What do you do when W Magazine calls you and tells you that they want to submit a video of The Big Easy Rollergirls for a promo Lady Gaga fan video. And they tell you that they need it the next day? And they want you to use “paws” and mouth the words. And it’s the night before your biggest shooting day of the year (Tulane Graduation) and you are slammed at work. And you’ve never heard the song the before. And you’ve never really filmed anything before. And you don’t have a camera.
- You put a call out to the rollergirls, and enlist fellow rollergirls to spread the word.
- You drive to Mardi Gras World and plead your case in person, asking if they can keep it open late for you to film for 45 minutes to an hour to shoot around their floats.
- You borrow a camera from your friend and get a 10-minute lesson.
- You call a fellow photographer and ask him to shoot the session.
- You listen to the song on Deb’s ipod and then carry in your pocket and put it on repeat.
- You grab as many film segments as you can all over the building in high temperatures and fading light trying to somehow figure out how anything relates to the “edge of glory.” (Being sure to lie on your back and have the girls skate spread-eagle over you. And have Deuce do the Running Man.)
- You point your finger at rollergirls you have never met before and shout things like, “You, you, you… Yea, you! Skate by me real fast and flip up your tutu.” And then be amazed that none of them hit you.
- You and your friend stay up all night splicing segments together – learning as you go along (although you forget to put the Bea & Animal kiss in – DAMN!).
- Halfway through, at 2AM, you realize that a 5:21 video is a REALLY long video.
- You cry.
- You laugh.
- You are secretly thankful when you are photographing Stevie Wonder the next day that he can’t see you yawning.
- You submit the video and have W Magazine tell you that they are now obsessed with you (meaning BERG) and the LOVE it!
- You are told that Lady Gaga and her people also love it but don’t know how to use it.
- You are once again thankful for having such beautiful, spirited, patient, creative and generous friends.
Taking (more than) one for the team!
Thank you to everyone who made this video possible: John, Sheldon, Koch, the staff at Mardi Gras World, and all the rollergirls who participated in the last-minute video and all the ones who could not but still help pull it together. XOXOX
And finally…. You post it here! BERG Goes Gaga
* A little glimpse behind the scenes – Deuce got hit over and over and over again by Deb to get the right shot. Equally, Bea jumped over Animal many times to get it just right. And no one complained! Not even for a second. PROS!!! So grateful for them.