5/16/2005. Lights, camera, action!

Sometimes life delivers some strangely ironic twists to challenge my most cherished dogmas. I have never owned a television in my life. I made my children grow up without it, deluging them with books instead of Saturday morning cartoons. So imagine my surprise when the weekend before last, I found myself in front of television cameras...and actually enjoying it! (Lest I be too dogmatic in my dogmas, let me say that a TV does exist in our apartment, behind closed cabinet doors, but that the only time it has been on since my arrival in France was on 9/11. And I consider Denis to be its owner.)



Several months ago, Dawn Ford, the executive producer of the PBS show Smart Gardening, contacted me for information on possible filming subjects for the program around Toulouse. That's Dawn in the photo, literally undoing snarls, which sometimes is also figuratively what she does. Dawn's generous spirit, professionalism, and creativity are what enabled me to so enjoy my television experience.

When I agreed to help her out, I never dreamed I'd finish by being in front of the camera. I just had some great ideas of stories for the crew to film, and was bursting with enthusiasm to share them...much as I do in these pages. But between the need for a French-English go-between and translator, my rôle evolved, I guess you could say. And then Dawn had the bright idea of doing a segment on me alone, talking about some of my favorite Frenchgardening products. Of course, I would have had to be nuts to turn down such a fabulous opportunity. But sheesh, did my dogmas have to do a quick U-turn!

Denis and I flew down to Toulouse on a Friday evening, and then drove up to Agen. We were to meet the film crew first thing Saturday morning as they were filming in the Agen market, a project that didn't involve me, but would give me a chance to be a silent observer. Dawn and her crew were of course easy to spot--two huge high-definition video cams (manned by Sal and Matty), a sound tech bristling with microphones (womaned by Randy), a script person (Di), and the star/host of the show (Deanna).

We all got to know each other over a leisurely lunch at an outdoor café. But then, my grace period was over. It was straight to the courtyard of a nearby hotel, where we would set up for the filming of my products. On the way, I had that feeling of being in a canoe, hellbent for rapids. They were coming up fast, and I'd just have to react moment by moment to handle them.

I'd solved the what-to-wear problem by opting to dress in a new line of garden clothing I plan to offer on my site (by the time the program airs in early 2006). Thank goodness for that; can you imagine the agony of the decision otherwise? I'd selected what I thought was a balanced array of products to show, none of them too terribly bulky or heavy as I had to bring them all down on the plane. But what about me? That diet I thought I'd go on before the filming...why hadn't I ever gotten around to it? I'd heard somewhere that television makes you look twice as wide as you really are. And how would I react with the cameras and all eyes on me? Would I freeze, flub it, or simply forget what I had to say?



Well, there was no time left to agonize because it was happening, right now! And...(deep sigh), it wasn't that bad. In fact, I kind of liked it. By the time we began, I already felt as if I knew the crew (thanks to our lunch), and I felt more like I was surrounded by friends than in front of cameras. They were all so matter-of-fact, friendly, and consummately professional that I was able to more or less...relax!

After the "products" segment, we went into a beautiful salon inside the hotel, to film another segment about herbiers, or herbarium specimens (aka dried flower pictures). The next day we would be filming with Bernard Bertrand on how to create them, and I had brought along some examples of antique herbarium specimens to introduce the subject.



The next day, we drove south of Toulouse to the Jardin des Sortilèges, an organic garden belonging to Bernard and Annie-Jean Bertrand. They are authors of an impressive number of gardening books (most of which have found their way into my library), and Bernard has been making herbiers for many years. We would film him showing how to do this, while Annie-Jeanne would demonstrate how to make purin d'orties, a combination fertilizer/tonic brewed from nettle leaves.



The steep hillside setting of this garden was splendid, with the foothills of the Pyrenees visible on the horizon. While it presented some challenges to the crew, head cameraman Sal (foreground in photo at left), was quick to frame up exciting shots. I was absorbed in translating, but not so much so that I didn't develop a deep appreciation for the complexity of putting together such a television episode. And I realized that what I was seeing was only the half of it; the rest would happen in the edit suite, as I learned it was called, where half a day's shooting would be winnowed down to six perfect minutes.



Bernard and Annie-Jeanne (photo right, relieved that the filming is over!) are delightful people, deeply imbued by a lifetime spent gardening organically together. (More about their garden in an upcoming Visitez... page.) Between takes, I plied them with my own questions on the special techniques that I had read about in many of their books.

Denis had to leave before we were finished filming, as he had to catch a plane to Paris to be back at work on Monday morning. The crew and I finally got back to the hotel at around 11 at night, after a rushed dinner eaten in relays so someone could stay with the equipment-loaded vehicles.



The next day, we spent filming at an atelier specialized in producing dye from woad, or pastel, as it is called in French (Isatis tinctoria). This biennial plant is the oldest source of blue dye, and was historically the source of much wealth until it was displaced first by indigo and later by synthetic dyes. The fascinating story of this plant, and its nearly magical transformation into a rich blue dye made for a very photogenic filming subject. While we did most of the filming in the atelier, we also took the equipment right into the pastel field behind it. Luckily, the plants were in full, bright yellow bloom (photo above left). The atelier is visible in the background.

All in all, it was an eye-opening, stimulating three days. It was fascinating to be behind the scenes, literally, and learn first-hand how a fine quality television production is put together. Of course it helped that each and every person on the 6-member crew was not only an awesome professional, but friendly and humorous to boot. And not only behind the monitor, but behind it all, the creative force and smooth coordination of Dawn Ford kept us all moving as a harmonious whole.

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." My time spent with Dawn and her crew certainly had me searching one of my most rigid consistencies for wiggle room. Don't get me wrong--I still haven't turned on the television. After a lifetime spent without it, I can't imagine how I'd find the time. But if television could mean that I could share the splendors of French gardening with...I don't know, how many people watch the thing, anyway? Millions, probably. Wouldn't I say yes? But will television ever replace this postcard?

Never!

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