Planning the mega shoot of the month

For my schedule check out my calendar here and add it to your own. There’s a week left until the mega shoot - the whole purpose of which is not just a beautiful water ballet video, but the poster shot. It’s the only time I’ll have assistance or a crew. These are costly shoots that in the past I have hired tank time, and crew to get the one poster shot.

The videos I make are like a practice run leading up to the megashoot, where I’m slowly gathering choreography ideas, framing and concepts. As you know I enjoy the editing process so after each selfie shoot I spend hours re-creating the event on my iPhone with the emotional stage that I played with soaking into my whole being for days while I edit.

After the edit, having gained a detailed understanding of those micro-moments where things look like they are working, I capture the best of those moments for your comments. Which are your favorite captures from the last underwater shoot? I’ll get rid of the bucket backgrounds and turn them into holographic stickers for you.

So, for next week’s megashoot, I gathered enough information to order the stuff and have it delivered in time, buts it’s cutting a bit fine...

We ordered a waterproof hood for the Nikon DSLR, new grips and stands, some special props for a colorful shoot, and my husband is the one going to work on this shoot with me. This is nerve wracking for him, which is why he normally leaves me to it on my own shoots. We have a working relationship, and work is hard effort. I think we have a sharing directing role difficulty, as when we work together I am working for his clients and what everyone else wants out of the visuals I create. The tables are turned and I usually shoot with others.

Last time I did a megashoot, with the foil over my body, I had a crew who also covered behind the scenes. Unfortunately my former lover who was with me on that shoot held some contention with his role, and I withdrew being able to tell the whole story of the set up.

People were left with questions on how long it took to stick that shit all over my body, and many more. So I resigned to only shooting when I had full control again, as my lover made things really difficult to go public with anything - he was playing me around on the side as a fantasy while he kept up false working relationship pretences. And that did not make me feel good, as my co-workers disrespected me and the abuse started. My husband hated him for being dishonest, as my husband hates censoring. My lover insisted on censorship of his presence from the whole event, which was toxifying my whole experience and working relationship with the crew because of the of my lover’s involvement.

You cannot “want to be involved” and then insist on having your essential presence and participation removed. Together my behind the scenes footage was lost due to him. So ended my last toxic relationship. No one gets to direct their role on my event. No one.

But now my husband is nervous of shooting me 🤣 so we have some re-learning to do.

It’s amazing how people get so fucked up when working with their own emotions rather than the job at hand. My lover was starry eyed to witness and participate, but he stole the shoot for himself by not letting me go public. I felt as though I was his dirty little private porn star. I’m telling you these feelings now, because I am free to show you every effort that goes into the set up of these shoots, this first one being more of a working relationship challenge. Where the tables are flipped. I am in control.

But we have several elements that need testing in the following week before the actual shoot. 😬😬😬 nothing has arrived yet! So I’m hoping it all arrives this week. Actually I will be nervous until it all arrives.