GTT Frontline on the Big Story

Is there anything more exciting than getting THE CALL to do an exclusive interview with a national figure? Last week Go To Team got that call. Our Raleigh and Charleston crews (Tom Wells, Jimmy Hall, and Ian McCullen) shot the exclusive interview for ABC News' Nightline with ex-presidential candidate John Edwards.

The interview went off without a hitch, well, maybe just one… As any audio operator knows, on some occasions his worst enemy isn't planes, car horns or even overzealous passersby vying for a little screen time. Many times it’s the subjects themselves. This was the case on Friday when John Edwards disobeyed rule number one of the audio operator's Ten Commandments…Don’t Touch Your Mic!



And leave it to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show to point it out. Stewart gave his best impression of audio technician Ian McCullen when John Edwards tapped his chest and mic when referring to his heart. Well, Jon, you just about nailed it.

Meanwhile, on the set...after Ian picked himself up off the floor...he just shrugged his shoulders, "There's not a thing I can do about THAT."

A nod from an ABC News producer acknowledged the reality.

Outside The Lines In NASCAR

Go To Team's Charlotte crew, Skip Clark and Rene Cusson, wrapped up their work on the "Discrimination in NASCAR" story two weeks ago and it aired this past Sunday on ESPN's Outside The Lines. Skip Clark and Rene Cusson worked with talent Kelly Naqi and producer Greg Amante to gather interviews and shoot the stand-ups. There are a lot of interviews throughout the in-depth piece that took Amante and Naqi around two months to complete, but the Clark crew interviewed tire changer Chris Justice, tire specialist Lisa Smokstad, and shocks specialist Katie Muir.

They also got to interview DEI's Max Siegel (pictured); "As the only African-American team president in the sport, he's part of NASCAR's movement to increase diversity in their sport. He's also a dynamic speaker and someone who sees all the angles on this very sensitive subject."

The last shoot for the story was the stand-up shoot. The OTL piece is informative and will leave you with a better understanding of the allegations levied against NASCAR and a perspective for the other side of the story. You can check it out here or find it on the ESPN Outside the Lines website.

South Carolina Hero Honored by CNN

CNN is searching the globe for extraordinary people making a difference in their world, a search that led them to Columbia, SC where Bambi Gaddist runs the SC HIV/AIDS Council. The organization features a mobile testing center, focused on offering HIV/AIDS testing for free to anyone interested. Charleston based Director of Photography Tom Wells spent 2 days with CNN shooting a special feature for the "CNN Heroes" special. Check out the CNN Heroes home page where Bambi Gaddist is featured this week, or check out the direct link to the video here.

Raleigh Crew Witnessed Epic Game Making

Go To Team's Raleigh NC cameraman Jimmy Hall headed over to Epic Games in Cary NC for a shoot with Spike TV's Gametrailers. The episode premiered on the eve of E3(which is a videogame trade show, think NAB but for gamers) and its main focus; Gears of War 2 the sequel to the brain bashing, Hammer of Dawn (no not Dawn Nelson our fabulous Production Coordinator) obliterating, explosive arrow to the face masterpiece Gears of War. Sorry, didn't mean to geek out BUT myself along with a couple other GTTer's spent a few hours in between our busy schedules unloading clips and lopping explosives at each other...needless to say I love the original and was pretty stoked to see behind the curtain of the soon to be released sequel.

We shot this episode with the Sony HVR - V1U setting the camera up to shoot at 24p/1080p HDV.

Go here for some outtakes or checkout the episode below: