Behind the Scenes: A Documentary Film Shoot in Cape Cod

Under director Vanessa Vartabedian a small documentary film crew steadily unpacked cameras from the trunk of a Volkswagen. It was a chilly day in December in Wellfleet, MA and also my first time traveling to Cape Cod. After purchasing my postcard, I'm pleasantly surprised to notice a friendliness in the cashier's small talk, something I thought could only be found in my small hometown in the Midwest. While both places are seeped richly and deeply in landscape the Cape has an incredibly special golden afternoon sea light that I've never seen in the midwest or at my home in Boston. Vanessa shared that this distinguished light is her favorite part of her "second home".  I smiled and began my experience to witness the Cape through two unique lenses: Vanessa's film passion and a man named Chuck.

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Chuck, Vanessa's first interviewee, adorns a massive white beard and is an oyster-er, boat builder and lives in fantastically designed yurts. I've never been in a yurt and they are unassumingly super spacious inside. Chuck has dedicated different yurts to a sauna, kitchen, bedroom, and, the grand daddy of them all, one yurt to home his entire library and there's still space for his sewing projects inside. While we filmed in this giant ballroom of a yurt Chuck snipped away at sailing fabric and cheerfully told us the weaving of his dream to live on a boat full time someday. That'll surely come true.

Chuck also works as a DJ at a local radio station, WOMR (Provincetown, MA) and while filming in the radio studio I listened carefully to his voice on air. I was entertained as I heard him read a Christmas story from a book while sliding buttons to add dramatic sound effects to his listeners. During the interview sessions Vanessa showed her unique skill set of listening whole-heartedly to every word spoken.  She is experienced with this type of attention from her passion project "The Mosquito Story Slam", a live event where storytellers have 5-minutes to tell a true story based on a theme. Stories also seem to be Chuck's expertise; with an open heart Chuck told the film crew of loving family moments, future aspirations and shared how to honor his version of "the true meaning of life".  Hung on the front entrance of his kitchen yurt is a small, green banner with a Dalai Lama quote printed on it. Much like Chuck's charisma, these words are shared to welcome anyone who takes the time to read them.

“We are visitors on this planet. We are here for one hundred years at the very most. During that period we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. if you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true meaning of life.” - Dalai Lama

Back to Business: Working at the LoveSick Wedding Expo in South Boston

The words “Wedding Expo” send a shudder down my spine. I’m planning my own wedding this upcoming fall and as an indecisive libra, I have zero interest in attending an expo. In my mind, expos mean getting a mess of options and “must-needs”, most of which are not part of my initial plan, or budget. Also, most these events remind me of my worst fear: how “serious” my big day is. Truth is, I want to feel like a kid about my wedding day, because it’s not only a day of beautiful declaration of love, but also a big damn party.

Despite my fears, my business partner, Anna Spaller, of Dakota Lenox Photography's sister company, Wild Eye Photobooth convinced me to sign up to be a vendor at LoveSick wedding expo in Boston's Southie this past weekend. “It’ll be perfect!” she exclaimed showing me the website of the so-called “alternative wedding expo: LoveSick”. The next thing I knew we were spending the week building a prize wheel from scratch, printing off all our marketing materials, and praying that this expo was as exciting as the LoveSick website made it seem. We had high hopes that people would understand Wild Eye’s new photobooth concept: real humans behind the camera giving you a professional studio photoshoot in the midst of a party.

Wild Eye's Studio Setup with real photogs taking your glam-shot!

Wild Eye's Studio Setup with real photogs taking your glam-shot!

Before the doors opened on the day-of the event, I was expecting a lot of couples at this expo. I channeled characters from popular romantic comedies; perhaps an overly excited wedding-crazed partner, dragging behind them a reluctant fiancee, whose feet you could hear dragging throughout the entire affair. I was dreading they’d roll their eyes at getting their photo taken together.

11am hit and the doors of the Arts For Humanity building opened to a flock of folks. Anna straightened her orange polka dotted blouse, I downed a Red Bull, and we high-fived as we put on our “game faces”.

Before the storm: Our Wild Eye Photobooth table at LoveSick expo 2016

Before the storm: Our Wild Eye Photobooth table at LoveSick expo 2016

LoveSick Expo blew my expectations away. The crowd was a fairly even split of couples and groups of friends, all giggly and enthusiastic about being there, and mercifully enthusiastic about having their photo taken. Everyone seemed genuinely jazzed to rifle through our prop box and lunge in front of the camera wearing feather boas and fez hats. Each playful pose suggestion we gave - “You’re a tiger!” or “How about a kiss on the cheek?!”- was followed by giggles and squished friends, families and couples hugging each other close. The booth filled up and we were flattered to have such enthusiastic guests rocking out in front of the camera. West Coast beauty and LoveSick partner, Offbeat Bride had a "Kissy face" that blew us away, while LoveSick's head honchos were simply saucy and stunning. 

The afternoon entertainment of LoveSick was filled with delicious stimulation, including juicy all-male burlesque dancers, Sirlesque, and a dancing rope angel sent from above, Aerialist Molly BaechtoldI’ve never seen either of these services before in my life, but myself and the crowd laughed and stared in awe at the performances. I’m usually pretty snobby about my music playlists, but the exciting rockabilly-looking band Jan Marie and the Mean Reds had their sound and style on point. My feet hurt from dancing in my Doc Martens the entire day. 

(top row to bottom row) The day was filled with entertainment by astounding aerialist Molly Baechtold, the saucy Sirlesque performers, and live music by Jan Marie and the Mean Reds. (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

(top row to bottom row) The day was filled with entertainment by astounding aerialist Molly Baechtold, the saucy Sirlesque performers, and live music by Jan Marie and the Mean Reds. (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

The rad women of Apotheca Flower Shoppe posed in our booth and I could not stop staring at their flower crowns: they reminded me of Vermeer’s famous painting “Girl With the Pearl Earring” meets the sass and class of an earthy goddess. Our next door booth neighbors, Minter and Richter, a unique jewelry company in Boston, had such a lasting impression with brightly colored titanium rings that my fiance spent hours on their website the night after the expo. Sign me up for a cobalt ring, please!

AMAZING flower crowns by Apotheca Flower Shoppe (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

AMAZING flower crowns by Apotheca Flower Shoppe (Photo from Wild Eye Photobooth)

Wild Eye is built on the human pleasures of good music and dance moves, being healthily overstimulated and living on laughs. LoveExpo gave us a place to be ourselves with other fun-loving attendees. A wedding can be a big, serious ordeal, but we can't forget about our youthfulness, lust for life, and the most important part, hosting a party that has the artisan touch that will make your day creatively yours.

Thank you to all guests, vendors, and staff who made LoveSick wedding expo 2016 such a blast! 

Thank you to all guests, vendors, and staff who made LoveSick wedding expo 2016 such a blast! 

You can see all Wild Eye's #LoveSick Photobooth photos taken here: http://wildeyephotobooth.pixieset.com/guestlogin/lovesickexpo/

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