Is anyone in the wrong here?

[larryz]

Meh. It's a public meet-n-greet with a face character, not a private audience with the Pope. If anyone is all that concerned, they should burn a FP and visit the Princess Prison for a private M&G experience.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

1. Guest did nothing wrong
2. Gaston was waay out of line. once you approach a guest like that, you are breaking character.

 

[DfromATX]

I felt kind of bad for the lady. He didn't have to embarrass her and call her out like that. It seemed a little unusual that a cast member would do that (even for Gaston, who was still in character by the way). I agree it's odd to record people you don't know, but everyone takes pictures and records things at Disney World. She wasn't really doing anything unusual. I personally would have waited my turn when I got up close (cause in a way she got her interaction by cutting in line in a way), but I don't think she intended to be weird or intrusive. It would have been more appropriate for him to discreetly ask another cast member to talk to her.

 

[Incomudro]

I would say it's a question of degree.
As in duration, and location.
Many regular guests record interactions that involve other people in them.
Something funny with the Storm Troopers, something funny that Gaston does.
No reasonable guest or character actor would have a problem with that.
Here, this woman was out of her way ahead of the people waiting in line, and recording interaction after interaction.
It likely reached the the point of distraction for the character actor.

 

[Giss Neric]

How this Gaston approached the situation was borderline aggressive and condescending. I always believe in it's not what you say but how you say it. He was clearly out of character. I personally have never seen this particular Gaston so probably he switched his role or got fired.

Just watching the video gave me second hand embarrassment. All those guests looking at her at the end. Yikes.

 

[Incomudro]

How this Gaston approached the situation was borderline aggressive and condescending. I always believe in it's not what you say but how you say it. He was clearly out of character. I personally have never seen this particular Gaston so probably he switched his role or got fired.

Just watching the video gave me second hand embarrassment. All those guests looking at her at the end. Yikes.

Kind of disagree with you here.
He stayed in character especially (more so in the beginning) and was likely expecting her to laugh it up and move on.
She laughed, but kept the camera in his face.
I was fully expecting to defend this woman, but there's a difference between a blogger doing this stuff vs some guest with a cel phone out.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

Kind of disagree with you here.
He stayed in character especially (more so in the beginning) and was likely expecting her to laugh it up and move on.
She laughed, but kept the camera in his face.
I was fully expecting to defend this woman, but there's a difference between a blogger doing this stuff vs some guest with a cel phone out.

He was out of character once he left the meet and greet spot and told the woman to stop filming. he was out of character and out of line and out of place. that is not his job.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I get it's 'creepy', 'odd', 'weird' or 'annoying', I really do. But likewise somebody with 666 tattooed on their forehead with their girlfriend or boyfriend on a leash is all those things but would you object to that and speak out about it?

Ah, I see you're trying to make this about me again...

 

[mergatroid]

Ah, I see you're trying to make this about me again...

Hey, my wife and I came around for an innocent cup of tea and something to eat and the next thing I know you're asking her whether she wants a Hitler tattoo doing on her posterior and trying to instill the virtues of human sacrifice upon her. We knocked on your door wearing our nice Disney attire as you requested and you answered looking like this.

We're pretty liberal folk and very much live and let live. As for your kind offer of another dinner date at yours, we'd love to however we're pretty busy for the next 50 years or so sadly.

 

[donaldtoo]

Upon hearing the guys voice, I never realized Gaston was from the UK...!!!!!

 

[Incomudro]

He was out of character once he left the meet and greet spot and told the woman to stop filming. he was out of character and out of line and out of place. that is not his job.

Sounded like he was in character to me.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Well she says she is recording for her youtube. I don't think I want my kids necessarily on some person's channel. She wasn't in line to meet him, maybe a family from earlier complained who knows. It's people who like this that can make a ban happen.

 

[virk4]

she's wrong to film for her own use

 

[Whippet Mom]

A lady films Gaston at the meet and great whilst he interacts with other guests she doesn't know. When he sees her he approaches her and says "You're recording people that you don't know, it's not something that we do here, it's not ok". After a very long awkward silence whilst she laughs and continues filming him, he says "My dear I'm asking you a favour, would you not record people you don't know".

He then walks over to a CM and points at the lady filming and she approaches and in a very friendly way asks the lady if she's waiting to meet Gaston. Gaston is now seen talking to the photographer and then says out loud "Me I understand, people she doesn't know it just gets weird"

Personally I find it weird that she's filming him with people she doesn't know, but I don't think she's breaking any rules? I think when he initially speaks to her she should have stopped filming if for no other reason than the family with Gaston look uncomfortable with her filming them.

I'm not sure that walking over to her and staring at her in an awkward silence was the best thing to do, though you could argue that he was staying in character? The CM was super nice to her which makes me think she probably knew there was little she could do, but I do find it odd that the lady filming continues throughout whilst just laughing and ignoring all requests?

At the end the text all says she did nothing wrong, that Gaston was a jerk and even the photographer told her Gaston was a jerk off camera which I don't believe for one second. Was anyone in the wrong here, I think the woman filming was morally wrong but perhaps not technically doing anything wrong?

They did nothing wrong thousands of people everyday film characters from outside of the line not everybody wants to sit in line for an hour to meet a character but they just want a few pictures or a short video of their interactions I see nothing wrong with it and yes he was being an asshat.

 

[dizbang]

I have been photographing and videoing WDW since their first year of operation. I mainly do live entertainment. When I do I use two to seven cameras. I have the permission of the performers and set up the cameras for different angles and POV's and permission from Disney to do so.. When the cameras are recording people pass in front of the cameras (on tripods) even when they know that they are being recorded. They even make faces at the cameras. When I edit the videos I try not to use the camera(s) angle(s) with people other than the performers but that is not always possible. This is especially true of children who not only wander into the view but also knock the cameras so they are not pointed in the exact position they were set up in. With me being the only camera operator and two to seven cameras going I can't always tell what is going on. Most of this happens in post (editing). To see this in action see the youtube video Delta
Q At Epcot. Two camera angles were tilted due to being bumped into and as a result the heads of the performers were cut off in some shots.
I keep these shots as it was their first day , first performance. I reshot and re-edited another performance which was considerably
better. While I try not to get people who are not interested in the videos , there are individuals and groups who actively want to appear
at the performance. Most of these shots are toward the stage but behind the audience. Occasionally the performers will request a view
from behind them towards the audience because they know the audience would appreciate being seen. It is especially important not to
photograph or video children without the parents knowing about it.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I have been photographing and videoing WDW since their first year of operation. I mainly do live entertainment. When I do I use two to seven cameras. I have the permission of the performers and set up the cameras for different angles and POV's and permission from Disney to do so.. When the cameras are recording people pass in front of the cameras (on tripods) even when they know that they are being recorded. They even make faces at the cameras. When I edit the videos I try not to use the camera(s) angle(s) with people other than the performers but that is not always possible. This is especially true of children who not only wander into the view but also knock the cameras so they are not pointed in the exact position they were set up in. With me being the only camera operator and two to seven cameras going I can't always tell what is going on. Most of this happens in post (editing). To see this in action see the youtube video Delta
Q At Epcot. Two camera angles were tilted due to being bumped into and as a result the heads of the performers were cut off in some shots.
I keep these shots as it was their first day , first performance. I reshot and re-edited another performance which was considerably
better. While I try not to get people who are not interested in the videos , there are individuals and groups who actively want to appear
at the performance. Most of these shots are toward the stage but behind the audience. Occasionally the performers will request a view
from behind them towards the audience because they know the audience would appreciate being seen. It is especially important not to
photograph or video children without the parents knowing about it.

I didn’t think Disney allowed tripods anymore?

 

[Toodycat]

I think that the goal should be not to film other people to the extent that that’s possible, but if you don’t succeed, OK. On the other hand, if your kids have met Gaston, why are you intentionally taking pictures of the next family? I wouldn’t want my son in someone else’s video. You don’t know where it could wind up. Also, if a CM asked me not to do something, I just wouldn’t do it, especially in front of my kid because I would want him to follow rules and not think he’s the exceptions.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Also, if a CM asked me not to do something, I just wouldn’t do it

At Disneyland the evil queen once informed me that a peasant like myself was not fit to look at her. I laughed at her much like the lady in this video.

I’ve also had citizens of Hollywood insist that I take them on a date to the Brown Derby.

 

[Incomudro]

Well she says she is recording for her youtube. I don't think I want my kids necessarily on some person's channel. She wasn't in line to meet him, maybe a family from earlier complained who knows. It's people who like this that can make a ban happen.

Yes, these are the things that make it different.
I was all prepared to say Gaston was out of line.
But I was expecting to see a guest in a crowd singled out for having their cel phone out.
That'd be nuts, and wrong.
But some of these bloggers... They think they are news crews, and they can be pretty invasive.
These are people's vacations they're crashing in on

 

[Incomudro]

And you're going to ignore in this thread the example of how every family records a group of children at Jedi Academy and no one at Disney stops them, including the Jedi CMs? These videos wind up on YouTube.

It's different in this case.
She wasn't a guest in a crowd recording something that she possibly saw for the first time.
I don't think the Jedi Academy actors would bother a regular guest who had their cel phone up.