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that pulling off the chase was possible, given
all the preparation. Nevertheless, they now
only had 12 hours to bring it to fruition.
Soto and his crew divided the sequence
into sections, not only to manage the
cues but because they couldn’t have all of
the eight city blocks they needed closed
simultaneously. They had to space out the
closures as they went along. Each portion
of the chase would only get three takes
and would be shot using three cameras, an
Edge arm, and E-Bikes—camera-equipped
motorcycles that proved essential to the
film’s aesthetic.
The studio budget also meant having the
best and most talented individuals on set.
“Of course, great people like that exist in
the indie world, but sometimes you don’t
have the money to afford them when you
are not working with sufficient resources,”
he said.
Highly trained stunt coordinators and
Steadicam operator Stewart Cantrell helped
capture “The Ride” in all its glory. Soto
recalled that on La Granja, which was shot
entirely with handheld cameras, a Steadi-
cam would have been a dream.
Apart from the extraordinary planning
“The Ride” required, the entire production
had to adjust to the schedule specifications
that come with having underage perform-
ers in major roles. The teen stars could
only be on set for nine hours each day, and
needed to spend three of them studyingand one at lunch.
That meant longer takes and less cover-
age. While the actors rehearsed the lines, the
director and DP would practice the camera
movements, so that the entire choreography
could be executed in just a couple of takes.
This decision, both aesthetic and practical,
forced them to get more creative with how
they approached the scenes to maximize the
visual language that had been established.
Each choice had to justify the emotional
journey, but also the time of production and
the realities of the set.RESPECTING BALTIMORE
Ahead of Charm City Kings, Soto hadn’t
been to Baltimore, so he decided to spend
seven weeks before production began
discovering the city with locals who would
ensure accurate representation.
“I didn’t want them to feel like I was
there to paint my version of Baltimore. On
the contrary, I wanted them to tell me how
they felt about how we were doing it,” he
explained.
The issue of authenticity hit hard for
Soto, who has seen how Hollywood produc-
tions render Puerto Rico into a pile of
clichés. He didn’t want to do that to people
of Baltimore. He wanted to earn familiarity
with the place through genuine interactions
before putting out a movie about a city that
was not his own.
“The Wire is set in Baltimore but that’sPHILLY HIP HOP ARTIST MEEK MILL (L)
STARS AS BLAX IN CHARM CITY KINGS.PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAM GRAY / SONY PICTURES CLASSICSnot it, the same way that Puerto Rico is not
only beaches, salsa music, rum, and beauti-
ful women. Being able to paint a different
canvas of Baltimore. I wanted to respect
the city as much as possible in the same
way that I wish others respected Puerto
Rico in their depictions of it,” he said.
He further linked Baltimore with
Puerto Rico through music. Reggaeton,
the popular urban genre that was born in
Puerto Rico and has taken over the globe,
floods key scenes with unmistakably Latino
rhythms. Bad Bunny’s hit track “Chambea”
and Álvaro Diaz’s “Torque” became part
of soundtrack when he noticed how they
elevated the emotional beats. More signifi-
cantly, they add a sonic touch that reflects
directly on who Soto is as a storyteller and
where he comes from.
“My Puerto Rican identity is intrinsi-
cally related to how I do things. I shouldn’t
need to stop being me, because what makes
me is also what makes my work commu-
nicate things in a way that you haven’t
seen before,” he said. “The biggest lesson I
learned is to be brave enough to be myself
unabashedly.” MMMovie release dates are in flux lately, so
please check MovieMaker.com for updates
on when Charm City Kings will be released.