Oh (Big) Brother, Where Art Thou?

Just finished a long day shooting another corporate AVP. Shot everywhere from the Stock Exchange Building, to the Art Gallery, to a ferry in Sydney Harbour. Did all this alone, which meant I had to direct, shoot, sound, and hold the reflector all at the same time. I used to think doing this was just physically impossible, but you'd be surprised what the average homo sapien is capable of when faced with a small budget. Being out in the sun the whole day has left me sunburnt to a crisp, which solves my problem of getting some color before going home.

I am slowly mastering the art of shooting without a permit. I have decided that getting permits is an absolute waste of time and the only time I will do so is if there is enough budget in my project to hire someone else to secure them. The way of dealing with security here in Australia is much different than putting up with the power tripping security guards who were the bane of my guerilla filmmaker existence in Manila. Here there are no visible guards, only...video cameras. Lots of them. All over, little black opaque bubbles mounted on rooftops, mirrors, corners, walls, salt and pepper shakers, etc. It's unreal. I wonder, where are all these things taping to? Do they have a giant mother-of-all-VHS-machines which records every single movement I make? Seriously, you cannot walk 5 feet without being filmed. It's the Hitchcock syndrome- you get creeped out more by what you don't see. At least the guards in Manila are visible, potbellies and all. You feel that you are dealing with an able, somewhat laughable foe, like Chief Wiggum in The Simpsons. Not seeing who is taping you is just downright unnerving.

That said, am looking forward to flying back to Manila for the holidays and engaging in a bit of creative verbal bullshitting with Manila's Finest once again.