Feature movies, documentary films, TV series episodes are constantly being shot in New York City. There isn’t hardly a day that I walk in Manhattan that something isn’t going on in that realm. Take yesterday for an example: I’m walking up Broadway lost in my own thoughts which can be dangerous in New York. I should have known better. I wound my way through a gaggle of people, stepped over cables on the sidewalk and noticed some unusual lights sitting there. Then a loud voice yells, “Background.” This was followed by the same voice yelling, “Action.” I stopped, turned to see what was going on just in time to see an attractive lady in some kind of short trench coat, displaying a gun in her holster on her hip. She marched directly towards me and beyond with a cameraman following her closely. Apparently, I had stumbled into one of those TV crime shows being filmed. A guy came up to me and asked me if I was part of the “background.” I answered in the negative and stated, “Just observing.” When I got out of the way, they did the scene all over again.
Last week we were enjoying a Sunday afternoon glass of wine in a historic Lower Manhattan watering hole when the waitress told us excitedly that if we would follow her to the back window we could see the Batmobile. Yes, there it was. Later outside we stood in the freezing cold wind. It had snowed the day before. Sure enough the film crew was getting ready to shoot a scene for the newest Batman movie that will be coming out sometime in the future. See the picture to the right. Mind-boggling! It will be interesting to see the movie when it’s released.
The mind-boggling thing about these scenes is they last all of ten seconds or maybe a minute. But it takes a huge crew of men and woman along with trucks, lighting equipment, cameras many hours to set everything up and get ready for what must only be a small piece of the finished product. The expense has got to be astronomical. One can begin to understand the incredible cost of these endeavors. It also sheds some light on why it is necessary to make a lot of money off advertizing and movie tickets to even break even. It is providing much needed employment for many.
In fact the Mayor’s Office reports that the film production industry in New York City provides over 100,000 jobs and generates more than $5 Billion every year. Many actors make their homes here. Matt Damon and Michael Douglas are among them, from what I hear.
Stan the Man
No comments:
Post a Comment