Hey Hoh! Hoh Hey! The Cricket Chirp Chirp Chirped Away!
or
The Cricket That Almost Did Us In
The day was filled with glee and pride. Oh, the satisfaction! The day had finally arrived when we were to create our charming short film that had been so long in the planning. The joy of teamwork, cooperation and creative collaboration filled the air. The day proceeded smoothly, as though the Gods had blessed us and they were happy as they gazed down upon the joyous hustle and bustle of our teamwork. . Our total confidence of an early finish and a job well done shown brightly. The wheels of production and artistry were at full throttle and nothing, but nothing, could stop the energy and focus that flooded the room.
Little did we know, however, that in the dark secret corners of the rafters high above our heads laid a tiny little someone else who was also gazing down upon our happy scene. Some little someone who was secretly hatching a plan to thwart our efforts and bring us down. He gazed down upon the happy hustle and bustle of our teamwork and thought, "Who do they think they are. They are so pleased with themselves that they might achieve a perfect day. They could have asked me to the party. I'm a creative being with good ideas. I've had a wonderful pilot script stashed away just waiting for my big break. But there they are taunting me with their revelry. Well I'll show them. They will rue the day they cast me aside without a thought."
And so... the cricket in the rafters began to chirp away.
Far below the well oiled machine ground to a halt, the sound person declaring " Hey Hoh! Hoh Hey! What annoying noise invades my headphones today?" Everyone sat aghast. What is that? What could it be? WHERE is it? That is one heck of a loud sound that threatens to derail us in every way! So we think and ponder and we think and we listen till we realize ... My Goodness it is just a cricket. A cricket? A little cricket?? How could a cricket throw us off this way? Surely it will stop. Surely it will cease. But no such luck, to our utter dismay.
Panic began to set in and our confidence was waning, but we bucked up and reached for our thinking caps! First we clapped... and lo and behold, the cricket took a break. Perhaps it liked the attention we gave. So we set the scene to shoot only little by little during the cricket's recesses. What else could we do? This iddy biddy creature had way more power than us, so we were forced to shoot in little iddy biddy ways. Mr. Cricket finally grew accustomed to our applause however, so, thinking caps still on, we brought out the pots and pans to ring out a mighty clang and scare the bejesus out of the little fellow! Alas, our efforts were fruitless. We failed to talk him into leaving, but the bang and clang DID convince him to take little breaks. So we used the same technique to forge ahead and again to shoot in little iddy biddy bits. Well this went on and on until once again, his little ears acclimated to our noise, and he continued his forceful chirping no matter what. We threw up our hands, indeed we did, because all seemed to be lost. To this cricket size meant nothing...he was definitely more powerful and crafty than we could ever have imagined.
Desperation sank in threatening our day and our film in every possible way. We were weary and sick at heart but somehow we found the strength to keep going and came up with a new idea. Out came the 13-foot ladder and a broomstick to help us prevail this day. Our director, ever so brave, climbed to the top where he thought he heard the cricket chirping away. (Don't worry, no harm would come to the cricket, but his ears would suffer mightily because Mr. Director started thunderously pounding on the rafters and shook the house from stem to stern.) Our director stood and he balanced and he pounded above while below we were at the ready to shoot the minute the chirping ceased. And every now and then it did. And so... that is how it went the rest of the night. Chirping, pounding, chirping stop, shoot, chirping, pounding, chirping stop, shoot, etc. It wore on us all but we never gave up. The battle went on and on. Both sides frustrated but committed to win. We poised to shoot each time the cricket tired and step-by-step, little by little; battle-by-battle we accomplished all that we had set out to do at the beginning of the day.
Yes, we were 5 hours behind schedule. Yes, we were frazzled and wiped out, but we refused to let that cricket do us in. We gathered ourselves and greeted our director with shouts of glee as he climbed down from atop his ladder perch.
We vociferously celebrated our triumph over the cricket. Our joy could not be contained. We rallied and announced that now the cricket could chirp away. Go ahead you crafty little cricket and chirp chirp chirp away. You can't stop us now. We're done! We're through! We did it, we won! So there! You blankety blank cricket. We've crushed your plans to bring us down. Or so we thought.
We couldn't help but wonder how the cricket felt as our spirits soared. Did we break his mighty spirit? Because we have to admit he was a force. We had to admire and respect our tiny iddy biddy enemy. Is it possible that a fondness had set in for the cricket in the rafters? When we were in the throws of fighting each new battle we thought our cricket was demented and evil and we wanted him dead. But is it possible? Could it be? Perhaps this powerful little creature was just having fun. Perhaps he was bored. Perhaps he was innocent of the negative effect he had. Maybe he just needed a distraction on this ho hum Saturday night without a date. Or could it be that he was wiser than we. Teaching us a lesson that no matter what, or how well you plot and plan, you can never anticipate every problem that lies ahead. Or perhaps it is as simple as... he was just doing his own thing...being himself...just as we try to do in our own work.
Well, whatever his motives, the cricket had the last say in the end because after some food and wine we settled down to reflect and pat ourselves on the back only to discover...Hey Hoh! Hoh Hey! The cricket's chirp chirp chirping had finally gone away!
Debbie Zipp
In the Trenches Productions
http://www.inthetrenchesproductions.com
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