It was October. Head Office was hosting a Halloween party and they wanted decorations, especially lots of carved pumpkins. But that’s a lot of work.
Our TV series was shooting in the studio at the building, so I volunteered the crew to carve a number of the pumpkins. And so, we hosted a pumpkin carving contest at craft service. Everyone was welcome to make a design, carve a few cuts, collaborate or grab a pumpkin and carve it alone. Craft Service gave us the space and I made sure the supplies were there and tidy throughout the day.
From all the organizing atop my daily shoot-day work, I didn’t have time to carve a pumpkin myself, but I was thrilled to see how many people participated. I was, however, wearing an orange sweater – an intensity of orange so bright that the sweater could only have been knit by your mother (and it was), and could only be worn in public in October (which it also was).
So, I had an idea.
The camera team gave me a little black camera tape and, in a few minutes, I was done. I’d attached strips of the black tape into the design of a classic jack-o-lantern face on the front of my bright orange sweater. It was now super-clear that I was the organizer of the pumpkin carving contest.
By day’s end, we had at least 12 pumpkins completed pumpkins. Head Office was thrilled. The other, unfinished / partially-finished pumpkins could be completed by others in the building.
As for the crew, I did promise it was a contest. So, I brought in the Producer to decide on the winning pumpkin. It was a hard choice to be sure. The pumpkins were an excellent mix of scary, funny, classic, creative. How would the producer choose? They took their time looking at each pumpkin, addressing its praises, for they were all fantastic and unique. I did not envy the job I’d given them.
Then they settled on a winning choice: my sweater! The crew heartily agreed. I had to accept.
But… I did not contribute my “winning” sweater to decorate the Head Office Halloween Party.
Are you planning for a behind-the-scenes activity this Halloween season?
Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb
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“Film Production Management 101” (now in its third edition) is updated for today’s respectful workplace and sustainable practices – available worldwide, including Amazon-USA, Indigo-Canada and many other bookstores or directly from the publisher (MWP).
