Editing- UKWCT Edit

I wanted to cut down the footage from my visit to the UKWCT. In doing so I will be able to access the best footage more easily when it comes to making my final documentary. For the edit I selected the best interview answers that I believe Mike answered well and that would make an impact on the audience. Similarly I picked the best footage of the wolves that I could use in my final documentary. i wanted to capture the wolves doing a variety of things, the footage that I elected included: Howling, Laying Down, Pacing, Looking at the camera, Walking about.

Link to the edit : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc_GwJ26B6Q

UKWCT Edit Transcript

1   .     When and why was the trust set up?

The Trust has been open since 1995; it was opened by Roger Palmer. Roger Palmer lives, well lived with the current owner Tsa Palmer and they kept wolves as a hobby back when you could keep any animal on the black market for example and from just pet shops. They basically kept wolves in their private homes for years, they even, I think they had a couple wolves in a flat in London at one point. Then obviously the dangerous wild animals license came in and things started to change. And they were given the choice of doing a few things, obtain a dangerous wild animal license, which means you can keep them if you keep them in certain criteria, put them down, or put them in a zoo. And at the time, zoos weren’t that good in the UK and they felt that they didn’t want to do that. They didn’t want to put their beloved animals down so they decided to open up a trust.

2     .     Wolves are depicted as evil in fairy tales such as red riding hood, do you think this has had a long lasting affect on people’s views on wolves?

(Part of the answer) Religion has always portrayed wolves as the animal that preys on the flock, the flock being whoevers in the church and the Shepard being the priest for example. These guys just haven’t had a break, and little red riding hood for example, not only is it portrayed as the wolf being a predator of children but its also supposed to be a sexual deviant if you look at it, as in a lot of them the wolf climbs into bed and entices a young woman into bed, so they haven’t even got a break in that respect.

     .What do you think we can learn from wolves?

I think we can learn a lot from social behaviours as well with wolves. Every wolf in the family pack does have its own place, they do have arguments and squabble and things like that but at the end of the day they’re a family unit, they don’t want to kill each other and things like that. Humans are very much, are very similar to wolves in a weird kind of way if you think about it. We basically have expanded our species, all over the world just like the grey wolf has. And in the same way that’s why we see them as a threat.  We see them as invading on our space, when actually it’s a space that we should share. And wolves seem to get this as because when you usually find a pack of wolves that live near people, the people never see them, they stick to their own business and mind out their way. I think is people done this more with animals the world would be a bit of a better place, if I’m honest with you.

Crit

Today I met with Seb for a group crit. This was the first crit that I had with a tutor in a while after doing a lot of research. I discussed with the group that my main idea for my documentary was to look at the relationship that humans have with  wolves. In doing so I also wanted to break the prejudice that people have towards wolves and show that they are very misunderstood animals. 

Seb thought that the idea for my documentary was good and different to the normal structure of animal documentaries. I brought up the idea that as horrible as it is, I would like to include some kind of footage of wolf hunting at the start of my documentary. In doing so this would bring the shock factor to the documentary, I also think that it would draw people into it more. Seb agreed with this idea so this is something that I will aim to include within my documentary. 

The response I got from the students in my group was very positive, it gave me more confidence in the structure and idea behind my documentary, which beforehand I was a little worried over. I will now make an edit of the footage I have from my visit to the UKWCT in Reading. In doing so it will enable me to edit my documentary a lot quicker. 

Filming-UK Wolf Conservation Trust

On the 22nd of April I went to Reading to visit the UK Wolf Conservation Trust. In doing so my aim for the day was to capture as much footage as I could, which could potentially feature in my final documentary. I also wanted to interview staff at the trust to find out what they do, as well as find out as much information about wolves as I could.

The trust is a non-profit organisation committed to the conversation and welfare of wolves in the wild worldwide. Their aim is to dispel the ancient myths and long-held misconceptions about wolves. The trust has 10 Ambassador wolves living there. With the help of the ambassador wolves the trust hopes to change peoples preconceptions of wolves, they allow you to get up close and person with the wolves which I think shows how misinterpreted wolves are.

On arrival I was greeted by some of the few staff members there who were so helpful. I spent the majority of the day filming as much footage as I could. Although there was a fence between myself and the wolves I was still able to get extremely close, which for me was extremely exciting.  The day really did highlight to me how wrong people are about wolves, which was quite sad, especially as I had spent the day with them and not once did I see any kind of horrible or vicious behaviour from the wolves.

I also interviewed Mike, the site manager, who was extremely informative when answering my questions. He also spoke a lot of sense about wolves and humans, which I think will benefit my documentary a lot. I asked mike a lot of questions which included:-

·      When and why was the wolf trust set up?

·      What has been your greatest achievement?

·      What is the biggest threat to wolves?

·      Are they endangered?

·      What do you think the wolf has to offer us now and in the future?

·      What’s the biggest thing you’ve learnt from the wolves?

·      What do you think a wolf symbolises?

·      How have you managed to socialise your wolves?

·      Are you not afraid they will harm you?

·      Where did your passion for wolves begin?

·      How many wolves do you have here?

·      Do you have a favourite wolf and why?

·      Wolves are depicted as evil in fairy tales such as red riding hood, do you think this has had a long lasting affect on peoples views on wolves?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFBjNbYs8iU&feature=youtu.be Throughout the day all of the wolves were howling to each other. I managed to capture a lot of this, which i think will be really good for my documentary. It was really a great thing to hear in person and something I think everyone should hear at some point in their lives.

Filming

Filming

Camera Shots

I found this website very useful in regard to camera angles that I should consider during my filming. i printed the pages from this website to stick in my sketchbook so I can look at them whilst out filming.

http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html

Research- Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man was another documentary that I decided to watch for research. Grizzly man is a 2005 documentary film by director Werner Herzog. The documentary chronicles the life and death of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. The film involved of Treadwell's own footage of his interactions with Grizzly bears, before he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by a bear in 2003 and of interviews with people who knew Treadwell.

Timothy lived in the wilds of Alaska for thirteen summers with the Grizzly's before his death in 2003.

Although this documentary was informative and contained some great nature filming from Treadwell, I couldn't help but think that Herzog had manipulated it far to much.The documentary is more like a character study than a documentary about Grizzly's, which I originally believed it to be.

Personally I didn't like the way Herzog presented Timothy Treadwell. I think he made him look like an lunatic and for Treadwell it is quite humiliating for him, especially that he is not alive to stand up for himself.

Whilst filming and editing my documentary I will try not to show my own personal views. However if I feel that is is appropriate, I will not present it as fact.

Quote I read that I feel sums up the documentary - "Treadwell's nature footage is quite beautiful, showing things rear no other human has ever seen. Besides finding and editing down the footage, Herzogs contribution tends to detract than add to it, although nature lovers should be able to appreciate this for what it is." 

Research- The Naked Ape

The Naked Ape By Desmond Morris

Desmond Morris (Zoologist) looks at human beings as if they were an animal that has just been discovered.  He makes observations about its behaviour and appearance.

This book is a thematic discussion of the human animal, treated as any animal. The book looks at the animals in various chapters including: Origins, Sex, Rearing, Exploration, Fighting, Feeding, Comfort and Animals.



"A startling view of man, stripped of the facade we try so hard to hide behind."

From reading this book I have also started to look at human beings more as animals, rather than a superior species. It made me realise a lot more similarities between humans and animals. It also pointed out to me how animals have changed their lifestyle to survive, whereas humans today change theres for pleasure- not considering the results of their actions. What I mean by this is that, it made me think of how selfish the human race can be in comparison to animals and we are constantly harming the environments that animals live in. When in fact they were on this earth first.

Research- History of Wolves in Yellowstone

During my research I came across the history of Yellowstone National Park and that wolves have been very benefical to it. In the past I have watched various documentaries that have mentioned the park, however I didn't know that much about it. I found that this research showed wolves in a very positive life, which is not something I have come across a lot during my research.


When Yellowstone National Park was created in 1872, grey wolf populations were already in decline in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. This creation of the national park did not provide protection for wolves or other predators and government predators control programs in the first decades of the 1900's essentially helped eliminate the grey wolf from Yellowstone. The last wolves killed in Yellowstone were in 1926.

Once the wolves were gone the elk began to take over. Over the next few years conditions of Yellowstone national park declined drastically. The elk were multiplying inside the park and deciduous, woody species such as aspen and cottonwood suffered from overgrazing. In January 1995, U.S and Canadian officials captures 14 wolves from various parks and released them into Yellowstone. As the wolf population in the park has grown, the elk population, their favoured prey declined. The decline in Elk resulted in changes in flora, most specifically willows, cottonwoods and aspens along the fringes of heavily timbered areas.


My tutor Ian suggested that I look on this website that shows a short documentary on the changes that wolves have made to Yellowstone National Park: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/how-wolves-can-save-ecosystem

Yellowstone Research

Research- Wolf attacks on humans

Although wolf attacks on humans do occur, their frequency varies with geographical locate and historical period. Wolf attacks are dangerous not only for the victims, but also the attackers, who are often subsequently killed or even extirpated in reaction. As a result, wolves today tend to live mostly far from people to have developed the tendency and ability to avoid them.

The country with most extensive historical records is France, where nearly 7,600 fatal attacks were documented in from 1200-1920.

In modern times, they occur most often in India and neighbouring countries. There are few historical records or modern cases of wolf attacks in North America. In the half-century up to 2002, there were eight fatal attacks in Europe and Russia, non in North America and more than 200 in south Asia. Experts categorise wolf attacks into various types including rabies-infected, predatory, agnostic and defensive.

2000's Wolf Attacks

Research-Hunting Footage

For my documentary I don't want to shy away from the truth of the severity of wolf hunting. I want to start my documentary with the footage of aerial hunting to give the shock factor- as well as showing the truth.

Dialogue from clip- “Aerial hunting in Alaska is one of the states secrets. You need a low flying, slow flying aircraft like a super cub. There’s a pilot and sitting behind him is a gunner. And they’re using a shotgun, typically a 12 gate shot gun. It’s in the winter when they can track them and then see them. They’re shooting down onto them and usually one would hope they would get killed straight away, but they often don’t. They’re getting riddled with bug shot and not dying and biting at there backs, in absolute agony and there’s blood everywhere on the snow, it’s not a clean kill. In many cases they can’t even hit the wolf from the air, so what they do is chase them until they’re totally exhausted, and then they land and shoot them. It’s a brutal way to go."

Stills from hunting footage