Filming Shackleton’s Whisky…so far!

The research on producing the Shackleton Whisky film began in late February 2010 when talkback THAMES first started speaking to the AHT and Whyte & Mackay. Teaming up with the world renowned broadcaster, National Geographic Channel, production was able to get under way in earnest (pardon the pun) in May; by June our heads were filling up with stories of derring-do by Shackleton and his crew, as well as the fine aromas of single malt Scotch whisky!

The find of Shackleton’s whisky stash on Cape Royds presented us lucky film makers with a unique opportunity to tell a different story of one of the greatest Antarctic explorers; as well as shine a fresh light on polar exploration and, importantly, showcase the Nimrod expedition, arguably Shackleton’s greatest success.

The whisky crates have also given us a new insight into the lives of these Victorian explorers; how they passed their time on the ice and the immense leadership qualities required to keep them all going through the harshest elements the planet had to offer. The consignment also highlighted the monumental effort, and the shear number of stores, required to mount an expedition of this nature at the turn of the 20^th Century – there were no GPS or satellite phones in those days, help was a long way away, you literally had to take everything!

The whisky itself is from a time when Scotch was on the rise and fast becoming the world renowned tipple we know it today. Its convoluted origins go back thousands of years to the dawn of civilisation and this 100 year old stash has given us an opportunity to tell the story of this remarkable drink; from its production to the highs and lows of a drink we simply take for granted.

Today, whisky is one of the leading industries in Scotland; with billions of £’s exported every year, it is one the top 5 export industries in the UK – then add Ireland, USA and Japan and you soon realise how big an industry whisky really is around the world!

Filming has been progressing pretty smoothly from a production point of view. Our coverage of the media interest in the whisky thaw took us a little bit of time to get our heads around. Sort of a love triangle – kind of!

The idea was that the whisky thaw would be filmed by local media, who we would film for our story and Mike (our director) would film us, filming them, filming the thaw for behind the scenes shots.

However, to spice up their stories, the local media choose to film the thaw, then film us, filming them filming the thaw…comprende?? No we didn’t get it either! Essentially everyone was filming everyone, which will make an interesting edit – did anyone actually film the whisky?

Probably the biggest challenge faced to date was the reconstructions we had to shoot. These scenes re-enacted Shackleton and his men hauling heavy sledges across the snow and ice and storing their precious cargo of whisky.

On a shoestring budget we managed to get 4 fit mountain men in period costume and a team of huskies pulling a wooden sled across vast snowy landscapes.

The South Island Siberian Husky Club came to the party and two owners provided us with a team of huskies for a day. In fact we even had a husky casting call with a dozen dogs brought up the mountain for us to choose the best six! We did feel sorry for the ones who missed out and were left in their trailers! But they got a treat in the end.

However, by the end of day one we were in desperate need of another tough, rugged Antarctic explorer type to join our rag bag team. Not one to let the side down, Nadia, our able Assistant Producer, volunteered (more like conned) to don the gear and get into character for the final sequence – those explorers sure had fine soft skin back then?!

The last day of reconstruction filming was breezy so say the least! The weather was atrocious, the prevailing nor’ west wind ripped through the mountains, perfect for shots capturing an Antarctic style blizzard, but it was hell for the crew!

But soldiering on and with shots in the can it was good to retreat to the museum where, in our absence, there had been significant ice melt around the crate. The smell of whisky was getting stronger (indicating a broken bottle perhaps?…) and a murky amber liquid was being collected from the drip tray… possibly our only chance to score a taste of this priceless whisky – the crew contemplated drinking the ice melt but were deterred at the last minute by evidence of penguin excrement!

Locked into the museum one night to film crate shots after dark it did occur to us that we were in the perfect position to pull off the ultimate heist. We had amongst our camera kit and lens a replica whisky crate which had been constructed (for our reconstructions) by the museum. It is an extraordinary copy and we did wonder if we managed to out smart the security and switch the crates, how far we’d get before anyone would notice! Only joking!

In celebration of a good few weeks work the crew got together and assembled an eclectic mix of Christchurch’s finest. From Mary Boyle, the daughter of one of Shackleton’s Nimrod crew to Charles Usher, a direct descendant of Charles Mackinlay, we warmed them up with a few drams in Christchurch’s speciality whisky store ‘Whisky Galore’. Owner Michael Milne hosted a tasting with some educated guess work at what flavours might lay within the frozen crate.

Finally, after weeks of careful planning, monitoring and gradual thawing everyone’s patience and hard work was rewarded and on Thursday 12^th August 2010, 102 years, 7 months and 12 days after the Nimrod left Lyttleton Harbour, the whisky bottles were finally revealed.

We were rewarded with not 9, but 11 bottles of whisky, one of which had broken – confirming our suspicions. 10 bottles of whisky was a great result and certainly increased our chances of getting an untainted sample of this precious amber liquid.

Going on from here we are all eagerly anticipating what might be contained within these bottles, what other mysteries and twists to the story await. We already know that the bottles are labelled with the name Endurance and not Nimrod, but why? Why did Shackleton chose Mackinlay’s? And why was it so important to take so many crates of whisky on such a treacherous expedition – not something you’d likely see today.

No doubt there will be plenty more questions coming out of these bottles, giving us clues to what life was like for an Antarctic explorer 100 years ago and helping us add a few more details to the history of whisky, surely one of the most recognised drinks in the world.

Keep a look out for the film in 2011 and be sure to have a wee dram prepped and primed for the occasion!

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