Being filmed by another diner in a fancy restaurant

[Changedmymindtoday22]

Here is the scenario.
I went to a very fancy restaurant this week.
A couple at the next table were very keen on filming every move they made on their phones, fine.
Next thing… they whip it out a tripod in the restaurant and place their phone to film themselves enjoying their meal.
The camera is also pointing at me.

They take the camera and I can see that I am also (unnecessarily captured) by the angle they were shooting.
They proceeded to do this 3 times, for a couple of minutes at a time.

WWYD in this situation?

A. Say nothing?
B. Ask couple to stop?
C. complain to fancy restaurant staff?

I did one of the 3, but am genuinely torn about what the best thing to do in this rather bizarre situation that made me quite uncomfortable.

I will share what happened next once I gauge opinions.

We had similar recently at a hotel we have stayed at many times.
It has an outdoor bar that has become known for its fabulous sunsets and so seems to have become very popular with the Influenzas. One evening a couple were sat next to us and if they weren't exaggeratedly gurning for their cameras, they were intently examining the pictures they had taken and then posting them. They didn't seem to talk to each other at all and only had one drink each the whole time they were there (several hours). Anyone looking at their posts would have thought they were having a whale of a time. And they say the camera never lies! 😂

You don’t mention that your fellow diner was bothered or did anything or revived the champagne...?

They are the other side of the bar...

and the camera will be obviously recording the couple. And I can’t fathom from the position how anything aside from the couple and the wall behind them would be in the filming...

and I can’t see how even a glimpse of the OP would be possible...

There is clearly a bar in between your table and theirs...

🤔

So, @Itsdecisiontimeisitnot why were you filming in the restaurant and why were you including OP and her dining partner in the shot???

🤔

@bettytaghetti oh god yes! The same, the couple barely spoke a calm sentence but they did argue 😂

I took the photo to almost capture a moment while I was in disbelief and also to verify that it was in fact facing me too.

The confirmation came when muppet 2 took the tripod and reviewed the footage from her seat. The phone was high enough so I could see it. It was taken from a steep angle. But honestly, they could have easily positioned it so I wasn’t in it. Perhaps they wanted to include me and maybe I should be more grateful to be deemed good enough as maybe I suited their look 😝

No restaurant that allows that sort of behaviour is that "fancy".

I'm just here to say how much I love the diagram😆😆 I would, however, like to point out that you are SMILING in that drawing - which is a small inaccuracy I am prepared to overlook!

Whilst I would have picked option A, you were bothered enough to complain and the restaurant didn't address the problem appropriately. You're right, they should have been more discreet. However, you raised this with them and they provided a solution which you accepted - free champagne and a discount. I think you're overthinking things to still be annoyed about a very minor incident.

Really struggling to see how you would’ve been in the footage or have indeed even seen that you were in the footage.

Exactly, and now you’re threatening to continue complain on their online reviews - why? What are you hoping to achieve?

talk about overreacting

No, it's just something my mom's friend used to say and I picked it up after hearing it a few hundred times. 😆

I'd definitely be put off going to any place that some influencer had in the background of their fantasist videos. Hardly fancy if they can't handle a situation like that well!

I'd have done C. What did YOU do?

It's all there in the thread.

D. Carried on eating and drinking and enjoying myself. Depending on my mood, either grimaced at their camera, raised my glass to them, or ignored them completely.
There must be something wrong with me, I don't get the angst here.

Genuinely top fancy restaurants would have not tolerated this at all.

They would not want to upset their high-profile clients, who naturally expect a certain level of privacy whilst dining, and who would take great exception to anyone filming in the restaurant whilst they were there.

The restaurant allowing this to happen really showed up their lack of class, if you ask me. I know a couple of people in the public eye and you can be sure that any restaurant who allowed such an invasion of their privacy would swiftly lose their custom.

Gosh, that’s the story, take it or leave it. I’m not a fantasist with lots of time on my hands to make this up!
its Legit, even my little diagram.
point taken about the smiley face; I should have had steam coming out of my ears. Noted. 😂

Also, I did say it wasn’t London.

I can easily believe it. Loads of people live-stream themselves in restaurants and pubs, some of them do it in fancy places too, their fans mock the other customers, their appearance or laugh at staff asking them to leave. I skip past it but still get th odd clip of someone like Chelsea Lee Art live-streaming in resteraunts (she does get asked to leave at times too but often doesn't). There's plenty more who livestream or who record say to say shit for social media content.

I would have said " if you want me in your video you need to pay...if I find it's out anywhere on the internet you will be sued"

I would have done none of those things - I would have raised my glass to the camera, and maybe done other things that would have completely ruined their video (laughing loudly etc etc)
I'm aware it could go either way...

Or found out who they were so you could find the video and yourself and write a review of the video stating that these people were utterly crass, attention whores who lied about you being in the video in order to continue filming.