after watering the cannabis seedlings, john walked from the greenhouse through the dark part of the barn and back into the red (probably) subaru. followed filming and made sure to close the barn door before we drove back up the driveway to the family’s main farmhouse.
out of the car, set up on the tripod and filmed the old green john deere tractor with a large implement with discs attached to the back, as john (not deere) reversed and headed over to the gas pump. for those not in the know, many farmers in rural america have their own personal gas pump installed on-farm, so they don’t have to drive massive machinery tens of miles to the nearest station, and then tens of miles back. first time saw this, was near clear lake iowa on the dream farm of paul willis. it felt like he had a cheat code for life, filling up in his backyard without a credit card, or an obnoxious store tempting him to buy beef jerky.
back to vermont. had explained to john would be jumping out of the tractor throughout the day, to set up the tripod and get various angles of the machinery entering frame and leaving frame. he was understanding, and listened to vermont public radio while tried to keep balance enough to film with the camera in one hand and hang on to the handle mounted on the sidewall of the bumpy tractor with the other. he wore sunglasses most of the time and made easy conversation whenever the camera wasn’t recording. eventually asked if he would turn off the radio, so that our audio would be cleaner and we wouldn’t have legal issues for copyrighted music playing.
to prep for transplanting, first the fields get disced, which loosens up the soil on a macro level. the huge circular things rotate in a hypnotic rhythm ripping through the dark black earth and sometimes lifting up boulders the size of small european cars. it was lightly raining, just light enough so didn’t get out the waterproof jacket for the camera, which is a pain in the ass to film with. this was much appreciated. occasionally, would take the camera off of the tripod, and lay down stomach first on the ground in the grass and pretend that ticks were not a thing.
after awhile the first field was done, and we went to switch out implements. there was some kind of problem, perhaps a pin was stuck, and it took awhile for john to fix it. the next implement had a bunch of metal teeth type things on it, which was the second stage of loosening up the soil. we bumpily rode back out to the fields, and once again jumped out periodically to get shots. when filming wide shots, it’s always a challenge to frame the image because it’s hard to know where the top of the tractor will enter frame, and ideally want the full vehicle to be seen from top to bottom. after twenty plus years of filming, still get it wrong a lot, which means a waste of film, battery, time, etc. so when the tractor lines up correctly in the frame, it’s like throwing a crumpled up piece of paper that lands directly in the trash basket.
john had a radio interview at 10:30, he is the lieutenant governor of the state after all, and we’d been filming since before seven. we decided on a plan of action, which involved heading back to the barn john and his father had built in the early 1980s to film the interview. he moved the red car out of the barn, and we sat on a couple five gallon buckets.
there are dogs everywhere on the farm, and the interview was no exception. years ago would have insisted on getting the dogs locked up for reasons of ‘professionalism’ and audio and visual distraction, but now these kinds of interruptions feel like part of the story, and are even welcome. besides the dogs were so calm. ever noticed that dogs are almost always exactly like their owners? even lookswise too.
we talked for about 45 minutes before we called it. a wide ranging conversation about farming, politics, cannabis and family memories. impressive guy. grateful someone like him is in leadership. restored trust in government, society and even mankind. lol. we exchanged phone numbers so could coordinate a return shoot of the transplanting of the hemp seedlings later that week, and perhaps the growth and processing of the stuff over the summer and fall.
the ride home was somewhat delirious after a sleepless night. at the ev charging station in st. johnsbury there was a cannabis store and walked in. had rarely been in one before. it was weird. there was a guy in his 60s who was kind-of-like-a-hostess at a restaurant who checked id upon entering. from there, went up to a bartender kind-of-guy in his 30s behind the counter. asked a few questions out of curiosity because it felt like the right thing to do after filming with a cannabis farmer. ultimately they didn’t have anything that was a good fit, so walked out awkwardly without purchase.
laid the driver’s seat back as far as it would go, rolled the windows down a bit and fell off into a sweaty uncomfortable sleep while the car charged.
another shoot day wrapped.
best thoughts,
graham
Share this post