At the time, I was thinking the man in the photo above was the first dead person I have seen in public. We just don't run across a lot of accidents on a daily basis in Texas. In a big city like this, I have a feeling it is a different story.
It all started around 11:00pm on Friday night. I was busy polishing my pictures from my hike earlier in the the day with Tom. I heard an ambulance pull up and stop right in front of our apartment. The loud siren came to a screeching halt right below us.
In this city you get used to hearing a lot of sirens. Like every few seconds. I was in my zone so it didn't click at first. Then ten minutes later, I heard another ambulance come to a screeching halt right below us. At that point, I figure I better go check it out. What if our building was on fire?
Well I went out on the balcony to see what the commotion was about. When I looked over the edge, I freaked out. Right there in front of me, right below my apartment... there it was! A DEAD BODY.
I saw the dead body flayed across the curb with blood on the sidewalk. And hovering right over him was what looked like a TV news camera crew.
I ran back inside straight to my wife with my hand over my mouth with a look of horror on my face. She said, "Oh my god what is it? Your face is white as a sheet."
I couldn't move. I kept saying, "Oh my god! Oh my god!" I finally blurted out that there was a dead body right below our apartment. "He must of been hit crossing the street!", I shouted.
We both went back out on the balcony to see what was going on. Only instead of seeing the scene you see above, with the dead body flayed on the sidewalk, the dead man was up walking around shaking hands with the "news crew" and other people standing around.
After closer examination, it was pretty clear it was not a news crew, but a film crew. They were filming a movie.
I felt like a cruel joke had been played on me. Only worse, because they spent the next four hours taking over 50 takes of the loud ambulance coming to a screeching halt right below me.
Happy Halloween.
13 comments:
Great post, you had me going, especially after your experience at Martinez Station.
that looked so real... great fake-out!!!
Fooled me too. With the recent talk about crime in the city and the murdered policemen, I was expecting the worst! lol.
Oh shit. (Can I say "shit" on your blog?)
Man oh Manishevitz. Whatdawhodasonofa!
Back in the old country you could sue for mental distress... and win!
Hee hee! One more thing...about CRIME IN BUENOS AIRES.
The film industry really reads the foreign exchange rates. That's why they're under you balcony.
Well, Chicago was big, too... until the Canadian dollar got cheap (remember that?) Then the biz moved to Toronto.
So, a crew is filming a "Chicago" movie set... in Toronto...
But Toronto is too clean to pass for the Windy. So they have to buy some garbage to throw around the curbs and sidewalks.
Everything is going great that day and the director is very pleased with the progress when they break for lunch.
When the crew comes back to the set they are shocked...
...while they were eating, the Canadians came by and picked up all the garbage.
Ha! Sorry about that but a dead man on the sidewalk in Recoleta kinda reminded me of that story.
Yep... My wife and daughter are still making fun of me for thinking it was a real dead man.
What threw me off is watching the news and how they show all the graphic details of accidents and murders. We were watching one morning when there was a big wreck on the freeway. Before the ambulances could get to the victims, there was the tv news crew sticking microphones into the bloody faces of the victims ( that were still breathing and could talk) asking them what happened. Never mind they were pinned in wreckage and needed medical attention.
So naturally, I see a camera on a dead guy's face here, I think news crew and this is the real deal.
you had me going to! I was thinking oh man this guy takes pictures of dead guys in the street, is that a bit rude or fair game, then before I came to a conclusion, I read the bottom and laughed, with a sigh of relief.
Didn´t the production company post notices on your block about the filming disturbances?
hahhaha, cool story!
Holly,
You must have been thinking about the Chicago Toronto story. Notices?...in Argentina? I have had film crews block off whole blocks in Palermo Viejo and they don´t notify you of anything until you are trying to either leave or arrive at your home for example.
The plus side of this? I opened the door to my house once, right in the middle of a lingerie shoot, and my door was the backdrop. They asked me if I minded...not as long as I got to watch I didn´t mind.
Frank:
Let's see... Fake dead man... lingerie models. Hmm... Fake dead man ... lingerie models.
Damn, I'm jealous!
Next time that happens to me I am taking pictures damn it.
Oh God. You had me going. Great post.
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