Posts Tagged ‘paparazzi’

A Fresh View of The Paparazzi (Part 2)

October 2nd, 2009 admin

In the last post, I talked some about the paparazzi, and how they’re some of the most hated people in all of Hollywood. Taking pictures of people isn’t the hardest job in the world, but to do it professionally, it demands a lot of time, talent, and just plain good ol’ fashioned hard work.

Being a paparazzo is no joke. You just don’t walk around aimlessly hoping to catch a glimspe of your favorate celebrity. As a paparazzo, you’ll have a huge network of contacts, people who are in contact with the celebrity frequently, so you can keep tabs on them, and figure out where they are headed. Additionally, if it’s something really important, a paparazzo might even camp outside the celebrities home just to get the perfect shot. Now, you may be wondering if this could be considered stalking. Yes, it can, but there are a lot of loopholes in the laws and regulations that allow the paparazzi to do the things they do.

Let me give you an example. If you knew a famous celebrity was having an affair at their house, and wanted to catch them in the act, you’d probably spend a lot of time outside their house. But, if you camped outside their house for three days, it’d be considered stalking. So, to get around this, you’d campout for only two days and on the third, have a buddy come replace you for a little while, so it would not be considered stalking.

Another little loophole paparazzi will use to get their coveted pictures are helicopters. Since being on private property and taking pictures of celebrities is technically illegal, the paparazzi will get helicopters, so they can hover around in the air and get in a little closer to the action. Had they been on the ground, the probably would not be able to get the shots they need.

There are also two more sneaky, cunning, tactics that paparazzi will use to get the pictures they want. Both of them are definitely illegal, but sometimes, if the costs are less than what they’ll get for the photos, then sometimes the paparazzi will employ these tactics. Remember in elementry, middle, or even high school when someone would pull the fire alarm to get out of class? Well, sometimes the paparazzi have been known to pull the fire alarms on the sets of movies and other locations they know a celebrity is inside. Then, once the person gets outside, the paparazzo just has to start snapping away. Usually, it’s a two or more person job, as once the fire alarm is pulled all the people start to rush out, and you can get lost in the fray easily.

The final thing the paparazzi have been known to do is crash their cars into places or other cars that the celebrity is in, just to get the picture. Now, doing this can cause serious legal consequences, but, as long as the money one would get from the picture outweighs the costs, many paparazzi won’t think past it.

It can be tough working as a paparazzo. Everyone hates you, yet they love the work you do, and even try to distance themselves from the lengths that you had to go to to get those pictures. I hope this two part series gave you an interesting look at behind the scenes of the paparazzi.

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A Fresh View of The Paparazzi (Part 1)

October 1st, 2009 admin

The paparazzi are an interesting creature. Many people think that they are the scum of Hollywood. Professional stalkers if you will. The people love looking at their pictures, but hate the people who take the pictures themselves. The paparazzi and Hollywood have a love-hate relationship. Both feeding off of each others hatred for one another. And in the Paparazzi’s case, it’s not really their fault. People just love the insight into the famous celebrities and role models that the Paparazzi provide. That candid, raw, real look at extraordinary people. People just hate to realize the lengths (often times moral gray areas) that the Paparazzi have to go to to obtain these pictures.

The Paparazzi have to go to incredible lengths to get the pictures that they do. There are very specific rules and regulations that they have to follow, otherwise they’ll get sued or have to deal with law enforcement. In fact, many big time Paparazzi have part of their budget stashed away for when they enividably run into trouble with the law, get punched in the face, or have their cameras broken. It’s just part of what comes with the job.

Being a paparazzo (paparazzi refers to a group of paparazzo’s) requires hard work, ingenuity, boldness, and a moral gray area. It’s almost like being a private investigator, except you sell your proof instead of being paid before hand to deliver it. Paparazzo’s often times hire private investigators to help them get the word on where their favorite celeb is going to be next. Often times, the game is about finding out where the celebrity will be before your competition does and snagging the photo without causing too much of a ruckus. Actually, that’s basically the entire game is about.

To get this jump on his or her competition, a paparazzo will often times have to employ a rather large (and often times elaborate) network of contacts to gather intelligence, much like the CIA would for an operation. Anyone who comes into contact with the celebrity of choice would be considered an option for intel. Usually, a paparazzo will pay off people employeed at a favorite shopping or dining spot of a celebrity to get information. Doormen and bodyguards are often considered too. The paparazzo do this because celebrities are not dumb and will often take extreme measures to avoid the paparazzi.

Measures like having vehicle decoys, look-a-likes, and false press releases. All just to get rid of the paparazzi. Sometimes celebrities are pretty successful, other times they are not. Well, usually they are not. Celebrities do various things for a living. Sing, act, talk on TV, things like that. Paparazzi take pictures of celebrities for a living, so they’re fairly apt at what they do.

Because the Paparazzi do what they do, Hollywood is the way it is today. Without the paparazzi, literally a dozen magazines, a few TV shows, and a couple movies would not exist. The paparazzi add to the mystique and luxury that celebrities have today.

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