By Jim Zura
One of the most typical assignments I’ve had over the
past three decades is to shoot a network interview in an office or residence.
In practically all cases, the host/interviewee is extremely gracious and
accommodating—heck, they want to look their best, and trust us to do what we
need to do to create the best picture.
I can’t tell you how many times, while we were setting up, I’ve
heard: “Please, do whatever you
need to do, move anything around that you need to.”
And usually we need to.
To create the best depth-of-field, soft-focused background, the correct
lighting and composition, it turns out that we have to shuffle a chair, sofa,
table, or other “props”.
I’ve been in the homes of scores of very prominent
and famous people for these purposes.
I can’t tell you how many times (nor will I name names) we’ve moved a
sofa, and despite the meticulous housekeeping exhibited throughout the rest of
the abode, there it was, under the furniture—normal everyday-life human
discards. Dust bunnies. Change. Popcorn.
Candy wrappers.
Gosh, the look on the face of the poor host!
I can’t imagine the lecture the paid housekeepers are gonna get!
So, no matter how rich and famous, we all put our socks on one foot at a time, and we are all prone to dust bunnies and other surprises!