Butterball a Modern Marvel? You're Darn Tootin'!

Back during Thanksgiving, Jimmy Hall's video crew headed from Raleigh, NC to Mt. Olive to shoot behind the scenes of how Turkey cold cuts are produced. The folks at History Channel's Modern Marvels are putting together an entire show on Cold Cuts. And, Go To Team was there to cover every minute of the production process.

The high definition video crew used the Panasonic Varicam for a full day of shooting throughout the Butterball facility. As you can, see Butterball is really concerned with flavor and not so much with the appearance of their outfits. The episode is currently airing on the History Channel.

Home For Thanksgiving (Mexico Part 3)

Wednesday was a travel day for Go To Team’s Clark Crew as they headed home from Villahermosa. Skip and John South had been in Mexico since November 15 covering the devastating floods in the state of Tabasco. Tuesday, their last full day in Mexico, was a long one as they were out in the far stretches of the area and then back to Villahermosa and then back out to the rural country on the other side of the city.

Their first stop was a makeshift hospital that’s been set up in one of the rural churches. Samaritan’s Purse arranged for doctors to come out to this distant area to see children and adults alike. Many of these residents are dealing with injuries and illnesses weeks after the flood and are in need of medical attention.

As they passed back through Villahermosa they stopped at another church and interviewed two pastors that have been directly helped by Samaritan’s Purse. Producer Bill Meisner talked to these pastors about how the aid provided by SP has been so helpful to their congregations.

And then they made their way out to the other side of the city to visit another rural area. There they interviewed a woman who had just gotten one of the Samaritan’s Purse food packets.

The whole week was an amazing journey throughout Villahermosa and the rest of Tabasco. Skip and John were constantly amazed by the outreach of support from Samaritan’s Purse and the effectiveness of their disaster response team. Samaritan’s Purse will remain in Villahermosa for months from now as they continue to help the people there clean up and get back onto their feet.

Oh, and while they were there, Skip was actually recruiting for the next Go To Team Apprenticeship Position! All current candidates should look out!

Wells Undergoes Open Heart Surgery...

Well, sort of. He was in the room anyway. Go To Team's Tom Wells and Nick Modisett took part in shooting an open heart procedure this week for OR Live, service provider to The Cleveland Clinic. The shoot included a jib to cover a closeup overhead view of the procedure, a roving camera to provide additional shots of the surgery and doctors' interactions, and a series of cameras utilized by the hospital staff including a head-cam on the surgeon. Tom and Nick engineered the system to also include communications for the crew and producer as well as the surgical staff. The surgeon wore a wireless mic that transmitted to all camera and recording decks as well as a wireless IFB system so producers and client could listen to the audio while the surgery took place. All the video was fed into a nearby room to 15 inch monitors so the director and client could monitor the procedure as well.

"It was amazing to take part in the process," said Tom. "At first I was nervous of bringing our gear into such a sensitive environment, but the surgical staff made us feel welcome. The coordination between the hospital staff and crew was seamless and the project went off without a hitch."

Samaritan's Purse Reaches Out (Mexico Part 2)

The last few days have been full for Go To Team’s Clark Crew. Skip and John have continued to follow Samaritan’s Purse the last several days through all parts of Villahermosa and the state of Tabasco in the southern portion of Mexico.


After spending Friday getting their bearings and witnessing some of the devastation caused by the floods in late October and early November, Skip, John, and producer Bill Meissner jumped on the road with the crew from Samaritan’s Purse as they made their stops to the hardest hit areas.

They traveled far from Villahermosa on Saturday to visit a small village west of the city. Samaritan’s Purse had set up a water filtration system at a small rural church in the days following the flooding to provide clean water to all the residents in the area and it needed to be checked on to be sure it was still running well. Up to 3,000 people a day can get clean water from the system, cleaner than most of us have at home in the States!

Then, on Sunday, they traveled into a neighborhood devastated by the flood and then the standing water. Garbage, debris, and just about anything else you can think of, lines the streets. And in some places, the piles block the streets. All of this debris and garbage has been covered with a thin scattering of ground lime to help mask the smell. Samaritan’s Purse arranged for a front loader and six dump trucks to clean up a few of the streets. All of their efforts have been coordinated with the authorities and the local churches; the pastors at each church are encouraged to get their congregations to volunteer and work with Samaritan’s Purse as they work each day in the cleanup efforts. Now, it’s not all work and no play for the folks at Samaritan’s Purse.

They do occasionally take a break to share some ice cream with the kids . . .

Clark Crew, Using Their Passports Again (Mexico Part 1)

Go To Team’s Skip Clark and John South are traveling international again this week as they head for Villahermosa, Mexico. With more than 1 million people affected by the recent flooding and mudslides, untold numbers homeless, Samaritan’s Purse sent in teams to aid in the relief efforts. Known as a gold standard in the relief industry Samaritan's Purse is led by Franklin Graham.

The last few days of October brought torrential rains to the small city and the rest of the state of Tabasco, located in the Southern part of the country. The Grijalva River flooded over its banks and into more than 70% of the country. The Clark crew, with producer Bill Meissner, arrived late Thursday night to cover Samaritan's Purse's relief efforts.
“These people had so very little to begin with, and now the flood waters took all they had,” that’s really the theme for everyone who visits the hardest hit portions of the state, often the poorest.

The crew is traveling as light as possible as transportation around the area is difficult at best. So that means the light kit is just one Bron-Kobold 200watt HMI and reflectors. They’ll be getting creative this week like in Denmark. Skip is using the Sony F-900 CineAlta paired with the Canon wide angle lens and a Chrosziel mattebox for a Polarizer. South is mixing on the Sound Devices 442 and using Lectrosonic 411s paired with the new SMa transmitters. All of the sound is being captured on either Sanken lavaliers or the Schoeps shotgun.

Baker Crew vs. Dr. Phil Show

"We were holding our own until Dr. Phil called in the Marines"

- Go To Team DP, Dave Baker

The Baker and Wells crews spent their Halloween week in the scenic mountains of Bluefield, WVA, and Tazewell, VA; but it wasn't Halloween they were celebrating. Dr. Phil Mcgraw and his wife Robin lent their Fame, and their good name once again to Toys For Tots. GTT was there to let viewers of the upcoming Dr. Phil Show"Christmas Special" see the couple working alongside US Marines to ensure toys and winter jackets bring cheer and warmth to area children. Dr. Phil and Robin traveled by a special Norfolk Southern train to meet with and speak to locals against a myriad of Autumn colors and rolling hills. Stay tuned to the Dr. Phil show to see this positive story Go To Team was lucky enough to be a part of.

What does Zorb mean anyway?

Go To Team's DP Tom Wells and crew traveled to Pigeon Forge, TN for ABC News this week to cover the first 'Zorb' park in the U.S. A Zorb is basically a big inflatable hampster ball for humans. Crawl inside, strap in, and hang on as someone pushes you down the side of a mountain in this 12 foot tall, 200 pound monster! Tom engineered pencil cams, dv clamshell, waterproof wireless mics, and our splash housing for the fun shots. The story aired on Good Morning America, World News, and World News Now. Check out one version of the piece on YouTube HERE.

Denmark's A Wrap for the Clark Crew... Headed Home

After spending about a week over in Denmark, Go To Team’s Skip Clark and John South are headed home to Charlotte, NC. They arrived in Copenhagen last week and worked their way through the rest of Denmark looking for wind turbines and other forms of alternative energy as they worked on a story for HDNet’s World Report. The crew, Skip and John along with correspondent Leslie Boghosian and Jennifer Wlach, was traveling in two cars: a Mazda 5 and a Volkswagen Passat wagon. Yeah, they’re small cars for a television crew. But it turns out those two cars were the perfect size for their trip and the equipment Skip and John brought over. Their gear included the Panasonic HDX-400 (of course, High Definition) , a Canon 4.7 X 11 wide angle and a Canon 21 X 7.5 long lens. Both pieces of glass were great to have, the wide angle for up close shots of the turbines and the long lens for interviews and scenics. The light kit? A small Arri kit with a 650watt fresnel, a 600watt open face, two 300watt fresnels, and three 150watt fresnels. They also brought over two HMIs for use outdoors and at any location with windows. The Bron-Kobold units were the best because they didn’t require any kind of voltage conversion; just plug them in and they’re ready to go! John brought over his Sound Devices 442 mixer with three Lectrosonic 411 wireless systems paired with SM transmitters. And interviews and b-roll sounded great with his new Schoeps boom mic. This mic is great for the sound: a rich, rounded sound that’s great at picking up just what you’re aiming at. And all this along with luggage and the rest of the support gear filled the cars. So Leslie, Jen, South, and Skip all head home EARLY Thursday morning and take the eight hour flight back to Newark. And the only challenge remaining is getting all the gear home! Let’s hope that the airlines don’t lose all of it again...

Clark Crew... Always Right On Time

But to be honest, they're never early. As we've been posting all week, Go To Team’s Skip Clark crew is in Denmark shooting with Leslie Boghosian and Jennifer Wlach from HDnet for a story about alternative energy. And to get just about anywhere in Denmark, a country of islands, you have to catch a ferry . . . And the crew has been chasing them all week. Like any shoot, no matter how hard everyone works to stay on time, there’s always one more shot to get. And it’s that last shot that’s kept them rushing to make the ferry before the loadmaster closes up the ramp. Skip and his audio operator John South have been consulting the maps all week trying to find the fastest route to the ferry. Sometimes there might be some confusion, but they always make it. Today, the crew took two ferries, from mainland Hou to the island of Samso and then from Samso to Kolundborg, while they worked quickly to pick up some b-roll of the island and all the wind turbines that power Samso. The week long shoot wraps up Thursday. Look for the story to air sometime in December on HDNet’s World Report.

Clark Crew's Danish Tour Continues

Having made their way from the small Danish island of Samso, Go To Team's Clark crew continues their tour of Denmark in Nakskov on the island of Lolland. Audio operator John South booms an interview with HDNet correspondent Leslie Boghosian while producer Jennifer Wlach keeps everyone on time. This interview was conducted in one of the biggest recycling plants in all of Europe and it is here that the residents of Lolland come with just about anything to have it recycled; aluminum cans, paper, old televisions and radios, even carpet, mattresses, and concrete! All of this is positioned right next door to Vestas, one of the leading wind turbine manufacturers in Denmark. Look below to see more about the wind turbines . . .

Old Versus New... Windmills in Denmark

Go To Team’s DP Skip Clark is over in Denmark this week working on a story about renewable energy. HDNet's correspondent, producer, audio operator John South, and Skip are all traveling the countryside looking for windmills and wind turbines. And they’re not that hard to find. The country gets enormous amounts of energy from the wind and these turbines are doing the job. A single wind turbine can provide the electricity for 650 homes! “What’s been fascinating is to see these very modern wind turbines juxtaposed against windmills that have been here for centuries.”

Improv Class... The Joy of International Travel

Okay, so what do you do if you are in a foreign country and the airline lost more than half of your luggage? You improvise. Go To Team Director of Photography Skip Clark and audio operator John South arrived in Denmark Friday morning with just their coats, a monitor case, an audio kit, the "run bag," and a camera (and that was carry-on!). No batteries, no lights, no tripod, not even their clothes made it! But with the one battery that was on the camera when they flew from the states and a boom mic plugged straight into the camera, they made it work. They even managed to find some lights, "We were doing an interview at the Energy Academy in Ballan on the island of Samso. They had a board with several lamps attached that's used to demonstrate energy efficient lighting. With plenty of natural light coming from the other side, we just moved the board to our interview location and it added just a little warmth and worked great as a fill!" The Clark crew is in Denmark working on a feature for HDNet about alternative energy and the wind turbines that are found all over Denmark.

HD Net Sends Clark Crew to Denmark

HDNet is in Denmark this weekend and much of next week shooting a story about renewable energy and the wind turbines that power so much of the country. Go To Team's Skip Clark, along with audio operator John South, arrived in Copenhagen this morning around 6:30 and they hit the ground running. Most of their day today was spent driving and catching the ferry to the small island of Samso. The rest of their week will take them to Lolland, Aarhus, and Kolding before they end up back in Copenhagen, a whirlwind tour of the country. They're trying to stay on track, but every time they turn around there's another scenic to be had! "The country is so beautiful and seeping with history. It's such a contrast to see these giant modern wind turbines spread across the countryside, but they just add another layer to the landscape."