It is really strange how a moment in time can be both so punishing and so refreshing. My little blog here, Pericles Shrugged, is meant to be cine-centric, concentrating on the ongoing story of promoting my feature,
LOOP and any other filmmaking antics. However being who I am I realize that I will branch out with all of the zeal of attention deficit disorder into everything from
Politics to
water skiing squirrels.
So (Hee, hee)
bear with me.
I have a an interesting job working in international broadcast news exclusively for Arab clients based in Washington DC. My wife, Lisa, also works in the business and was the
go to person in her news agency for all things Inaugural in our nation's capitol.
Sounds cool right?It is, but there are diverse circumstance that work behind the scenes that conspire against the blue collar "boots on the ground" news media to create a morphing dystopia of stress, anxiety, fear and depression during what appears to be and in fact
was a history making celebration of a new era.
So my friends, without malice, let me take you backstage to the soft underbelly of the
great and secret show...
In the days leading up to the Inauguration, there was a cyclone of work. Former President Bush's last press conference had to be covered, President Obama choosing his security team, economic team and his cabinet. All the while a stream of think tank wonks streamed in and out of the office discussing the the 800 pound gorilla in the room - Gaza. I was pulling every frame of that conflict from news feeds in case an edit would need the some of that horrid b-roll. The dichotomy was breathtaking as I also received video of extravagant celebratory preps for the Inauguration while I simultaneously compiled footage to highlight the last eight years of the Bush legacy. All of this with the news that we would
likely work from the morning of the 19Th straight through until the late evening of the 20TH. There was no other way. It was that big. About a dozen of us, men and women would be sleeping on cots at the office overnight as would many of our colleagues across the city. The hotels were all booked up in the area and they were asking for three day minimums at triple the price.
We were all perplexed about the sleepover because we were all adults. Discussions and jokes regarding, farting, snoring, talking, night terrors and sleepwalking brought knitted brows and furtive glances instead of laughter.
We were also concerned about the cold. That week we experienced near zero temperatures and as the forecast fluctuated so did our outlook.
The day before the event we set up our equipment at the west front lawn location of the Capitol. I was part of a crew that included Cici, a talented and experienced photojournalist who also helped me finish my feature
LOOP and also shot my short
Freedom Plaza, along with a Lebanese correspondent named Rana, who was named one of the
50 most beautiful people on Capitol Hill by
The Hill.com, which is Capitol Hill's own newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is written for and about the U.S. Congress.
I became fortunate at the last minute as my wife was able to secure a room for the 19Th in Alexandria, Virginia through her company. I was due to be on site at 4am on the 20TH, however the metro trains would shut down at 2am and resume at 4. So I ventured into the carnival-like streets of DC, getting to the hotel in Virginia at 9pm, showering, hitting the sack at 10pm, waking at midnight, dressing in many layers and returning to the office by 1am. The return was a bit surreal as the streets were still full with excited Obama supporters. Some were dressed in gowns and tuxedos as they returned from parties in Crystal City and Union Station.
It was very cold.
When I returned to the office, a note was taped to the door from Cici for me saying that we should be out the door and walking to our zone for a security sweep by 3am. I was already full of Geek-level caffeine and expected something like this. I stepped into the office to a chorus of snores, hisses, snorts and mumbles and laid on an empty cot behind a desk. Somewhere I could here someone's Blackberry ringing in a constant stream of emails every ten seconds.
I stared at the ceiling and thought about everything I was neglecting. I had been working to promote LOOP and following the
TrulyFreeFilm blog that is working to create more opportunity for independent filmmakers, but by the time I got home in the past week, I was too exhausted to go online. I was way behind on my emails and return phone calls, neglecting my friend Rick, who was calling me from the
Sundance Art House Convergence, Andy, who was calling me about
LOOP and the
Redneck Zombies 2oth Anniversary Edition (Release date January 27) Christine, a director whose zombie movie
Fistful of Brains, I had a featured role in and a whole bunch of people concerned that I was beaten senseless and penniless in London after my Yahoo account was hacked and emails asking for help and money was sent to everyone in my address book (Up to the C's) before I could stop it. There was also Faith, Jeremy, Erin, Michael... baby pictures sent for me to view remained unseen. Guilt prevailed. All week I kept tagging my emails mentioning the Inauguration, worrying that it would be seen as a sort of "name dropping." But the truth was, I had a lot of plates spinning online and I knew the Inaugural would put me "underground" for a while and I didn't want to appear inhospitable or inattentive. My job always keeps me in trouble with my
Netiquette.
Everything seemed to be happening at once. Does this ever happen to you?
My thoughts were broken up when my boss's alarm went off at 2:30am. I saw him stagger out the door and suddenly from the edit room Cici appeared
bundled up and ready to walk in the cold to Capitol Hill. At 3:15am we were standing in a line of about 100 or so other news media, we passed through security at about 3:45 and we were at the camera position turning everything on and letting things heat up.
I think it was 18 degrees but it felt colder. The space for each camera position was small. About 2 feet wide by 3 feet long. Correspondents would be standing
shoulder to shoulder barely out of each others frame as they did their liveshots. We realized that only two people could really fit up there and the plan was to switch off and give each other breaks... little did we know...
Rana showed up at 4 and fortunately we were able wait
in a friend's trailer until we went live. It was agreed that Cici would take the first shift and then I would relieve her. We left the trailer and I waited below as they went up to the camera position for a 5am liveshot. The camera platform was built high and sturdy into the air about 2 or 3 stories with scaffolding.
Once the festivities began, the reality of the situation became clear. The camera platform with their tiny spaces became so packed that everyone was trapped. As I waited below, freezing in the loose knit fabric of the platform's cage, it became apparent
after the first two hours was that this was to be my position for the most incredible positive event in my lifetime. I had my back-up still camera, a point and shoot Olympus, but my mini Hi-Def Sony video camera with a built in still camera and 16x zoom was stuck upstairs with the scrum of media. (Images from the platform on "I-day" were taken by Cici)
Here I was trapped in a diaphanous cube with a few other hapless techs watching frantic organizers rush up and down the stairs, ears glued to cell phones or frozen thumbs tapping terrified tweets into their handheld devices. All of them raising their voices at one point or another. Friendly VIPs wearing the equivalent of three grizzly bears were constantly being ushered through the area, all under the watchful eye of a single Secret Service agent, who I mentally nicknamed Dexter. I was not wearing my glasses to keep them from being damaged and everything was slightly de-focused. I had about two sets of double A batteries to feed my underpowered 3x zoom Olympus which seemed to be dying every time I turned it on. I tried calling and texting Cici with no luck. I found out later that she and Rana could barely move and the few stills she was able to take between live shots were with great difficulty. I was pretty bluesy by the frigid five hour mark as the pomp and circumstance blared from the event. All around me chaos reined as I alternated sitting down and standing up trying to keep warm and stay out of the way of the area's parade of progress. One of the more excitable people in the area was woman I named "Snowball," because of the giant fluffy round balls on her Inaugural hat. She leaned toward me from soft focus to crystal clarity and yelled this...
Snowball: Have you seen John Smith? (I can't remember what name she actually said.)
Me: I don't know. I don't know John Smith.
Snowball: He works for the Senate Gallery!
Me: Sorry!
Snowball's disappointed frantic face then receded into the diffusion of confusion that had become my Inaugural domain. But by this time I was becoming fond of
my little abstract oasis. People who know me will tell you that I appreciate the absurd. I often find it inspiring and I moved myself closer to the netting as noon approached and the President I voted for was about to be sworn in.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney were announced and a wave of boos worked toward the front blending into the "Na na hey hey goodbye" chant. My colleagues at the net looked at each other in mock disgust and then broke out into laughter. I kept a poker face as the little devil on my shoulder sarcastically whispered into my ear as I ran the images of the previous week's edit in my minds eye.
The swearing in was performed with speed and no precision and then my President began to speak. I tried to snap some quickies which looked awful on the little camera screen because of the netting, but I began to be taken by his words.
I immediately realized that we no longer had to put up with esoteric meanings of such tightly scripted lines such as "the soft bigotry of low expectations," and the many paths that such a statement can travel. I was listening to a man who spoke about things that were deeply important to me, using a forum that before now was no more than a platform for platitudes and not for the declaration of righteous ideas and policy.
"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history..."
Again the images from the week coursed through my mind. Iraq, torture, excuses, Gitmo and the lack of accountability. The remnants of the past worked through the haze of the cold and I began to warm to the feeling that perhaps change would become a reality with my new President and that perhaps we can repair our country's relationship with the rest of the world. The weight of the shame I felt trying to manage the hubris of last eight years began to slide away. I am a sincere believer in President Obama, but I am also a certified skeptic. But at this moment, this particularly sweet moment, I felt a part of something and a sincere love and hope for the future. I realize that I may be disappointed, but for a change I would just enjoy myself.
"... but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
Wow... In his inauguration speech... words I needed to hear... I felt emotional and I got a bit misty, actually frosty in this case.
And I looked out at the sea of humanity braving the elements seeming to lean forward as our President spoke. It was an incredible sight that reminded me of the
reflecting pool scene in Forrest Gump except there were no digital effects.
This was real, historic and important.
I felt proud.
And no one was going to ever take this away.
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