Food Wars: Reno Presented by the Travel Channel

Big. Scrumptious. Delicious. Hot. Tasty! These are only a few of the words that describe the one and only Awful Awful hamburger!



So about a week ago, I received a call from a New York production company about the Travel Channel production Food Wars. Have you ever heard of it? Apparently it’s this amazing television show that bouts local varieties of well-known food against each other. For example, on a past episode, local Philadelphia shops were pitted against each other in a taste off of their unique varieties of cheese steak. Yum! Anyway, the producers heard about the Biggest Little City’s famous Awful Awful and sent a crew to capture it in HD.


It was my duty to shoot b-roll with a very familiar HVX-200! Did I mention, I LOVE that camera!

So…

After scouring the area (and my phone book) for production assistants, we started production early (around 6:45am) on June 30th at the first Awful Awful location, the John Ascuaga’s Nugget. It was interesting to see the behind-the-scenes kitchen and baking areas of the luxurious casino. After helping the DP set-up lights for the first camera interview location.

We ended up working over 14 hours! Therefore the day was very grueling but worth all the effort of making time based images for the production. Not to mention the Food Wars host, Camille, was super super nice and always full of energy!


Here is Camille with the crew on top of one of the towers of The Nugget!


As well as an overview shot of the sun setting over Reno.

After the first day had ended, the second day had flown by with shots at the rival restaurant and casino, The Little Nugget! It’s a quaint casino in the heart of downtown. I didn’t get a chance to shoot any stills inside, but it feels similar to a 50’s style diner.


Last but not least, the Food Wars CHALLENGE DAY! It was the day of reckoning for the delectable gargantuan hamburger. The public was invited for the taping of the showoff as well as food specialists.


And the crowd goes wild! Here I am, the middle camera (i.e. the lower far right and the only girl holding a camera!!!), shooting the “three shot” of the three people featured in front of the crowd.

Without further ado, I have to get back to work…so little time! Be on the look out for new media updates on my website as well as links to corporate media and photography work! Be sure to check out my friend Clarissa's account of the last day of filming as well! Tune in September to see which restaurant won the honor of being the Travel Channel’s Food Wars champion!

-Winter
(P.S. A very special THANK YOU to Sebastian, Heather, Clarissa, Aaron, and Chris for production assisting! You guys ROCK!)