San Diego Lifeguards Our Heroes
One late summer we followed them on their rounds.
We joined them atop Tower 13, on the main lifeguard building roof, in their lifeguard beach vehicles, on their rescue boats. And we marched up and down the sandy beaches wearing our sound gear, and hauling camera and tripod, in anticipation of drowning victims, killer sharks and beach mishaps. We were shooting for a Weather Channel documentary about San Diego Lifeguards. They called it Lifeguard!
What Happened?
What happened during our “watch” were a couple of scraped knees, a fish-hook in a foot, an inebriated transient, two lost children, a boy who stepped on a stingray, a woman who torked her neck on the simulated wave at The Wavehouse in Mission Beach, and another woman who split her pelvis when she jumped from the upper deck of a boat onto the prow.
During all these events, the San Diego lifeguards maintained their calm and professional demeanor. They handled every emergency, from insignificant to critical, with amazingly fast response times and a caring attitude.
We knew that the lifeguards were not all that jazzed about video crews following them around and potentially getting in the way. So we tried to stay out of their way. But the nature of television is its rampant sensationalism. Even the occasional scraped elbow requires the optic of drama. And for that the camera has to be up close and personal.
We were one of three crews roaming the beaches. We covered San Diego’s beaches from Ocean Beach north to South Mission to Mission, Pacific Beach and La Jolla. It was the kind of shoot we call “Run and Gun” with moments for bathroom breaks and a bite to eat. Most of the day we prowled the beaches wearing our gear and searching for tragedy.
The producers expected us to be nosy and pushy so we could ferret out some compelling stories. It reminded me of past gigs with A Current Affair when that show was still on the air. The Crystal Pyramid crew covered more than a few crime stories. That show’s producers, too, expected us to push our way into places like the home of a grieving widow, the memorial service of a suicide victim, the face of an alleged murderer. That is way out of my comfort zone and I’d have to take a shower immediately after those shoots.
Timing is everything. We were trailing after lifeguards during August. July is a better month for record crowds, busy lifeguards and beach crises.
Mark and I have been working as a team for nearly 40 years now. The client hired us as a team but inexplicably split us up after the first few days. Working with other videographers gives me a great opportunity to see how they operate. Judging from their work ethic and footage, I generally conclude that they’re not half as good as Mark.
Mark and I went to visit the OB lifeguards a few months after the shoot. We were there to go bodyboarding. OB is one of our favorite beaches for surfing. The sand slopes gently toward the west and there aren’t cliffs or rocks like at Sunset Cliffs. The lifeguards were happy to see us and warned us about a rip current. We thanked them and headed out into the water.
