Confrontation Over Shooting Video in Public
Here is a very short clip where I was practicing using my new tripod. Some guy with tattoos all over his body comes up to me and...
Good thing for him he didn't start getting physical. (Of course I conducted myself properly. And this is the key when shooting video in public.) At the end of the video you'll see why.
http://hv20.info/yopu/PublicVideoConfrontation5.mov (5,995 KB) @ 640 x 360
JJ
(AS)
Crazies abound! -- That said, this comes with the territory. -- Big companies with lots of people and equipment and logo's have to deal with far less of this!
Thats a day at the park man. I've had guys want to fight me because I filmed their girlfriend. It's a funny situation because a lot of the time I actually did film some guy's girlfriend, lol! They're like, Hey man! Why are you film'n my girlfriend man? Whats your deal man? You film her again and I'm gonna kick your ass....., or my favorite is when they want the cassette. I haven't backed down yet. I usually admit if I shot somebody and they don't like it, and tell them they can try and take my cassette , go ahead, I'm all for it. Sounds like fun. But I'm a trouble maker, and a dare devil. I love adrenaline rushes, and fighting. Oddly, I've never been in trouble with the law, but EVERY director gets arrested sooner or later for being at the wrong place at the wrong time to get the RIGHT shot. So be it.
Yeah I feel you. Being a film student here in San Francisco, I get the whole shibang of crazies, and people who have nothing better to do.
"To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes."
-Akira Kurosawa
EXACTLY right. filmmakers need to always be ready for this mamamama. It's going to happen many times the longer you keep directing. And the big boys have been through it too when they started out. Laws? If I need a shot, then I will get it. Of course I wont complain when I get arrested. Its a right of passage for us probing filmmakers. Especially on a shoe string budget, no permits, and the appetite for something bigger than we can pay for. Awe shucks. God Dammit, I love America!Originally Posted by oneton
What is the last line at the very end and who says it? Something like "Yeah, he may not like it".
How did it end? It didn't sound like the confrontation was over with.
He was pointing the cam at a police car....usually cops don't like to be filmed (Rodney King)....so I don't blame you. Most of yall know I used to shoot a lot with my tripod sitting in my cupholder...let's just say i got pulled over a few times...not for speeding (or for being black......hmmm)....but just out of curiosity..."What's the camera for?"....um....nothing lucifer....I mean officer....
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life...Albert Einstein
"Yeah. (He) may not like it." You're absolutely correct.
That was me commenting aloud to myself that I don't feel I better film the cop because HE can hassle me and I have no options for that. So I stopped filming the cop car just to be safe.
But the idea is that if the bothersome jerk did start something I was going to make sure feathers started flying so I could attract the officer's attention. That sucker would have been in jail for sure. The timing was perfect. He couldn't win. So he just mosied on off.
Ian-T is right on the money, too.
But I have been thinking about it. Even though there were plenty of people around and it was broad daylight, with all the crazies running loose I could have taken a knife between the ribs, for all I know.
I think I'll be more careful when approached from now on.
JJ
(AS)
YOU'RE BLACK?!??....I used to shoot a lot with my tripod sitting in my cupholder...let's just say i got pulled over a few times...not for speeding (or for being black......hmmm)....but just out of curiosity..."What's the camera for?"....um....nothing lucifer....I mean officer....
Sorry. Old joke. Couldn't resist.
I know enough to know what works ... at least until it blows up.Then I know it don't.
Yeah, shoulda' turned the camera around on him and got his face...just for evidence. He intimidates you a little, you intimidate him a lot."Yeah. (He) may not like it." You're absolutely correct.
That was me commenting aloud to myself that I don't feel I better film the cop because HE can hassle me and I have no options for that. So I stopped filming the cop car just to be safe.
But the idea is that if the bothersome jerk did start something I was going to make sure feathers started flying so I could attract the officer's attention. That sucker would have been in jail for sure. The timing was perfect. He couldn't win. So he just mosied on off.
Ian-T is right on the money, too.
But I have been thinking about it. Even though there were plenty of people around and it was broad daylight, with all the crazies running loose I could have taken a knife between the ribs, for all I know.
I think I'll be more careful when approached from now on.
JJ
(AS)
I know enough to know what works ... at least until it blows up.
That's smart....because in the end it's just not worth the hassle. There are some folks who just don't value your life as much as you do....and sometimes you can't tell which one is "off the rocker"I think I'll be more careful when approached from now on.
JJ
(AS)
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life...Albert Einstein
...well....more like chocolate mocca....YOU'RE BLACK?!??
Sorry. Old joke. Couldn't resist.
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life...Albert Einstein
that guy was an ass. I think you handled that well. How stupid must he have felt. "are you gonna leave in the part where i gave you the finger?" "I didn't even see you." That must have been a real heart breaker for him. Its like a little kid trying to annoy someone but when he can't get their attention so he gets frustrated and tries harder. I like how his comback was "oh... well you can play it back." at that point all his anger and itch to provoke must have just decomposed into awkward emptiness. Absolutely no fun when they have no reaction whatsoever.
...well....more like chocolate mocca....
Kind of funny that reminds me of the one episode of Bull Run (a reality show) where the cops pull over the 2 black dudes and the black dude says to the camera "I being pulled over by the cops, this is called "driving while black"...
You did indeed conduct yourself properly! BTW the video was incredibly clear.
Some people have Ego problems with a sprinkle pf persecution complexes.
Shot a wedding reception with one particular snotty airline stewardess (of course
most attending were quite the opposite). I was on a wide shot with the
bride in back of her-she (La Snotta) shot me a "Why are you filming me-(seethingly)!!"
She then noticed it wasn't "all about her-planet." I left that scene in the
edited final (she didn't seem all that well liked by the guests anyway)."
Oooo..tales from the vindictive cameraman (actually I'm a pretty nice guy).
A few days ago my friends and I had just finished shooting an action scene for a short and were about ready to leave. Needless to say right as we got in the car a cop rolled by and stopped us, while instructing us to get out of the car. We also left a fake plastic gun (spray painted black) in the bed of the truck. He told us to put our hands up against the bed of the truck and while I was trying to put my camera bag down on the bed, he thought I was reaching for the gun and he pulled his real gun on me. Of course it was clarified and now the situation is long over. However, that was one of the craziest things that has ever happened to me while shooting.
Okay, I didn't realize I was coming of as a jerk as so many of you here seem to think, so want to apologize to jjanes for my behaviour.
I'll let you film in peace next time...
Since the dissapearing of Madeleine McCann (English girl) people in England are very critical on filming children. I can understand that, but why do we see this event mostly in the United States? Are people afraid that their soul gets hijacked in a frame, like in the beginning of time? Why is it so disturbing to be filmed? People with a bad record?
I have never encountered some event like that.
Of course, you should avoid filming in the church on the central square in San Juan Chamula, but Chiapas is far away from the US, no?
I've filmed in public many times and I don't know if I would've been as calm as you if some tattood dude walked up to me asking questions. Then again, I don't go out and film things in public by myself, so the chances of some random person walking up and saying something are slim. You did good though, but what exactly were you trying to film?
wow. You are lucky you didn't get shot!
Maybe it's because I AM some tattooed dude, but I just didn't hear the level of menace most of you guys did in that video. Most everyone I know flips a bird when a camera is pointed their way, pretty standard response for us. Maybe the guy was a jerk, but his demeanor did not sound threatening to me. I have years of pointing cameras at bikers and getting responses. You want to experience a menacing response? Point a camera at a Hells Angel or some other outlaw bike club member, especially when they've been drinking and are in a group. What was more intimidating to you, the way the guy spoke or the fact that he had tattoos? What if he had been black, would you have felt equally or more threatened? The guy sounded pretty calm to me. I don't think the situation was as edgy as you made it out to be. A camera naturally elicits bystander interest, especially one on a tripod in a public place.
And Jo, thanks to YouTube we Americans are a lot more self-conscious about cameras in public because many of us don't want to be the next viral idiot. And some of us do.
wow thats nuts braceface. How did it go down? did you tell him it was a toy and to pick it up and check it out? did he apologize? I mean i don't blame him cops deal with crazy people they don't mess around, but I would feel inclined to apologize for accidentally pulling a gun on someone.
You are responding to the wrong guy. That wasn't me who said the gun thing.
oops I just saw your post with his quote i guess and mindlessly put braceface. Sorry. I meant Sgt. Pepper.
I've only ever had two expierences like this. The first was actually a friendly guy who just wanted to see what I was doing, the second was police.
My friend and I were filming for a 72-hour film contest, and it was about midnight. We were running up and down a street to try and get a shot, and we parked in a school bus lot. We were halfway down the street when we saw him pull up outside the lot and start shining the light on our cars. We waved him down, he came over and just said people were worried about people running around at midnight. He took our names and left. He was friendly.
Luckily he didn't check our liscenses, because we were both 17 and it was after curfew.
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