I was way more nervous to interact with people than I think
I realized. After my initial plan to shoot and interview inside the hotel
failed, I was forced to think on my feet and come up with a plan. I walked and
drove around French Lick and West Baden until I saw a promising location and
went in for the kill. I never got anybody to do a traditional interview like I
had envisioned on the way down. People seemed really put off by the fact that I
had a camera. The managers who I talked to were generally quite antsy to get me
out of the building.
I initially stopped at the West Baden hotel. I did not bring
any of my camera equipment in with me and proceeded to try to find the front
desk. I really wanted to save the reaction shot of the dome for when I had
better equipment, but unfortunately a shitty video on my phone will have to do.
I tried to make it look like I wasn’t filming, but I think I just walked
through the huge space looking like a bit of a schmuck, mouth agape, staff and
patrons curious about my sanity.
The ladies I talked to at the front desk were curious about
what I was filming and I tried to play up my student status to get their
sympathy or some information. They passed me onto their marketing director
Diane Duncan. I had to call Diane to see if I needed a $50 press pass to shoot
inside the building and on the grounds since the hotel and grounds are
“copyrighted”. I am going to have to check with my Tech and the Law professor
Bryan Redding on that… Oh, and
since it was a Friday at 3 pm. Diane was unavailable. So, no shots inside the hotel, instead I snuck one as I
walked away. The building and dome were absolutely beautiful, but those images
will just have to exist in my mind.
I learned that French Lick and West Baden are essentially
smashed together and separated by a railway. This railway was now a museum and
where I decided to go after being turned down from the Hotel to regroup and
determine a new plan. There was not much going on there. Apparently Ben had
been there before… I almost abandoned the project entirely at this point but at
risk of looking like the idiot l was in the dome, I soldiered on into French
Lick.
In French Lick I first found Steve at Whites Service convenience
store who didn’t have time for an interview, even though it looked like he had
time for everything else imaginable. He recommended I go “over there” when I
asked about potential interview candidates. I thanked him for his time and
promptly left. “Maybe I should abandon the project?” “People do not seem to
want me here” were some of the thoughts pouring through my mind at that point.
Walking away from Whites, I snapped a few pictures of French
Lick. It seemed like a town that was a combination of an up-and-coming suburb
and a small town. It was a weird, off-putting feeling and anybody who I walked
by looked like they did not want to interact with a stranger who carried a
camera. This was when I was the most nervous. I was in a foreign town. I had a
lot of expensive camera equipment with me. There were some rough looking folks
walking around. I was alone. Surveying the town by car sounded like a better
idea and was what I decided to do.
I drove around town for a little bit. Actually a lot. I was
actually nervous that I would be stopped because I was essentially circling the
town trying to decide the best location for an interview. The winery was the
best choice and I stopped for a look.
The most receptive person to my insistence on an interview
was Nicole at the Winery but I think it was only because I conned her into an
‘interview’ through a wine tasting. Only one blurry image of her exists. Aaron
was quite more knowledgeable about wine than Nichole was, so he helped me
through the tougher questions I had.
The manager Laura requested that I run any pictures of the winery by her
and her team before I made them public. I did not take anymore pictures after
that.
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