Tearing Down the Tent Production Log: Turning of the Tide
by Ryan Haggerty, rhaggerty@modernfilmzine.com
A press pass is a glorious thing. Without one you are just some weirdo with a camera, with one you suddenly have credentials. We met our liason, Elvin Bale, the following day and were made official.
The first friend we made was Greg Connors. He was performing safety inspections, and was gracious enough to let our friend Jamie Reel participate. After learning how to and how not to tie up the emergency lights and exit signs, he gave us an in depth interview.
I was running through settings on our camera and just trying to keep a consistent exposure going in and out of the tent. I was extremely happy with the sunlight that peeked in the tent breezeway to serve as a main light during the interview. At various points the lighting even mimicked Rembrandt lighting (totally intentional, I swear).
During the Q and A, Greg gave us insight into his traveling circus family dynamic, gas prices affecting travel, and his own childhood circus nostalgia. Toward the end of his interview, Greg and we ,the crew, had a moment. When asked what he would do if the circus was to come to an end financially, he had to fight back the tears. As a fan of the circus and childhood memories, I felt for the guy. The cinematographer part of my brain, however was doing backflips over having gotten some real emotion in the first interview of the day. Woohoo!
We had credentials, and now we had made a friend. Not wanting to lose momentum, Michael Knox (remember him, he’s our producer) started up a conversation with Carolyn Rice who trains and performs in the dog and pony act. She was more than happy to introduce Jamie to the wonderful world of animal husbandry. Jamie is definitely a fan of the animals. His first task was to rake and shovel pony dung. Not wanting to disappoint, he rolled up his sleeves and got right to it. Next up it was time to saddle us a pony. Once again Jamie was able to perform his duties flawlessly. Afterwards Carolyn treated us to an impromptu interview (seems like we had a lot of those) and learned about the animal owner’s side of the animal rights argument.
Since Jamie did such an awesome job of shoveling pony poo, we thought we should let him do something exciting and dangerous. Lucky for us one of the motorcycle riders, Andrey Medeiros, was warming up his bike. He happened to be warming up the bike to take it for a spin in the Globe of Death. What is this globe of which I speak? Essentially it is giant spherical metal cage that is able seperate along its horizontal axis. It’s a pretty impressive piece of machinery. The only thing more impressive is when three motorcycle riders are chasing one another within the globe.
The plan was to follow Andrey with the camera while he practiced a solo run, then follow up with an interview inside the globe. While I was figuring out my angles, Michael was invited (I think it was more of a dare) to stand inside the cage while Andrey rode around. It was like showing up at a invitation-only party and the host asking, “Globe of Death, anyone?” When presented with such an opportunity, surely any sane person would kindly refuse on the grounds of personal safety first.
Once again the little cinematographer inside my head started salivating at the thought of high speed visuals this footage would result in. Well, this conversation quickly evolved into Jamie standing inside while I filmed and then me filming from the inside for perspective. Even with Andre driving at a speed somewhat slower than what he does for the actual performance, the whole cage shook. It was awesome. An apology to Chris McLendon (our sound recording operator), who had left during this time to go on a sandwich run. Sorry Chris, it was awesome.
In addition to being a very skilled rider, Andrey is also a family man. He travels with his wife, Viktoriya Medeiros, who also performs, and their son Christopher. Their relationship started after working together for the Cole Bros. Circus. Even on the road, life and love still manage to bring people together. Afterward, he invited us to stop by his trailer later on that week to follow up and meet the family.
All in all things really turned out well for us. We started to find a heart to our movie in the life and struggles of these dedicated people. It was becoming clear to me that the traveling circus lifestyle produced a different set of rules for family and friendships. Even with these differences I was beginning to feel as if we were welcome there, and had made some friends.
