We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story? Elliott Kennerson, Producer of Deep Look's Caddisfly episode: A scientist from UC Berkeley approached us with the idea when we were doing a screening at the university. Little did we know that these caddisflies were such prominent locals! They are everywhere in Northern California’s rivers and streams just after the snowmelt. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. EK: We brought specimens into our studio and tried to replicate natural conditions to induce the behavior. The biggest challenge was keeping those conditions up…especially the clean, cold, turbulent water. Without these conditions the caddisflies weren’t likely to build their little houses at all. It was a nail-biter for a good 24 hours as we watched them doing very little! How do you approach storytelling? EK: Since our show is poetic in nature, I try, frankly, to imagine what it would be like to be the animals that we film and see the world through their eyes. What would it be like to live at the bottom of a turbulent stream? How would I survive? Anything else you would like people to know? EK: We edit in Premiere and finish in After Effects. I was very proud to be the one to do the full AE phase on this episode myself. I may have earned my After Effects badge here! What next? EK: The series continues! Next I’m tacking bats, black widow spiders, and cactus spines.
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We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story? Martin Dohrn, Producer and Director: As a film maker who has spent a significant amount of my filmmaking time in the dark, the worldwide prevalence of utterly entrancing bioluminescence was always apparent. I realised that bioluminescence was a significant part of nature rather than a minor scientific curiosity, and that there were enough spectacular examples to tell the story of living things that glow, in a way that had never been achieved before. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. MD: Bioluminescence is a huge subject, touching on almost every realm where life can be found, and so finding a clear thread through hundreds of papers, eyewitness accounts and subjects that were actually possible to film, took years of investigation. For a subject so little known, it was hard to raise funding, but after many years of persuasion and arm twisting, Terra Mater Factual Studios came on board and supported us. The images themselves also needed cameras and previously untried filming techniques, to record pictures in light levels where the human eye can barely see. How do you approach storytelling? MD: David Attenborough's presence in the film allowed us a greater licence to stray from the tabloid and into a scientific world while keeping the feel of the show popular and accessible. This gave us freedom to use evolution, function and habitat to connect seemingly different kinds of bioluminescence. David Attenborough's presence on screen also helped to give scale to what might have been otherwise quite abstract images. What impact do you hope this film will have? MD: I hope that people will be able to understand that the daytime world we inhabit is just one realm of life, and that a few people will be motivated to discover a whole new planet Earth. Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share? MD: To be on the ocean at night under a clear starry sky, watching as the wake of the boat creates spectacular light trails, that are then framed by a pod of ghostly, cavorting dolphins, lit only by the light they create as they cut through the water, has to be one of the most magical experiences of my life. What next? MD: We are making a series about the seven living big cats, their prehistory, their history, their present and future, for CuriosityStream. We are also making a film about a giant ant supercolony with David Attenborough for BBC and Terra Mater. Why did you pick David Attenborough to be the on camera host telling this story? MD: David Attenborough of one of the few people who have ever presented a film about bioluminescence in the past, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the subject made it easy for him to convey genuine understanding of the story. His presence in the film allowed us a greater license to stray from the tabloid into a scientific world while keeping the feel of the show popular and accessible. David Attenborough's presence on screen also helped to give scale to what might have been otherwise quite abstract images.
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story? Darcy Riggins-Schmidt, Wildlife Media: Ecologist Chris Morgan is on a life-long quest to bring the wonder of bears to the world. And it all started in a garbage dump! While working on a summer camp as an 18 year old in New Hampshire, he joined a local bear biologist capturing black bears one night and it altered his life path. Positively overwhelmed by the wild adventures and the heart-melting experiences he experienced during his work as an emerging conservationist to several international locations over the following years, Chris was determined to share them with the world. Chris believed that if he could transport audiences to the world he was experiencing he could win over people of all backgrounds to support bear conservation, and to understand the basic truth he had discovered: What’s good for bears is good for people and the planet. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. DS: We went to extremes of the bear world - from the ice-bound arctic to the rainforests of Borneo and the high Andes deserts of Peru (following cliff-climbing bears in 106 degree heat). Each place brought physical challenges, not to mention difficulties with camera equipment, and Chris’s motorcycle exploits! And finding a helicopter to spend our last $3000 on in Borneo in the days before drones was comical, but paid off! But what was a new challenge for this film was breaking new ground when we started out 10 years ago with the idea to fund it from donations. But that challenge became a blessing in so many ways - the journey of making the film surrounded by heartfelt support from over 200 donors became something that will stay with us all. How do you approach storytelling? DS: With BEARTREK we wanted a grand, but authentic feeling. A film that felt somewhere between a feature film and a documentary. Something as big and majestic as the bears themselves. But still something very personal to Chris and the other biologists involved. Allowing Chris’s backstory as an ecologist brings a level of authenticy, and we filmed over a number of years, we were able to return to the featured bear biologists to capture a moving update that becomes the final act of the film. Something we hadn’t actually planned for. What impact do you hope this film will have? DS: BEARTREK was born with impact in mind. Chris’s experiences around the world working with bear biologists on the frontline of conservation during his 20s and 30s was an emotional, and life-altering experience. He knew these people needed two things - exposure...and funding. He conceived of BEARTREK as a way of accomplishing both. And by joining forces with Joe Pontecorvo, John Taylor, and Annie Mize turned a simple film into a quest to support on the ground efforts. We've provided funding to three biologists on three continents, turning to our amazing donors for help when needed. We created a fundraising video from Borneo BEARTREK footage, which helped Siew Te Wong raise significant funding for his sun bear conservation center in Borneo. Robyn Appleton established a brand new national park in the bear country of Peru, with help from our footage to tell her amazing story. And we’ve raised over $100,000 for polar bear research in Hudson Bay for Dr. Nick Lunn's climate change work. BEARTREK has inspired half a dozen TV series, including ‘Bears of the Last Frontier’ for PBS Nature, and Chris’s ongoing role as host of that series. Bears of the Last Frontier became part of a larger effort to protect 11 million acres in the Western Arctic, reaching over 3 million people with conservation messaging. We’re very proud of these initial accomplishments before the film has even been released, and we plan to continue this impact as BEARTREK is seen all over the world. Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share? DS: Wow! So many! Where to start!? Anything else you would like people to know? DS: BEARTREK became an important part of life for our small team. To the extent that the team has become more like a family. The film was made over a period of nine years, and it triggered so many good things that the story got better as we went along. We’re glad to jumped right in, but we had no idea what would become possible. The friends we’ve made, and the good things BEARTREK has been able to support. We would encourage anyone to dive in and start - even if you don’t have a fully fleshed out plan! You never know where it might lead you. What next? DS: Our mission continues to inspire new generations of conservationists and film makers. To become part of a movement that makes conservation a social norm. No small task. People are surprised to hear that if we were to protect the 8 bear species of the world, we’d protect around one third of the earth’s land surface! A powerful statement as a conservation tool to harness. Using what we have learned through BEARTREK, and through our new, related efforts to create short form wildlife content for social media audiences, the potential to reach large audiences and push the needle is real. BEARTREK has always been more than a film, and that story will continue, we’re happy to say.
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story? Director Jérôme Bouvier: What inspired this story is the will to make a sensitive film, going beyond a classic expedition film. The discovering of the area by two sensibilities extremely contrasted allows me to speak about Antarctica and tackle the complexity of the phenonema at stake. Slightest change have deep consequences on the species which live there. What impact do you hope this film will have? JB: I hope my film will cause surprise, wonder and empathy so that spectators will have a sustainable interest to this continent, how it works and its protection. So that Antarctica will stay a land of peace and science … And a long time after 2042, year during which the Antarctic Treaty will be discussed. I want my spectators taking conscience that everything is linked on our planet. One action here can have aftereffect other there, far away from here. And also, the complexity of the working of our planet is fascinating and deserve better attention. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. During the shooting, the main challenge for me was to physically cope to be able to follow on one side a only-night-working photographer (a night which is not a one) and on the other side a dive team who worked during the day, every day. I also had to follow local wildlife and support the scientists in their own work. No rhythm and little sleep. During the editing, the big challenge was to bring the scientific information on physical and biological phenomena which happens at a continental scale, in a expedition story localized in time and space. Every thing without loosing of sight the story of our two photographers…. Keeping a sensitive point of view and not only factual on my characters (penguins included) and on that continent. The balance was hard to find. Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share? The journey, the remoteness (13 days of storm and boat trip to arrive on the spot), the feeling to arrive in a completely different, out of the world … An extremely deceptive impression when we know the impact of Antarctica on the rest of the world, and vice versa. What next? A project which if it happen, will tackle territory sharing, coexistence, wild life, and need for men to find a way to live with inconvenient species.
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. Director Thomas Winston: The issue of wolves in Colorado can be contentious and polarizing, our goal with this short film was leverage the aspects of the state that all Coloradan’s love, from the natural beauty to the Broncos at Mile High. Then we ponder the questions: What’s missing from the nearly perfect picture? How do you approach storytelling? TW: At Grizzly Creek Films we always want to tell a story that is both compelling and enlightening. What impact do you hope this film will have? TW: We hope this film will be part of a multipronged approach to build tolerance for wolves returning to Colorado. Since the reintroduction of wolves in the northern Rockies, every wolf that has migrated to Colorado has been killed. This effort hopes curbs that trend.
Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share?
TW: This film was made in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. In addition to producing films, the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project commissioned in-depth polling by both Democrat and Republican pollsters to assess the public knowledge and opinions about wolves. The most surprising outcome of these polls is that most Coloradans think that wolves still roam free in their state. When they were told that wolves DO NOT live in Colorado, they overwhelming felt they should, regardless of political affiliation. We used these polling results to shape the approach to the films. What next? TW: We are planning to make additional short films for the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project into 2018.
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story? Director Ben Wallis: The story of this film was inspired by the film “Born In China” – a cinematic release made for Disneynature. As soon as we decided upon the mission to film snow leopards in China, we knew we had the makings of a potentially great film about how the team attempted that. Snow leopards have been hardly filmed, the remote and very high location in China had never been visited before by an international crew and it would take planning and collaboration at the level never really attempted before to make this work. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. BW: The challenges were many! Just getting to the location involved many days travelling, mostly to get used to the extreme altitude but also because we were the first international crew to reach the location. Everything we needed to survive had to be taken in with us – there were no short trips to the shops! The team had to deal with extreme altitude and isolation, were only connected to the outside world via satphone and had to organise each day with military precision and radio comms to keep everyone safe. Getting through daily outbreaks of extreme weather, long hikes and driving through remote landscapes in search of a predator rarely filmed, became a daily ritual.
How do you approach storytelling?
BW: I think the art of a good story has a few key elements. Drama, immersion, simplicity, relatability. Our film had all these. The drama of finding and filming the story of an animal that hadn’t been told before. The immersion of a team in a really remote, tough, high location not visited by an international crew before. A “simple” story arc in which every moment drove the narrative on and a relatability between the audience and our key human characters. What impact do you hope this film will have? BW: I hope this film (like “Born In China”) will open a wildlife interest in China and therefore a focus on the endangered animals that live there and the landscapes that are crucial to their survival. Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share? BW: The silence of the location was a really special element to this shoot. Scary to get used to but amazing to experience. The trip would not have worked without the support of the locals that live there. The vastness of the location led to us experiencing what appeared to be a really rich ecology – from marmots to wild ass, wolves to pallas cats and blue sheep to snow leopards. It was a great joy to work with cameraman Shane Moore. It was a huge team effort but without his professionalism, dedication, and field craft skills we wouldn’t have achieved what we did - getting close to a very elusive animal in such tough and demanding terrain. Anything else you would like people to know? BW: Filming snow leopards – let alone new snow leopard behaviour – has been a focus of natural history producers for years. The aim was achieved because of the backing of Disney, an international filming collaboration like none other and a hugely talented team in the field for more than 250 days. What next? BW: A 5 part series on China for Nat Geo Wild.
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.
Producer and Director John Maggio: We knew from the start that we wanted to get as close as possible to the conditions that greeted Roosevelt and Rondon in 1913 and 1914. But, in order to bring the story to life we needed a big crew of extras and a rather big film crew. We learned pretty quickly that the remoteness of the River of Doubt (today Rio Roosevelt) on the far western edge of the Brazilian Amazon was going to pose real logistical problems for us and our desire to realize the experience as vividly as we wanted. But, we also knew we wanted to film in the Brazilian Amazon so we chose a tributary of the Rio Negro, the Ariau River that was geographically similar to the River of Doubt – a serpentine and swollen black river that snaked its way through the flooded forest, but was close enough to Manaus that we could ferry all of our equipment. We had a twenty-person crew that included a second unit drone team lead by cinematographer Bryan Harvey and a first unit helmed by Tim Cragg. We partnered with a Brazilian fixer who helped organize the transport of lights, generators, camera equipment, food supplies and personnel up the Rio Negro to the Ariau. We spent nearly three weeks in Brazil during the Zika outbreak and were subjected to one hundred degree temperatures and crippling humidity deluged by torrential rainstorms daily. Keeping our camera and sound equipment dry and lenses from fogging up were a constant problem. During the day our equipment floated just inches above the swollen muddy river. We often had to suspend shooting because of dangerous caimen (large powerful crocodilians) in the water or when giant pink dolphins surfaced unexpectedly. We subsisted on local fish caught from the river augmented by rice and beans. The conditions were brutal. In order to find the powerful rapids of the River of Doubt we also spent ten days in Jarabocoa, Dominican Republic. There we shot the dramatic gorge scene with a team of a dozen extras and expert climbers to lower the bulky canoes over the fifty-foot falls. In the DR we also had twenty-person crew and second unit drone team. The conditions were equally as brutal as we had a fifty-foot crane perilously dangling over very powerful waterfalls while trying to navigate class 3 rapids with a full camera crew.
Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share?
JM: We had a dozen extras, Brazilians (all native to the region, many of them descendants of indigenous people) who acted not only as extras in the film, but also our trusty guides through the rainforest and navigating the river, animal wranglers, and they hand-carved a dozen sixteen foot canoes from local trees. They provided us with traditional remedies for stomach problems, insect bites, cuts and skin infections. They could call caimans and howler monkeys, wrangle spiders and sloths and at night steered us clear of anaconda. The production itself was not unlike the Roosevelt’s fateful River of Doubt expedition as we were at the mercy of our indigenous hosts who lead us in and out of the jungle. They were incredible people and truly made this film possible. How do you approach storytelling? JM: I like stories that shine a light on intrepid people who have near fatal flaws - Alfred Kinsey, Walter Freeman(the inventor of the pre-frontal lobotomy) and Theodore Roosevelt; all of them great men whose hubris pushed the limits of reason and self-control. Roosevelt spent his youth a sickly boy who sought a mastery of nature as a way to take control of his own surroundings. He became a big game hunter, spent a year on safari in Africa, and provided museums with thousands of specimens of animals and yet he met his match on the River of Doubt in the Amazon. He had reached the outer limits of man’s mastery of the environment. He was not invincible. That desire for discovery and control on Roosevelt’s part greatly influenced my approach to this film. What impact do you hope this film will have? JM: There are so few frontiers left, let’s not forget that the Amazon is one of the last and in need of preservation and respect. We cannot control nature but we can help preserve it and hope it helps sustain us. Next for the crew of Into the Amazon:
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story? Producer Amy Anderson: At the beginning of the 20th Century there were estimated to be around 100,000 wild tigers. Today, that number is now estimated at 3900 - a shocking reduction. Poaching and habitat loss are key drivers for this drastic decline. Pavel’s story was inspired by a desire to engage people with the plight of wild tigers and to shine a spotlight on the incredible people risking their lives to protect this endangered species. With the Russian Far East being one of the last remaining frontiers for wild tigers, combined with it's stark cinematic beauty and hardy individuals, our quest to find an individual who was not only passionate and engaging, but also reflected a deeper side to our conservation ethos, led us to Pavel. Pavel is a true tiger protector. We wanted to bring his story to life. Amy Anderson, Producer - WWF UK
Describe some of the challenges faced when making this film. AA: NGO films can often been seen in a negative light. They can be considered too pessimistic or conversely, too worthy. We wanted to make an NGO film that moved away from this and was more 'relevant'. We therefore looked to ‘up our game’ both on a technical and storytelling level. We hoped this would allow us to gain greater cut through in a highly saturated media landscape. A key challenge was therefore how to do all of this on an NGO budget. On a more practical level, filming in remote locations with sub-zero temperatures (down to -30 degrees) proved challenging not only for the crew, but for the high end filming equipment – with camera motors failing and lenses freezing on a number of occasions.
What impact do you hope this film will have?
AA: In 2010, WWF pledged to double the number of wild tigers by 2022 (the next Chinese year of the tiger). Since then, tiger numbers have increased across the globe, but work still needs to be scaled up to achieve this unique conservation target. Ultimately, this requires greater awareness of the issue, alongside relying on the passion and unwavering support from tiger protectors; whether they be members of the public, politicians or Pavel himself. We hope this film will inspire others to become tiger protectors too. Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share? AA: Whilst filming a camera trapping scene with Pavel in the forests of Tigrovoye, we witnessed an incident with a poacher. Our cameras were rolling, when Maxim (an employee of the land owner where we were filming), suddenly bolted off into the forest. In the dull snowy silence, we heard shouts and a scuffle in the distance. Taking a few seconds to comprehend what was happening, Pavel then took off into the forest to rush to Maxim’s aid. Given that during winter months, individuals are not granted hunting permits for deer (to allow the population to survive and maintain a healthy food source for tigers), we soon realized that this man was in the forest illegally, and likely to be a poacher. Pavel and Maxim apprehended him, confiscated his rifle and bag (which he had dropped to keep out of sight before Maxim took chase), and took him to the local authorities. The very next day, we got news from another land owner that his employee had been rushed to hospital after being rammed by a man (thought to be poacher) on a snow mobile, after he had given chase. Although we were slightly shaken by the incident we witnessed in the forest, alongside the horrific news the following day, coupled with the sad encounter of the dead female tiger we filmed as part of the film, this all served as a stark reminder of the ever present poaching issue in Russia and how individuals like Pavel and Maxim really were risking their lives to protect tigers.
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.
What inspired this story?
Director and Producer Eric Sean Liner: Neil Rettig and Laura Johnson were the catalysts for pursuing this story their willingness to put so much on the line for eagle conservation really inspired us. Our second inspiration came from the staff of the Philippine Eagle Foundation – witnessing their relentless day in, day out commitment carried us through the multi-year production.
Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.
ESL: The greatest challenges we faced had to do with the natural history shooting–specifically finding and filming a family of wild Philippine Eagles. The fact that there are so few birds remaining in the wild meant we didn't have many locations to choose from; because the eagles lay only one egg every two years, finding a viable nest during our production window was a low odds endeavor; and because we were dealing with a critically endangered and highly sensitive species, Neil and his team had to take incredible pains not to disturb the nest and risk harming the chick. It made for some very tense moments over the course of production.
What impact do you hope this film will have?
ESL: Our goal is to ultimately shift the way people in the Philippines relate to the eagle and we’re working with in-country organizations to produce an array of media to help make that happen. With so much of the Philippine forest destroyed during the mid to late 20th century, human persecution now ranks as the greatest threat to the species. While we may not be able to bring the forests back quickly, stopping the unnecessary shooting and trapping of eagles is an area where we believe we could have an immediate positive impact. Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share? ESL: We waited for over two-years to film the successful hatch of a captive Philippine eagle chick. Raising Philippine eagles in captivity is a difficult process and it was really emotional to experience that moment with the staff of the Philippine Eagle Foundation. Everyone was holding his or her breath, hoping nothing would go wrong.
Anything else you would like people to know?
ESL: Bird of Prey is just one part of a broad media initiative to help contribute to Philippine eagle conservation and provide conservation groups with the communications tools they need to be more effective.
By Abbey Greene
Our furry little friends in the forest are not just cute...there are some things about foxes that not everyone knows.
Red foxes are a member of Jackson's ecosystem and in several other places around the world, including the Arctic Circle, North Africa, North America and Eurasia. Here are a few fun facts about these creatures that you may not have been aware of, until now.
1. Red foxes would be great triathletes.
Red foxes can run up to 31 mph, jump over 6 ft high fences, and they can even swim.
2. Their tail is over half its body length.
(70% of its head and body length long, to be exact.)
3. Red foxes’ forepaws have five toes, while their hind feet only have four! (And they don’t have dewclaws either.)
4. Females are actually called vixens.
Meanwhile, males are called dog foxes, and young foxes are called cubs, pups, or kits.
5. Red foxes have supersonic hearing! Well, almost.
They can hear crows in flight from up to a third of a mile away, a grouse changing roosts at 600 paces, and even a little mouse squeak from 100 metres away. Reportedly, they can even hear a watch ticking from 40 yards away! 6. Largely, red foxes are choose one mate to be with for their whole life. That's right, they are monogamous.
7. When afraid, red foxes grin.
It is a sign of submission, along with arching their backs and bringing themselves lower to the ground while laying their ears back.
8. They don’t make good pets.
Wild animals are meant to live in the wild. Simple as that. When it comes to red foxes, many kits are adopted by people who mean well, but it’s unlikely that the pups were abandoned by their mother in the first place. Always respect nature, give them space and trust in the red foxes’ instinct; they will take care of their babies. |
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