Prepare for Collision
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The small town main street buzzed with activity. Actors and background extras taking up their positions. Drivers maneuvering cars onto the street or curb. Gaffers and Grips adjusting lights, shiny boards, cables, scrims, and silks. Assistant camera personnel mounting up a lens and matte box. And I was in the middle of it all.
I stood on a street corner, wearing my headset so I could stay in touch with the rest of the crew. I had been hired as a Set P.A. on a period film, this one set in the 1950s. It was remarkable to see the attention to detail from the Production Designer, Art Director, and Wardrobe Stylists. No detail was overlooked.
We were shooting in a small Alabama town. The production hired a picture car company to provide period-accurate vehicles for the exterior street scene we were now filming. Any area of the town square that might be visible on camera had to have a 1950s era car either parked along the street or driving through the frame. Local traffic had to be locked down for the duration of the shoot to prevent anything modern from appearing in the shot.*
My job was to stage the background extras on the street, which was incredibly exciting for me. Here I was with the responsibility of actually blocking and directing action on a real movie. And I took the role seriously. If a bunch of people were going to be seen in very soft focus somewhere waaaaaaaay in the background of the shot, then by George they were going to look believable. I couldn’t just send a herd of people across the street at the same time. How awful would that look? No, this needed to be a carefully coordinated dance that breathed authenticity.
A group of extras gathered around me and I confidently began to tell each person where to stand, where to walk, where to cross the street.
“You cross from over there to here.”
“You two are a couple and you’re walking down this way and you stop to look in this store window.”
“You wait for this car to pass and then you go over there.”
If the key to good staging and directing is just pointing a lot, then I earned my Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in one afternoon.
Everyone was settled in to their first positions and I waited for the voice of the Assistant Director to let us know that we were locked down and ready to roll.
I heard the screams before I saw the car.
Faintly at first, but growing louder quickly. I turned toward the source of the sound and saw a mid-1950s convertible racing downhill along the cross street running from my left to right. A middle-aged woman was behind the wheel. It was obvious she had no control of the car. She barreled through the intersection right in front of me and just kept going. I turned back to see the owner of the picture car giving chase on foot. He only managed to catch up with her after the car plowed into a row of bushes and finally came to a stop.
Others rushed to her aide and helped her out of the car, which only sustained minor scratches. And neither the driver nor anyone else was hurt.
I learned after the fact that the background player told the picture car company she had experience driving a car of that era and would have no trouble handling it. One of three things could be the reason why she said what she did.
She innocently assumed a car from the 1950s was exactly like modern-day cars and were no different in terms of handling, braking, or steering.
She did have some experience driving vintage cars, but was overconfident in her abilities.
She lied.
I’m sure you’ve already drawn some conclusions about the lessons learned from this particular incident, but here goes:
Never assume anything. There’s a saying I’ve heard through the years, “Luck favors the prepared.” If you’re working in video and film production (or really any other industry, for that matter) don’t leave anything to chance.
Think you have enough batteries? Pack more.
“The audio gear was working perfectly yesterday when we were in the studio. I’m sure it will be fine out on location today.” Check again.
“I’m sure the Assistant Producer took care of it.” Find out.
“Of course the second shooter knows how to use this camera.” Ask.
Don’t have an overly-inflated sense of self. Arrogant individuals who believe they have all the answers and never need to learn anything new will always get a healthy dose of humility at some point.
You will never, ever regret telling the truth. And people will respect you for it.
Of course, you could just completely ignore all of the above and still decide to get behind the wheel, confident that things will probably all work out. But remember, you may not have a thick row of bushes to cushion the impact.
*Take a look at the car that showed up in a Braveheart battle sequence and the guy wearing a baseball cap who can be seen behind Mel Gibson.