Let's Make A Movie

Ever since I've been in this business I've been in front of the camera. There were times when I would have to play photographer and reporter but it's been years. When I first got in the business one-man-bands were the position of choice for small markets. And since I started in one of the smallest, when I had a story to do I typically had to shoot it myself. I did a series on Yellowstone, showing how the lack of funding was causing a deterioration in the infrastructure. One segement was on the terrible road conditions and I wanted to show what it was like to bounce through all the potholes. I put the big camera on my shoulder, the record pack in the passenger seat and drove through the view-finder. It's a little unsettling looking through the viewfinder at a corner and thinking it's time to turn. There were many near misses during that shooting experience.

It is with that background that I willingly got behind the camera, or more precisely- behind the people behind the camera, as my son and two of his friends worked on the Cinematography Merit Badge. They had to come up with a concept, write a script, draw storyboards, shoot, and edit a little movie. We had done a couple little features in the family a couple weeks ago and that lit a small fire under him to work on one of his own. The three kids had an idea, a rough outline and script and some simplistic storyboards. I really had to force them to think about individual shots, the motion of the characters, etc. I held their hands during the first scene-taking about 2 hours to shoot- and then left them on their own to shoot scene 2. Scene 2 was to take place in our garage. I tried to stay out of the way but as the bickering grew louder and louder I knew I had to step in. The three of them continued to say they knew what they were doing yet when the camera was rolling they all looked at either in wonderment. At one point the boy behind the camera continued to say "what am I supposed to be shooting?" when another said.. "just do it like we talked about" as he was walking off. The most humorus part was the cameraman didn't know where the aim the camera when the other kid yelled action. My only problem was figuring out which was Mo, which was Larry, and which was Curly! I think they all hated me when I put a stop to their fighting by telling them that it was caused by their lack of preparation and we wouldn't proceed until all three worked up new storyboards with a clear understanding of what they needed to shoot and from what angle. It was a painful process but the shooting went smooth afterward. I have to admit, the finished product was a lot of fun. Three boys, three minutes of finished product, three years added to my life!!!!!