Hello All:
This from the Sony Pictures Press kit, in reference to "...How the chickens
did they get that shot?":
Five teams of people (more than 450 people, including
17 pilots and 14 cinematographers) were necessary to follow a variety of
bird
migrations through forty countries and each of the seven continents. The
film
covers landscapes that range from the Eiffel Tower and Monument Valley to
the
remote reaches of the Arctic and the Amazon. All manner of man-made
machines were employed, including planes, gliders, helicopters, and
balloons, and
numerous innovative techniques and ingeniously designed cameras were
utilized
to allow the filmmakers to fly alongside, above, below and in front of their
subjects. The result is a film of staggering beauty that opens one's eyes to
the
ineffable wonders of the natural world.
...and then this from the filmaker, Jacques Perrin -- rather touching:
Earthbound, watching the birds fly across the sky, we undertook this film.
We had to go
higher, nearer the birds, within striking distance of the stars.
How could we manage it? Man has dreamt of birds since the beginning of time.
How to
imagine being among the first to transform this dream into reality? I will
always treasure the
memory of the first time we achieved this. The cameraman was following the
movements of
the geese, with one hand the assistant pushed away those who came too near
the camera: the
whole spool of film ran out. Radiant, tears in their eyes, they looked at
me, speechless,
motionless. Their mastery and the technical result were of minor importance,
they had been in
the confidence of the birds in flight.
What if, for the space of a year, we no longer waited for the seasons, what
if we embarked on
the most fabulous of journeys, what if, abandoning our towns and our
countryside, we went on
a tour of the planet?
What if we understood that our borders did not exist, that the earth is a
one and only space
and what if we learned to be free as birds?
Jacques Perrin
for those interested, much more can be found here:
http://www.sonyclassics.com/wingedmigration/index_flash.html
I saw the film in LA in May, and it is amazing.
James Winkelmann
Richmond
From: PBSullivan2@xxxxxx
Reply-To: PBSullivan2@xxxxxx
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [va-bird] Winged Migration
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:03:09 EDT
Adam notes that Winged Migration is playing in Richmond.
I saw it last week at the Shirlington, in Arlington, and would give it an
outstanding grade, worth the 100 mile round trip. None who love and enjoy
birds
should miss it.
The French-made documentary avoids excessive narration--the
ruination
of too many wildlife films, and attempts no silly fictional "storyline" the
bane of others I have seen.
And it will leave the viewer wondering, "How the dickens did they get
that shot?"
There is coverage of bird migrations in the Americas,
Europe-and-Africa
and in Asia.
It contains information, yet is chiefly a feature docu-film.
Paul Sullivan,
Fredericksburg
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