Done, Finally.
Wow. What a week. 7 days in a row. I've done longer stints before, but this one was particularly draining.
This is partly because it was a Sunday thru Saturday deal and so even though I had last Friday off, making two in a row, it still felt like a long week and a short weekend. I also caught and vanquished a cold in the space of 2 days. So, here's how my week went.
Sunday: Drive to Baltimore Basilica for day 1 of 3 day video shoot. Production is about Latrobe, the architect of some buildings in NOLA, the Basilica, and parts of the Capitol building. Everything is outdoors or otherwise untethered, so I have to be on batteries. I have with me a satchel with a lawn tractor battery and an inverter inside. We're moving here and there, doing shots inside and outside of the church, Mostly I set the prompter on sticks and the camera man hand-holds the camera looking through it. This one particular shot was very difficult, because of where it was located.
See that little balcony/ledge thing up there? we had to fit
-Me and my laptop
-the Prompter on sticks
-the cameraman and the camera
-the sound guy and his gear
-the producer
all on that tiny thing. The shot consisted of the host taking 2 steps up the ladder and reading a couple of lines. It was very warm that day and the wind was wicked fierce because of the sudden weather change. Did I mention that that's the ROOF of the DOME of the Basilica? Cause it is.
Monday: We start off at the Swamp Podium across the street from the Capitol building. I parked at Union Station and schlepped my gear up there on foot. Not fun. From there we went back to Union Station to do more shooting and have lunch. After lunch we all piled in the van (I'd begged for a lift) and headed back up the Hill to the Capitol building. It took a few minutes to get past security, as they don't really like it when you bring gigantic batteries in there, nor the myriad tools and photography geegaws we all had. Basically everything we brought in there, on any other day and under any other circumstances, would have gotten confiscated. If we didn't have special clearance, we'd have made it through the checkpoint with barely our underwear. Go Special Clearances. We shot all over the place, in the Rotunda, Statuary Hall and the Crypt. I was tempted to go knock on Nancy Pelosi's office door.
Shooting wrapped at 7:30, then we trucked everything back to Union Station and got our cars and went home.
Tuesday: This is where everything went pear-shaped. For whatever reason, my battery did not get charged Monday night. I arrived at the Jefferson Memorial at 10am, began setting up, and very soon my inverter started doing this trick where it would beep for several seconds and then shut down. I troubleshot everything as best I could till I figured out that the battery was dead. Partly attributable to the lack of charge, partly due to the cold snap we'd just entered. Well, the director popped a gasket. I called my boss and had a generator on site in 15 minutes, but in that short time, the director decided to scrap that shoot as well as all the other outdoor standups that day. The next shot would be back in the Capitol building, and we obviously couldn't have a generator in there, so when he saw that, he flipped his shit again. Ok, fine. He gave me till 1:30 to get another battery and have it tested and ready to go and meet back up with the group. So I went to the office, got another battery, took it to autozone and had it tested and verified it was charged, and then headed back to Union Station to meet up with the crew. I got there just as they were sitting down to lunch. I hitched with them again back up the Hill, and we decided to do one more outdoor standup at the Reflecting Pool before going inside. Wouldn't you know it, my monitor picked that minute to shit the bed. Director Flipping his Shit, take 3 ACTION! Right. So I called John and had another monitor brought up, and fixed everything in 20 minutes, we did the standup in the meantime by holding the laptop under the camera, filming really tight and having me sit at the host's feet while scrolling so we could both see.
Once I had the other monitor, everything else came back into focus, but man, what a stressful morning/afternoon. Traffic was a bitch getting into and out of the district every day, so I already wasn't in the best mood, and I could feel a cold coming on with the change in weather, so that wasn't helping either. The shoot finished and we all parted company on reasonably amicable terms. The crew felt sorry for me, and the director, well, whatever.
Wednesday: Today started a new job, for a client I flew out to Dallas to rehearse with. The AMS Users Group. Basically they try to work with insurance agencies to make their jobs easier and more streamlined. This was their annual meeting/award ceremony/symposium thing. I had a 6am call at the Gaylord National Harbor, so that meant a 4am wakeup call for me. Boo. But I got there on time, had unloaded my car and had everything piled up on my wheeled box, and was walking in the door. Then some security goon stops me, asks me if I'm there to work, and I say "yes" and he's all giving me shit about how I have to come in through the "contractor's entrance" and get a special badge. I've done numerous gigs there before and not once have I had to do anything of the sort, but this guy was having none of it. I told him I'd go get a badge in a minute but that I had to be somewhere. He said "if you're running late, that's on you, but I'm just saying you have to follow the rules like everyone else does." I politely told him that I was NOT late, but if he wanted to keep hassling me I would be, and that I'd love to call his manager and my client and have them meet and discuss my tardiness together. Nevertheless, I still went back to the "Stars Entrance" with him and got a badge, then walked back through the convention center to where I was supposed to be.
I later found out where the employee parking lot was, and that not only does it cost the same to park there as it does to park in the garage I parked in, but that it was open-air, and about 500 yards away from the door. Fuck That Noise. If people like the photographer don't have to get silly yellow badges and park forever away, neither do I. Nevermind that the event crew who flew out from Dallas and were staying in the hotel didn't have to go get badges and didn't have to use any special entrance to get in, they just came over from the hotel, which is attached to the convention center. Basically this security dickweed wanted to see if I had the minerals.
Thursday: Uneventful for the most part. Another early day, and I was still not feeling great, but everything went smoothly. I really enjoy working for these people. Freeman (the A/V company putting the show on) are very professional and very talented, and the clients are all excellent, friendly, generous people. I went home, had 2 shots of NyQuill and passed the fuck out.
Friday: Actual Show Day. Everything went smooth as glass. Both sessions were done by 1:30. I had a chance to go wander around the retail village they have at the harbor, and ate at Potbelly. The whole area is strange. It's all brand new but it's a ghost town. That could probably be due to the cold, blustery conditions outside, but still. I hope things pick up because it would be a shame to see all that money and effort go to waste if the National Harbor project fails.
Saturday: Same as Friday. Today though my call wasn't till 10, so I didn't get to go have lunch at the harbor like Friday, but it felt nice to sleep in till 8, instead of 4. Now I'm home and I have tomorrow off. Joe has a playoff game tonight, but maybe tomorrow we can do something fun.
This is partly because it was a Sunday thru Saturday deal and so even though I had last Friday off, making two in a row, it still felt like a long week and a short weekend. I also caught and vanquished a cold in the space of 2 days. So, here's how my week went.
Sunday: Drive to Baltimore Basilica for day 1 of 3 day video shoot. Production is about Latrobe, the architect of some buildings in NOLA, the Basilica, and parts of the Capitol building. Everything is outdoors or otherwise untethered, so I have to be on batteries. I have with me a satchel with a lawn tractor battery and an inverter inside. We're moving here and there, doing shots inside and outside of the church, Mostly I set the prompter on sticks and the camera man hand-holds the camera looking through it. This one particular shot was very difficult, because of where it was located.
See that little balcony/ledge thing up there? we had to fit
-Me and my laptop
-the Prompter on sticks
-the cameraman and the camera
-the sound guy and his gear
-the producer
all on that tiny thing. The shot consisted of the host taking 2 steps up the ladder and reading a couple of lines. It was very warm that day and the wind was wicked fierce because of the sudden weather change. Did I mention that that's the ROOF of the DOME of the Basilica? Cause it is.
Monday: We start off at the Swamp Podium across the street from the Capitol building. I parked at Union Station and schlepped my gear up there on foot. Not fun. From there we went back to Union Station to do more shooting and have lunch. After lunch we all piled in the van (I'd begged for a lift) and headed back up the Hill to the Capitol building. It took a few minutes to get past security, as they don't really like it when you bring gigantic batteries in there, nor the myriad tools and photography geegaws we all had. Basically everything we brought in there, on any other day and under any other circumstances, would have gotten confiscated. If we didn't have special clearance, we'd have made it through the checkpoint with barely our underwear. Go Special Clearances. We shot all over the place, in the Rotunda, Statuary Hall and the Crypt. I was tempted to go knock on Nancy Pelosi's office door.
Shooting wrapped at 7:30, then we trucked everything back to Union Station and got our cars and went home.
Tuesday: This is where everything went pear-shaped. For whatever reason, my battery did not get charged Monday night. I arrived at the Jefferson Memorial at 10am, began setting up, and very soon my inverter started doing this trick where it would beep for several seconds and then shut down. I troubleshot everything as best I could till I figured out that the battery was dead. Partly attributable to the lack of charge, partly due to the cold snap we'd just entered. Well, the director popped a gasket. I called my boss and had a generator on site in 15 minutes, but in that short time, the director decided to scrap that shoot as well as all the other outdoor standups that day. The next shot would be back in the Capitol building, and we obviously couldn't have a generator in there, so when he saw that, he flipped his shit again. Ok, fine. He gave me till 1:30 to get another battery and have it tested and ready to go and meet back up with the group. So I went to the office, got another battery, took it to autozone and had it tested and verified it was charged, and then headed back to Union Station to meet up with the crew. I got there just as they were sitting down to lunch. I hitched with them again back up the Hill, and we decided to do one more outdoor standup at the Reflecting Pool before going inside. Wouldn't you know it, my monitor picked that minute to shit the bed. Director Flipping his Shit, take 3 ACTION! Right. So I called John and had another monitor brought up, and fixed everything in 20 minutes, we did the standup in the meantime by holding the laptop under the camera, filming really tight and having me sit at the host's feet while scrolling so we could both see.
Once I had the other monitor, everything else came back into focus, but man, what a stressful morning/afternoon. Traffic was a bitch getting into and out of the district every day, so I already wasn't in the best mood, and I could feel a cold coming on with the change in weather, so that wasn't helping either. The shoot finished and we all parted company on reasonably amicable terms. The crew felt sorry for me, and the director, well, whatever.
Wednesday: Today started a new job, for a client I flew out to Dallas to rehearse with. The AMS Users Group. Basically they try to work with insurance agencies to make their jobs easier and more streamlined. This was their annual meeting/award ceremony/symposium thing. I had a 6am call at the Gaylord National Harbor, so that meant a 4am wakeup call for me. Boo. But I got there on time, had unloaded my car and had everything piled up on my wheeled box, and was walking in the door. Then some security goon stops me, asks me if I'm there to work, and I say "yes" and he's all giving me shit about how I have to come in through the "contractor's entrance" and get a special badge. I've done numerous gigs there before and not once have I had to do anything of the sort, but this guy was having none of it. I told him I'd go get a badge in a minute but that I had to be somewhere. He said "if you're running late, that's on you, but I'm just saying you have to follow the rules like everyone else does." I politely told him that I was NOT late, but if he wanted to keep hassling me I would be, and that I'd love to call his manager and my client and have them meet and discuss my tardiness together. Nevertheless, I still went back to the "Stars Entrance" with him and got a badge, then walked back through the convention center to where I was supposed to be.
I later found out where the employee parking lot was, and that not only does it cost the same to park there as it does to park in the garage I parked in, but that it was open-air, and about 500 yards away from the door. Fuck That Noise. If people like the photographer don't have to get silly yellow badges and park forever away, neither do I. Nevermind that the event crew who flew out from Dallas and were staying in the hotel didn't have to go get badges and didn't have to use any special entrance to get in, they just came over from the hotel, which is attached to the convention center. Basically this security dickweed wanted to see if I had the minerals.
Thursday: Uneventful for the most part. Another early day, and I was still not feeling great, but everything went smoothly. I really enjoy working for these people. Freeman (the A/V company putting the show on) are very professional and very talented, and the clients are all excellent, friendly, generous people. I went home, had 2 shots of NyQuill and passed the fuck out.
Friday: Actual Show Day. Everything went smooth as glass. Both sessions were done by 1:30. I had a chance to go wander around the retail village they have at the harbor, and ate at Potbelly. The whole area is strange. It's all brand new but it's a ghost town. That could probably be due to the cold, blustery conditions outside, but still. I hope things pick up because it would be a shame to see all that money and effort go to waste if the National Harbor project fails.
Saturday: Same as Friday. Today though my call wasn't till 10, so I didn't get to go have lunch at the harbor like Friday, but it felt nice to sleep in till 8, instead of 4. Now I'm home and I have tomorrow off. Joe has a playoff game tonight, but maybe tomorrow we can do something fun.