May 10, 2022

Six weeks of work in May/June in Colorado? Yes, please!

The cast and crew that travelled were put up in condos in Colorado Springs for the duration of the shoot. I shared a three bedroom with the 1st Assistant Director and the Director-of-Photography, whom I rode to set with daily. The morning of our second day of filming we passed a shopping center under renovation where the fire department was just arriving to put out a literal dumpster fire - a construction dumpster was in flames in the parking lot. As we passed by the DP said “I hope that’s not a sign of things to come…” and we had a good chuckle about it.

That night we were shooting a sequence of a tactical SWAT-like team raiding the First Presbyterian Church of downtown Pueblo. It’s a beautiful church with a unique stain-glassed window in the sanctuary, right downtown Pueblo. The church sits across the street from the county courthouse and the county detention center (jail) to the other side. We had shot interiors for most ofd the day, but that night we had our exteriors of our suited up members in swat-gear, and prop weapons. The shoot day had been good and productive and only a few shots were left to get the be able to call the day successful.

To get the wide shots of the scene, the DP moved the camera across the street, and most of the crew went with him. It was a small setup, one we hoped to get quick. I remained near the cast, in their combat gear - wearing my sound-gear, which itself is a tactical front-loader vest with the sound bag held on via molle straps. That sound bag has wires sticking out of it and a couple lights - one big red light when I’m recording. I was wearing a red hat - from the production of Little Image Bearers and a red and white check desert scarf. The director was standing near me with the swat-dressed team when we both noticed - far down the block - a police car driving toward us quickly going the wrong way up a wrong way street. His headlights were off, and we were both puzzled only as long as it took for them to be upon us and their lights to flip on and the sirens to squawk.

I asked the director “Are they with us?” - and he replied “I hope not” or something similar. At that moment the car stopped and on his loudspeaker the officer told us to get on the ground. Then we realized we were surround by a lot of police on either both streets (we were on the corner - we had police to our right and to our left, but who could not see each other). As we went to the ground….

I pressed record.

This is the audio from that event. I had my boom mic running, lab mics on two actors - Mark and Heath - and a microphone on myself.

In the player you can select which file you wish to listen to for the duration of the event. At one point the police disconnected my boom cable so that track goes dead. Mark’s wireless lav went out of range for a long time. For most of it I had my earbud in one ear and could hear Heath while he was detained in the police car (and the officer’s pump-up music).

When this event comes up I’ve been asked why we didn’t clear the filming with the police. I do think we did - though it wasn’t my job in sound to do so. What I believe happened (and I could be wrong) is that the producer had told the city, and the police had it in their dispatch that we were filming at the First Presbyterian Church. The police had driven by our set several times that night without incident. However, in the last setups, the lights had been struck and it looked less like a production and more like several people standing around in combat gear.

Also, the shot went past midnight and we were in a new day. I do think it’s possible that the police dispatch note did not carry over after midnight. I could be wrong about this, but it’s a suspicion of mine. When the DP and most of the crew went across the street to get the final wide angle shots, a man drove down the one-way street in front of the church. He was looking at us on the corner, wide-eyed, mouth agape. He never looked to his right to see the camera and the crew. All he saw was a bunch of people in swat-like gear and me, in tactical vest with a desert scarf on, and a pack with wires and lights strapped to my chest. He and I made eye contact as he drove through what was about to be the shot before Abby Singer.

It was moments later that the police were upon us.