Today was a great day…I felt VERY international as I walked around town grabbing more footage for the new web-site feature that I was writing about in my last post. I had originally planned to do an intro bit on the Ferris Wheel they call the London Eye. Serene shots of the skyline drifting behind me as I talk and talk and talk…you know that kind of “glamorous” travel footage.
But here’s the thing…I’m afraid of Ferris Wheels (if you need a reminder, just read my melt-down post from the one I rode in Tokyo). And every once in awhile I go through a period of claustrophobia (now being one of those times). So all in all, with a 10 hour flight home ahead of me in two days, I rethought my London Eye idea and went for the more immediate cinema verite of the streets.
London…OUTSIDE “the bubble”
And man, it was almost too verite. Sure, London is picturesque - but JEEZ IS IT LOUD! I was trying to find places to film that looked London”y” without me having to say, “and here I am in London,” but it’s a little tricky ’cause I was filming myself, so I also had to find places where I could prop the camera on a garbage can and not get too embarrassed in front of onlookers as I shouted at it.
(’Cause it’s a weird phenomenon…set up a camera aimed at yourself, start talking and faster than a speeding bullet you’ll gather a crowd who thinks your Anderson Cooper on assignment).
After the London Eye/Parliment shots, I picked a spot with the Tower Bridge and Gerkin building in the background that looked like a quiet enough place to shoot. LOOKED is the opperative word ’cause right below me on the Thames out of camera-frame there was a guy on one of those houseboat/barges welding and riveting his heart out. Now, of course, he lives here so I’M the one out-of-line about getting frustrated, but just when I’d get lucky enough to NOT trip over my words, I’d get UNlucky with the sound of an ancient air-compressor suddenly banging out over the sound of my melodious voice, drowning out my self-importance.
Hmm….maybe that would have been better, now that I think of it.
Anyway, the point of all this filming is to make our web-site more interactive. As you might have noticed, we’ve moved around the video we have to give tips, advice, company history, etc. for those who want it and I figured the next step would be to start doing web-site specific pieces to flesh out your viewing experience. Mine will be up soon on the Product page (once we figure out the editing process) and then Beau will shoot one about staging for the Services section.
They’re likely to be primitive to start. I majored in Theater, Keri in Art and Beau in Horticulture, so don’t go expecting Film School quality out of us. These will be more like the “retail” version of amateur porn.
Oops….did I just cross the line? Ahhh, the beauty of blogging.
