Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1525020
38 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Fall 2024 first effort was Bound for Glory and mine was Animal House. As Bob Dylan wrote, "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Documentary Features In 1968, the Maysles Brothers were about to produce a Rolling Stones film called Gimme Shelter. It was to be performed and filmed at Sears Point Raceway, above San Francisco. Everything was built for a huge turnout, with facilities and all the accommodations. The Maysles got several of us together for a production/planning meeting on a houseboat in Sausalito, CA. We were ten or more groups of camera and sound, to split up and to go to the far corners of the US, to document kids' experiences on their individual path to Gimme Shelter. This was the plan. About three days before the performance date, Sears Point canceled. Another location was found quickly, a vacant ranch in Altamont, CA. It had nothing, no bathrooms, water or facilities of any kind, just dirt. The one-lane road in was immediately blocked. The Hell's Angels were hired to be security, being paid with beer. It quickly became very violent. With no roads available, The Stones flew in on a hot-air balloon and Mick was punched in the face, getting out of the basket. I was the mixer and at times did some camera. With nothing to drink under the hot sun, jugs of apple juice appeared, mixed with LSD, compliments of security. Four people were killed and there were four births. In 1972, I was asked to go to the Mayan Mountains of Southern Mexico and record a feature, using indigenous people as actors, portraying mythical stories from the Mayan bible. My Boom Operator, Earl Sampson, and I fitted a monster pickup to be jungle- ready. At the last minute, we were asked to smuggle in a complete Panavision camera package, which we did. The film was being funded completely out of pocket, by its writer-director. It was scheduled for six weeks. I brought a very small, plastic carry case with a Nagra 4L, a 50-foot and a 10-foot XLR cable, a Sennheiser 815 and an RE15, hand mic, that's all! After six weeks, the DP had to leave for another film. I took over as DP and Earl became the mixer. The film went over by five months. I did a wonderful job as DP and Earl delivered great tracks. Going home, I was asked to smuggle back a producer's child and return the camera package. It all worked out. I will share some experiences with several wonderfully supportive directors. John Landis Kentucky Fried Movie - Animal House - The Blues Brothers, Twilight Zone - Thriller (playback) - Into the Night - Three Amigos - Coming to America - Oscar. On Animal House, during the filming of the toga party planning scene, I was mixing in a little phone booth, off the kitchen of the fraternity house. The cook was making breakfast for the house brothers, as John Belushi was asking, "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" The phone rang behind my head. It was someone from Local 695 calling to tell me, I wasn't yet sworn in, and that I must be replaced! I was to return to the union office in LA and get that done. I had the solution, which I explained to the Local. We were rolling and I whispered that I was mixing with my left hand and could raise my right hand, ready to take the oath. That's how it went… The Germans were bombing Pearl Harbor, the toga party was being planned, the pancakes were ready, and I became a member of Local 695. John Landis played a wonderful part in the presentation of my CAS Career Achievement Award, and we are still good friends today. On Three Amigos, our three actors did their dialog riding horses on gravel. It was terribly crunchy. I broomed the gravel away enough to put down "Hogs Hair,'' to accommodate three horses. The horses' walking was now silent. Robert Zemeckis Romancing the Stone - Back to the Future (all three) - Death Becomes Her - Forrest Gump - What Lies Beneath – Castaway - The Gimmie Shelter Houseboat