Fridays Shoot

After running into problems during our last on site shooting at Forest Lawn Cemetery, our latest on site shoot went very well. Papers signed, interviews successfully recorded, and we kept to the exact time limit set, it was a good day.

Slater, myself and Joe scheduled to meet with the owner of Utopia restaurant in Long Beach, Kamran Assadi, at 1:30pm until 4pm. I was on the scene first and started setting up the equipment, then Joe arrived and finally Slater. I hooked up Slater with the Lavaliere mic while Joe started shooting B-role of the outside across the street. Joe further shot Slater entering the restaurant. We set everything up inside and we got down to work.

First we shot a candid conversation between the two close friends, Slater and Kamran, shooting from several angles on the tripod and handheld as well. When the conversation became more of a personal nature and less about the restaurant as an art forum and the works Slater has shown there, we stopped filming and let the two continue. We next shot Kamran without Slater and Joe took the helm of questioning/interview.

After a brief break to get coffee and water, we resumed with Slater's interview. Kamran had offered a cold beer during the break, and can you imagine an anthropologist/archaeologist turning down a cold beer on a hot day? Well I did. For shame. But I digress. I shot the rest of the interview with Slater with my prepared interview questions and we wrapped it up, on time even. Everyone at the restaurant was very helpful and friendly. There were no issues with sound. All of our questions were organized and the shoot was a success. Gosh I hope I get paid for this someday. I think Joe would agree with that.