Has anyone else been involved with a project that involves having a background check done by the Secret Service? I have an IMAG shoot coming up for some high profile heads of state and the producers have requested my SSN for a background check by the Secret Service. What all do they check besides a possible criminal background? I mean, that little thing with the bank..... that was a long time ago.

Typically it isn't very strict. They are looking for blatant criminal background stuff, they won't be asking people any questions or anything. Financial stuff can make it tough to get a security clearance - because if you are broke you may be tempted to sell secrets - but it won't make you any more likely to want to kill a head of state.

I was talking about that bank I robbed, ha ha ha. Just kidding, of course.

It's just a press pass? There's nothing to worry about. . .

They read all your internet message postings...

Wait, they've been doing that all along anyway.

Depends on what level of access you are asking for. A press pass to stand in the back of the room with the rest of the photogs will be simple. A clearance to do a one on one with someone high up will be deeper... and more extensive. And once it's done, it will be of use in the future.

if the shoot involes being at an event and the SS is providing security, do what they say and be dont be mouthy. (learned the hard way.)
Those guys sucks at people skills.
But thats not what they are paid to do.
Usually on site procedures involve a dog sniffing your camera and a very long wait.
I dont remember ever being patted down or anything like that.
Those dudes are trained to read body language, voice tone, facial expression etc. Being bored and more bored is not real threating.

Sidebar:
I did have a (SS i think) sniper train on me from a rooftop once for quite some time.
I had stayed outside of an event involving VP AL Gore.
I was operating a live truck and was alone in the parking lot.
I still dont understand the threat I posed.
I had been cleared.

Anyway, it made for some cool looking video!

Those guys sucks at people skills.
I disagree. The Secret Service are the friendliest people you'll ever meet, right up until the moment they shoot you! ;-)

When I went to see the President get sworn in for his second term in January I took some pictures of what I thought was a sniper on the dome. When I scanned them I zoomed in really close I discoverd he didn't have a rifle, he was standing behind (what an ex-military friend said was) a TOW missle mounted on a monopod.

THAT'S WHAT I CALL PEOPLE SKILLS!

Thanks
Joe

That is called government effenciency at work, ha ha ha!!! They don't have to use as many bullets because one missile usually does the job.

I don't know if the current crop of Secret Service folks are up on "film speak", but a million years ago during the Nixon years, I was told to ALWAYS refer
to FILMING instead of SHOOTING. As in "We're here to FILM the President".

Also, as noted by another poster, don't be ANYWHERE you're not suppoosed to be.

Hope this helps.

Ken

I heard that! I will be sure to describe what I had to go through once the project it is completed.

A TOW missile is pretty darn big. Maybe some other smaller missile.

The BGM-71A/B missile has a rounded nose, is 1.17 m long, has a body diameter of 150 mm and a wing span of 0.45 m. The missile weighs 19 kg. BGM-71C ITOW has the same weight and dimensions as the BGM-71A/B except it is longer at 1.45 m because of a standoff nose probe. BGM-71D TOW 2 is 1.53 m long with a further extended probe, has a body diameter of 152 mm and, with a larger warhead of 5.72 kg HE, weighs 21.5 kg at launch.

I serviced the TOW and Dragon missile systems in the US Army for a few years. Especially the ones mounted on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

lol. heh heh heh.

I don't know if the current crop of Secret Service folks are up on "film speak", but a million years ago during the Nixon years, I was told to ALWAYS refer
to FILMING instead of SHOOTING. As in "We're here to FILM the President".

Also, as noted by another poster, don't be ANYWHERE you're not suppoosed to be.

Hope this helps.

Ken

Yeah, probably wise advice to refer to "filming" or "photographing" rather than "shooting." Likewise, best refer to your shotgun mic as a "directional" mic when going through airport security. ;-)

I have occasion to chat with SWAT and Special Forces types of folks every now and then. Many (but not all!) DO have a perfectly intact sense of humor and are very nice people...except when they are doing their job. Then none of them can take a joke. I personally know more than one professional person who has "eaten pavement" when they haplessly brought themselves to the attention of SWAT.

I was working at a broadcast station in Minneapolis when Gorbachev came through town. The FBI did background checks on the entire crew just as a precaution. The secret service is there to protect dignitaries and our nation's leaders. I also engineered a show where the President was maybe/maybe not going to speak at. All kinds of requirements for the stage. Exits either side and back, 200 fottcandles evenly illuminated, etc. Don't know if all those things are still in place, but the FBI should still have my file.Pretty painless.

The secret service guys are pretty cool I think. Not exactly the kind of job pressure I would want. If they have a bad day....well you get the idea.

There's a quote from Hemmingway or some other writer saying something to the effect "rough men guard the towers at night so that the people can sleep safe in their beds."

if anyone can help me with that quote- please do. :>)


Jeff Patnaude

Jeese, I wasn't even close:

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

*George Orwell (English Novelist and Essayist, 1903-1950)

J Patnaude

The event that I worked on has now been declassified. This was an event for the 30th Anniversary of the NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists). Some of the high profile people that attended, covered and honored were Bill Clinton, Carole Simpson (ABC News), Max Robinson (ABC News), Reverend TD Jakes, and many other journalists/reporters that I was not really familiar with that work on various networks. Yesterday, Willie Nelson and Jesse Jackson were in the hotel lobby. I managed to get a production still of Clinton when I was doing handheld the first night. I was just 10 feet or so from him. What a week in the ATL!

Production Still
http://161.58.78.36/images/production/events/clinton.jpg