{"id":1183,"date":"2010-04-24T20:48:15","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T03:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/matthewkirby.com\/kirbside\/?p=1183"},"modified":"2010-04-24T20:48:15","modified_gmt":"2010-04-25T03:48:15","slug":"nyc-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/?p=1183","title":{"rendered":"NYC – Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

For part 1, click here<\/span><\/a>, and for part 2, click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

After putting in a day-and-a-half of sightseeing, it was time to get down to the business that brought me to NYC in the first place.\u00a0 So Thursday morning the Scholastic Book Fairs film crew came to pick us up at our hotel.\u00a0 The members of the crew were great.\u00a0 We had Larry (director), Jeff (the camera man), Glenn (the sound man), and Lara (who did a little bit of everything).\u00a0 We all sat down and had breakfast together, and then set off into the city.<\/p>\n

The Book Fairs brought me to NYC to film me for some promotional material related to The Clockwork Three<\/em>.\u00a0 As we get closer to the book’s release date, and when people might be able to watch the promotional video, I’ll tell you more about it.\u00a0 (That still feels like a long way off.)\u00a0 But briefly, the idea was for the Fairs to film me talking a bit about my book and its characters.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The Clockwork Three<\/em> takes place in an unnamed fictional city that’s not quite New York, not quite Boston, but inspired\u00a0 a little by both.\u00a0 So Larry had scouted out some locations around NYC that evoked certain settings and moods from my novel.\u00a0 The city in The Clockwork Three<\/em> has a park, an important place in the story for a number of reasons I don’t want to spoil.\u00a0 So naturally, Central Park seemed like an ideal place to film some of the shots.<\/p>\n

\"Filming<\/a>
Left to right: Larry, Glenn, Jeff, Me, and Lara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First, we filmed in front of The Dairy<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Giuseppe, one of the characters in the The Clockwork Three<\/em>, was inspired by a real 19th century boy who once found food and shelter there (and who I’ll probably write about in more detail in a future post).\u00a0 This was, incidentally, my first time in front of a camera.\u00a0 I felt very… awkward.\u00a0 It wasn’t that I was nervous.\u00a0 And I did pretty well remembering the lines they gave me.\u00a0 But I just couldn’t seem to make those lines sound natural.\u00a0 I wish I could have been more excited and animated, like LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow, but instead I sounded like Dan Rather reporting the nightly news.\u00a0 Nothing against Dan Rather, but I don’t think most kids find him very compelling.\u00a0 I think I might have done better if I were in conversation or interview with someone else, talking with a person instead of a dead-eyed camera.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>But I muddled through the first shot, and we moved on to the next location, the Delacorte Music Clock<\/span><\/a> near the Children’s Zoo<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 At this point, I started loosening up.\u00a0 Just a bit.\u00a0 The director and crew had timed the filming so the clock chimed while we were there.\u00a0 The animals started moving around the clock in a circle, and the bells played a slightly creepy song that sounded a bit more like a Tim Burton soundtrack than a nursery rhyme.<\/p>\n

\"Camera<\/a>
Camera Man Jeff and me<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I should mention here that during all this time, Jeff was sick from food poisoning.\u00a0 Like, really sick.\u00a0 But he was a trooper and a professional, and he kept working to get the job done.\u00a0 He wouldn’t even let me help him haul his gear around because he didn’t want me to get sweaty for the filming.\u00a0 So hats off to Jeff, who continued to film whilst vomiting.<\/p>\n

It didn’t help that it was a pretty warm day, unexpectedly warm considering the season.\u00a0 But in spite of the heat, I enjoyed walking through Central Park.\u00a0 The foresight and commitment it took to set aside such a large piece of land in the middle of the city still amazes me.\u00a0 I mean, that’s some extremely valuable real estate, but the planners knew how important it was and would be to have a green space, first amidst the rising brick and mortar, later the towering glass and steel.\u00a0 An open, public place of refuge and natural beauty.\u00a0 I could have spent more time there, if I’d had it to spend.<\/p>\n

\"Lara<\/a>
Lara in front of the Dakota<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After stopping at a few more locations around the park, we ended up in front of The Dakota<\/span><\/a>, another NYC landmark, chosen for its similarities to a grand hotel described in The Clockwork Three<\/em>.\u00a0 I have to admit I hadn’t heard of it before, and didn’t know how famous it was.\u00a0 Nor that it was the location of the murder of John Lennon.\u00a0 But we did stop for a moment at his memorial<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

We took a break at that point to have lunch.\u00a0 Jeff was really not doing well, so after we finished eating he went back to his hotel, and the crew shifted responsibilities around.\u00a0 Glenn took over filming, and Lara took over sound.\u00a0 We hopped on the subway (which was a bit tricky with all the equipment, but we managed) and rode down to the Lower East Side.<\/p>\n

\"97<\/a>
97 Orchard Street - Tenement Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of The Clockwork Three<\/em> takes place in the city’s tenements.\u00a0 So Larry found some old tenement buildings in NYC that have been there since the early part of the 20th century.\u00a0 The NYC\u00a0 Tenement Museum<\/span><\/a>, a restored building constructed in 1863, was very near the spot where we were filming.\u00a0 Over the years it was home to over 7000 immigrants, and today offers a glimpse into the lives of those who came to this country hoping for a new and better life.\u00a0 I wish we could have filmed inside<\/em> the museum, but we weren’t able to make the arrangements.<\/p>\n

By this time we had been moving and filming for about eight hours, and everyone was exhausted.\u00a0 It was also that time of day when shop owners were closing up their storefronts.\u00a0 And those metal gates they pull down and lock up are loud<\/em>.\u00a0 We went through a lot of takes there, waiting for a moment of relative silence.\u00a0 But in the end, I think we got everything they’ll need for the video.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>We all shook hands and parted ways.\u00a0 It was a long day, but I had a great time.\u00a0 What might have been a difficult experience was made enjoyable by the people I got to meet and work with.\u00a0 Thanks again to Larry, Glenn, Jeff and Lara.\u00a0 (And I meant it, Jeff.\u00a0 The next time you’re on a ski trip to Utah, give me a ring and we’ll hit the slopes).<\/p>\n

For dinner that night we rode the subway up to the Gray’s Papaya at 2090 Broadway.\u00a0 I’ve heard about the place from people, seen it in movies like Fools Rush In<\/em> and You’ve Got Mail<\/em>, and watched Anthony Bourdain extol the wonders of its hot-dogs.\u00a0 So naturally I had to try them for myself.\u00a0 I have to say, they were good, but my favorite part of the restaurant was actually the fruity drinks.\u00a0 Papaya, Pi\u00f1a Colada, orange, coconut, and more.\u00a0 I ordered a couple of those on top of the drink that came with my “recession special.”<\/p>\n

We rode the subway back to our hotel, and after a day like that I slept like a rock.<\/p>\n

Next up, my day at the Scholastic offices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For part 1, click here, and for part 2, click here.
\nAfter putting in a day-and-a-half of sightseeing, it was time to get down to the business that brought me to NYC in the first place.\u00a0 So Thursday morning the Scholastic Book Fairs film crew came to pick us up at our hotel.\u00a0 The members of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10,11,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-the-clockwork-three","category-travel","category-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mtjQ-j5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}