IN-DEPTH: Day 17 Enjoy the Pissed-tivities

Friday? Bah, humbug!

“I was already pissed, but the cheekiness of that guy just added to the pissed-ivities!”

As always, Anazi has a way with words… I think we’re all just a little annoyed right now. We’re tired and stressed and running out of time. Today’s events didn’t help any.

So we started the day doing Zel’s interview with Mavis, a Piki Tup worker who cleans the streets of Yeoville every day. The light was crap to start with, and there was so much bloody wind that even with Fluffly (that’s the dead cat-looking thing we put over the mic to reduce outside noise) the sound was also crap.

This is a Fluffy, and we’re not sadists because he really does look like a dead cat… Some days the best thing about filming is hanging out with Fluffy. Photo Robyn Kirk

Setting up to shoot is always a long process. You need to find the right angle, light, test the sound, make sure the mic isn’t in the shot… Today felt like longer than usual though,  because the sound kit was giving problems. We (eventually) figured out that the cable which connects the mic to the zoom (recorder) had somehow been damaged.

We hadn’t used this kit last, Anazi only got it this morning. It not working properly was incredibly frustrating because in the short term we were struggling enough with the other technical factors, and now had to battle with equipment issues that we literally only discovered while our subject was standing around waiting to be interviewed, so she could go back to doing her job.

Long term, it also means less usable equipment for the class – which has been pointed out previously is already in short supply and causing even shorter tempers… Only going to get worse as deadlines come closer, so I’m taking bets on who will win the class death match (or as I like to call it, The Great Sound Kit War of ’14).

But from there the day only got better! And by ‘better’ I mean much, much worse. We we’re going to park near the Yeoville Market so Anazi could talk to some people who are crowded into a small flat on that street. We got out, and got our stuff together to go inside. Zel (who was driving that day) has this habit of locking her car and then checking the handle to make sure it has definitely locked. It’s a funny thing to watch, but thank goodness she did it this time because her car just wouldn’t lock for some reason… And then we looked around, and spotted the dodgy guys across the street, one of them conveniently hiding his hand from view. He was using a jammer to stop the car from locking so they could steal it once we were gone! Bastardos! Paskiaiset! Adulteri! 混蛋!

 

Thank you Google Translate for expanding my range of swear words!

Well, as it goes… It can always be worse – after all, at least I’m not allergic to air or anything.