Flagging a Cop Car

By Tony Vallone story, screenplay, associate producer

Last night we were filming at a bus stop when all of a sudden a police chase went right through our set. A guy in a BMW was driving drunk and was stopped by one of our crew members because we were taking and didn’t want anyone driving through. Luckily the BMW stopped but was quickly surrounded by a couple cop cars. We had to cut because the light from the cop cars was falling into our shot. We decided to wait out the commotion.

The thing is, in Palo Alto (in this case Menlo Park) there isn’t much for cops to be excited about. Most calls they get are “suspicious shadow seen” or “lost chapstick reported”. When this drunk driver was stopped just about every on duty cop came for a piece of the action. Before long about ten police cars showed up trying to arrest this guy.

We were behind schedule like usual and decided we absolutely needed to take. Eon (gaffer), brave/idiot that he is, decided he would volunteer his life and try to flag the light from the cop cars. He went into the middle of the street with a giant 4x4 black flag to block the light. He was essentially carrying a shadow with him. So there he was, in the middle of the street, carrying a gigantic shadow. If any car decided to pass through they would not see him at all. Fun stuff.

Can you find Eon?


There he is!