Ahhh Atlanta....
I couldn't stay away too long, apparently. A little over a week after my first trip out, we were back.
We arrived trouble-free in the ATL today. And get this -- it's HOT. 20 degrees celsuis hot! Makes me wonder why I didn't manipulate my film around warm locales throughout the winter months and escape the Toronto cold. But I'm a serious artist focused on telling a great story. It's not about personal gain....more or less... :)
After a really early start, we drove into Decatur -- a lovely town just east of Atlanta. It was breathtaking!! A perfect, quaint little town full of tree-lined (and Christmas wreath-accessorized) streets, cute restaurants, gift shops...and sunshine. Today is "Black Friday". To me, I instantly pictured a day of witchcraft and bad luck, but in America this signifies the busiest and most profitable day of the retail shopping year. And the beginning of holiday shopping.... and apparently a day of incredible sales discounts. Did I partake? Of course not, I'm here to work!
Decatur was a nice change of scenery from our last trip. Stone Mountain itself was a lovely place, but the hotel we stayed at was in the middle of nowhere, killing the appeal.
And since we'd been gone, the leaves had changed. As we drove down Freedom Parkway and Ponce De Leon, the winding roads offered us amazing views of golden, crimson and chesnut coloured leaves! I honestly could see myself coming back on a romantic weekend to a spot just like this.
But enough fantasizing....back to work. Because the last trip out was a rainy, overcast mess, we had rescheduled a few segments to re-shoot this time around. Shooting a documentary out of sequence is really stressful and frustrating. At this point in the general public's TV viewing lives, most of us realize that there is little 'reality' programming and everything has a spin or needs to be planned. Nevertheless, it's hard to shoot segments out of sequence when you're on a personal journey. But I had no choice.
The "Artist" arrived 1.5 hours late and all of a sudden, we were now racing against the sun. The busy streets had also turned sparse as people returned home for dinner.... we needed to shoot a "scouting" scene and now we were really pushing it -- darkness descending and empty streets. Somehow, we pulled it off... zooming through town and talking to everyone in sight in record time!
I also needed to grab one crucial outstanding interview. During our "walk and talk" interview, we'd step into pools of shadow which were death to our camera's image.... and just as I mentally prioritized the questions I needed to ask, a train rolled through town (audio nightmare!!!).... Then, before we could finish, the sun set. Grr..... I was definitely going to have to go through this footage at home and see if anything was useable.
We headed on over to the nearby theatre where the Art event was taking place tomorrow and a new challenge presented itself. Stark white walls....and dim lighting. Perfect for creating a live theatre mood, not so perfect for our camera. Good news is, we had a day to figure out the lighting situation and make it work as best we could. So the Artist unveiled his photos, we captured the set-up process... and called it a night.
We grabbed a late bite and discussed the day.
Yes, the town was full of restaurants but no, none of the better quality establishments stayed open past 10.... it's a fact I still can't get used to about the US. I guess I've been spoiled by eating so late in Toronto. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant.... and I injested an entire block of cheese in my quesadilla.
It's also fun getting carded everywhere. Particularly when one of the gang is in his 40s... that's always a riot. They card everyone here.... taking no chances I suppose.
Everyone is majorly in the holiday spirit -- even though everyone's in t-shirts because of the weather. The hotel is really cute -- though I don't have a room that faces the real world, my window overlooks the hotel lobby which is decked out with beautiful Christmas decorations....
Not a great start to the second trip... but not too bad either.
I know -- I'm a kook.
Our connecting flight was in Charlotte and I had to take this picture. The airport had ROCKING CHAIRS everywhere. What a nice way to spend a layover -- rocking your cares away.
I've been doing my darndest to pack lighter with each trip. But it's hard to be prepared for the unexpected without adding a little weight. Here is a pic of my suitcase, weighed at it's heaviest yet -- 65 pounds!!! For shame....
:)
Thank you Claire, Dan and Nicole! You are amazing and I'm blessed to have crossed paths with you! I truly support what you're doing and the way you're doing it... Thank you also to the lovely models who were so sweet and supportive. 
