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extremely lucky in this regard, even on our two previous shooting trips to England.
So how does a videographer shoot around
tourists? If too many people are between camera and subject or site being shot,
the whole effort can be an utter waste of time. And also, unfortunately, Italian polizia and carabinieri are quick to tell a
videographer or still photographer to fold up that tripod and move on!! They do NOT have any patience with a foreign professional
photographer, so common sense and a little stealth are requirements.
For tourist-filled sites, we have found that shooting in very early morning works well for us. For one thing, Italy is a late-night
country, so there are few people (and that includes police) out on streets at first light. Typically, we would get to a site by 7 AM
each morning, shoot for a few hours and then return to hotel for breakfast: then back out into streets for more shooting.
The first part of our trip focused on Amalfi Coast where we filmed, in addition to some incredibly beautiful stock footage, a virtual
walk through Valle di Mulino (the Valley of Mills) above Amalfi, another through Pompeii, a third on Isle of Capri, from
Anacapri to Torre Damecuta, and yet another from Ravello to Atrani into Piazza Umberto.
The last two weeks of this trip took us back to Rome, where our focus was HD stock footage and Renaissance art - Bernini
sculptures and Raphael paintings claimed lion’s share of our time and attention. We spent much of our time filming Pantheon
(Raphael’s Tomb and occulus); Church of Santa Maria de Popolo and its Chigi Chapel; Santa Maria della Vittoria with
Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Teresa”; Fountain of Four Rivers in Piazza Navona; St. Peter’s Basilica and Square; and those
delightful Breezy Maniacs of Bernini’s along bridge to Castel Sant’Angelo.
We devoted a day filming a virtual walk in medieval town of Viterbo (just 1.5 hours by train from Rome). An historical note about
Viterbo - had John Paul II or Benedict XVI been elected Pope in 13th century, it would have happened here rather than in Rome.
Now a well-preserved provincial village, but in its heyday, Viterbo was Rome’s greatest rival!
Rome was more crowded with tourists during this trip than we‘ve ever encountered. Much of that could be attributed to pilgrims
flocking to Vatican in month following death of Pope John Paul II and subsequent election of Pope Benedict XVI.
We’ve also heard that more Americans are traveling to Europe this summer than ever before. Whatever reason, there were
visitors everywhere.
At end of trip, we were exhausted but satisfied with 20 plus hours of High Definition footage we shot along Amalfi
Coast and in Rome. There was an unfortunate incident with a French gendarme in Charles deGaulle airport, but that will remain a
story told within family!
Is a foreign shoot worth time, expense, and aggravation? I’ll give you a resounding yes on that one - but with a caveat: pack an
extra dose of patience and a big heart, and both will be rewarded many times over!
My husband, Wayne, and I own a video production company that focuses on European travel. In addition to our Virtual Walks Series, we also shoot stock footage of Venice, Rome, the Amalfi Coast, London, and English villages. We have sold our footage to numerous television networks and production houses around the world.
