Don’t stop at the first “no”
The second team photoshoot was probably my favorite esports shoot so far. I not only loved how the pictures & video (coming later) turned out, but it also has a story behind it about not stopping when someone says “No”, which in this case meant annoying every hotel employee that didn’t run away from me fast enough.
So the hotel we are staying at in Korea consists of two separate buildings that are connected through this amazing skybridge. There’s just one problem with it. The other building of the hotel serves as a government quarantine facility, so the bridge is completley closed. For EVERYONE. AT ALL TIMES. NO EXCEPTIONS! - That’s what the first guy said to me when I asked about shooting there. (He might have been a little bit more polite than this, but the story sounds cooler this way. Also this is my blog, fuck you, I’ll tell it how I want.)
Anyways so I didn’t take the first “No” as a final answer. Mainly cause when I decide that I really want to shoot a location I don’t stop till I get that place. So I asked every concierge (is that the right word? Basically everyone in the lobby with a suit and a nametag) that I could find. Multiple times. And always got the same answer.
So I did the only sensible thing you could do in that moment. I went to the skybridge directly to see if you could sneak onto it somehow. And guess what! It was open. People were walking across it. So I was basically lied to by the entire hotel staff or at least that’s what I thought. I went back down to the lobby ready to call everyone out on their bullshit.
Turns out the bridge leads to another swimming pool that’s only open twice a week for a couple of hours. But not at night (the time I wanted to shoot). So I asked very kindly (sarcasm) again, if they could make an exception for me, since it’s open at certain times. And guess what I got?
A YES!
No, just kidding. Wasn’t that easy. I got the same No’s again by everyone I asked. For the second time now. It was at that moment that I started to come to terms with the fact, that a photoshoot on that skybridge would become one of the absolute biggest “What ifs” of my entire life. But then came my savior. My hero and now best friend in the entire world, Krischan.
Seemingly out of nowhere. On a normal Tuesday I went to breakfast and was approached in a very strange way by one of the few hotel employees I haven’t harassed yet.
“Hey you, you sound german!”
“Um ok. That’s cause I am.”
“That’s cool. My name is Krischan and I’m also german, which means we’re probably brothers.” (might have not said the last part).
Well that’s how I met the director of Food & Beverages of our hotel. A very kind dude, who offered me to help me if I ever have any questions. I’m sure he meant food related questions, but it was too good of an offer to not push my ruthless agenda of getting access to that damn skybridge. So I asked him, and guess what!
He didn’t say no!
Instead he said: “I’ll see what I can do”. And half an hour later I got a phone call to my hotel room with the hotel manager telling me, that I can have the skybridge whenever I want for as long as I want. Well and that’s basically it. Krischan later helped me with being allowed to film in the gym & jacuzzi, which were also two big No’s at first. And now we’re friends forever who engage in quick (and sometime awkward) small talk about how the tournament is going for us whenever we cross paths in the lobby.
So what do we learn from this story? Make friends with german people!
No just kidding. But by me asking multiple times the hotel manager remembered me when Krischan asked and if I wasn’t so persistent (and maybe a little obsessed) with that bridge I probably wouldn’t have asked Krischan in the first place. Anyways now I took some cool pictures on a skybridge somewhere in Korea. Ok that’s it. Until the next blog entry where I kinda forget about the reason why I want to write it midway and instead just ramble for a bit.
While I’m here, since the last blog entry, I made five more episodes of the Survival documentary series, that I’m doing with the team. Would love for you to check them out (the last one is also on the way).
P.S. As the trip is over now, I’ll have a blog post recapping everything up as soon as the last episode is done. So look forward to me thanking everyone way too much and being grateful and all that stuff.