WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY?
The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley (Wildlife) offers you entertainment, pleasing imagery, soothing natural sounds, exciting orchestral music, education, and a greater appreciation for all life (including your own). The documentary is wholesome family entertainment, and I’ve seen it enjoyed by a full spectrum of age groups.
Wildlife has kept the attention of energetic toddlers, university students, the elderly, and just about everyone in between. If you’re a fan of wildlife films, a teacher looking for a unique biology video to show your class, or merely want to escape stress by journeying to a remote, scenic sector of California, Wildlife might be just the ticket.
RECOGNITION
Wildlife has received wide recognition and was televised multiple times on PBS stations in two states. It also had four public screenings (two at theaters, one at a city hall, and one at a university). Plus, it won an “Honorable Mention for Animal Behavior” at the prestigious International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, MT in 2009.
FEATURES & UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES
Wildlife showcases all the elements of a classic nature documentary: beautiful landscapes, close-ups, predation, cute baby animals, mating rituals, animal fights, etc. Yet, the documentary focuses on a region that’s never received a comprehensive video treatment.
Before Wildlife, no professional documentary had ever been made about Little Hot Springs Valley. The footage in Wildlife is extremely rare material shot on land to which very few people have access. The production allows you to see some of the cool stuff that’s behind the unfriendly “No Trespassing” signs often encountered in northern California.
Compared to other nature documentaries, Wildlife is also relatively long with a run-time of 59 minutes, 41 seconds.
HOW/WHEN WAS THIS DOCUMENTARY MADE?
I worked on Wildlife for three years from age 16 to age 19. I started getting footage for the documentary in summer 2004 when I got my first professional video camera: a Canon XL1S. Almost all of the documentary’s footage was shot with this camcorder.
I often used the 16x lens that came with the camera, but for distant wildlife, I used a Canon EF 100-400 mm telephoto zoom lens and a Canon EF 28-300 mm telephoto zoom lens.
Once I got my XL1S camcorder, my video library rapidly grew. When I first went to college in fall 2005, I started writing a script for Wildlife. To discover interesting ecological tidbits for my narrative, I often used my university’s library along with my own reference books and credible websites like those of the California Department of Fish and Game and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
I also used my free time, and especially my time at home during breaks and summers, to learn new software, figure out new computers, get more footage, and continually refine my script. I reviewed over 100 hours of video and listened to numerous sound recordings. I started editing Wildlife in November 2006 and finished in August 2007, but I’ve since touched up the credits, re-recorded pieces of narration for enhanced clarity, and re-designed the cover art.
PARTING MESSAGE
The result of my work is an unprecedented, one-of-a-kind production that was a huge breakthrough for me. I’m very happy to share my work, and I hope you’ll enjoy watching The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley as much as I enjoyed making it.
