Cherokee Shoot

Jenny:

(Fingers Crossed, Deep Breaths, Hope for the Best)

I contacted everyone to double check and make sure they were ready for the shoots, so today was the day we got to test it out and see how it went. Our first stop was Strawberry Hill. When we got there, we shot the B-roll and introduced ourselves to one of the most outgoing and considerate people I've met so far- Brandi Cooley. On top of her awesome personality, she was great behind the camera. I don't even think we'll have to spend more than 5 minutes editing her video because she made it so easy with the way she would answer questions. If there was one downfall to the shoot, I guess it would have to be that we lost our lunch appetite after being treated to their delicious, yet filling, home made peach ice cream. We left with our bellies full, and then they made sure we didn't leave empty handed. They gave us a peach cobbler which-OMG!! sooo good! And we each got a bag full of fresh peaches, which I'll definitely be taking with me to work and enjoying for late night munchies.

Since we still had so much time in between shoots, we stopped off for a little shopping at one of the outlets- tell me this isn't the best internship?! 

Our second stop was at Starfields- Gaffney Embroidery, where we interviewed Patrick Cox. He was so accommodating and gave us the full tour of the factory. All of the employees were great and cooperated with the camera. It was so intriguing from the moment we walked in the door. There were huge machines all over the place just pumping out fabric with stars all over them, then the workers were busy sewing the stars as well.

The third stop was also so overwhelming. We went to Parkdale Mills which is a yarn factory in Gaffney that creates enough yarn each day to go to the moon and back several times. They too gave us a tour of the whole facility. It was so huge and the B-roll, I feel, was so cool. 

So after one successful day of shoots, I am still crossing my fingers and hoping that we got everything we needed in order to edit successfully. 

Meagan:

Today started off just “peachy” as we headed to the home of the notorious giant peach, Cherokee County. Jenny was in charge of organizing today’s shoot and she did muy bein! First up was a business with employees as sweet as the fruit they sell. Strawberry Hill USA is a local farm that sells their fruits in a variety of ways. From peach salsa to blackberry ice cream, the fruitful shop had it all. While there we filmed two interviews that both went great. We then parted ways with a few goodies. The owner of Strawberry Hill gave us each a free homemade ice cream, a bag of peaches, and a peach cobbler to share.  I know my parent’s are going to be just as excited when I bring them some (daughter of the year, check!).  (*Side note: every time we get anything free from the people we film, we ALWAYS make sure to send a little thank you note telling them how much we appreciated their parting gift and their time! This is a great way to say thanks and keep in touch).

Next we went to a factory that puts the “stars” on the star spangled banner, Gaffney Embroidery. This star field factory runs 24/7 to produce the 50 gleaming stars on the American Flag.  I never knew the stars and stripes were made separately so I learned something new about Old Glory.  The only challenge for this shoot was the interview’s sound quality. We wanted a shot of the equipment behind the interviewee but also had to make sure the humming of the machines didn’t hurt the sound. We did our best to fix this issue and shot a variety of b-roll of the workers, the machines, and the final product. It was powerful to hear stories from some of the workers telling us about what an honor it is to be a part of making such a symbolic product.  Many of the flags are used for the burial of fallen soldiers so I can only imagine how emotional yet honorable that must be.  

Last but not least we filmed at Parkdale Mills. Parkdale Mills is a relatively new textile manufacturing plant that turns raw cotton into thread.  We did a quick interview with one of the executives in charge of the plant and then went on a tour for broll. With earplugs securely fastened in our ears it was pretty difficult to communicate about what shots to get but we managed. The best way to explain what this state of the art facility looked like is the Willy Wonka factory in the new Charley and the Chocolate movie. The factory was pristinely kept with minimal workers buzzing around. When finished, the thread rolls were lifted into the air and transported along the ceiling, which also reminded me of the movie Wall-E. Needless to say the technology was mind blowing. And also mind blowing was our little “oopsie”. The executives warned us not to take any flash photographer because the flash could set off the fire alarm, mistaking the flash for a small fire. Naturally we did take a picture thinking the flash was off… and wouldn’t you have it, the flash was on. Luckily nothing happened but boy was that a little terrifying. Talk about millions of dollars potentially down the drain… Ok, ok let’s not think about that anymore. Overall the day went “seam”ingly well. Yet another successful shoot in the bag!