do something right away, I propose to do something else first and promise to go back to his wishes after that. If he says he want to eat something now, I suggest pushing the cart first and promising that we will eat something later. At the end of the proposition he asks, “Do you promise?” And I’ll say, “I promise”. The good thing is that “afterwards” and “later” can stretch a long way… He actually does not mind if it takes a while before his needs are met because he knows that IT WILL HAPPEN eventually because I promised. This calms his anxiety; he knows that he can anticipate the fulfillment of his desires at some point. There is one thing you must never do: NEVER PROMISE SOMETHING THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN. I’ve warned everybody that is involved in my child’s care about the seriousness of promises so that this technique can work.

Hoy un artículo me llamó la atención: Lidiando con el cavernícola de la cuna. Exponía técnicas para manejar niños con pataletas o berrinches. Después de leer los comentarios de una docena de padres, me sorprendió que ninguno mencionara una de las herramientas más efectivas: la anticipación. En el proceso de pre-producción de una película, si eres capaz de prever cúles serán los principales problemas y obstáculos, las cosas tienen mayores posibilidades de ir sobre ruedas una vez que se empieza al rodar.

Look Out for Torres SilvaOjo con Torres Leiva

When I returned to Chile, I never heard anything about him. He is never among those listed as the "new generation" of Chilean filmmakers that come out every 6 months or so. However, I am convinced that Jose Luis Torres Silva has more than enough talent and a promising future. Today I was surprised to find that Variety shares my admiration in a review of his first feature film El cielo, la tierra y la lluvia, taking notice of the prize he received at the Rotterdam Film Festival.

Nunca oí hablar de él cuando regresé a Chile. Nunca figura en los artículos que salen aproximadamente cada 6 meses proclamando "la nueva generación" de cineastas chilenos. Sin embargo, estoy convencida que Jose Luis Torres Silva tiene talento de sobra y un futuro prometedor. Me encontré hoy con la sorpresa que Variety comparte mi admiración con una crítica a su primer largometraje,El cielo, la tierra y la lluvia, a propósito del premio obtenido en el Festival de Cine de Rotterdam.