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Dan Pinto's
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SCENE 6D, JUNE 1, 1997
(All photos shown here are right from the video Hi-8 Masters from which "Die For A Life" was edited) There was a scene location that
held special meaning for me in the making of "Die For A Life". In
June of 1997, I scheduled a film shoot with the New York International Numasmatic
Convention. It was held on the Mezzanine level of Tower One at the
World Trade Center and was used in creating
a scene for a coin show that took place in the movie. Here, coin
dealers from around the World took part in buying & selling rare
gold and silver coins and currency. Mr. Robert Brueggeman, President
of the NYINC was kind enough to allow us to shoot the
scenes needed at his show while Dr. Arnold R. Saslow gave us the use
of his table filled with highly valuable gold & silver coins.
Below shows two stills from the film. The first on the left showing
Andy Laterra as Mr. Karros playing the underhanded coin dealer
as he sells a rare gold coin to a buyer played by Rick Poli. The
still on the right of that shows the interior of the
Mezzanine level of Tower One where the coin show was being held. The
Interior design of that building was very beautiful and exactly what
I wanted for this scene. |
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We filmed in and out of Tower One for several hours. I'm now glad that I never trashed any of that original video. I remember filming in the courtyard and that I wanted the upward shot from the ground of the two gleaming towers on each side. The two stills below demonstrate the views I got that day. The irony of one of the clips taken would show the innocents of an airliner that passed between the two towers in the distant sky without even the possibility of a thought of what was to come. |
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I went back there with my camera in December of 2001. On
my way walking towards within a few blocks of ground zero, a large
semi-flatbed trailer pulled up along side of
me on his way out to stop at a check point. He was carrying a huge
mangled 30 foot piece of what was a steel I beam. From that point on, what
I saw will be burned into my memory forever. They had a wrecking
ball talking down what was left of tower 5 that day. Each
time it struck the building, thousands of pieces of debris would
scatter and fall to the ground below. The Environmental Protection
Agency was present with air quality testing equipment set up. It was
weird seeing places like the Embassy Suites Hotel closed
down with warning signs for poor air quality posted in the windows.
The sides of the tall buildings that were left standing around
the outskirts of ground zero looked as though someone had just
dragged a rake over them. Buildings more then a block away
were being sandblasted from the dirt and debris from the
collapse. |
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So many people wanted to see it for themselves that it
became almost a morbid sort of tourist attraction though it seemed
all out of respect I think. At least it was for me. Police
guarded every entrance to the area on all sides of ground zero.
Crowds of people watched as the demolition crews went about doing
they're work. The feeling was without a doubt a very somber one.
You saw that many of the people seemed
scared even. You'd see it in they're faces. Even coming into
Manhatten at the bus terminal they seemed afraid to touch guard rails for the
fear of anthrax. The people of New York had never looked so
universally
withdrawn. |
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The memorials near where the towers collapsed were endless. Rain soaked teddy bears were lined up for what seemed like miles. Endless photos of lost lives and crowds of people standing around and staring so quietly you could nearly hear a pin drop. Was I still in New York City, I thought? The devastation could not be described unless you were there. And I felt like I had to be there to experience it. Partly because it was a location that I chose to be in my film and knowing how larger than life those towers were up close, I couldn't believe that they just weren't there anymore unless I saw it for myself, but more importantly and having nothing to do with my film, it was out of respect for humanity. I wanted the Twin Towers in my film from the beginning but I had no idea that the scenes that were shot with them in it would turn out to be a memorial. |
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Listen to a clip from Dan Pinto's song, "Flight Of The Phoenix," that he dedicated to the survivors of the victims from the 9/11 tragedy off his most recent
Jazz-Rock Fusion CD, "ANOMALIES."
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