The Story Behind This Picture: The Case of the Missing Tripod

In a previous post, I posted a bunch of pictures Adeeba and I had taken of different behind the scenes shots from production of our second episode.  One of the pictures I took and posted was this one:

When looking through the pictures in the post later with Huda, I remarked, "Isn't it funny how Meryem has to tip-toe to whisper to you?"  What I didn't consider was what Meryem was whispering about.  Laughing, Huda said, "That's when she was telling me that she hid the tripod."  That's when I realized that I had captured a prank in action!  A prank that had left me flustered until I realized what had happened.

You see, the drama club only meets once a week, and then only for one and a half hours, so there isn't much time to get everything done.  To effectively use every moment of the time we have, I get myself prepared beforehand.  Getting to the center early, I set up the props in their places and got out all the film equipment.  I set up the blanket against the wall for Amina's scenes, carried the heavy coat rack to one of the classrooms for Aisha's scene (which by the way is still there - no one put it back!), made sure the video camera had charge, and got out the tripod.  

Making a movie without a tripod is no fun.  The difference a tripod makes is simply amazing, and the handy ZF tripod located in a hidden, yet easy-to-access place is one of the things that makes our movie better.  With a few minutes remaining before filming would start, I took the tripod box out and left it in the big prayer room/playroom where we would be doing the majority of our scenes.  Then, I got out my camera and began shooting pictures.

Finally, I decided it was time to begin filming.  There was no more time to waste.  We had to get this second episode going.  I put the camera away and got out the video camera, scanned the script to see which scene we would film first, and then reached for the tripod...which was nowhere in sight.  Flustered, I checked back in the other room where my bag was.  Nope, not there.  I looked behind chairs and tables, inside classrooms, even inside rooms I hadn't been in that day.  The tripod was nowhere in sight!  

"Has anyone seen the tripod anywhere?" I asked, looking around more wildly now, and being mostly ignored.  I couldn't understand it.  I just knew I had taken the tripod out.  Where could it have gone?  How could I have lost such an essential item for our movie?  Returning back to the place I had left the tripod, I again asked the girls, "Do you guys know where the tripod is?"  That's when they revealed the secret.  

Pointing to Merve, who was the closest target, Meryem announced, "She hid it over there!"  My gaze flew to the corner where there was a pile of hijabs.  Quickly recovering my prized possession, I ignored the culprit and forgot all about the prank in my haste to begin filming.  It wasn't until the next day, when looking through my pictures, I discovered the evidence...evidence that Meryem was the one who hid the tripod and that all the girls knew about it but chose not to tell me...hmmm....

What an interesting story that can be told from simply one picture!  And how wonderful that it turned out that I wasn't actually the one who lost the tripod!