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MarkMedia » Mark On TV » Kids In The Crossfire
Imagine if you will, a situation where you're asked to pretend to be a teenager again, hanging out on the streets,
selling guns to gangs, meeting under the freeway overpass, and discussing who was cooler, Bill or Ted.
Hmmm. Forget that last point.
That's exactly the proposition presented to myself and other students who were working at HBU back in 1994. Our local
NBC affiliate KPRC needed actors to portray kids on the street for an upcoming special segment they were going to do for
two weeks called 'Kids In The Crossfire.' My g/f at the time Betsy and I immediately agreed and got dressed in the most gangy
looking clothes we could locate. I chose a NY Yankees jersey (untucked) with matching black baseball cap and the baggiest
pants I could find. My bangs were very long back then so I let them blow all over the place unkempt for the sake of
art. The weather on the night we filmed the vignettes was in the mid-40's, so we were freezing most of the time, but very
willing to participate. In recent years, KPRC has re-used this footage for other teen-related specials, some of which
I've also been able to tape (e.g. 'It's Tough To Be A Teen'). I'll scan that one in as soon as I figure out where I put the tape.
Although I do not speak in any of the commercials, I was asked to be the leader of the gang selling a gun to another gang. There are a lot of shots with myself and a fake gun getting passed around (see 'The Gun'). I'm also seen talking to a fellow HBU student named Kish up against a fence and walking with her and another student in several scenes (see 'Beating the System'). And lastly, there is a 'lingering' shot of my face (which you can see in the top-right of this page) which made it into the final cut of almost all of the promos. By the way, I am squinting because of the freezing cold wind blowing in my face at the time (a good excuse for looking goofy). All files require Real Player and are optimized for 45 kbps connections (or better!)
Kids In The Crossfire (generic promo 00:30) |
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