Tuesday, June 16: Equipment Pick Up, Face Casting



So today was supposed to be the day where we filmed Ralph buying back a bunch of his old video equipment he had previously sold to a local production company. We made the drive to Welland and entered the building only to find a couple of confused people who had no idea what we were doing there. Our contact was late, so we figured we'd wait outside and he would take us up and show us around. After waiting a few minutes, the woman we'd previously talked to about the shoot came outside and said she called our contact and he claimed to know nothing about our shoot. Needless to say, this was all a bit confusing. We told her what our intentions were but she still seemed unsure about the whole thing.

Eventually, our contact's car pulled up. Ralph introduced us and the guy claimed to have no idea about our shoot. At this point it was clear there was some sort of miscommunication. Alright, so no big deal. If he really has an issue with us shooting inside of the office, we'll just shoot Ralph taking the equipment out of the building and loading it into his car. Problem sloved! The guy responds to this idea with a dead stare followed by a very cold 'I'd rather you didn't'. Then, an awkward 'I don't even know if he'll be buying it.', as though he isn't sure whether or not he's even willing to sell back the equipment. At this point, I start thinking 'Well what the fuck does he think we set up this appointment for?' Ralph insists that he is interested in purchasing the equipment and wants to take a look, so I tell the dude that we don't have to film if he doesn't want us to. We'll just head up and look at the equipment and Ralph can make him an offer. Again, in a stand-offish fashion, he ends up making myself and Roman wait outside while they head into the building to check out the gear! WTF? I totally understand if there was a miscommunication and he isn't comfortable with the shoot, but really? You're going to make us wait outside? And this is a guy who's running video production business! I would think somebody who might have experience shooting productions -- even if it's weddings -- might be a little more understanding and have a little more tact dealing with a fellow 'filmmaker'. I guess we won't be hitting them up for post-production services. Not that we were ever considering it.



Luckily, Ralph ended up securing the equipment and we got out of there. The day wasn't a total wash though. We ended up driving out to the Sherkston area to visit Robert Buick, a friend/business partner of Ralph's and a great glass artist. It was a fun time. We shot Ralph getting a face cast for a future glass piece, which we hope to document right down to the final product. We'll definitely be heading back out there in the very near future.

3 comments:

  1. Honestly, if Roman wasn't there, then everything probably would have been cool. People look at you different when you have a mustache. Just sayin'.

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  2. That makes me angry. I guess the lesson is to always put it on the other guy. The A.D. needs to call and call and make sure he informs people of the productions intentions (emails are good because you can have written evidence). In the end I suppose it's best if you make them justify their actions. They'll either realize they are being dicks and change OR just be dicks in either case you win on some level and since you don't need this guy fuck him.

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  3. Brandon: Good point.

    Ian: Agreed. Lesson learned. Will have to be a little more cautious in setting some things up for our upcoming shoots.

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