Greenwood County Shoot!

Jenny:

I have started to love Tuesdays! This is the day of the week that I most look forward too! I'm sure Meagan feels the same! Today's shoot was in Greenwood SC, and what better way to start off the morning than with a great couple hours on a golf course?! Not to mention we got to take the Golf Carts around the links to different holes that the Complex was known for. Kevin Whitehead, Pro Golfer, took us around and I drove behind him and Meagan as they led the way. The place was gorgeous! Our second stop was The Mill House Pizza restaurant. The people were very laid back and the environment was inviting! We were able to shoot the B-roll by ourselves again and Tabitha allowed Meagan and I to pretty much take over the interview. I'm pretty excited for when we are able to do our stories!! The next and final stop for the day was the Veteran's Center, where we had the pleasure of meeting a guy who really wants to see things build to their potential. 

The one thing that is irreplaceable with this internship is the fact that I am learning new things everyday- and I don't mean that in the cliche college way, where of course you learn new things every day. I mean... I am gaining true insight to facets of our community that I would never have taken into consideration until meeting some of these people. These entrepreneurs who sacrifice their previous lives to move down here to SC to try and start up a business are inspiring. Not only does it take intelligence in a market that is currently down, but it takes a significant amount of faith that the business will begin to grow. The people we've met who are doing so much for others and the community in which they live in is truly eye opening because growing up in a technologically fancy generation, we are used to seeing only the wealthy and intelligent succeed. But what I've been blinded from is the pure happiness in helping others, and that in itself is its own success and wealth. 

Everyday further into this internship I'm trying to challenge myself and dig deeper into specific areas that I could enjoy and find a comfortable living out of. Whenever I start to get discouraged, I find myself just pulling out of the possibility realm and reminding myself that I am only going to be a Junior next year and I need to take it one day at a time. Then, from the futuristic part of me, I keep reminding myself that every decision I choose now will effect some aspect of my future, and that pushes me right back to where I start my thought process. The thing is, like Meagan, there are so many different things to do now a days that I don't want to confine myself to just one aspect. But I also don't want to experiment in too many areas to where I can function a broad range of different media's but never really excel in one in particular. 

I'm still looking for my niche, but I'll continue to take it one day at a time and enjoy and take in all that I can learn from meeting with different people and observing the field in which I've been immersed in. 

Meagan:

To “tee off” today’s shoot in Greenwood, SC we headed to Stoney Point golf club. There we covered a story on retirement in the community with an emphasis on golf and Lake Greenwood. The golf course was a gorgeous sea of green as far as the eye could see. So naturally everything was running smoothly and then… dun dun dunnnnn… I opened the sound equipment backpack and pulled out the headphones to find one earphone dangling. I’m not really sure how it happened but it was nothing a little duct tape couldn’t fix. But back to the shoot… the b-roll was a hole in one! We had a variety of shots when people were practicing on the putting green. We even had the opportunity to ride around the golf course in a golf cart! I had the pleasure of riding with the golf pro as he guided us to all the cool golf holes. The only difficulty with filming the shoot was a lack of b-roll of the lake and the wind. My goodness the wind… There is nothing worse for an interview then wind blowing into the microphone. Even the slightest breeze sounds like a hurricane through the mic. Our only option was to shoot the interview inside the golf store instead of on the green. The interview still looked nice though and Jenny and I shot some extra b-roll on our own afterwards.

Our second shoot was at the Mill House Pizza restaurant. Jenny and I had the chance to film all the b-roll for this shoot! We learned a few pointers along the way too. For example, if a business such as a restaurant is a little empty during filming, avoid shots with empty tables and chairs. We filmed people eating too so we just asked for permission to use them in our footage. Everyone was more than willing and excited to possibly make it in the “short”. So like I said, we were at a pizza restaurant and I L-O-V-E pizza… but I learned I L-O-V-E filming at brick oven pizza restaurant even more. Why? Well thanks for asking. At the Mill House we used the regular lens to shoot the wide shots of customers and interactions with their waitresses. Then we used the amazingly awesome 70-200mm lens that zooms like a champ! I got a shot of inside the brick oven, the dough masters tossing dough in the air, and tight shots of the cheesy ooey-gooey pizzas ready to be devoured! I worked audio for the interview and helped set up the interview shot too. After enjoying some pizza pie on the house, it was time to head to our last shoot.

Our last story was at the Greenwood’s Veteran Center. I really didn’t know what to expect when we first got there. It turns out the man who opened the Center turned an abandoned library into a new fully functioning center for Veterans and the community at large. He is a very passionate man and showed us every nook and cranny of the place. The center is still in the works so b-roll was limited to just a reception area but I think his interview will definitely make up for it. We ran into another learning opportunity too. The issue: recessed lighting. Recessed lighting is not a fimographer’s friend. Recessed lighting reflecting off of glass in almost every shot is a filmographer’s nightmare. We made it work though. Tabitha used the bigger zoom lens to try and get tighter shots and avoid the light.  We also turned off the lights when that worked better. Other than that, the day went pretty smoothly. I always love learning new tricks and tidbits of advice. In this industry it’s crucial to continue to learn on every shoot and I definitely want to take full advantage of that.