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Movie Magic – Life on a Reality TV Show
I know Tony has done a post about working with the film crew, but I was just remembering some fun antics and thought you guys might want to read a little about what it was like to work on a reality show.
The film crew was fantastic! They loved their jobs, loved the long term nature of the show (most of their life had been going from one gig to the next), and loved working on a “real” reality show. I got to hear stories of some of them working for other shows where it was encouraged to set up disagreements or fights to get more viewership. Despite the long-term nature of the show, however, it still seemed as though we would make friends with them, then they would be let go and new ones would be hired. That was not my business, but still sad to see good friends go.
One bit of “movie magic” was the episode that was supposed to be my first day on the job. This was certainly NOT my first day, it was just a day they picked a few weeks into my employment to pretend that it was the first day. I had to pull into the parking lot several times, get out of my car and walk to the clinic a few times, all while clients were there, wondering what on earth I was doing. It was, frankly, embarrassing, but the best part was when I was introduced to the office and Charles greets me to show me around. The first clip done, he comes up to me, all excited acting and says “alright, so just go ahead and take off all of your clothes and I’ll show you around.” We had to re-shoot that one after all of us fell out laughing.
Early on, they got an idea to make a character out of me. They tried at first to get me to fully embrace my southern roots and the producer, Jon, asked me if I could say things with more of a southern drawl and more stereotypically southern phrasing like “I was happier than a pig in shit!” I flatly said no. I understood the risks that were going to come with putting my professional skills on national television to be assessed and critiqued by vets all over the world, I was not about to make a caricature of myself.
When they found out I was pregnant shortly after I arrived, they decided to make it their center of every thing that I did. I would do a case and get asked the question “Are you afraid this could hurt your pregnancy” or “Weren’t you worried about your baby while doing this”? I was very patient (I think) for a very long time, but after becoming more friends with them, having a late night emergency with them involving maggots, and getting the ridiculous question asked for the 97th time that day “Are you afraid that the maggots are going to affect you or the baby and why?” My smart-ellic side came out and I got very quiet and serious, looked dead into the camera and said “yes, actually, there’s a condition where the maggots will burrow in through your belly button and infect the baby, which then pupates and eventually bursts from your abdomen and eats everyone”. The field producer just said “Cut” and we were done. I apologized for my antics, but he said that he was also tired of the questions from DC (headquarters).
One thing you will get tired of with cameras following you around all the time is definitely cameras following you around all the time. It was one thing when they were there for the cases you were seeing, but sometimes, you just wanted to research a case in a book or online or even just stare into space without having to worry about being filmed. One of the times I rebelled against the cameraman filming me do EVERYTHING ended up being a pretty good clip. I was hungry and trying to eat without having to worry about smacking or crumbs on my face in front of national TV, but Mikus, a very good friend, but also stuck to a camera would not leave me alone, so I intentionally went over, grabbed an obscenely large handful of animal crackers and ate them as sloppily and ridiculously as I could. I don’t actually think Dr. Pol was there watching, I’m pretty sure that was just an edited-in clip.
Everyone had to be mic’ed (microphone attached to them) before a scene could begin. Sometimes, if I arrived too early to an emergency or a farm call, the crew would ask me to wait in the driveway so they could get to the client and get a microphone on them before I arrived or you wouldn’t be able to hear what was said. This always gets me in reality shows when they are going to “surprise” someone, but when they get there, the surprised person is already Mic’ed up and ready to go.
There were also numerous… upon NUMEROUS times where I was asked to re-enter a room or driveway so they could get different angles, or get the jeep going through a large puddle just so. The best was when it was after a farm call and doing multiple shots of the same scene was keeping me from returning to work. The worst were when I entered a room and gave bad news but the crew wasn’t ready for it and asked me to give bad news again – to real people about real medical issues with their pets.
The interviews you see with the doctor on a chair with a barn scene background were all filmed in the garage at the clinic with a projector putting up the image that you see behind us. This was the time that the field producers would ask us questions about the cases they shot with us. There would be a multitude of cases all piled up on one day for us to remember. They would be like “you remember Buddy, the beagle?” No. Then, they would have to show me the transcript of what was done and said, sometimes weeks before the interview. Sometimes I would be like “Oh, yeah, of course I remember Buddy!” and sometimes we would go over the entire transcript and I would just say “Whatever, it was a pyoderma, I’ll just answer general questions about pyoderma”. It was interesting though, the producers definitely wanted a certain answer from you and so they would word questions to get you to answer like they wanted. It was a dance; sometimes we were in sync, sometimes I just said “just tell me what you want me to say!” when I was really tired.
Working on a TV show has certainly changed by perception of watching any “reality” show. Now, Tony and I will watch one and chide back and forth about what questions the producers asked to get that specific answer from a character or how they may have trimmed the clip to make it look like someone was angry with someone else when maybe they were just bored and sighed, but the clip was then inserted as a reaction to someone else.
Overall, I had a blast working with the film crew. I got to know most of them and even became good friends with some of them. They came from all over and had all different stories. Some were local, some were from Los Angeles, or even the Virgin Islands. Some were party happy in their early 20s, some were older family men. Some were a shoulder to cry on or an ear to complain to, some took me under their wing and helped me along. All of them were fantastic people and I miss them dearly and hope nothing but the best for every single one of them.
*** Disclaimer – all the medical things you see on the show were real – patients, clients, problems. ***
Everything in moderation
***Disclaimer: photos were added 100% willy nilly and have nothing to do with the post other than to add pictures***
I was recently at our Church small group meeting and the topic was, I don’t know, something like living by example and “witnessing” in the mundane – being an example in everyday life. Anyway, we got onto the age-old discussion of whether it’s better to surround yourself with non-believers or believers. I’ll go over the discussed points with both and then talk about the benefits of including both.
Argument 1: Stay away from the “bad” crowd: The theory behind this one is obvious, but a very good point. If you want to grow better as a person, it is better to have people around you who are like you or even what you perceive as better than you.
- Social situations: If you hang out with negative people who like to cause drama, you will begin to, also, look for drama to start to fit in. In the same, but opposing manner, if you were to hang out with people who really enjoy raising people up and helping and being supportive, you are more likely to integrate THAT into your own life.
- Habits: If you hang out with alcohol or drug abusers, you are much more likely to partake yourself and possibly fall into a metaphorical hole. On the other hand, if you hang out with people training for marathons or are crazy into health and fitness, you are more likely to curb your life to include those or similar activities.
- Spiritually: If you only hang out with people who strongly believe there is not a God or only harshly criticize those who do, you will start to feel as though you cannot believe in God for fear of being looked down upon. If, on the other hand, you hang out with people who seem more in touch with God or have more knowledge of religious texts, you are more likely to grow there as well.
Argument 2: Surround yourself with “non-believers” to better influence them to become better people is the other side of the argument, because how can you make the world a better place if you only talk badly about the “bad” people and surround yourself with like-minded people?
- Social situations: If you hang out with people who are inherently negative and only see the worst in people or a situation, but you are able to enlighten them on another perspective, you may be able to slowly transition them to seeing things in a better light. Example: Car goes screaming past you driving, Negative Nancy says: “what a jerk, I hope he gets caught by the police.” You say “well, maybe his wife is in labor and he’s trying to get to the hospital”. Ms. Nancy, then, of course makes fun of you, you both laugh and move on. Try this in work situations when everyone is gossiping about another co-worker – try suggesting something no one may have thought of that could be the root of the problem so that the one person doesn’t have ALL the blame on them (unless, of course, they deserve it =)
- Habits: This one is harder. I would love to say that just not being an alcoholic with a few inspirational words would be a positive influence on an alcoholic or drug abuser, but once they’ve reached that point, they need professional assistance – this does not mean you should leave them in the “gutter”. Ideally, you can inspire someone BEFORE they become a full fledged substance abuser. Hang out with them, drink with them, but cut out at a responsible level. If you keep drinking, socially, others will feel the need to keep up.
- Spiritually: The basic idea with this theory is that if you surround yourself with non-believers, you could positively influence them and perhaps help them become a believer. You would be the metaphorical light house for ships on the sea. If you make friends and find out they are not believers, or even hate people who are, don’t write them off. Let them know that you are a believer and leave it at that for awhile. If you can let them know how you feel without pushing the issue, they will ideally begin to see that not all believers are crazy and may eventually become more curious, but if not, you can still be that positive influence on their opinion of people. Coming from a person who knew of Jesus growing up, but didn’t attend church and had every kid in the school in middle Georgia aimed at saving my soul, I can tell you the worst thing you can do when you find someone like me (as I was) is start the old and rehearsed rhetoric the churches shove down your throat to “witness” to others. Be a cool person, but be a cool person who has made it known that you are a believer.
So, really, both arguments make sense. But they also have their inherent flaws. If you only surround yourself with like-minded people, you cannot grow as a person, and unless you are convinced that you are perfect in every way, there is always some growth to be doing. Even if your are hanging out with people whom you deem “needing your help”, you’d be surprised by what they can teach you. Learning perspective can sometimes be the best growth you can do. People who have claimed “I would never make that life decision” get to know people who didn’t have a choice, or did it with the ultimate courage and make you revisit your perception of people who have made different choices than you have.
If you surround yourself with only people you feel needs your help, you are trying to set sail across the Pacific in a dingy. There’s also the very real fear that you will, in fact, fall to their ways and NOT grow as a person. An alcohol abuser friends with another alcohol abuser = no growth. An alcohol abuser friends with a clean person intentionally trying to change the abuser = not friends very long (OR shining success! – but not likely). Sometimes, people who need help just need someone to lean on while they try to get up.
In reality, at least in the way I feel, you should do a little of both. Hence the “moderation” in the title. You should absolutely find people whom you deem equal or superior to yourself in whatever aspect you need to grow. Whether it’s social, behavioral, spiritual, or even professionally. You should also have friends that do not fit into that cute little package – ones that are fun to be with, but test your limits and in your friendship, you even each other out.
With all being fair, and in the reality of life, you obviously will not be able to just go and select friends that match this picture. So, make friends, love them, learn from them, teach them and if you feel out of balance, join a group that would help you get a little more balanced. I, for one, am not a hugely religious person. I attend church and believe in God most days, but find my best company in the similarly damaged/awkward crowd, so I joined a small group in the church that I attend. This tends to keep me looking in the right direction and thinking about ways to refocus and become a better person while hearing the struggles of others feeling the same way as me.
