Chasing Ice is a new documentary that chronicles the struggles of photographer James Balog as he set out to complete the Extreme Ice Survey. The survey was designed to monitor the movement of glaciers existing today under the threat of climate changes, in particular the increase in temperatures that are resulting in glaciers melting at phenomenal rates.
Filming glaciers and other ice formations in Alaska and Montana in the U.S.; Greenland, Iceland and the Alps in Europe; Canada and even Bolivia, Balog used a variety of cameras to conduct time lapse photography, usually taking one picture per hour all through the daylight hours. When placed in sequence the work of many months and even years could be seen in a few seconds and the results were startling.
With warming air, ground, and water temperatures, ice formations are being attacked from all angles. While glaciers have experienced back and forth ebbs and flow, nothing in the historical record compares to the rapid disappearance that they are experiencing today. What might seem gradual, even imperceptible, to most people is happening in the blink of an eye in geological terms. And Balog's work captures it most dramatically.
While the underlying message of Chasing Ice is the destructive power of climate change as seen in the ice formations, the film also focuses on Balog's journey itself. And this was not an easy one. To get cameras in their optimum position was not just a case of a camera, a tripod, and a nice wide shot in a meadow miles away. Balog and his team had to often move into dangerous locations on the ice formations themselves, scaling ice walls or venturing out onto ice and snow that could give way at any second.
And there was the challenge of getting the technology to cooperate. Extended cold temperatures and moisture do not mix well with digital cameras. Balog had to devised safe, dry, insulated housings for many of the cameras used. A wide range of cameras were used including Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, and others - a total of 30 in all.
Chasing Ice is the dramatic adventure of a courageous and dedicated photographer. That is the hook, the entertainment, meant to draw in the audience. But once there, they will see that what is truly dangerous is what is happening to the planet. Climate change is shifting the fundamental components that make up the life support system that animal and plant life have depended on for tens of thousands of years. And it's happening much quicker than many had anticipated.
Chasing Ice premiered in November at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been in limited release in the U.S. (There was a screening this past Thanksgiving holiday weekend near my neck of the woods in Los Angeles.) Look for it in your area. The National Geographic Channel will also air it in the first half of 2013, but see it in a large screen theater if you can. Big images need a big venue.
As society turns to science for the facts and data upon which environmental decisions are made (or should be made), scientists and researchers are, more and more, realizing the power and influence of media in communicating to broad audiences. For over 40 years, the Benthic Ecology Meeting has brought together marine and ecology scientists from a variety of disciplines and areas of study. Sponsored by different U.S. southeastern colleges or universities over the years, this year it will be held in Norfolk, Virginia, March 21st through the 24th, and is sponsored by Old Dominion University. Accompanying the meeting for its third straight year will be the Beneath the Waves Film Festival.
The Beneath the Waves Film Festival presents marine-themed films ranging from white sharks to dedicated school teachers, all with a strong ocean narrative. This is not a "what I did on my vacation" film festival; the films shown here address important ocean issues. The audience is a healthy mix of scientists, students, and the general public.
While the festivals in the past were scheduled to coincide with the meeting, which lead to some competing programs, this year the festival has a special films-only evening taking place on March 23rd. Films will be shown on the IMAX screen of the Nauticus IMSX Theatre, which is a terrific venue for any ocean film.
The Beneath the Waves Film Festival, combined with the Benthic Ecology Meeting, is a great way to meet and talk with working scientists and dedicated students involved in ocean research - and it's a great way to see some informative new ocean films. The film festival has received hundreds of films for the past two prior festivals and the submission deadline for this year, February 24th, is close at hand. If you have a potential film of interest, click here to read about the submission requirements.
A well deserved congratulations to The Cove for being awarded the Best Documentary Oscar at Sunday night's Academy Awards presentation! If you have not seen this film about the brutal harvesting of dolphins and whales in the Japanese village of Taiji and the subsequent distribution of polluted meat to an unsuspecting Japanese public, you can now purchase the DVD (here's a link to Amazon.com).
All of the films nominated in the Best Documentary category are important films and worth seeing. The contenders focused on critical social issues - human rights, abuse, immigration. And all of these challenges deserve our attention. What made The Cove perhaps a bit special was that it combined both a conservation issue (the particularly brutal harvest of marine mammals) with a human issue (the indifference of the Japanese fishermen, the ignorance of the local villagers to the hazard they are exposing themselves to, and resistance from the Japanese government to do anything about it). Add to that the drama experienced by the film crew in secretly filming the harvest, and you have a film that stands out as both education and entertainment with the hope that viewers will be motivated to do something about an ecological and human health tragedy.
Perhaps winning the award will provide The Cove with a little extra clout with the Japanese government, but there are plenty of forces currently at work to prevent the film from getting its message out to those who need to hear it the most - the Japanese people. The producers have several online vehicles (web site, Facebook page & cause, blog, etc.) that you can visit to learn what you can do to help them get more exposure to a people who, unfortunately, have such a long heritage of dependence involving seafood. The Cove needs all the help it can get.
Today is known by retailers as "Black Saturday" for those who are cruising the web for last minute gift ideas, and I noticed that Amazon has priced Island of the Great White Shark at a reduced price. The U.S. east coast is getting hit with quite a winter storm and it's expected that many holiday shoppers will think twice about venturing out, so there should be plenty of online inducements.
I don't know how long Amazon will have the DVD on sale (it's their call to lower their price; they don't alert me), but if you're interested in a comprehensive, accurate, and educational look at the great white sharks of Isla Guadalupe, Baja, check it out.
Island of the Great White Shark was the first comprehensive documentary to examine the great white sharks of Isla Guadalupe and detail the working relationship between shark diving operators and dedicated Mexican marine researchers. You can experience what it's like cage diving with these magnificent sharks while also getting to see them in their real environment: critically important predators shown as they truly are and not the malevolent monsters of cinematic legend.
"A primal scene of unearthly beauty. Excitement and information pepper this film." - WetPixel.com
"Beautiful videography, good graphics and information." - Dr. Bob Hueter, Director, Mote Marine Center for Shark Research
Reasonably priced and available at Amazon.com or the gift shops of several leading aquariums, Island of the Great White Shark succeeds as a visually striking and informative overview of one of nature's most legendary creations, how it is being studied, and what threatens its future.
Ocean Acidification: a new piece of jargon in the ocean conservation vernacular but potentially a very big one. Many of you may already be aware of its implications; the increase in CO2 absorbed by the oceans producing everything from weakened shells to the overall destruction of corals, all due to an upset in the ocean's balance of calcium.
This is a relatively new discovery and many decision-makers are, for the most part, in the dark regarding the issue. Oceana.org is taking a step to correct that with an advertisement to run in Energy and Environment Daily, a publication read by many in the energy policy arena.
But it's been a tough year for non-profits and Oceana is in need of outside funding to cover the cost of running the ad. If you can make a contribution, click on this link to learn more.
"Congress needs to address ocean acidification now. The oceans have absorbed 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution and scientists predict a mass extinction of corals by the middle to end of this century - including a collapse of the world's largest barrier reef systems in Australia and Belize.
Help Protect Corals. Help put ocean acidification on Congress's agenda by supporting a new ad targeted at Congress.
More acidic oceans threaten the one-quarter of marine life that depends on coral reefs for food and shelter, as well as all animals that depend on carbonate to build their shells and skeletons, like corals, pteropods, and shellfish like oysters.
Help Oceana Advocacy Resources raise $5,000 by September 1 to run the new "This is Your Ocean on Acid" ad and to get this issue before Congress today.
The ad will run in Energy and Environment Daily, a news source read by thousands of the major players in energy policy in the U.S. and abroad, including congressional and federal agency leaders. We need to shift energy policy away from fossil fuels and mitigate the effects of ocean acidification now if we want coral reefs and other carbonate-dependent marine life to survive.
Did you know that the oceans are more acidic than they have been in 800,000 years and this change occurred one-hundred-times faster than ever before? There has been no time for marine life to adapt and if corals and shellfish disappear, it will have repercussions for sharks, sea turtles, marine mammals and many other animals that depend on them."
Also, whether you are well-versed or new to the issue of ocean acidification, check out the documentary A Sea Change, which has been playing in select theaters recently. Very enlightening and informative.
This week there will be a lot of attention in the television media placed on Discovery Channel's Shark Week - an annual event that brings in some 30 million viewers. A lot of attention is placed on shark-human interactions (aka: shark attacks) which, for good or for bad, has a lot of audience appeal.
So, let me throw out a piece of "alternative programming" in the form of a shameless plug: Island of the Great White Shark. This documentary, which RTSea filmed and produced and was released at the end of 2007, is the first comprehensive look at the great white sharks of Isla Guadalupe, Baja. It delivers an accurate portrayal of these powerful but cautious predators and also details the working relationship between shark eco-tourism operators and dedicated shark researchers.
The film also presents the important issues of conservation - not only at Isla Guadalupe where the shark diving boats act as watchguards over the white sharks that migrate there in the fall months, but the need for conservation of all sharks worldwide.
I find myself coming back to Isla Guadalupe on assignment year after year and I am honored to have additional white shark footage on Google Earth (zoom in on the northeast side of the island). Although sharks are not the only film subject I have worked with, they do seem to hold a special interest with viewers and conservationists as well.
So, for those who would like some facts mixed in with their sensational shark coffee this week, check out Island of the Great White Shark.
Back online after making a move of the RTSea Productions office (boy, is that ever temporary insanity or what? Boxes, cameras, furniture, computers . . . ugh!). Filming this week and back to shipping Island of the Great White Shark DVDs to Amazon and other distributors. Also, have some interesting projects coming up, but first, back to nature. New posts coming . . .
There are several interesting ocean film festivals that take place each year, but in June there is one of particular note: the BLUE Ocean Film Festival set in beautiful Savannah, Georgia. There are several features to this event, scheduled for June 11 thru 14, that I think will set it apart from others.
First, there will be a full slate of exciting and thought-provoking films - from professionals to student films - for the public to view. My documentary, Island of the Great White Shark, has been accepted but the final slate of films to be screened has not been determined yet, so check their web site as the dates approach.
Secondly, there will be several presentations, panel groups, and awards - particularly, a Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Ocean Advocacy to be given to Dr. Sylvia Earle, who I featured in a previous post. Many of the people involved in the panel groups are colleagues or mentors so I know the events will be enlightening for marine conservationists, filmmakers or just the curious.
Lastly, and perhaps in many ways most importantly, the festival is planning a road show of sorts, bringing many of the participating films to a broader audience through aquariums, festivals, and other public events. This is key to building greater public awareness (My loyal readers of this blog are dedicated conservationists, but are we reaching the unenlightened as well? - that is an important long-term goal.).
I will be attending the BLUE Ocean Film Festival and will be soaking in some of Savannah's historical ambiance and Southern hospitality. Hope to see you there.
For more information: info@blueoceanfilmfestival.org 813-885-4142 Facebook: BLUE Ocean Film Festival group
This past Wednesday evening, Island of the Great White Shark was screened to a curious and enthusiastic audience at the MLK Auditorium, Santa Monica Library, CA. The event was sponsored by the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, which is operated by Heal the Bay, a long-standing marine conservation fixture in Southern California that first came into existence in 1985 to help clean up the Santa Monica Bay.
After the screening, I had the opportunity to discuss several important shark conservation issues and spend time answering some terrific questions from the audience - their fascination and concern for these animals was clearly in abundance. My thanks to Tara Crow, Public Programs Manager, and Aaron Kind, Education Specialist, for all their help and support.
The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is located beneath the famous Santa Monica Pier Carousel and while open to the public it also caters particularly to schools and other groups seeking an educational and hands-on experience with touch tanks and informative displays - all designed to enlighten the next generation of future conservationists. Click here to view their web site.
As a filmmaker and nature advocate, I am always interested in how environmental issues are presented by the media to the general public: Are they trying to develop public awareness? Are they only interested in a crisis or some sort of catastrophe before they show interest? The cynical viewpoint would say, yes, they only look for negative events; a situation not without a measure of truth when you consider shark issues are most often discussed following a shark-human incident.
San Diego's CBS affiliate, KFMB, has developed a fine example of ongoing environmental coverage with its web site, Earth 8, which can be accessed by itself or from a link in the main KFMB/CBS web site. I became aware of the site following my recent screening of Island of the Great White Shark at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. KFMB's Natasha Stenbock interviewed me about the film and the white sharks of Isla Guadalupe. The end result, I felt, was a very balanced piece of reporting.
Click here to see the Earth 8 web site. Click here to see the video/print segment covering white sharks.
Also, as additional media coverage for the screening, I conducted interviews on morning shows for KUSI, San Diego 6 (CW), and Fox 5. While San Diego's interest in sharks due to the April '08 fatality of a local veteran/triathalon swimmer is still close to the surface, I was pleased to find a balanced concern for the shark's critical role as an apex predator and the decline of shark populations worldwide.
Click here to see KUSI coverage. Click here to see San Diego 6 coverage. Click here to see Fox 8 coverage (go to video section and type "sharks" in search window.)
Hopefully the media will continue to take a serious and responsible look at environmental and ecological issues to help motivate public awarenbess along with ratings.
For those of you in the Los Angeles/Santa Monica area, Heal the Bay and the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will be hosting a screening of Island of the Great White Shark on Wednesday, January 21st. Following the screening, I will be there to discuss the latest issues regarding these magnificent white sharks that inhabit Isla Guadalupe, Baja in the fall/winter months.
The film seems to resonant with both, the curious and the ocean/shark advocate. I was flattered to have a standing-room only crowd at a recent screening, and I look forward to a positive response at this upcoming event. Admission is free but on a first come-first serve basis, so be sure to arrive early.
Heal the Bay, one of Los Angeles' long-standing non-profit ocean conservation institutions, operates the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. The aquarium's goals of raising awareness of our ocean environment, promoting conservation through stewardship and teaching marine science to the public, fit nicely naturally with the programs and missions of Heal the Bay.
For more program information, visit the aquarium's web site or call 310-393-6149.
On Tuesday, January 6th, the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in beautiful La Jolla, CA hosted a screening of Island of the Great White Shark. At the conclusion of the film I had the opportunity to discuss the film with the standing room only audience. The pressing issue of conservation and the value of eco-tourism were discussed along with the importance of understanding the shark's role in maintaining a balanced marine ecology.
My sincere thanks to the Birch Aquarium and its staff for promoting and managing what turned out to be a very successful evening (a special thanks to Lydia Cobb, Marketing Manager and Jessica Crawford, Communications Specialist). After a series of media interviews arranged by the Aquarium, the day of the event arrived and I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Aquarium and had a chance to sit down and discuss shark research with several of Scripps' top shark research grad students. It was very encouraging to hear about their efforts to learn more about these amazing animals so that we can take the proper steps to ensure their survival.
The Birch Aquarium plays a unique and vital role as a conduit through which the Scripps Institution of Oceanography can enlighten the public to many of the important marine issues being studied by this world renowned research organization - from climate change to marine wildlife conservation. The institution was established in 1903 and became a part of the University of California, San Diego a few years later. With a fleet of research vessels and state-of-the-art research facilities, the institution is one of the leaders in its field and has produced generations of accomplished research scientists and educators across a wide range of oceanographic disciplines.
Again, my thanks to the Birch Aquarium. If you are traveling in the San Diego area, carve out a few hours and stop by for a visit. It will be time well spent.
For those of you in the San Diego/Southern California area, here's some information on an upcoming screening/lecture of Island of the Great White Shark at the Birch Aquarium on Tuesday, January 6th.
Following the screening, I'll be there to take questions and prattle on about filming sharks, shark conservation and the latest news regarding Isla Guadalupe's white sharks.
If you have the time before the event, take a stroll around the aquarium. It's a wonderful showcase of not only the oceans but oceanography as the aquarium is affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the nation's leading educational and research organizations devoted to marine science.
For those of you in the Southern California area, two terrific aquarium organizations are holding screening/lecture events for Island of the Great White Shark. After the screening of the documentary, I will be on hand to field questions about the film, and discuss the current state of affairs at Isla Guadalupe and shark conservation in general. There have been terrific audiences for these events so come show your support or coax a friend along who might not know what all the shark fuss is about or is convinced that all sharks are demons.
And one last shameless plug for those of you shopping for the holidays: the Island of the Great White Shark DVD is available online through Amazon, currently at a reduced price for the holiday season! This award-winning documentary is a great stocking stuffer for shark lovers and those who could benefit from seeing the magnificent great white shark in a different light.
The RTSea Blog was started in 2008 and now includes over 950 entries available for media or academic background research use, including observations on a wide range of topical issues and events involving the oceans, sharks, and nature in general. After a brief break in 2012-13, there will now be more posts forthcoming.
Use keywords in the Search tool below or at the bottom of this web page to locate articles of interest.
Cinematographer/media consultant & producerRichard TheissandRTSea Mediaadministers this blog with the intent that information will be disseminated across the Internet and, in so doing, will illuminate others as to the serious challenges that lay before us in preserving and protecting our natural resources.
Search This Archive
Richard Theiss - DP/Media Consultant & Producer
Available for HD video assignments, media consulting, and speaking engagements. For contact information, click on the image above.
