Get The Picture
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What The Flip……
Ahhh man, where do I begin lol. Let me first say I don’t regret a THING I’ve recorded with this device. I remember when I first purchased my Flip Cam- I was elated. “I’m recording everything moving and no one’s going to do a thing about it.” Boy was I wrong lol.
At first, my Niko digital camera got the job done. The quality was shitty, but it got things accomplished. Interviews. Concert footage. Random acts of fuckery. It handled it all. But shortly after the discovery of this Flip device and the fact my Niko got swiped at an event (never put down your drink or digital camera at a crowded party) I was forced to make the switch.
I couldn’t wait to test the “Flip” out. It was so easy to use- just point and shoot. I did it so discreetly that people had no idea what I was doing. And that’s just how I wanted it. During my interviews, the artists would ask “Where’s your camera crew?” I responded by pulling my trusty Flip out my pocket and and gesturing my head towards my new apparatus. They didn’t care. They actually thought it was pretty nifty lol.
I then brought it to events. I would position myself where the sound wouldn’t be distorted and my viewers wouldn’t have to strain their eyes looking at the prime object (the zoom wasn’t the greatest feature). Man this thing was God’s gift to anyone interested in recording moving objects. But then it happened- I got caught lol.
It was a warm evening back in May I believe and I was invited to an upscale event in downtown Manhattan (persons, places and titles will be left out of this entry for obvious reasons). Of course, the trusty Flip was tucked safely in my pocket because the folks that weren’t invited would love to see what actually went on during this fancy event. Honestly, I had no idea videos were going to be shown as the main event. I’m thinking performances and such would be the evenings main attraction.
But when the lights turned low and that gigantic flat screened light up with those visuals (you should know where I’m going with this by now lol) I had no idea but to record with the Flip. I would be crushed if someone else was inside and getting the scoop before. Funny thing is, I was sitting so god damn close there was no way in record industry hell that person introducing these visuals (I’m sure you know who I’m referring to as well lol) didn’t see me. But by then I wasn’t thinking about the consequences, I was getting the “EXCLUSIVE” (remember that term lol?)
At the conclusion of each visual, I would relay the message to my Twitter followers and explain to them my efforts would be available for viewing as soon as possible. Boy was I excited. I felt invincible. I was getting emails left and right. “When are you posting it?” “Hurry up, man. The people are waiting.” After capturing about 4 visuals (none of them were completely done, but they were as close as they were going to be to the final product), I said my goodbyes, caught a ride from a fellow employee and skated back to the office.
“Oooooo boy,” I thought. “I’m bout to set the Internet on fire with this shit.” I got back to the office, uploaded and posted my recordings one by one. The net went crazy. “How did you get that shit, man?” Of course I disappeared from the net for the rest of the night, but closely monitored what people were saying lol. Some were dumbfounded. Others were pissed. Of course I didn’t give a shit. I had a job to do and I fucking did it.
The next morning- man o man lol. One email threat, two email threat, three email threat, four email threat. It was non-stop lol. And this was before I hit my desk. Before I settle in, I always say whas up to a couple people around the office. One of my usual suspects was combing through the pages of TheYBF and said, “Hey Nile, did you see this new video?” I took a close look and said, “Yeah, I recorded that.” She said, “You did? I knew that was your voice in the background.” At this rate, I knew shit was about to hit the fan which made me a tad bit worried, but again, I had a job to do (a decision I made on my own not via the company or my superiors) so I rolled with the punches.
The next couple of days were pretty rough. I won’t go into specific logistics, but looking back it was a rough ride. And if I had to do it all over- I’D DEFINITELY TAKE THAT STROLL AGAIN. This one particular person who was involved with the visuals I leaked found me via Twitter and pretty much threatened me via Twitter and Aim for a good several hours. By that time, I had already seen the worst of the worst so all I could do was laugh. She didn’t think it was funny- at all.
As the months progressed, my name was thrown around in various meetings, lunch breaks, water cooler discussions and every other past time you could have a conversation. Some shook their head in disbelief and haven’t spoken to me since. Others laughed and called me a moron but respected me because I didn’t curl up like a little bitch, but yet was ready to accept whatever punishment was thrown my way. That specific event showed me how this industry really gets down- NO ONE HAS UR BACK.
Now I’m not sure if it was because of what I did at that particular event back in May, but things sure as hell changed. Press releases were covered in “NO RECORDING DEVICES” print. And every time I saw that, I could do nothing but shake my head and ask, “What have I done?”
Nowadays, you can find the Flip everywhere. No, not mine- I barely bring her out anymore. I’m talking about everyone else. Not to say what everyone is doing is wack, but every event I attend, you’ll see a Flip camera. Yak. But that’s just me- I did my damage.
Sincerely
Low “All I can do is flippin laugh” Key
