Superheroes All for One
DOCUMENTARY CREW
Robby “Superman” Brown was the cinematographer on the documentary. Unlike the feature crew, Robby was on duty 24/7. Whenever anything was going on, someone would shout, “Doc cam!” and Robby was racing for the action. Trying to catch the truth behind the truth, Robby sometimes had to force his way into confrontational situations to capture the moment. Toward the end of the trip, it seemed as though Pamela’s camera had been surgically implanted on the end of his arm. No wonder we had about 80 hours of footage for the documentary. Super job, Robby!
Heath “Aquaman” McKinney was the audio guy on the documentary and almost anything else he needed to be. You could always count on Heath to “go with the flow.” In addition to serving as a human alarm clock each day, Heath would take care of anything that showed up for the day. He always adapted cheerfully to whatever was thrown his way. On the flight home, he even cheerfully went through Customs in Johannesburg to return sound equipment to Susan. The rest of us were terrified he wouldn’t be able to find her or that he’d miss his flight. He didn’t do either. As he had the previous 27 days, he navigated cheerfully.
Jared “Hellboy” Moschcau was the Unit Photographer on the documentary. Originally assigned to do sound on the documentary, Jared asked for a reassignment when he discovered a real love for grabbing a great shot that we could use on the blog or in the film. One of the youngest crew members, Jared became the mascot of the Kwazulu Kraal. He would bound into our rooms to see what was happening. He knew he’d get a task to do if he came to visit. He came anyway. In all the literature, it says that “Hellboy” is a special friend to DOOM. He was a special friend to the Doom Room. He was special to all of us.
SWING CREW
At a production studio, the “Swing Crew” consists of the folks who move from sound stage to sound stage, constructing and preparing whatever needs to be done. Our swing crew served the feature crew, the doc crew and the production staff. Now that we’re back in the U.S., they’re hard at work on post production.
Jacob “Spiderman” Felix is particularly gifted at constructing useful devices and tools out of virtually nothing. He built a dolly from a floor display, some skateboard wheels and a couple of broom handles. A few pipes and weights became an efficient steadicam. He worked with the Glidecam so that it had a broader range of motion with more subjective control. Give him a couple of rolls of duct tape and he’ll build you a submarine, if that’s what you need.
Alec “Wolverine” Hart declared at the beginning of the trip that he wouldn’t shave until we returned to the U.S. Within a few days, he could have been Wolverine’s twin brother. While Wolverine is known for his keen senses and fierce hand-to-hand combat, Alec is known for his fashion sense and his fierce verbal jousting. An editor with a keen eye, Alec is happiest in the editing room. He’s working harder now than ever before.
PRODUCTION CREW
The production crew does all of the behind the scenes activity that is vital to the completion of the film. Often unsung, unrecognized and under-appreciated, the production crew makes sure the film gets, well, produced.
M.K. “Batgirl” Racine sometimes worked with the documentary crew but toward the end of the trip, M.K. primarily functioned as a Line Producer for the feature. A line producer will manage the day-to-day physical aspects of film production. If I wasn’t on set, she was there to monitor and report the progress. She and Nick kept things moving when it didn’t seem like anything would. Likewise, she kept pushing on the documentary. If M.K. is given a task, she won’t stop until it’s done.
I’ve put Pamela “WonderWoman” Bowman last on the list, at her request. She’s hoping everyone will be tired of reading and will skip over the ending. The request is representative of how Pamela served as the Associate Producer of the two films. She worked behind the scenes and always put the needs of the production above hers. Very few people know how vital she was in getting the films completed. She got on board early and provided encouragement and support from the earliest stages. In June, when I lost faith, she found it and pushed me to continue. And, at the end, when I was so weary and frustrated with the enormous problems we faced daily, she’d just keep calling cast members, arranging for transportation until I could get going again. She was a better producer than I was. I am looking forward to when she produces her own film. It’s just a matter of time.