It's that time of year when we often find ourselves shooting outdoors in fields and wooded areas. A hidden hazard when working outdoors are deer ticks (where I live in Kentucky and throughout much of the Eastern US). They can transmit dangerous diseases like Lyme's disease.
I am surprised by most people's general lack of knowledge about deer ticks. When many people think of ticks, they think about dog ticks. Relatively large, dog ticks are not difficult to find and remove. They can transmit diseases but not some of the more dangerous ones like Lyme's. Deer ticks are much smaller making them difficult to detect and remove.
This is how small they are:
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This little dot is a deer tick crawling on my finger. They vary in size but can be as small as the period in a sentence. They are difficult, if not impossible, to find.
Your best defense is to keep them away by using insect repellents. Permethrin spray works well on clothing, hats, and boots, etc., but you cannot spray it directly on yourself. Use Deet based repellents on exposed skin. Experts recommend wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts but this is not always practical on very hot days.
PS: I had Lyme's disease years ago from deer ticks. Treatment with antibiotics cured me of the disease, but possibly the reason I have a pacemaker today is nerve damage from the Lyme's disease.
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| On set of The Big Ugly near Olive Hill, Kentucky |
PPS: I was the gaffer on the movie The Big Ugly. Much of the film was shot outdoors in fields and wooded areas. I found deer ticks several times.
I would use Permethrin on my boots and clothes. I would use Off (Deet-based insect repellent) on my skin.
Whenever we were shooting outdoors, the first thing I did when I got back to my room was to take off my clothes, and put them in a plastic bag. I would check for ticks, and then take a shower. If I had seen any deer ticks that day, I would shower with dog flea and tick shampoo to kill any possible deer ticks. I can't recommend doing that but I'm guessing it is reasonably safe if only done occasionally. I had Lyme's disease once and didn't want to take any chances with getting it again.
PPPS: The Big Ugly should have been a good movie. It's not. It looks great. There are great actors, but the story is just not very good. It's not just my opinion. The movie gets a 5.1 score on IMDB (out of 10).
The weather in Kentucky that year had a lot to do with it. There was so much rain. There were lightning delays every week. The record for rain was broken that year.
The Big Ugly was a movie mostly set outdoors. We had almost no "rain cover days". (Those are days when a movie will move to an indoor location when shooting is not possible outdoors.)
I'm guessing at least a third of the script was never shot because of the weather. It was unfortunate bad luck.
The Big Ugly: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9441638/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
More pics:
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| A cool picture by Jake of me adjusting a 5K par at night. |
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| Truck fire/explosion at the oil well drilling site. |
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| Another bar scene; many practical fixtures with an 18K fresnel glowing the front windows. |
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| Cammate on track for great shot at the edge of a cliff. |
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| Lighting the windows of a jet at the airport. |
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| A condor at night on the edge of a cliff at the oil well site. |