How I began, where I’m going..

Its October and the end of my first year here at the University is a week away. It has been a huge learning curve for me. I wont be lying if I say I got way more than what I expected out of this course. My being here would not have been possible if not for the month long course I did at the Wildlife Film Academy last year in South Africa. Cant help but think that the 3 minute film I made there played a big part in me getting accepted here.

The film was shot over a period of one week and edited for another week. This was my first ever film and although it seems a bit cheesy to me now, I’ll never forget the experience of making it. It sort of made me doubly sure about what I was going to do with my life.

The theme of the film is pretty obvious. The dreaded ‘C’ word. Yep, Conservation.  People realizing the importance of natural spaces in keeping diversity of species at a sustainable, sometimes optimal level and actually doing something about it.  Now, more than a year later, the theme of my next film which I will be producing with my film partner for my Master’s is quite similar. The film’s still in the developing stages and we haven’t finalized the story yet, but the idea is to show why some people dedicate a better part of their lives to the conservation of one species of animal. What drives them? I don’t know. That’s what we’re setting out to find out.

More updates soon.

Podcast series: Impact of Music in Films Ep.3

Photo by Imma

And so we come to the end of the podcast season. I’ve learnt quite a bit about mixing audio and music while making them. I hope the podcasts have be useful in some way or the other. The final episode below is a little different to the first two. Have fun listening. Peace.

Ep.3

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Podcast series: Impact of Music in Films Ep.2

In this episode, I will be talking about the history of using music in films. Films have not always been as aurally impressive as they are now. Go back a century and you will find that every screening was accompanied by live musicians who played various instruments while the movie was being screened. Would have been quite a distraction for the audience.

1915 : Charlie Chaplin playing a cello

The second episode can be played below. Thanks for listening.

Ep.2

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Podcast series: Impact of Music in Films Ep.1

If someone asked me what my life was all about, Id have two words for them. Movies and Bed. Yes, if I din’t have school work Id be watching movies all day, taking time out to rest for a while, waking up to watch more movies. Id get a few meals in between but thats pretty much what I would do.

When you watch as many movies as I do, you tend to start analyzing them. You stop looking at the actors and start trying to figure out how the shots are framed, how the story unfolds and how good the music is. Over the past couple of months Iv’e been looking at how effectively music is used in films. Every fiction and non-fiction film today relies on music to a certain extent. I am surprised by how two very similar films can end up going in different directions depending on how they are scored. Music can transform a shot of a gutter from something people cringe at to an aesthetically pleasing entity. No kidding.

Photo from Point Blank Music college

So for my latest assignment, which was to create a series of three podcasts related to my research interest, I’ve decided to talk about something I believe we don’t understand very well. Music in Films. The first episode can be played below. Hope you enjoy it.

Ep.1

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BotanicAves

While filming Dunnocks at the Dunedin Botanic gardens, I noticed many other species of birds which emerged at different times of the day. Though I was tempted to get some footage of these birds, I couldn’t as I had to focus on the job at hand, which was to get as much footage of the Dunnocks as possible. I went back to the gardens a few days later, this time with my stills camera and started looking for these birds. I had no clue what time they would come out, how long they would stay or even if I could get close enough to get a decent photograph.

So I waited, walked up and down the gardens a few times. The first bird I spotted was a Fantail. This funny little bird hovered around me for a while letting me get very close. Fantails are generally easy to approach as they look for insects that we stir up while walking.

Fantail

Also called the Piwakawaka, Fantails are extremely restless birds. They get their name from their tail-feathers which resemble a fan when fully spread. Their tail helps them hover in a single spot like a helicopter.

Fantail with tail-feathers spread

The next day, higher up in the gardens, I spotted a few Silvereyes. Silvereyes are approachable to an extent. As long as I walk quietly and not make any sudden movements, they don’t seem to be too bothered however close I get to them.

Silvereye

The Silvereye is also called Tauhou in New Zealand and Whiteeye in other parts of the world. These birds breed between the months of September and February. If I am lucky, I should be able to capture some breeding behavior and nest building this season.

One of the birds that was annoyingly hard to photograph was the Grey Warbler. These guys like treetops and are hard to spot most of the time. So I decided to head up to the upper gardens where I could find smaller trees. I was following yet another Fantail when I saw a little Warbler frantically hopping down the branches of the tree next to me. Warblers cannot stay still for more than a second. They look like they are on a constant sugar rush. They get hyperactive when they are on the hunt for insects and all I could do was to be as frantic as the warbler and take as many pictures as possible in the hope that at least one or two would turn out good. Luckily, the warbler was close enough for me to get some decent shots.

Grey Warbler

The Maori name for Warbler is Riroriro. They weigh about 6.5 grams and are tiny, slightly larger than a human thumb.

Over a period of three days I had seen quite a few species, not all of which I could photograph. I couldn’t get within a hundred feet of a few birds, however slowly I crept up to them. Towards the end of the third day I spotted a Song Thrush standing at the foot of a tree. Initially I thought it was a female Blackbird but after going through my identification list back at home, I realized it wasn’t.

Song Thrush

Song Thrushes were introduced to New Zealand from Europe in the 1860′s and are now fairly common in gardens, scrub, native forests, orchards and exotic plantations. Their song is a string of repeated, clear musical phrases.

To see such a variety of bird life in a small area is quite astonishing. It goes to show how these creatures can easily adapt themselves to a human environment if only we can maintain natural spaces like the botanic gardens.

There are many more species in Dunedin that I’d like to capture. Will put them up here as soon as I manage to.

Dunnock? What’s that?

We take a lot for granted. The trees near sidewalks, insects around our houses, even the birds we see everyday. Truth is, not paying attention isn’t really going to hurt us in any way.

But what if we did? What if we actually looked at something that we barely glance at everyday and asked ourselves a simple question; ‘What is that’? More often than not, we would be surprised by the answer.

New Zealand is a land of birds. Some native species like the Kakapo, Kea, Kaka or the Tui are quite unmistakable in appearance and garner a lot of attention wherever they are seen. But there are other non-native species here, those that have been introduced into the country for various reasons by settlers, those which can easily go unnoticed.

One of the many non-native species of birds here are the Dunnocks. They are also known as Hedge Sparrows, though they are not related to the Sparrow family. Their resemblance in color and size to the common house sparrow has earned them this name. But the similarities end here.

Photo by Karsten cc by sa

Dunnocks are found almost everywhere in New Zealand from forests to suburban gardens and even in the hedges lining the footpaths. They are not particularly striking in appearance but they more than make up for it with their mating behaviour.

During the breeding season, the Dunnocks display an amazing pattern of breeding behaviours which involves Monogamy (one male and one female), Polyandry (one female with two or more male mates), Polygyny (one male with two or more female mates). This type of mating system exists in about 2% of all the bird species in the world. In other words, it is very rare. Most reasons for this kind of mating system points toward one direction, extra care for the chicks thereby giving them a better chance of survival.

Cloaca Pecking in Dunnocks

Photo by Harres cc by

The way they participate in this mating ritual is incredible. Lets take an example of a Polyandrous system with one female and two males. The female mates with the first male and while he isn’t looking, she slips away slyly and mates with the second male. Later, when the chicks hatch they are fed by both males as each male believes that he is the father of the chicks. As a result the chicks have a much better chance of survival.

I chose Dunnocks as the stars for my two minute film which I made as an assignment for class. The film also includes an interview with an Otago University scientist, Eduardo Santos who is studying these birds for his PhD.

So its probably easier to get on with our daily lives without noticing much but maybe, just maybe if we did, our lives would become a tad more interesting.

Our Own Aliens

I was asked to make a presentation on a topic of my choice as an assignment for the digital design class. It was to be presented in the PechaKucha format where 20 slides are shown with 20 seconds allotted to each slide. I had to present it orally and follow it up with a digital version. There are a few differences between the two. The digital version I made is not in the pechakucha format, it’s much shorter and has no voice over. Ive converted it into a movie and used a better narrative as compared to the one I delivered in class.

All the photos used above are under creative commons licenses. Also, I have provided direct links to them if you want to take a look at some of the other works by these photographers.

I chose this topic for a simple reason. I am fascinated by animals. Completely. I would like to see every living species but I know that’s not possible. Some of the species that are new to science are just that; new to science, but they’ve been here for millions of years just like us. One of the main reasons we manage to get a glimpse of these animals is because we clear the habitats they live in and so they’re left with no choice but to come in contact with us. Many are on the brink of extinction even as I write this and I think a little bit of knowledge about these creatures never hurts. In fact it might go a long way in making us understand the need for their conservation.

Tigers are cool. Botos, cooler. Jesus christ lizard, MAD!

Frog killer!

Photo by Forrest Brem cc by

Chytridiomycosis is quite possibly the worst disease to have affected amphibians in recorded history. This potentially lethal skin disease is caused by the Chytrid fungus; Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis which has been detected on at least 385 species of frogs and other amphibians from 36 countries. The fungus was first described in North America in the late 1990′s and is thought to have originated in South Africa. It has since caused amphibian population declines in  Australia, North America, South America, Central America, New Zealand, Europe, and Africa, and is likely to be responsible for extinction of over 100 species since the 1970′s.

The major causes for the spread of this fungus are thought to be pet and food trades which remain largely unregulated. The fungus invades the thin, permeable skin of amphibians. As amphibians breathe and drink through their skin, this causes severe problems and eventually leads to death.

The video below is something I made as an assignment for the camera techniques class. The scientist I interviewed was Michel Ohmer, a Zoology masters student at the university whose research involves investigating the spread and affects of the fungus in New Zealand and its native frogs.

While methods exist for curing infected animals in the laboratory, it is not currently possible to eradicate the fungus from wild amphibian populations. Nor is it possible to protect natural wild areas prior to the arrival of the chytrid fungus. Waiting for a cure for the fungus in wild habitats may mean watching many more species go extinct. The human activities which aid the spread of this fungus should be stopped first. After all, prevention is surely better than cure. Yes?

‘Enhydra lutris’

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) with her pup

Photo by Mikebaird cc by

A keystone species. That’s what the Sea otter is. One of the many definitions of a keystone species goes something like this;  ‘A keystone species is a species that has a major influence on the structure of an ecosystem. Its presence impacts many other members of the ecosystem, and if its population dwindles or disappears, there can be far-reaching consequences for the ecosystem’. Now for all of you who skipped the italics, let me explain WHY  sea otters are considered keystone species.

Let us take an oversimplified situation in a ‘Kelp’ forest  that contains the following species: the kelp itself which is a type of marine algae or seaweed which grows to be very large and extends from the ocean floor to the surface, sea otters, seals, gray whales, pacific salmon (large fish), krill (small shrimp like creatures), herring (small fish), sea urchins (spiny invertebrates with rock like personalities ie. they dont move much) in order to demonstrate the effect of the loss of a keystone species on the entire kelp forest system. A thriving kelp forest consists of large numbers of kelp which make it  a good hiding place for krill and schooling fish like herring. Here they cannot be detected as easily as in the open ocean. These small creatures  attract larger fish like the pacific salmon which would happily feed on the krill and herring. The pacific salmon in turn attract and are eaten by seals. The gray whales give birth in the kelp forests to protect their young from ‘orcas’ or killer whales and also feed on the krill which are abundant here. The sea otters’ favourite prey are the sea urchins which generally feed on drift kelp (kelp broken off from the main plant).

Kelp Forest

Photo by Chris Howard cc by

Now let us suppose that the population of sea otters in this forest completely disappears (due to hunting by humans or oil spills from ships which are fatal to these creatures). Not many predators in this ecosystem feed on the sea urchins and thus, their populations explode. The large numbers of sea urchins would need more kelp to feed on. The amounts of ‘drift kelp’ in these waters are exhausted soon and the urchins start feeding on live kelp. The kelp does not grow fast enough to sustain the growing numbers of sea urchins and soon disappears. This would not be a problem for the sea urchins as their diet is highly varied and can feed on sea cucumbers and smaller invertebrates like mussels, sponges, brittle stars and other dead organic matter. When the kelp goes, smaller fish like herring and the shrimp like krill have nowhere to hide and so don’t come here anymore. Without prey, pacific salmon have no need for the  ‘urchin barren’ so they too are not seen in this area. Lack of salmon and other fish would deter the seals from making their presence felt. Gray whales and their calves have no kelp to protect them from the hungry killer whales, they too leave in search of greener pastures. Basically, the aforementioned forest is dead except for the large numbers of sea urchins and smaller crustaceans. This is the ripple effect caused by the disappearance of the members of just one species; the sea otters. Now you know why they are called ‘keystone’ or ‘cornerstone’ species.

Urchin Barren

Photo by Arturo cc by nd

The sea otters almost disappeared between the late 17th and early 19th centuries during the fur trade boom. Their fur is the thickest in the animal kingdom, with about 150,000 hairs per square inch. Imagine that! When people saw that the otters were going down the road of extinction, some sense prevailed and the hunting stopped. They were re-introduced in a lot of places where they thrived previously and today the total numbers range from about 100 to 150,000 worldwide which is a fraction of what their numbers used to be. Some recently introduced populations are thriving where as others are declining. There are multiple reasons for their decline. One is overfishing, which leads to a decrease in natural prey for killer whales. The orcas can devastate a local population of otters within weeks. Oil spills are another concern. The otters’ thick fur insulates them from the freezing waters of their habitat. The fur conceals air bubbles which help the otters float. If these bubbles build up with oil, the cold water may directly come in contact with the otters’ skin which causes hypothermia and kills them.

The otters may have escaped extinction in the past but that does not mean that they are completely immune to it. If they cease to exist, entire marine ecosystems may vanish. Not a very happy thought now is it?

The Pitch!

So we had ‘The Pitch’ today where the filmmakers, writers and pop scientists had to pitch a film idea, book, museum exhibit respectively to a panel of four judges. I was lucky number one. The nervousness of public speaking (which I have never done) sort of took a hike today, probably because I practiced it a lot back at home. Couldn’t help stumbling on a couple of words though. The judges(who were our lecturers) had a few pointers about what I ought to have included and what not to. I then sat back and watched the rest of the pitches leisurely. And everyone was brilliant! What stories people thought of…unimaginable but that was why they worked I guess. I can easily imagine many of them as films or books, and they would definitely work if they were made the way they were described.

Coming back to my pitch, it was about the importance of Sea otters and their vital contributions to the kelp forest ecosystems. They are the keystone species there and their abundance is necessary for maintaining a good balance of marine life in these sea forests.

Anyway my pitch went something like this;

“What are the warmest, most incredible fur coats in the world made of? Why is it that when these fur coats are made, entire ecosystems vanish? The answers to these questions lie with the smallest marine mammals on earth.

‘Kelp Tales : Chronicles of Enhydra’ would be a 52 minute docudrama that addresses the importance of Sea Otters in maintaining a healthy biodiversity of the kelp ecosystems, by keeping the Sea Urchin numbers in check.

The story involves an old fisherman’s tale, told to his grumpy little grandson who wishes that otters never existed, after losing his freshly caught fish to them.

It is a story about the majestic (which I failed to mention ) kelp forests and the complex interactions of their mysterious inhabitants.

It is about the fall, rise, struggle for survival of the sea otters through the ages.

But more importantly, it is about the change in perspective of the little boy towards these furry creatures, when he learns that if they cease to exist, the urchins would devour every last blade of kelp.

I feel that adding a human element to a story like this would attract a much larger audience, which it deserves.

A layperson might not sit through a detailed description of an otter’s oestrus cycle or conservation status, but by pulling him/her into the web of the story, the message can be passed on.

This would be an enormous investment of time and effort into a project that is more than deserving of it, and with your help it can be made into something that will affect lives of both people and otters.”

All that with a slightly shaky voice and a couple of stumbles.

Why Sea otters? Reasons soon.

Comments, suggestions or questions are most welcome.

peace