WHO I TRIED TO INTERVIEW
Gil Birmingham has a strong supporting role in “Hell or High Water”. He shares most of his time with Jeff Bridges in the film. Sure, the character only serves as a counterpoint to Bridges’ aging character, but he makes the most out of the role.
WHAT HAPPENED?
One and only time using an IR controlled microphone system. I lost signal around Question 3 and I broke the line of sight. That movement caused the recording to stop without signaling me. Not the worst, not the best.
HOW I RECOVERED
I jotted down the replies and answers on a Post-It note. After weeks of trying to piece it together, I gave up. I figured talking about what would happen would fulfill more than rehashing about 6 good questions about a film that I wasn’t allowed to review.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
I farted out an explanation about a day before Columbus Day. Given that the subject is a Native American actor, the dates syncing up was nothing but coincidence. If you’re curious about the replies, I’ll give the short answers.
- Jeff Bridges is great.
- His character serves to explain the lingering sense of death in the film.
- Birmingham loves Tina Fey and would love to return for Season 3 of Kimmy Schmidt.
- He appreciated the sudden death scene that happened to his character.
- He’s working on the new Transformers movie.
- He’d love to keep working on films like this.
When you distill an interview down like this, it becomes something new. While it’s not the gentle chat that I had with Coscarelli when a similar malfunction happened, these incidences continue to prove something to me. I need recommendations for better interviewing equipment. I’ve lucked through a few recent interviews, but I’m continuing to try anything that might work better.
