August 11, 2008
The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley screened at the Mt. Burney Theatre yesterday. I showed up early and got my stuff ready. I was pleased to see my documentary’s title displayed on the outdoor digital marquee and it was also nice to see my poster at the ticket booth. There wasn’t much room in the lobby, so I ended up setting my stuff up in the main screening room.
Eventually, people started showing up and I talked briefly to some of them. A few folks were also buying DVDs. Donna ended up counting about 55 people in attendance. My documentary played from beginning to end and the power never went out, which was nice. Afterwards, there was a short but strong dash of applause, which I appreciated. After the main audience had left, a few people stuck around to talk to me and buy DVDs.
I want to thank Donna Sylvester for making the screening possible and for giving out popcorn to the audience. I’m also thanking the Mt. Burney Theatre staff for their popcorn-serving and cleanup efforts. Pus, I’m thankful to everyone who showed up at my screening. I certainly appreciate your support.
The Burney screening will probably be my last one for awhile. Still, I might get a screening in Redding sometime but the details haven’t been finalized yet. College starts up again for me on August 25, so my work on Tristan Howard Productions will have to slow as I work on finishing up my Geography degree. My website updates will continue but will be sporadic.
July 26, 2008
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF!
The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley will screen at the Mt. Burney Theatre on Sunday, August 10 at 4:00 P.M. The Mt. Burney Theatre is located in Burney, which is about 25 miles away from Little Hot Springs Valley. Once again, we have Donna to thank and admission and popcorn will be free! The Fall River screening was so successful that Donna offered to give me another opportunity to show my documentary in its entirety. Finally, people can see the exciting second half of my production on the big screen. Like with the Fall River screening, I’ll give a personal introduction and will be available before and after the screening to sell DVDs, answer questions, and talk to viewers. For more information on the Mt. Burney Theatre, visit: http://www.mtburneytheatre.com/
The Mt. Burney Theatre is located at: 37022 Main Street, Burney, CA 96013
Once again, the screening is on: SUNDAY, AUGUST 10 at 4:00 P.M.
Admission and popcorn are FREE!
I might actually see you later—again!
July 20, 2008
My documentary finally showed at the Fall River Theatre yesterday and it was quite an event! I showed up early and got my display table ready.
Eventually, people started arriving at the theatre—lots of people. Before I knew it, I was shaking hands with many random people and being congratulated on my work. Some people saw my documentary on PBS and mentioned that to me. Dang, there were a lot of strangers. I was also selling quite a few videos. A reporter from the Mountain Echo newspaper even showed up and interviewed me and took my picture.
After the theater was packed, Donna Sylvester (theater owner) spoke to the crowd and said I’d go out and give an introduction. So, after I got her signal, I exited the lobby and sprinted down a theater aisle between two rows of seats. I then stood in front of everybody and gave some brief words before my video started. Afterwards, I left the main screening room, went up to the empty balcony seats, and sat down. It was incredible watching my documentary on the big screen while a bunch of strangers below munched popcorn while honestly interested in my work. That’s a big change from the old days when some of my family members slept through my wildlife videos as they played on the living room TV.
As my documentary started, Donna came up to the balcony and did a count of the audience. She counted 106 people. Both Donna and I were really surprised that many people arrived. Free admission and popcorn must have been effective incentives. As my production played, I sat back and luxuriated in watching my work while I had very fleeting celebrity status. Then . . . disaster struck! About halfway through the feature (right after the fawn hopping montage), the screen completely blacked out. Donna came out and announced that there was a power outage (reason is a mystery, as far as I know). Apparently, the power was out all over the part of town where the theater was. Soon, a voice said: “Why don’t we get the filmmaker down here to answer questions?” So, I went back to the first floor and stood in front of the whole audience—again. I answered questions with a fair amount of articulateness, though I was improvising and fueled by adrenaline.
Eventually, I was needed in the lobby to sell more videos and before I knew it, people were exiting the theater in large numbers. Meanwhile, I was rushing to un-wrap DVDs, autograph them, and accept the various checks and $20 bills people were handing me. Many people were also taking my business cards. Some people had the fanciful notion that my autograph on a DVD cover would make it be worth a lot someday because of my chances of being famous. Jeez, I’m flattered people even wanted my autograph. Really though, I’d be happy if my autograph is merely worth a lot to the people I write it for. Eventually, just about everyone was gone. Then the power came back on. But, alas, it was too late. My documentary never got started again. I really wanted people to see my entire production but having an unplanned cliffhanger ending may have helped DVD sales.
If anybody from the screening is reading this, I want you to know that you can view some un-screened portions of my documentary in the “WILDLIFE VIDEO CLIPS” section of my website. “Fence Lizards,” “Pond Turtles,” “Bullfrogs,” “Mule Deer Bucks,” and “Mule Deer Battle” are good clips you may want to check out. Also, I signed a 3-year contract with KIXE TV (PBS: Channel 9) so my documentary should air there again.
Below are some shots I took of my production on the big screen when Donna was testing the DVD projector before the screening. The camera flash makes the video image look extra washed out, but it’s still neat to get a glimpse of it in a theatrical setting.
Once again, I want to thank everybody who stopped by to see my production. Your support and interest means a lot and I’m happy and somewhat stunned that The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley is appreciated by so many people. I also want to thank Donna Sylvester again. Her generosity is what made yesterday’s screening possible. If I complete another wildlife documentary, I now know where I might get a screening. I just hope the power doesn’t go out. Take care.
July 5, 2008
There will be a free screening of The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley at the Fall River Theatre on Saturday, July 19 at 3:00 p.m. Popcorn will also be available free of charge. So, if you’re interested, be sure to stop by. I’ll be present at the theater and will give a personal introduction to my film. I’ll also be available after the screening to talk to viewers and answer questions. And, I’ll have some copies of my DVDs for sale at the event.
Why is all this happening? Well, the owner of the Fall River and Mt. Burney Theatres (Donna Sylvester) read a newspaper article about my film back around the time it aired on TV in May. She eventually saw my film, liked it, and thought a free screening would be good for the community and a great way to recognize my talent as a local artist/filmmaker. A screening could also get more people to visit the theater. So, I’ll have some more publicity for my film, people can get some free entertainment (and popcorn), and folks will be exposed to the new seating and digital sound system installed in the Fall River Theatre a few years back. None of this would be possible without Donna’s help and I really appreciate her generosity. For more information about the Fall River Theatre, visit: http://fallrivertheatre.com
The Fall River Theatre is located at: 43118 Highway 299 E, Fall River Mills, CA 96028
Once again, the screening is on SATURDAY, JULY 19 at 3:00 p.m.
Admission and popcorn are FREE!
I might actually see you later.
May 19, 2008
I added a new expedition gallery: “Abert Rim, Oregon: March 24, 2005.” Here, you can get a look at one of the most remote portions of the lower 48 states. Southern-central Oregon has isolation and bighorns. Abert Rim hosts a population of California bighorns and alkaline Lake Abert (just below the rim) supports many migrating gulls and shorebirds, which eat brine shrimp. Also, according to an Oregon geology sign placed at the base of the rim: “Abert Rim is one of the highest fault scarps in the United States.” Anyhow, check out my gallery and enjoy some of the unique high desert country of southern Oregon.
May 18, 2008
I added a new section to the site: “EXPEDITION GALLERIES.” This section gives brief narratives of some of my photography expeditions through many images and a small amount of text. Currently, a trip I took to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (PCRSP) last month is the only expedition profiled. The park is part of the Redwood National and State Parks complex in coastal northwestern California. PCRSP covers about 14,000 acres in northwestern Humboldt County and is just outside the town of Orick. It has forest, mountains, grasslands, and coastline. PCRSP also houses remarkable biological features. For example, the coast redwood, which dwells in the park, is a very rare tree with unique biological properties. Coast redwoods can live for 2,000 years, reach widths of 20 feet, and can even grow as high as 350 feet. They’re some of the tallest and fastest growing trees in the world. Roosevelt elk are also easily visible in the park. Bulls can reach 1,100 pounds and Roosevelt elk are the largest elk subspecies in North America. I’m hoping to add more galleries as I go on more expeditions in the future. But for now, feel free to check out the visual splendor of one of northwestern California’s premier parks.
May 1, 2008
The May 3 airdate for my documentary is fast approaching and three papers in the Little Hot Springs Valley area have covered the story of me and my production. First, the April 23 issue of The Intermountain News featured a front page article on my documentary, then the April 29 issue of the Mountain Echo had a section devoted to my video, and just today, the Redding Record Searchlight’s entertainment guide, “d.a.t.e.” (dining, arts, theater, entertainment), featured an article on my documentary and it made the cover. So, if you’re interested, be sure to check out these publications in print or online.
April 11, 2008
BREAKING NEWS!
The local PBS station (KIXE TV: Channel 9) for the Redding-Chico area will be airing The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley on Saturday, May 3 at 8:00 p.m. Finally, my documentary will get a primetime television debut and I’ll have a dream come true! So, you five or six people who might actually read this before May 3, be sure to tell everybody who might be interested about the airing of my program.
According to the KIXE TV website: “KIXE . . . covers a 130 mile radius that includes ten California counties: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity. Today, KIXE is one of the most watched TV stations in this area. The station serves more than 500,000 people with more than 74,000 television households tuning in to Channel 9 each and every week.” --Source: http://www.kixe.org/node/8
So, finally a significant amount of people might see my video. Alright, the ducks, deer, lizards, bullfrogs, quail, and all the other featured creatures may now live on for perpetuity in the memory of people living in the Little Hot Springs Valley area. In fact, KIXE TV coverage reaches Little Hot Springs Valley itself. So, the few people that live there will get to see the same things on TV that they could also see just by looking out a window. This program debut may be the most publicized television coverage the region has ever gotten.
On a different note, I recently updated my video gallery for The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley. I added clips entitled: “Goose Combat,” “Mule Deer Fawns,” and “Bullfrogs.” I also extended the length of my other videos and augmented and renamed my “Opening Montage” video as “Introduction.” This clip gives an overview and context for my film. A few weeks ago, I also did some subtle reformatting to the site and updated my cover art.
Anyhow, I’ll see you later but maybe you’ll see and hear me first . . . on the TV screen! Thanks for stopping by.
February 17, 2008
Hey three or four people that check my website occasionally (yep, more people have discovered this place). I’ve made a few changes recently. Photos are no longer available for sale on CD-ROM. Nobody was buying them and I figured selling high resolution digital files that could easily be copied wasn’t such a good idea. But, if you really want any of my photos, contact me and we should be able to work something out with a printed image. Also, I added a “VIDEO SCREENSHOTS” page where you can see plenty of screenshots from The Wildlife of Little Hot Springs Valley. The screen captures came straight out of my editing software.
December 21, 2007
Hi two or three people that check my website every few months.
Thanks for stopping by! Anyhow, I actually updated this place. I know; I’m surprised too. There are some new videos in the “WILDLIFE VIDEO CLIPS” section. I recently posted video clips of moose, a grizzly bear, elk, harlequin ducks, and Rocky Mountain bighorns. The elk stuff is especially worth checking out because of the bugling audio. In my opinion, the vocal resonations of bull elk sound better than much of the music that is popular today. Anyway, maybe I’ll update this place in another few months.
August 27, 2007
The whole gosh darn website’s new: that’s what! I only started building this thing a few weeks ago. Some of the photo galleries are in their infancy and will continuously be added to. Posting photos has proven to be quite time-consuming, so my photo galleries will grow gradually and incrementally. A fair amount of video clips from my latest documentary are up in the video gallery section, including my popular buck fight footage. And, there’s plenty of textual material up as well. Anyhow, thanks for actually coming here. Even if you don’t buy or look at anything, I still think it’s kind of neat you actually read this.