Duck Dynasty

There is a new show on A&E that began a couple of weeks ago called Duck Dynasty.  It is a favorite show for us because it is funny, but it is also about a family that lives here so it’s cool to see our town on tv and people we know on the show!

One of the brothers is a local pastor of a very large church here (he is clean shaven and as of yet has not been on the show  LOL).  We have attended this church and like it  :)  This past Sunday A&E was filming at church and they even set up a carnival afterwards.  It is very interesting to see how “real” “reality tv” is or is not  :)  In some sense it is real, but much of the situations the people are in are staged.

Above is a pic just showing the camera men just in one area as people were starting to get to the carnival.

Everywhere the family was there were cameras all over the place making sure to get every move they make from several different angles.

This was funny (above).  They had Si set up at the “smooch booth” and he was just hanging out with no cameras.  Mike started talking to him about military stuff.  Before you knew it two camera men came running over and a sound guy.  They were shoving the boom mike in from below and camera pointing from different angles.  Si didn’t skip a beat (I guess you have to learn to live with it), but it was really weird and cool to see.

I didn’t get the girls giving him a “smooch”.  It may be on tv though  :)

As soon as we were on tape we were swarmed by another group of A&E workers to sign releases.  We all needed our own.  I signed most of the info for the girls but then they signed their name which was very cool for them  :)

There is Clara signing her name.

On the back of your release is a number they have you hold up and they then take your picture with the number so they know who is who.  Pretty effective actually.

There is Clara getting her picture.

You can see Mike in there doing his release.  All those people (minus Mike) work for A&E.

One of Willie’s son’s was working one of the booths for a while.  This was a favorite booth for the girls, they got to throw a ball and knock over ducks.  The ducks were on hinges.

Lucy could get at least one duck (3 at once was her best) with the first shot every time!  You go girl!

The girls with Jace.  He is just as he seems on tv too!  Jace was telling us that they did not know there was going to be a carnival set up until 2 days prior to this, but they were excited about it.

Here they were setting up for one of the scenes---a pie eating contest.  This is what I mean by some of it is staged.  They set the scene but then the family does as they would normally do in such a scenario, no scripting.  A lot of work goes into the set up.  Rigging, cameras positioned at various angles, sound guys brought in to be all over the place, and a plethora of other people doing whatever it is they do.

We started off in front so we could see the pie eating contest, and the A&E people work, but they had us move to behind them so we would be in the shots, and not in the way. Underneath the stage they had all kinds of towels and water and cleaning supplies so they could clean up afterwards as fast as possible.  It wasn’t just for the family either, as Willie did manage to throw pie on several of the crew members  :)

We won’t see the contestants actually eating until the show comes out, but it was fun to watch from behind too.  We were right behind Willie and his wife literally kept gagging during the contest as she said it was making her sick to watch.  I can only imagine from her vantage point, because it was gross from where we were.  They would throw it at each other and it would STICK---gross!!! 

Afterwards Willie got a pie dumped on his head (hard to see, but that is pie on his head above).  It was funny, right afterwards, he takes a pie and chases someone (I think Jace, but I’m not sure).  I had to get out of the way quick as I was right in his path.  The camera guys start freaking out when they are on the move like that.  One guy was yelling for cameras to follow Willie, to not miss the shot---go, go, go!!!!  Those camera guys have to be ready to move! 

We then went back to the booths as they were having the family man them and had it set up to record with the rigging and all that.  Clara won a monkey and absolutely loves this monkey!!

I tried to get other cool shots of the rigging and how they had to set it up with shims to make the track level and all, but apparently I was on “video” and not “photo” so I got the shot, and then usually my leg or the ground for a while….  LOL.  You can get a little idea above though of them setting up the rigging---this guy is working on getting the shims in place.  Once the camera is on the rigging it goes back and forth to capture the action from different vantage points, while other cameras are hand held to do the same but are ready to move if need be.

I can’t wait to see how this all comes out on tv after seeing it from behind the scenes.  It has been interesting hearing the stories of others who have been, for instance in the 2nd episode, in the stands of the football game.  To record that game took over 5 hours!!

This family has been very blessed over the years due to success with making duck calls.  From what we have heard from people who have known them all their lives, they have always kept God first in all they do.  They are trying to honor God through this show as well, however, they have little control over how A&E edits it and are finding that it is having liberties taken they are not happy with.  For instance, in that football episode Willie and his wife are both bleeped as though they cussed.  Neither of them did.  They did question A&E and were told they add that to boost ratings.  They have asked them not to do that again, and so far we have not seen that occur.  We shall see.  It’s sad that a bleep may boost ratings, but that is a reality of the world we live in.  We are praying for this family and for A&E to portray them as they truly are.

If you have not seen this show yet, please do.  It is hilarious!  It is on A&E on Wednesday nights (two half hour shows back to back).  Be sure to look for the church carnival episode to see our 15 minutes of fame if we make the cut  :)