One of the best parts about my job is that I get to explore all the cool places this country has to offer. This time around I was on the road with one of the hosts of Attack of the Show, Weston Scott. Armed with a Sony F-800 we visited Louisville’s Mega Caverns, The Jack Daniels Distillery, and The Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery.
We spent the first day at the Mega Caverns in Louisville, Kentucky. It was there that Weston Scott went zip lining through the dark depths of the underground caverns. Now, when I say dark, I mean pitch-black dark. There was literally no lighting down there besides some colored lights to add to the atmosphere. My camera light was not going to be enough to shoot down there all day. That’s where some of those cool battery powered 1 by 1 Litepanels came in handy. I used those to light everything from b-roll to stand ups.
The next day we found ourselves down in Lynchburg, TN, home of the Jack Daniels Distillery. We got to see how they make their famous whiskey. I shot everything from the handcrafted barrels to the special water they use. It was so interesting to go behind the scenes. We ended our adventure with a special tasting. Weston actually got to do the tasting with Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller, Jeff Arnett.
Our adventure ended with a trip out to Gatlinburg, TN. It’s there that America’s first legal moonshine distillery, Ole Smoky, is located. Based in the Appalachian Mountains, Ole Smoky Moonshine is rich in history. We went behind the scenes with Weston Scott as he explored their operation. Just as we did out in Lynchburg, we also did a tasting.
After three days of traveling all over Kentucky and Tennessee it was time to wrap our Attack of the Show adventure. I handed off all the XDCAM discs to my producer and my audio guy and I headed home. One of the best parts about this trip was walking away with a nice bottle of Jack. Yup, this is the kind of shoot that just keeps on giving.
Check out these links to the cool segments I shot for Attack of the Show!
Underground Zip-Lining with Weston Scott
How Jack Daniels Whiskey Is Made