Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin

Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin

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Country:	U S A
Created:	2007
Runtime:	34 min.
Member:	ffelix

Average rating: 4 by 1 users

Film Description:

Summary
Filmmaker Blog
Gallery
Ratings

Synopsis

Researchers struggle to outwit wily black bears in an attempt to trap & GPS-collar the animals to aid behavior studies.

Forms: Documentary, Short
Genres: Educational, Wildlife, Environmental, Science

Cast & Crew

Production

Faerthen Felix (Producer)

Music

Kevin MacLeod (Original Music/Composer)

On-line Clips... Sep 09, 2007 12:02PM

You can watch some footage from this movie on-line at: http://sagehen-video.blogspot.com/2006/07/bear-research-revs-up-in-sagehen.html

Buy this movie on-line! Aug 06, 2007 04:22PM

We've just completed the process for offering our movie on-line through Amazon.com's new CreateSpace service [formerly known as CustomFlix]. Next week, you'll be able to purchase a boxed DVD or a cheaper digital download of "Black Bear Research in Sagehen Basin" at:

http://www.createspace.com/234523

Fan's of this blog can use the discount code: X4NRZTA2. This brings the price of the DVD down to our cost. Now do us a favor & be sure to post your review of the film here on this site!

Bear activity report... Jul 19, 2007 01:53PM

Everyone always asks, "So, how are the bears doing?". The good news is that it's hard for us to tell, since they are ghosts & don't bother us as we are very cautious about food & trash. We see their tracks & scat all around us, but rarely the bears themselves.

That's so unsatisfying! We should be able to radio track the collared bear from the movie, & we had been doing so successfully all fall, winter & spring. But then a logging operation moved in to harvest timber in the private parcels that encroach into the basin near her territory & she vanished. Jennapher & I tried again to track her last week with no success. Hopefully she will return now that the cut is completed & the noisy, heavy equipment is gone.

Then this morning, a geology student surveying rocks in the upper basin spotted a lot of sign, including a fresh den down along the creek. Next, she stumbled on the bear itself--a big cinnamon one--crunching around in the thick alders. Fortunately, she was able to withdraw before alarming the bear.

Even though it wasn't the same one, it's nice to know that the logging didn't chase all the bears away.

Writing the script Jun 29, 2007 06:32PM

It sounds kind of funny to say I actually wrote a script...the bears really did that.

I shot as much as I could, then sort of worked out the conflict in the edit. The comedic aspect is something that I didn't plan, but it was hard to miss after seeing the way the bears seemingly thumbed their noses at us.

I got the idea of animating the camera-trap stills, then thought that some circus-y music would match the images well. Initially, I put some title cards in as place-holders until I could find someone to do the V.O., but then I started to like the cards--a friend said they reminded him of a Buster Keaton film, which was right in keeping with the theme--so I kept them in & dressed them up a bit to emphasize the point.

Getting the footage. Jun 27, 2007 06:45PM

This is a film I shot last summer & edited together into it's final form this spring. I used a small handheld mini-DV camera [Panasonic PV GS-150] & Final Cut Pro running on a G5 Mac.

Wildlife photography is challenging! I live at the field station, so I was available to drop everything & run up the hill with Jennapher whenever she checked the trap or received a signal. There were a lot of fruitless trips, but it really gets the adrenaline going when a bear finally arrives.

They certainly are clever scamps--they'd ignore the trap until she tripped it to leave for the day, then come in & tear everything apart to get at whatever bait was left. You could look at the camera trap pictures & almost see them scratching their head, saying "Oh, I get it!".

paw