Filming at Trinity Park on Tuesday

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

So back on July 20th I sent a message to our ‘business’ newsgroup and asked our most ‘flaky’ member of According To Whim (Miguel) to member to pick a date in September that he could be sure to be off on so I could schedule a day of filming for the show. I made the decision totally up to him and Chris and I would ask off (if needed) at our jobs to accommodate him.

You might ask yourself why I did this… Well, back in 2008 when we were planning shooting Season 2 in five days I scheduled all five days with Chris and Miguel in the coming April (4 months away). When the five days showed up it turned out Miguel didn’t bother to tell anyone about it or make and schedule adjustments. We had him for a few hours of shooting and did the rest with just Chris and I setting up shots, etc.

Needless to say I felt real burned about the whole situation and I wanted to plan ahead this time (as if I didn’t last time) and make sure we could all be available to shoot some sketches at Trinity Park in Fort Worth. So anyway I sent this message to him asking him to pick a day. He did. I also reminded him to make sure he told whoever he needed to tell about the upcoming day.

Fastforward to September. I took the day off. Chris had the day off. On September 3rd we get a message from Miguel on the newsgroup saying he was going to have to work on the 7th and he wouldn’t be able to help. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He gave some excuse about having to work for someone. He works for the post office and is basically a fill in person so when some overpaid postal worker is going to take off he has to fill in.

1.) Surely the worker who he filled in for had to ask off at least a week in advance too, right? Wouldn’t that give him more time to notify us that he was going to miss out?
2.) I asked him how in the world he was able to take a trip to Disney last year if he had to work at the drop of the hat. I knew the answer even though he was too chickenshit to respond. He was supposed to ask off for the day but he didn’t.

Anyway once again he (and believe me this isn’t the first time he has done this sort of thing) flaked on something we were trying to do. In times past I have talked to Chris about abandoning our friendship with him since it’s not a friendship at all really. We keep trying and he can’t be bothered to make the effort. Chris doesn’t want to close that door for some reason so we keep going through this charade.

I then got on the Internet and emailed the guys from Rare Film (or whatever) and asked if one of them could step in as camera man for the day. I never got a reply from them. Earlier I had emailed Dylan (who appeared in our show) to see if he could come into Fort Worth and film with us but he couldn’t. Chris asked his brother (who is in from Oklahoma) if he could be camera man but he had to be back home that morning.

In the end we only shot a few minutes of stuff since we REALLY needed a camera man. It was raining on and off so that hampered us as well. Not to mention the oppressive humidity.

I can’t express my disappointment at having flaky members of a group who you need to rely upon. If any of our group had more potential it was Miguel. He is the one with the film degree and the know how.

I can’t say I am too upset at the same time. While editing the scenes he shot for us on Season 2 I had constant irritation at the moving camera. For some reason Miguel felt you had to keep moving the camera around. I would ask him to shoot a scene a particular way and he would wind up shooting it like a reality show.

I have talked about finding new blood for our group a few times in the past and Chris has suggested finding people at TCC’s drama program. I am not sure how to do this but I think it is the route to go.

Season 2 – before the EVENT, being frustrated (this blog)

Then… The EVENT!

THE EVENT – Click here for First Post
THE EVENT – Click here for Update #2
THE EVENT – Click here for Update #3
THE EVENT – Click here for Update #4
THE EVENT – Click here for Update #5
THE EVENT – Click here for Final Update #6

Then… the Fix!

1 thought on “Filming at Trinity Park on Tuesday”

patbuddha says:

September 9, 2010 at 6:17 pm

I had written a draft of a response and I may or may not ever post it. Since I talk about knowing when to hold your tongue in it, it might be a little hypocritical to follow through with actually publishing it. I may just keep it to myself.

So I will only respond publicly to this bit. "I have talked about finding new blood for our group a few times in the past and Chris has suggested finding people at TCC's drama program. I am not sure how to do this but I think it is the route to go."

The best way, I think, to go about this is to sign up for a class. My feeling is this. The main problem with "finding people at TCC's drama program" is navigating the social waters. Where exactly would one go to find the TCC drama program in such a way where approaching people isn't awkward? I guess you could just hang out in the halls of the theater department and strike up conversations with random strangers. But me being me. I'm not doing that.

Secondly, you might get something out of the class itself. I think you have some potential. Maybe learning formal technique and maybe even doing a play or two will open it up.

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