filmmaking – Jamie Vesay

Jamie Vesay Work and Wanderings 2017

Posted on December 31, 2017November 30, 2021 by Jamie Vesay

A great benefit of my job is to be working during sunrise and sunset. It’s a best-time to snap a photograph thing. Yes, I have been paid to watch the sun rise and set. The photo above is from mid summer 2017 while LOCATION SCOUTING large fields of corn for a commercial.

Turns out – 2017 ended up being much about chasing the sun.

In February and March I was my own client. WRITING, scouting, and making more connections for my project Fauna’s Thread. I am parallel-writing (a word I made up) a BOOK and SCREENPLAY (a process I do NOT recommend). The status of the project is in DEVELOPMENT but it’s awesome to see the cranes each year. The photo below is from a blind on the river—at sunset.

July was busy with more scouting the sun. A good one was for FX company Ring of Fire. ROF needed low-light landscapes for a Lyrica commercial. All action was shot months prior – elsewhere. I was the Scout / Production Manager. The crew was small and the shoot was positive. New professional relationships established. Great pros in John and Jerry.

Chasing the sun became literal with a career highlight in August; experiencing and working during the ECLIPSE. It was truly a remarkable and humbling event. I worked on a project for Volvo as a LOCATION SCOUT to start, then as a Production Assistant for the shoot. We shot 360 VR LIVE as Volvo sponsored CNN’s Eclipse coverage.

We were in Beatrice, Nebraska – one of four live set-ups under the path of totality. See it all via Facebook. Our clip is at about 52:00 (or – 44:00). Pan around – especially during totality; the only time you’ll ever see (what looks like) sunset all around you. A cool bonus was meeting writer Andy Weir (below w/me). Fancy eclipse glasses included.

The road trip of the year was a ride and relish through upper central/northwest/western NEBRASKA. Despite the fact that everywhere I go I am #alwayslocationscouting – this trip was a pleasure cruise with my better-half Sue.

Hiding right under my big nose were floats trips on lazy rivers, lodging in a cowboy camp and an Asian vibe motel, crash courses in paleontology + geology + more unreported history of Native Americans getting the shaft. This trip was educational and inspirational.

In December I was in the polar opposite of wide-open landscapes; Los Angeles.

I was there reconnecting with colleagues and unofficially pimping the movie Downsizing, a movie I worked on with Director and friend Alexander Payne.

It was wonderful to see the movie at Paramount Pictures theater with many Nebraskans and others with connections to AP.

2018 will bring new work and wanderings. Have projects on your plate? Reach out. Visit NebraskaLocation too.

Cheers, to your work and wanderings.

2017 and My Projects leaving the Shelf

Posted on January 31, 2017February 28, 2022 by Jamie Vesay

Updated 2/28/22

Getting into my too many long-on-the shelf projects…

I’m only ten years or so behind, so I figure I have to average about three per year for the next ten.

Fauna’s Thread PUBLISHED! Fauna’s Thread, available on Amazon as Paperback and Kindle.

For Agent Representation and / or interest in movie rights, visit Fauna’s Thread.

For fun and following, pop on over to the website or Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

To my family and friends – for the support and inspiration – THANK YOU.

Bury the Railroad Track Shots

Posted on May 7, 2015August 3, 2020 by Jamie Vesay

The railroad track shot is uncool and dead. I challenge you to bury it.

It wasn’t very long after the first rail was hammered into the earth, when a photographer spotted the metaphor. Since then, tracks have been dramatized in billions of photos, artwork, commercials, and movies. Add the popularity and ease of entry into photography, over-posting to social media, and less creativity; railroad track shots have become a worn-out cliche’.

In the United States, it is ILLEGAL to shoot on them and near them. You are guilty of TRESPASSING on private property. When you snap a photo, you’re providing the evidence. Law enforcement thanks you.

Hold on. This is where those who don’t get it will react. It will be rapid revolt, denial of facts or simple apathy. I’m okay if you stop reading because I won’t change your mind anyway. To the others, please continue.

I am a professional Location Scout for commercials, movies, and commercial photography. I worked on a movie which involved a scene on the track and on a national commercial for a railroad company. On both of the projects, proper protocol was in play (permission asked and granted, safety meetings held, railroad company personnel were present while shooting, proper PPE worn, etc.). These steps are a professional, legal, and safe process.

Shooting on private property without permission is called “stealing a shot.”

Often, I am asked – “Do we need permission to shoot at location X versus shoot without asking?” I simply reply: Would you be okay if a photo or film crew shot on your property (front lawn, backyard, dining room, or any of the land you own) or perhaps your place of business – without asking?

SAFETY. You can get hit by a train easier then you think but most human beings are injured (almost daily) by being around tracks. They slip off the rail (which you should NEVER EVER be on) or fall against the steel or loose it off a bridge or are hurt in many other ways. Some of those people die.

Photo galleries of your local hobbyist-turned-photographer are cringeworthy! Teens, families, and babies are draped across active railroad tracks. By the way, does child protection services know about these people?

And if you are a Liker who thinks it’s ‘cute’ or ‘awesome’ – you’re an enabler.

After seeing local shooter’s websites, I reached out politely to inform them that it’s illegal and unsafe. Their reactions were negative: “I am offended you would accuse me of…”, “Oh that was when I first started” (but I’m not taking the photos down), “Who do you think you are?”, and I got at least one “F you.”

By the way, it doesn’t matter if the line is “dead” or that you’re shooting from the break in the track. The viewer of the photo doesn’t know that… It is the PERCEPTION – you are promoting it as okay. Ironically, it’s still illegal.

If you are a model or subject or you hired a Photographer to take photos of you or your family, why would you agree to be led into a dangerous situation? I am baffled at parents that say OK to a photographer who says, “Let’s put your baby on the railroad tracks.”

Honestly, I too have taken railroad photographs. But years ago, when more photographers began to appear (including way too many amateurs) a change in thinking came to me. I began to feel odd, guilty, and trite when looking at the railroad shot. I began to say NO to clients that asked.

Then Sarah was killed.

Sarah Jones was a young camera assistant and a colleague, ordered to follow trespassers – to “steal a shot.” After I cried, with everybody else who cared, I grew angry at how standard procedures were not followed. I was embarrassed at the black mark the horrible tragedy placed on true professionals in the industry that get it and are safe – all the time.

If you call yourself a professional filmmaker or photographer, I challenge you to bury the railroad track shot. STOP putting people in unsafe and illegal positions. Think harder. Find an alternative location.

To those who don’t care about breaking the law or putting themselves and their subjects in harm’s way, I am pleading to you – to STOP. If you’re a hobbyist or enjoy posting the next photo to social media – PLEASE DON’T.

Be smart. Be safe. Have fun and live.

Want more information or prefer to get involved with Railroad Safety? Engage with Operation Lifesaver.