It Had to End with a Cheesesteak

So I'm back home on Cape Cod for a few days after wrapping up our shoot in Philly. Our final day was one of the more authentic, more improvised days of the entire week.

First we went to prison. Then we got let out of prison. It usually isn't that easy. Really though, going through all that security, all those gates and locked doors really makes you think about what it must be like to be incarcerated. I don't know whether the prison system works or not. I learned, after this shoot, that 85 percent of released inmates end up back in jail. So I don't know what the answer is there, I do know, however, that I never want to be in jail.

The Philly prison system is extensive, and we saw the inside of two of their facilities. We interviewed the prison commissioner, just to get some details about the Philly prison system before meeting with an inmate. We were shooting at the prison because the Augustinians have a very strong ministry program for inmates. Fr. Paul, our guide for the day, spends quite a bit of time behind bars, talking with men who keep finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.

The inmate we interviewed was an incredibly intelligent and articulate man who got caught up with drugs and spent most of his life in and out of jail. Everything he said was so real, emotional, honest, that it was hard to pay attention to the sound quality of the interview. He's someone who really has been positively influenced by Fr. Paul and his work, and you could see the gratitude he felt.

After we wrapped up the interview and packed up our gear, it was time to leave the prison. We'd been filming in a visitation room and all the doors locked from the outside. For a brief moment, we all got a sense of what it's like to be locked up, and it wasn't a great feeling.

We eventually busted out (were let out by guards).

The final interview and B-roll we needed was of a man named Steve. Steve was the guy we followed on the subway to the ex-inmate meeting, but we didn't have a chance to interview him. So we did what any intrepid filmmakers would do, we found him at his son's rec basketball game. It was the perfect place to get some B-roll of him with his wife. The whole family was incredibly open and accepting of us filming them, and essentially invading their time together. Steve is someone whose life has been changed drastically by the Augustinians. He's out of jail, clean and reunited with his family. I think that's why he was so willing to help us get the footage we needed. After the game, we went back to their house for the interview. It was perfect, with his family in the background he spoke passionately about how Fr. Paul had truly changed his life.

Before leaving, we got one more thing we needed from Steve: directions to the best cheesesteak joint in the neighborhood. As usual, Steve did not disappoint.



Tony Luke's is apparently pretty famous for their sandwiches. I haven't had many cheesesteaks in my life, but this one was definitely the best. It tasted better knowing we had just wrapped a fantastic week of shooting in Philly, and we had a few days to rest at home before jetting to Africa.



Here's to you, Philadelphia. Onward to South Africa.

The Streets of Philadelphia

Today was day two of our Philly shoot, and a big goal for the day was getting some B-roll of the city. B-roll is just pictures to go with words. Anytime you watch a movie, especially a documentary, you obviously aren’t just watching interview after interview. Pictures must illustrate the words people say or the audience is going to lose interest pretty quickly.

So our first stop of the day was at the ministry offices for the Augustinians. There we interviewed Fr. Jack Deegan, who founded “Augustinians Defenders of the Rights of the Poor.” I think he’s 75 years old, at least, and as Jody said in his interview is “taking on the biggest challenge of his life at a time when most people are looking to retire.”

Setting up an interview isn’t as easy as you might think. It’s not just plopping the subject in a chair and rolling tape. The lighting has to be perfect, the acoustics of the room must work, the chair can’t squeak, the heater can’t be running and on and on it goes. My job this shoot has been to do the audio. Essentially it comes down to being a good listener. It’s hard because my inclination as a reporter is to listen intently to the interview and the words being said, but with audio you have to be listening for everything else too. Did a Blackberry just cause interference with the mic? Should we wait for this truck to drive by the window, or just keep rolling? Are those just the voices in my head, or are there people talking in another room?

It’s an intense job, since the words are so important when you’re making a documentary. It’s also incredibly cool, since you have these fascinating interviewees literally talking in your ear all day.

So after we left the offices we did a driving tour of the city with Fr. Jack. He showed us the rougher neighborhoods in Philly, the authentically old Italian areas, and the areas that have been heavily influenced by new immigrants to Philadelphia and, of course, by poverty. It’s funny, whenever you go out on the street with a camera people are immediately aware of you. Some people make an effort to avoid being on film, while others, especially kids, make a point of doing something notable to get on screen.



Before our next stop we took a “quick” detour to the top of the Ben Franklin Bridge to get some B-roll of the city skyline.

After, we headed back to St. Rita’s Church for an ex-inmate support group meeting. Before the meeting we smuggled a camera on the subway in order to get some B-roll of one of the group members heading to the meeting. Apparently Philly Subway police are really sensitive about people filming on the trains, so we had to be wicked discreet, or risk having our camera confiscated. Which would have been a bit of problem…We filmed the meeting and, expectedly, some of the members were concerned about confidentiality. We tried not to be too invasive, so the meeting would run as it normally does, but whenever you set up gear and start filming people become more aware of their words and actions. However, I think what we got was fantastic.

It was a late night for us, and tomorrow we have a 6 a.m. wake-up before heading to prison. Cameraman Bruce joked that we’re lucky to be going to, and leaving prison on the same day.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the “Streets of Philadelphia” outta my head tonight, both the Springsteen song and the neighborhoods we saw today. More later.