So we are inching slowly closer to filming the promo video for In SatNav we Trust. It’s turned into an administrative nightmare so much so that I can’t remember if I already posted a blog to say all this.
million
In short we need to get a permit to film in Oxford and not be moved on by officials and the like. To do so we need public liability insurance, risk assessments and all manner of twenty first century jiggery pokery. No doubt there will be hi-vis jackets in evidence on the day. I have the public liability insurance but only 2 million and Oxford need it to be 10 million. The only cost effective way to extend the PI insurance is to have a temporary extension but that means we need to know the filming date. Of course we can’t set the filming date until we have the insurance.
To be fair to Oxfordshire County Council they have said we can submit everything else provisionally and the insurance can follow just before we start. Their man on the phone has been entirely helpful and sympathetic throughout and is a breath of fresh air in a world of bureaucrats and jobsworths.
apples
In the mean time we’re trying to find something to use as an autocue and have settled on an iPad with special software to make the text scroll by at the desired rate. However, we don’t have an iPad and, unlike real apples, they don’t grow on trees. Still, we’re getting there step by step. A few weeks ago we didn’t even have any camera assistants. Once this is all in the can I can hand the files over to an editor to combine with the map animation and I can get back to finalising the manuscript.
And I thought all I had to do was write the book.