I was in LA the past week, working on promos for the show "Hell's Kitchen". I'm a big fan of Gordon Ramsey's shows, and to be honest, never working with him didn't know what to expect... would someone be humiliated? Maybe a crew member would be the victim of a raging tantrum? Maybe I would be lucky enough to have him throw something at me? A knife perhaps??? None of which happened.
What did happen? Gordon was amazing, often helping my assistant and I with prepping each shot, very respectful and humble. We had him crushing tomatoes with his bare hands, tossing large handfuls of spaghetti into camera, posing with pitchforks, spattering him down with chocolate sauce, nothing too crazy... until the FIRE!
I'm not a Pyrotech, nor do I promote myself as such. In the past I have been asked to work with fire barrels, smoke pots, flame bars, things that would be the equivalent to using a common BBQ. In NYC, they have very strict policies in regards to using open flame or flammable objects on set, LA is even worse.
I was introduced to the "Safety Advisor" to the show, a 17 year veteran of the LA fire department. At the Producers request I reluctantly explained what it was that we needed to do (light props on fire, large open flames, that Gordon himself was going to handle). Turns out he was very cool about it (or appeared to be) and appreciated that I took the precautions of having a 5 gallon pail of water and TWO fire extinguishers on set.
Some of the gags included torches, road flares, oversized lighters, then there was my "Bone" shot. I thought it would be cool to have Gordon hold an an oversized thigh bone, while its was on fire, like a torch. I doused one end in lighter fluid and my assist lit it, with only the fuel burning off (and not burning the actual bone) it worked perfectly. I showed the creatives my idea and they loved it. It worked perfectly on set, with Gordon asking for more fuel each time, making the flames larger. He was very into it. Then Gordon held the oversized bone in his teeth (let me make this clear, this was HIS idea) and asked if I could light BOTH ends. We tried it a few times, each time adding more fuel to sustain a larger flame. With the fuel dripping all over the bone I lit it again, Gordon gripping it in his teeth, the ENTIRE bone went up in flames, including Gordon's face! The crew gasped as Gordon muffled "MMUUTHRFUKKRRRGFF", flaming bone gripped in his teeth.
He spit out the bone immediately, luckily no injuries were sustained. One of Gordon's "handlers" jokingly yelled "That's A Wrap!!!". Gordon answered back "NO NO NO, ONE MORE TIME!!!", everyone laughed. He's one tough dude!
I'll be getting some shots for my portfolio at some point, you should be seeing them around town on the web, billboards, commercials, etc very soon. Until enjoy enjoy these "behind the scenes" shots....
