(that's how the room looked like when we started...to see how it looked like when we were done, tune in to VisionTV [in Canada] this Friday night at 9:00pm, or stay tuned to this here blog and I'll post a 'lil somethin' somethin' for you when I get a minute...)
It was six minutes to seven.
We were supposed to start shooting at seven. We were supposed to have a couple hundred people in the audience because the political special we were getting ready to shoot was supposed to be one half in-depth interview and one half audience interactive.
It was six minutes to seven and the audience was empty.
That's right. Not a soul.
I stood there feeling like I was about to die. "Why is it always like this? Why is it always so hard? Why, in spite of all the work you do, does it always seem to not be enough?" So I took two steps towards the mobile truck outside--going to see my Director to talk about changing everything--and, before I could take the third step, one of our handlers walked in. "We got fifty people!"
Fifty people?
Oh holy crap...
So, I turned on my heel, took a deep breath, got ready to go and by the time we started there were eighty in the audience. So we switched up our axis (the direction in which we were planning to shoot...) and shot the room so that it looked fuller than it was.
And it turned out okay. Maybe better than okay.
This friday we'll see how it all turned out, and not before then, because for the most part I was just hanging on for dear life while shooting it. I told my wife afterward that I felt like I was white water rafting. That's the thing that happens when you pack a room full of politicians and their partisan crowds. The room was seriously divided into four and each part would erupt or boo or laugh at different points in the debate--artlessly doing their darndest to push their candidate and denigrate the others.
It felt a lot like high school.
There were moments of honesty but plenty of moments where you could 'tell' that the politicians were stringing you along, delivering a 'line' spinning a tale. Mostly I'm just happy we were able to finish the thing.
And that's the point for you friend.
Even when it's so hard you don't think you'll be able to survive. Even when you don't have enough time to do it right (we had five days lead time). Even when the audience doesn't show and one of the political parties pulls out two hours before you're supposed to shoot only to come back online forty five minutes before shooting and even if the room is a hundred degrees 'cause the venue didn't tell you their air conditioning is fluky. Even if you can't get a word in edgewise because your guests are professional 'talkers'. Even if it feels like total chaos.
Just keep taking those little steps forward.
Before you know it you'll have achieved something, despite it all.
T
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