September 25, 2007

Now what country are you living in, again?

News from San Francisco:

They're the strong and the proud, but the Marines aren't free to stand on the streets of San Francisco.

The Silent Drill Platoon of the U.S. Marine Corps wasn't allowed to be filmed Sept. 11 on California Street in San Francisco for a segment of its new advertising campaign, a Marine spokesman told FOXNews.com.

Instead, the elite group took its austere display to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area for the final segment of its "America's Marines" TV commercial. The group is on a two-month nationwide tour as part of the campaign.

Stefanie Coyote, the executive director of the San Francisco Film Commission, the group that denied the permit, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Her office referred calls to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's press office, which did not immediately return a request for comment.

Coyote told KGO-TV that "traffic control was the issue."

In a pig's eye.

The film commission did allow the Marines' production unit to film the street without Marines. They'll be superimposed in the spot, KGO-TV reports.

If traffic control was the issue, why were they allowed to film at all? Utter horseshit.

So the only way that the Marines will be permitted to appear in San Francisco is to be inserted into film of the city using CG. God forbid you should actually have Marines in San Francisco for real. Or Goddess forbid. Or Gaea forbid. Or something that isn't patriarchal.

The only reason they could go to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is because it's federal land and the San Francisco Film Commission doesn't have full jurisdiction.

UPDATE: Here's a better, longer report.

Captain Greg Corrales commands the police traffic bureau that works with crews shooting commercials, TV shows and movies in the city. He's also a Marine veteran and his son is serving his third tour of duty in Iraq.

He says Film Commission Executive Director Stefanie Coyote would only allow the Marine's production crew to film on California Street if there were no Marines in the picture. They wound up filming the empty street and will have to superimpose the Marines later.

In terms of traffic issues, how is filming with Marines in view of the camera different than filming without Marines in view of the camera?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 04:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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