Translating life into celluloid

Spent most of yesterday shooting interview segments for a project we're working on (furiously, since it's due to be finished ASAP!)

I played the part of interviewer, which was a lot more fun and interesting than I thought it would be. Waking up Friday morning, I wasn't really looking forward to the day. I was a bit nervous about the interviewees - both of whom I'd never met, only chatted to via email - and I was really hoping we would get the footage we wanted out of the session.

I was also nervous because the last time we taped a segment for this project, there were several logistical hiccouphs, and I didn't want to go through those hassles again.

It certainly didn't help that the first thing my boss says to me when we get there is that one of the interviewees called another project member (who isn't even closely involved in the project anymore) to say that he wasn't coming. I was a bit annoyed, since I'd sent the guy an email at the beginning of the week, and called the day before to confirm, only to have to leave a message saying call me if there are any concerns. But he didn't call me - he called this other guy who wasn't even going to be there for the shoot!

And finding out I was down to two interviewees instead of three made me even more nervous that I wasn't going to get all the footage I wanted.

I'm really glad the cameraman we regularly use is well experienced, because he often has some really good ideas for getting what we want out of any taping. Yesterday was no exception. In fact, at one point I had to laugh because he threw out this great question, which yielded a really good answer from the interviewee that will be perfect for the project!

When I complimented him on the question, he looked a bit puzzled then told me he hadn't made that question up - it had been on my question list all along! Sure enough, I looked through the list again and realized I had indeed written that question. And it was a damn good one. Fancy that! Guess that's what happens when you write the questions months in advance of the actual taping...

Now I just had to wait for our camera guy to sort through the footage, clean it up a bit, and then we'll select the parts we really want to use.