(Or not, as the case may be)
After the excitement of the first week, Week Two saw things settle into a pattern that will, I guess, continue through the rest of the shoot.
A change in location on the set meant that the old viewing area on the footpath outside the Grand View was out of bounds. Once the barriers were moved further back the public was much closer to the actual action, but that didn’t necessarily mean that people had a better view....
At the same time, increased proximity gave a much clearer impression of the speed (and I use that word advisedly) at which filming actually proceeds.
While the action was centred around the jetty, distance prevented the observer from gaining anything more than a general impression of what was going on. Once the shoot relocated to Carney’s Corner (which was, believe it or not, functioning as the Bowen offices of Queensland Transport throughout the proceedings) it was possible to watch from a distance of less than a hundred metres.
As filming has progressed, it has become increasingly obvious that the latest pastime for any Bowen residents with time on their hands is to pop down to the movie set and while away an hour or two in the hope that something might happen.
Proceedings that roll on at a glacial pace may be as exciting as watching paint dry but, on the basis of last week’s experience, in a race between moviemaking and drying paint, my impression is that paint is in the lead. But there’s only a short-half-head in it....
And while attention shooting-wise Carney's Corner and the stockyards there was really only one question that most people I encountered wanted an answer to?
When are the bulls running?
I think it was the first question I was asked when I reported for duty just before eleven on the Monday morning, and I’m sure that if I’d been rostered on for Tuesday and Wednesday it would have been the topic du jour on those two days as well.
Gossip on the streets suggested that, while the rehearsals had seen the cattle proceeding around the block at a gentle trot, once the cameras were rolling for real the whips would be cracking and the herd would be running, at least for the last part of the circuit. The general opinion from those in the know on the subject of cattle and their welfare tended to discount any strenuous bovine activity in the middle of the day (be too hot for them) and so mornings and late afternoons seemed to be the most likely times.
On the way down to the barricades on Thursday afternoon, I learned there had been a distinct lack of action on the bull-running front, and that while the overcast conditions might have suited bovine activity, the light wasn’t going to be too good as far as filming was concerned.
When the clouds began to lift around three o’clock, the word went out - tentatively at first, since nothing had been confirmed - and there would have been a flood of mobile phone calls and text messages sent advising acquaintances of possible action.
When Security started moving people well away from the area where the cattle would be running and the vehicles parked in George Street were gradually being moved away, things were looking good.
Then came the complication. There was a silver car parked near a traffic island, and Security had been unable to locate the owner, so that put the kibosh on Plan A.
Plan B, which involved a smaller number of cattle moving around the Grand View corner was invoked, but if dramatic impact called for a herd moving around the corner at a fair clip, it seemed likely that there would be another attempt the following day.
Arriving onsite around ten-thirty on Friday morning the light looked promising, but there seemed little likelihood of Pamplona till much later in the day. Most of the cars parked in yesterday’s problem area were, according to Volunteer scuttlebutt, vehicles associated with the film crew, which removed one potential stumbling block.
Around twelve, the crew broke for lunch the watchers dispersed for refreshment, and the place was practically deserted. At around five past one I was quietly minding my own business on the Bowen Furniture corner when I overheard one of the Security guys speaking into the two-way. They’ll be around in forty minutes.
Crossing the road, to warn the rest of the Volunteer group about the prospect, I noticed a woman who seemed, for some reason strangely familiar. It took a while to figure it out, but since she turned out to be the mother of a student I taught for about three days in 1976 being able to put a name to the face was, in my humble opinion, a pretty fair achievement.
At least that activity gave me something to occupy my mind while the countdown continued, and when one forty-five rolled past without incident, frequent inquiries regarding an ETA were invariably met with Ten minutes.
In the end Ten minutes stretched to some time around three-thirty and someone nearby was expressing the opinion that we were set for another disappointment when I noticed heads appearing over the crest on the other side of Jochheim’s Pie Shop. Within seconds the mob came into view...
As they rounded the Bowen Furnishing corner the whips were cracking and the last couple of photos in the gallery were taken just before they hit the red dirt beside the Grand View and the dust machine kicked into action.
Since my shift was well and truly over and the wait had been long and dry, a visit to the Grand View for refreshment seemed like a good idea, and provided the chance for a much closer view the herd as they did the circuit a second time.
The Public Bar also provided a much closer view of the stars of the show while they waited for the mob to come around again, as well as a glimpse of a bloke headed towards the Dining Room. He looked kind of familiar for some reason, and when he was greeted by one of the hotel staff as Mr Urban I decided that if Keith is appreciably taller than Tom, Mr Cruise must definitely be vertically challenged....
Highlight of the week: You’re Hughesy? coming from someone I hadn’t laid eyes on for about thirty-one years.
Quote of the week: Have you ever complained about watching paint dry?
One final observation: Despite all the hype around the filming, we’re still seeing backpackers turning up and asking “what on Earth’s going on here?” Must have something to do with the fact that the corrugated iron fence conceals a functioning backpackers’ hostel. Anyone fancy sleeping on the set of a major movie production?
