Stories from the Set: Apothecary Mead

    Apothecary Mead, one of the great new clients Triskelle Pictures gained this year, has just released their first video. Here's the story behind it.

    When I first signed up to work with Apothecary, I knew I'd enjoy making a video for some lovely people with a great hand-crafted product. But I didn't expect to shoot in one of the best locations of my career. When the taxi pulled up, on a bright Autumn day in early October, I might as well have pulled up in a horse and carriage; Wellbeck Estate is a perfectly preserved piece of history, with uniformly grand architecture wherever you look, but it also has a great community of artisan businesses working and collaborating within its walls - so it still felt very homely. It was the definition of a hidden gem, and the farm shop there sells some of the best blue cheese I've ever tasted in my life!

    But the highlight within Wellbeck has to be Apothecary's own accommodation. I was fully prepared to film within their meadery unit, full of brew kettles and demijohns - yet the majority of the shoot took place in the company's homestead, a beautiful little cottage with chickens roaming free, and brewer's ingredients such as bay and lavender growing in the front garden. The only way to describe it was aspirational.

[A few snapshots from the interviews, courtesy of Alison Heath]

    I also never expected the emotional and heartwarming turn the video would take; when I was interviewing the people behind Apothecary Mead (couple Alison Heath and Chad Meirzwa), I unveiled a story of leaving the rat race, pursuing your dreams and working hard in the face of adversity and uncertainty. What's more, you could really tell how great their partnership is, how much they love each other - and how much they love mead!

    One of the last things we shot was the mead itself. I'd never tasted mead before, and Chad warned me I'd be hooked from the first sip. This is very true; it's delicious, and much stronger than it tastes! I also learned how many different types of mead there are - Apothecary offer everything from the light and fruity Starcherry to the full-bodied and strong Black Phillip (and yes, that is named after the scene-stealing goat from The VVitch!). Once our bellies (and heads) were full of comforting mead samples, Alison then said "would you like to film our rabbits and guinea pigs?" No shoot could've ended better!

[Yep, I got to film bunnies. I have the best day job!]

    This was a one-man-band shoot for me, and I usually prefer not to shoot things myself; there's lots of better camera operators out there than me, plus the shoot took place on one of the windiest days I've been out in, and my poor little tripod had to compete with that! But, at the same time, being a micro crew meant that the atmosphere stayed cosy and intimate for the entire shoot, which was perfect for when it came to capturing those all important interviews. You can watch the finished video below:

   There will hopefully be more videos to come from Apothecary in the future (I'd certainly love to work with them again), and their delicious mead will be available to buy from their website as soon as they launch. But be warned, it will become your new favourite thing as soon as you taste it, so be prepared to buy more than one bottle!

Sophie