Thursday, 14 June 2007
Week 4: More of the same...
With the cattle safely out of the picture at the end of Week 3, things settled down into a regular pattern, and there had been a noticeable decline in local interest in what’s happening on the set.
That’s hardly surprising, given the distance between the general public and the cameras (when they’re working)....
Plus, of course, there’s the inevitable influence of the novelty effect wearing off. So there’s a movie set at the bottom of the main street. What’s so unusual about that?
While it might have become standard operating practice to drop by when you’re in town just to see what’s going on unless there’s something happening right here and now there’s no way most of the locals are going to be lured into hanging around for a couple of hours on the off chance of a celebrity sighting or some other interesting event. Been there, done that....
When I’m on my daily circuit around town, I’ll invariably drop past to check out what’s going on. It fits so neatly into the route I’ve been following for years - Post Office, bank, news agency, Jochheim's, Retravision, Magees, Powell Street, home...
Just slot a diversion of a hundred metres or so between the newsagency and the pie shop and there you go...
But I doubt if I’ve spent much more than five minutes in the area on any day when I haven’t been rostered on for Volunteer duty. I’ve been averaging two shifts a week, and I must admit, on the days when I have been “on duty” there hasn’t been much to hold my interest once the end of the shift rolls around.
Any lapses in local interest, however, doesn’t mean that the flow of out-of-towners has subsided to nothing. According to the Townsville Bulletin there have been over six thousand travellers with their details logged by the Volunteer group, and as someone who’s been involved with the volunteer site, I know how hit and miss the logging has been, so the real figure could well be double that ...
If that sounds a bit narky, it isn’t meant to be. From day to day the Volunteer set-up changes as barriers are moved back and forward depending on where the cameras are operating.
On days when the footpath in front of the Grand View is open, logging visitor details is relatively straightforward. People walk past a table on their way down to the front and, while that makes information-gathering a relatively straightforward task it still doesn’t mean that whoever’s looking after the book is going to catch everybody as they go past.
On a Grand View footpath day, it’s also fairly easy to do the Volunteer bit. I tend to just wait around the table till some obvious out-of-towners arrive, walk them down to the front, describe what’s happening, point out a few things, answer questions, and once their interest starts to turn to photographs drift back towards the table in search of someone else to talk to....
On other days, with the barriers further back, it’s much more difficult to keep track of arrivals, and, back when the footpaths were lined in anticipation of Pamplona arriving at any sort of definitive figure would have been downright impossible....
On those days, the information dissemination becomes a matter of wandering across to people you don’t recall having sighted before and trying to engage them in conversation.
So, some observations based on conversations with the visitors I’ve spoken to, bearing in mind that they’re not necessarily coming from anything resembling a representative sample of the ten thousand or so people who’ve passed through town so far this month.
First, while there are plenty of people who’ve been here before and make a point of stopping in Bowen on their way north or south, there are just as many who’ve looked at the view from the highway and decided to keep on going to Townsville or Mackay.
Second, while we think of Bowen being the focus of considerable media attention, there are a surprising number of people turning up who had no idea that there was anything out of the ordinary occurring in town.
Now that’s hardly surprising where people like backpackers are involved, particularly early on in proceedings before the word of mouth started circulating through the backpacker hostels. There were plenty of bemused travellers wondering what was going on and whether their accommodation arrangements were still valid back in the first couple of weeks.
And even some of those who were in residence in the backpacker hostel behind the corrugated iron fence seemed not to have noticed anything untoward while the set was being constructed.
On the other hand, the older couple from Devonport who I spoke to last Friday weren’t the only people I’ve encountered who’ve spent the night in town without realising that there was a movie being made at the bottom of the main street. I was mildly amused to be told We called our son in Townsville to let him know we’d be there a bit later on today and he asked us whether we’d spotted any celebrities. We didn’t know what he was talking about.
Third, while there’s been a boom on the local accommodation scene, I’ve spoken to people who’ve had to stay in Proserpine or Airlie Beach because they couldn’t find a place to stay in Bowen.
Which, of course, brings us to the economic impact on the town.
Some figures from the Townsville Bulletin:
Two million dollars spent on accommodating the film crew.
Another one-and-a-half million or thereabouts spent on renting locations, office and storage space.
The same again spent on constructing the set and security around it.
And I shudder to think of the size of the grocery bill the catering department has run up.
Talking to my mate the butcher on Friday, he said he’s had to call in just about every favour he’s been owed since he went into business thirty-something years ago, but so far he’s been able to supply everything he’s been asked for.
And like everything else, the economic impact is going to vary according to whole pile of factors including a business’s proximity to the movie set and whether you’re in a position to supply something that’s going to be required on set., like large quantities of dirt to be used in creating bomb craters.
But more of that next time, along with (hopefully) an account of what happens in the meeting of the media tarts next Sunday.....
