The Singing Wilderness

“A new adventure is coming up and I’m sure it will be a good one.”

These are Sigurd’s last written words, found on a sheet of paper in his typewriter after he died while out snowshoeing.  I think 2012 is going to be a good one, and if all goes well, it’ll be the year this project sees completion.  Thanks again to all of you for your support.  Here’s wishing you great new adventures in 2012…

Image “Frozen Stream, Purple Sky” courtesy Bryan Hansel, Bryan Hansel Photography.

I had a request from Greg Seitz at Friends Of the Boundary Waters Wilderness for some footage for a video piece he was putting together with people talking about why the BWCA is so important to them – which I was happy to oblige – so I put together a sequence of shots for him from which to select.  Of course I couldn’t resist putting some music underneath the shots – which are pretty randomly cut with no regard for timing – music I will probably use in the film. Shortly after that, a producer from CBS Evening News contacted me (Greg had put him in touch) looking for some HD footage of the area for a piece he was doing on the sulfite mining controversy.  He was extremely complimentary and enthusiastic about the quality of my work.  He used the footage and it aired last Friday, but unfortunately for the web version he had to re-edit the story using his own footage (you can watch it here, sans my footage; it’s about five minutes into the show).  Regardless, we’re glad to see the issue getting some national coverage.  I was paid a modest fee for the footage which I am happy to be able to put back into the production fund.  Here’s the sequence I gave for them to choose from:

Some folks have suggested they would like to hear more natural sounds and less music.  Please be assured that there will be plenty of “nat sound,” as we call it, in the final film.  The camera I filmed the above shots with does not have sound recording capabilities built into it, so for the nature shots I generally do not roll sync sound.  But we have recorded many gigabytes of natural sounds on our trips with a separate, professional audio recorder using some very sophisticated microphones.  And will do more!  Thanks for your thoughts, as always, and support.

Post script:

I just heard from Alberto Moyas, the CBS producer of the story on sulfite mining.  He says that at the last minute his senior producers decided they wanted him to re-cut the story, shorten it, and “shoehorn” it into a larger segment about mining jobs.  The controversy of the issue was largely excised from the story – in fact sulfite mining is never specifically mentioned.  The conflict between the tourism (Boundary Waters) and mining industries was barely touched on. They still used my footage but only a couple of shots.  Alberto has since approached the network about airing the original, longer story on the CBS Weekend Evening broadcast this coming weekend. I will post something when I know more.

Alberto’s a great guy – he went to Macalaster College and ever since has had an affinity for all things Minnesota, and takes any opportunity he can to spend more time there.

To the following people who made our May shoot a reality, either through financial support or donation of services:

• Professor Alan Brew at Northland College and his “Pens and Paddles in the North Woods” students: Abby, Elise, Katherine, Matt, and Maureen.
• My crew: Josh Borchardt, Nathan Oliver, and Brad Studstrup, who volunteered their time and hard work.
• Steve Piragis of Piragis Northwoods Company, for donation of canoe rental, paddles, PFDs, bear can, and generous discount on purchases.
• Greg Seitz and Paul Danicic at Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, for their endorsement, encouragement, and financial support.
• Ann Schwaller and The US Forest Service, for letting us shoot inside Superior National Forest!
• Byron and Alis Olsen, Steven Scollard, Bob Countryman, Mark Nolan, Jeffrey Anderson, David Roloff, Hans Gregersen, Thomas Warth, Rocky Barker, Chris Jensen, Carolyn Sundquist, Mark Knox, Hank Roberts, Sharon Kaufman, Tom Pinkerton, Timothy Fie, and others who wish to remain anonymous, for financial contributions.

Look for footage from this important section of the film soon!  And thank you, thank you, thank you all who helped make it happen.

"Pens and Paddles" class in the BWCA

Dear Friends of “The Singing Wilderness,”

If you are reading this, it’s probably because you’ve supported this project in the past.  And thanks to you, we were able to go to the Boundary Waters for five days last October and gather some pretty incredible footage, a sampling of which you can watch right here.  We also shot another key interview with Sigurd’s son Bob, and another with a 92 year-old woman in Ely who knew Sigurd and was inspired by him to become an outfitter.

After watching that clip online, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Communications Director Greg Seitz called me and asked if there was any way they could support the project, since it aligns so closely with their mission.  After a meeting with Greg and Executive Director Paul Danicic in March, Friends of the Boundary Waters has featured the project on their website, in newsletters, and in several Tweets (!), and even pledged a financial contribution.  As THE premier advocacy organization for the BWCAW, their support means A LOT.  Read their lovely, complimentary blog post about the film here.

I also made presentations in March at the The Moving Pictures Collective New York City (MoPictive), and Docuclub Minnesota, where I got a lot of praise and a ton of great feedback.  Thanks to Melody Gilbert, the matriarch of the Midwestern documentary scene, for her guidance and connections to the talented and vibrant Minnesota filmmaking community.

In December, the monthly Good Age did a cover story about me and the film.  You can download a PDF of the full issue here.  We’ve also been featured prominently on a number of great blogs, along with the footage, including  UpNorthica.com, MidwesternGentleman.com, new-wood.blogspot.com, WildernessWatch.org, and CreateHappy.org.  Thanks to all of you for helping us broaden our exposure.

In just the last three weeks the video had been visited almost 2500 times through these websites.  So, word is getting out.  We’re gaining momentum.  But our most important shoot to date is coming up in May, and we are lacking in the funds needed to undertake it.  A group of students from Northland College, Sig’s Alma Mater and home to the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, will they take to the lakes and rivers of the BWCAW for a two week canoe trip.  They will be studying the works of Olson, Thoreau, and other wilderness writers, recording their reflections, and finally, composing their own essays on what it means to live among the elements, to touch the infinite, and reconnect with our evolutionary origins.

This sequence, this story, which will be interwoven into the body of the documentary, stands to become the backbone, the lifeblood, and the living spirit of the film.  Interviews and wilderness footage can go, well, only so far in bringing Sigurd’s ideas to life.  But these eight students will embody the notion that wilderness can nourish the spirit where modern civilization and digital technology only leave it dulled, empty, and wanting. Or they won’t!  Either way it will be interesting.  Their observations, conversations, and insights discovered during their deep immersion into the wilderness will bring intimacy, perspective, and contemporary context to the film.

We’ve budgeted about $6000 for this shoot (this will cover costs for travel, food, lodging, and gear rental – but NOT any sort of compensation for the crew, all of whom will be taking time off of paid work to give to the project).  I still have about $2500 left over from last spring’s fundraiser, but that leaves a considerable gap.  Please, if you can help with even a small contribution, donate now.

 

We start shooting the first week of May, so we ask that you MAKE YOUR DONATION NOW, if you want it to go toward this shoot (but we’ll certainly accept donations after that!).

Thank you everyone for your support in the past, and hopefully in the future!  But please don’t feel obligated – many of you have been very generous already.  As a way of saying thanks we are offering everyone who donates $50 or more a DVD of the film when it is released (the goal is fall of 2012).  That is cumulative and retroactive, for all of you who gave at the fundraiser last spring.  I’m working on some more premiums to offer in the future too, for larger contributions – one possibility is the clever, sweet, highly coveted canoe paddle salad tongs Dick Haskett hand-made for the fundraiser silent auction.  We just have to figure out how to make them in greater quantities!

Thanks everyone for your interest, your patience, your trust, and your support.  Please stay tuned…

… from our most recent shoot.

This HD takes a bit to load; give it some time before you let it play (and try it full screen).  But we like this format!  And this new camera.  Hope you like what you see too.

I really need some help financially for a big shoot in May, when I will be following a group of writing students from Sigurd’s Alma Mater, Northland College, as they head into the BWCAW for a two-week paddle.  If you can contribute anything at all, please click on one of the donation links to the right.  And thanks very much.

-Peter