My Life as a Location Scout.
I don’t know if you know this about me, but I used to work in the film industry, I used to work for the Maryland Film Office. What’s a film office you ask? This is how I explain it, it’s like a tourist guide to the film industry to all of the appealing landscapes, locations and great features offered by said state. There was a time when almost every state had one, but since my departure many have closed up shop due to poor economic conditions.
I started as a techie working as a Visual Communications Assistant, which, at the time was cutting edge, nobody had a clear vision on how it should work, so I had to design a cataloguing system of digital panoramas of potential film locations by my own wit. I later brought the highly esteemed panel of Cineposeum International to a stunned silence as I discussed the the future of digital imagaging within the location scouting universe with a well known Location Manager/Unit Production Manager, who during my time in office was scouting for the big budget film “Red Dragon.” It’s true, sometimes I felt like a slave to my scanner. Repetitious work generally wears you down and you get very excited at doing mobile work. How’s this for mobile? Drive all over the state making new discoveries of potential leads while networking your behind off. Yes, I had a great deal of fun when my boss requested for me to fill in for a superior who took an extended maternity leave. I was practically flying by the seat of my pants, no real direction most of the time, just look and see what you come up with.
I knew I had made it big in the industry when I fielded a call from Penny Marshall’s office. They had a project that they were considering Maryland for and wanted to find stoic white churches for a film they were doing preproduction on. You mean the real Penny Marshall? I thought I had died and gone to Heaven! You just don’t know how much I loved “Laverne and Shirley!” Seriously, I was stunned. Off the phone, I fled to Fredrick County, my boss thought it would be a good place to start. I came back with several good locations, but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. Heartbreak is nothing new to the entertainment industry I was finding out, but at least I put my heart and soul into the prospect.
Ok, so now I’m prospecting a new location, just like that, a new call, new location and you’re out the door. I vividly recall scouting farm houses for a movie of the week entitled “This Side of Heaven.” I was out aimlessly scouring rural Baltimore County. As I drove up the dusty dirt road, I spotted a beautiful big red barn with a quaint rustic farm house. My charm being borne out of a naive sense of why can’t we all get along genuine friendliness, would just walk up to the door with a big smile and extend out my professional looking official business card, fingers crossed all the while in silent prayer. This time a gruff looking elderly farmer greeted me at his door with an angry face as he pulled out his rifle. Ok, so this one, not so friendly. Off his property, like right now. No pictures this time.
Did my run in with danger at all deter me? Heavens no! On to the next photo op. I had a handy ADC map which gives the actual coordinates of each location. I can’t remember if I had a compass of if there was one in the car, but I actually told my boss that it would be a good idea to list the exact coordinates of each location to be put into the digital database of locations that I was trying to build. But they never really listened to me, another good idea shot down. Sorry, I digress, I was in Baltimore County and it was on to the next adventure. Wow, cascading hill, low set white barn, lovely farmhouse, let’s try this again. This time I was greeted by a radiant new mother, twins, her husband was a genuinely dashing farming gentleman, there was a significant age difference, but they were really in love. Great change of atmosphere! She offered me a cold drink, I think it was probably homemade lemonade, very hospitable for a warm summers day. One of the perks about being in the business of photographing other people’s property is that you run into the spectrum of lifestyles and people open up, that is if they’re receptive and it gives you insight into another way of life. What? Their farm was called Pleasant Meadows? How apt! Solid lead, send out pictures. What? It’s perfect? They love it? They’re flying in partially because of it?! When I say they, I mean Producer and Director. I even got a great compliment from the man who was set to direct this mini series about the photo I placed on the top of the location folder. He said “I never would have thought of that angle.” My eye caught the rough hewn brown wood fence as it tumbled down the hill and out of the picture with the white barn almost smiling in the background. How pleasant is that? Great location, another no. Another heartbreak, but at least I retained a seriously cool compliment.
Another time, another place, another location. This time, even bigger. I got a call from Brian Dannelly, writer/director of an indie film called “Saved.” Are you reading my mind? Awesome! Indies are my favorite! What? You’ve got to be kidding me, it’s produced by Michael Stipe of R.E.M! Ohmy goodness, breathe in, practice bladder control. What now? Concentrate. Focus on what he’s saying. Yes, I can get you pictures of the swimming pool at the University of Maryland. Yes, I can shoot the surrounding campus. I am so on it! Pictures sent, overnight FedEx. Next day, call back. No way man, I mean Mr. Dannelly. You didn’t just say that! I photographed them the same way you pictured them in your mind. Now I’m in love with you! Crushing heartbreak, they never came, well, rather, until I left the film office. They eventually did shoot authentic exteriors, Brian came from Baltimore, but the vast majority of the film was shot on a soundstage, I think in Canada.
Next lesson learned, Hollywood is a fickle friend. I had to scout high end modern architecture. This made me nervous. Being lower middle class can give you a complex when you’re dealing with people 2 levels higher than you. Most of this angst comes from my dealings with upper middle class people from my young adulthood. I love clean lines and symmetry in architecture, so the photography would be pure joy, and to my bewilderment the people were too. I befriended a very famous anesthesiologist whose husband was known in the nation as a top expert in pain medication. I was astounded how quick they took to me. They found their property in a Sotherby’s brochure. It cost them around 2 million, although I would have guessed higher because if memory serves, they had riparian rights (which means waterfront property). Did I mention that I actually at one time had a real estate license. Now that was one tricky exam. More to the subject, the mere name Sotherby’s impressed the heck out of me, I used to get up really early when I was young to watch the auction block on PBS. Long story short, the director loved it, flew in, propositioned me to be his personal assistant, they didn’t shoot in Maryland, I flew to California, didn’t get the job. But the opportunity did give me an amazing amount of confidence in myself.
This confidence was reinforced later by an accidental experiment. The Commercial Manager in our office, Joe, was a good friend of mine and he asked me to download a set of pictures for him. Oh no, crap! I accidentally erased them, how embarrassing! I bucked up to the malfunction and offered to retake the pictures as he managed the sudden flurry of incoming calls. It was an Infiniti car campaign and they wanted an aerial of the Mt. Vernon traffic circle. It was a nice day, so I took a healthy walk from Redwood Street all the way up to Mt. Vernon, I used to walk like that all the time because it was on the bus line and I had a MTA pass (Maryland Transit Authority). From what I could tell from the pictures I scrolled through on the digital camera, Joe was taking an on the street approach. When I reached the center of the traffic circle, I simply looked into the sky. Aha, Washington Monument! Does it have a stairwell? Let me check. Yay! I wonder. I wonder what would happen if I climbed to the top of the monument to take digital panoramas. Hmm…let’s find out. I started taking a series of pictures from the ground to the sky, starting at the southernmost part (facing the Inner Harbor) and progressed clockwise until I had captured it 360 degrees. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the fruit of my labor. It looked like an aerial in the shape of a cross. The shadow of the monument acted as am sundial, how cool is that. Joe was stunned and I was so happy and it gave me a sigh of relief that we actually benefitted more from this freak experiment.
In my short time at the Maryland Film Office, I saw and met so many amazing people that worked in the hub of the wheel which activates and fuels that crazy notion that we call cinema. Picturesque landscapes and exotic interiors gave way for my artistic yearnings to flourish. I may be an uncredited nobody, but I do know that I made a difference. And, that’s me, your color reporter, Nicole Bracy, signing out, on location.
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