Abbeville Shoot- 3rd time is a... gem?

Jenny:

To finish up the busy week, we went to Abbeville today. The stops on the agenda for the day were: Swartzentruber's Bakery, The Diamond Hill Mine, and a new local business. The bakery was A-Mazing!! The minute we walked in, the aroma hit me and I was instantly hungry- haha. After the interview, we left with more than just the equipment. They gave us cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and their famous three layered pound cake!! I couldn't believe it! So, after being spoiled, we were off to the second shoot. We went to the diamond mine where our timing couldn't have been more perfect. We showed up just as a family was packing up their car with all their finds. So we were able to get some B-roll of them and then we did the interview and a little digging ourselves. We were able to find a pretty shiny rock, which Gina- the expert- thought could be amethyst. 
So, up to this point I was pretty excited that the shoots had gone so well. Well, I definitely jinxed myself. When we arrived at our third shoot, they were closed- and weren't available for an interview. HUGE BUST! So.. I felt terrible that the interview I was in charge of organizing fell through, but I'm taking it as a learning lesson and next time I will quadruple check and make sure I have voice confirmation from the head honcho just to make sure all signs are a go- otherwise I will book something else. On a better note from that though- we were able to come home a little earlier than expected.

Meagan:

BoOoOoOo… it’s off to the famously haunted Abbeville County! However we aren’t filming any Casper’s or phantoms. In fact we are covering stories on the opposite end of the spectrum… like carb induced treats and sparkly gems. Our first story at Swartzenstruber Bakery will make your mouth water.  As soon as we entered the delectable bakery an overwhelming waft of fresh baked goods pervaded the air. After a few deep inhales it was time to get to this story cooking. The bakery is unique because of its Mennonite traditions and the variety of baked goods offered. From Swartzenstruber’s famous three-layer pound cake to their loaves of fresh bread, the bakery has treats so yummy they’re worth breaking any diet… ten times over… and I did… oops. What makes these treats even more scrumptious is the love that goes into baking them. The bakery hangs a sign reading “Our business it to serve the Lord. We bake cakes to meet our expenses.” Even if you aren’t religious or even if you practice a different religion, the message is still powerful: to work for the good of others and not just yourself. That’s my future mission in this career field. I really want my journalism work to serve the good of others. And speaking of good deeds, the ladies of Swartzenstruber’s sent us away with some goodies of our own. I was thrilled when they packed us a 3-layer pound cake, a glazed cinnamon roll cake, and a plate of dinner rolls BUT I was not so thrilled to sit next to them the rest of the trip. Talk about temptation!! I started the game “count the calories” in attempt to deter myself from practically inhaling them. But even when Tabitha guessed the cinnamon rolls had about 5,000 calories I was the first to dive in. So much for will power… At least my not so decent lunch made up for it. Only because I left half of the cartilage filled chicken on my plate. Appetizing, right? Well after our meal… it was time to dig up some blang blang at the Diamond Hill Mine.

As soon as we whipped the van into the parking lot we immediately started filming. There was one family still at the mine and we needed to catch them before they left. It’s so important to get people in the b-roll because let’s face it, you can only watch so many still images of inanimate objects and stay entertained. The family was great! They showed us all of the treasures they dug up and WOWZA! Talk about finding a diamond in the ruff. Ok… so maybe not quite a diamond, but a gem for sure. In fact even though the mine is called “Diamond Hill” there are no diamonds on the property.  The owner told us this during the interview but that doesn’t depreciate the value of an experience to find other sparkling treasures like smoky quartz and amethyst. Gina, the owner, even let us get down and dirty in the dig. But we were more interested in filming all of these shiny rocks for b roll. The sunlight hit the rocks perfectly adding a shimmer to the shots. We had to veer away from using the tripod in some shots and make lower props. It’s important not to limit your shots to only where the tripod can work. However it is equally important to ensure the shot is stabilized. – So after we finished filming at the gem mine, it was off to story three. Or should I say, the story that will never be.

The clock strikes 3:00 (the normal time for the 3^rd story) and a “closed” sign is taunting us on the door of the story’s location. Come to find out, the owner of the local business we scheduled to film is on a 2-month vacation. How INconvenient. But hey, that’s life and you have to roll with the punches. We did learn a valuable lesson as interns though. If an interviewee does not sound interested in taking part in a story and is consistently hard to contact… move on. There are more enthusiastic people and equally good stories out there. Words of wisdom for the future officially noted!