Outtake from the backside of the lens: Passive-Aggressive cowpokes.

He was a real cowboy. She was, too. They were both horse trainers, but with slightly different techniques. They were also married, and it was hot-blooded!

Our video shoots were an adventure. Hal and Emily made a dandy living from their horse training videos, but the production was far from routine. As a non-horse person, it was astonishing to watch the animal respond to the training techniques they espoused. The challenge was keeping the video shoot on track. They lived on a ranch in Eastern Oregon, so our video crew had to travel there to shoot each series. Hal did most of the on-camera training, with Emily coaching from outside the round pen. Problem was, Emily’s techniques often were contrary to Hal’s, and inevitably led to intense discussions that stopped the video shoot in its tracks. They would argue, sometimes up to an hour; this happened multiple times a day. Hal always acted like he didn’t even want Emily on location, but desperately wanted her input AND approval. When that happened, I would amble over to the other cameraman, and I’d start discussing camera angle, sound levels, etc., anything to not appear to be within observation range of the spectacular argument unfolding before us.

One day, after a “spirited” discussion, Hal stomped back into the round pen. The crew and I slid back to our positions as he assumed his. Emily tossed a final comment his way, and Hal shot back, “woman, just shut the $#%! up!” He then ordered us to roll tape and picked up where he left off. How he performed without a parka was remarkable, since Emily’s stony silence dropped the atmosphere inside the round pen about 25 degrees.

We got a nice take, and Hall yelled, “Cut!”  He then looked over at Emily. For several seconds, they stared at each other. “For God’s sake, woman,” Hal yelled, “I need some feedback! Ain’t you got anything to say?”

I had to get things going again before they devolved into another animated “discussion”. I said, “Emily, what do you think about pulling that truck up to the round pen so we could get a higher angle on the next lesson?”  The tension broke, we pulled up the truck and started on the next segment. True story.

Need a 4K camera crew with the experience to handle less than ideal circumstances? Think Visually!  If you’d like more info, specs or rates, leave your contact info in the comments section.