Learnings from our most recent filming trip
By Eve Poppleton, Content Director
I’ve recently returned from a long weekend in the Hamptons. No, unfortunately not quite the relaxing break it sounds - we were there to film a client at his vacation home near East Hampton. In fact this was our last port of call on a whistlestop tour through the North East. Four locations in 3 days - beginning in Philadelphia - Manhattan - Brooklyn and finally out to Long Island.
Three of these locations were places that personally meant a lot to our client - where he’d grown up, where he worked and where he and the family now spent their time. One of the locations was not so familiar. It had originated from our research into his family tree - it was a special place to the city of New York and a place that our client had a very interesting ancestral connection to.
There are worse places to spend a weekend…
Despite this however, it was a hard sell. From the outset our client had been clear that the ‘history’ - though interesting - was less of a priority for him than capturing the immediate family. This was not an unfamiliar request, and being an entirely bespoke service the focus of a project can shift any which way the client desires. Nonetheless to fully understand where you are you have to understand where you’ve been. Relevant historical stories, contextualising the family today, never fail to add depth and perspective to our projects.
Thus it was that I persuaded him and the family to this location. We introduced an expert (the best in the business) and as we stood in the sun, looking at the Manhattan skyline, our client’s teenage son said the words I’d been hoping to hear - ‘I never knew we had any connection to this part of the city - it makes me feel like I’m more of a New Yorker than I ever imagined.’
Nico, Sophie and I in front of that skyline
The next day saw us down at the Hamptons, for a day of filming interviews and capturing a sunny May day on the beach. Now it was our turn to be a bit reticent. Filming interviews and capturing the family is a key part of every project - but filming just four people, two of whom were children, surely wouldn’t require a whole day? Being used to juggling a multi-team shoot with numerous experts, locations and a litany of family members - I was slightly worried how we would fill this time.
Filming on the beach at Amagansett
I needn’t have worried. The extra time allowed us to conduct several hours of interviews with our client, going far deeper into his business and personal philosophy than usual. Even the filming on the beach was a joy, the client and his family so engrossed in playing in the waves and throwing a stick for the dog they forgot we were even there. When we wrapped that day I felt the usual pride at what we had achieved, but with the added bonus of knowing we’d captured those relaxed, intimate moments for that family forever.
So what I think about most when I think back on that most recent trip is collaboration. A true collaboration between us and our client. He learnt that history could be more interesting and valuable then he may have first thought, and we learnt the value of standing still for a day, to capture those everyday interactions that might otherwise pass us by.
Oh, and not to take the Lincoln Tunnel at 5pm on a Friday.