Anderson City Council Meeting 9/11/08 - Notes
While filming (standing in the back - in a better location thanks to a suggestion ;) I found myself having opinions about the matters coming up. At one point, after the room cheered and cheered for the comprehensive smoking ban supporters (aka the 'blue shirts'...) and no one cheered for the few supporters of the other side... well, after one young lady stopped speaking, I clapped. Loud. Then slower when no one joined me. It elicited a smile from councilman Rodney Chamberlain.
Anyway, I thought about getting up to speak about it, but held back.
I do hope, though, that I can show both sides of the issue presented at the city council meeting. I would have tried to get a video after the meeting with one of the blue shirts, but they all left soon after their issue was done being discussed. I could've done one beforehand, but I was outside enjoying a cigarette before the long meeting...
So now I'm 'downloading' the video from the camera. This happens in real time so basically i get to relive the whole meeting a SECOND time. Heh. Not my last either.
Heh. At one point, Art Pepelea, Jr. C.E.P. (I believe), asked if 'the newspaper' had a copy of a letter submitted. I spoke up and said, "No, sir, I don't..." and walked over to get a copy. When asking, he was looking at the female reporter from the HB. (She's new, I think?)
The Herald Bulletin actually came up a few times in the meeting. Maybe that should be a 'mini-clip' too - all references to the paper?
Two or three cellphones went off during the meeting - even with a sign posted and the Council President asking everyone to turn them off before the meeting started.
some people are just rude...what do you expect!!!
"Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your kids."
Mayor Ockomon showed up toward the end. (The last hour? heh...) Snapped a shot I'll get up later. All resources are, basically, going to getting the film off the camera.
The sound sounds a little funky too. The mic cord was all tangled again and I tried setting the mic on top of the camera, which i think was a bad idea. I should be able to clean it up, though.
As far as mise-en-scene (framing the action) it was kinda hard. Some of the shots are far shots that aren't going to work really well small, I don't think. At some points, though, I zoomed and followed the action. With cutting I should be able to pick the best shots with the best content...
Expenses incurred ... 3 MiniDV tapes = $12... About a gallon of gas to get to Chesterfield then back to City Hall.
I used free electricity from the city building. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. ;)
I guess I'll share the time commitment to getting this out too.
Then at the end we can see if you guys, the audience, think it is worth it.
I'm sure the HB will get their story up and out before I manage to put it all together, but it will be interesting to compare the coverage, I think.
Technically, something this long, I should really use more than one camera. I had to switch tapes twice, and missed some while I fumbled with the camera.
The tripod I'm using is also a 'homemade' special. Heh. McGayverism at its best. It works, but might need to be replaced...
Ok, I got the first section cut down to half an hour. Heh. Still too long.
What I think I'm going to do, though, is give these lightly edited versions for people who want to see more of the details then do a super edited version of maybe 4 or 5 minutes for the whole meeting... We shall see...
Did Roofer Rob make an appearance or is he still running the Ricker's circuit?
I have spoken!
Looks like it's going to take about 30+ GIGS of space for just the raw footage.
I think this time (and in future for longer things like this) to do some editing. How long is too long? I'm thinking of lots of small videos dealing with specific topics/issues during the meeting.
I'm opening this process of getting the material on the site up to you, so don't be shy...