Amazing Nature Film
 

I have no idea how they got some of the angles they did in this film, but it's just unbelievable.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/w...migration.html

Wow
 

Those are some amazing shots.. I love the close-up of the birds flying through the snowstorm!!

A lot of it looks like it was shot from gliders.. I'm amazed at how smooth some of the shots are, though. Looks like a flying steadicam!

The official site, http://www.wingedmigration.com, has a few production photos that detail how they got the shots.

nice trailer
 

....on their website, it said that it took 5 crews 3 years to get that footage.....

I just saw the trailer in a theater (one of the old-fashioned huge screens). It's really striking to see them up so close in flight.

Footage looks similar to a feature from a couple years back called, I believe, "I'll Fly Away." Hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong on this. It is a wonderful film for the whole family. They used ultra lites for their shots among the birds, and I would imagine these folks did also. Great stuff.

This looked amazing! Very nice footage. They should be very
proud off this piece.

Very nice. I just finished Carl Safina's "Eye of the Albatross." What a film that would make from the albatross's point of view.
Sandy

Totally amazing. Anyone know if its going to be out on DVD (or already is). This looks like a must-have in any wildlife photographers collection.

/Henrik

I just saw this last night in the theater - it ended up being an entry in the Florida Film Festival.

Only 1 minute into the film and I was so inspired, awed and amazed by it that I found myself getting choked up at how beautiful, systematic, and perfect nature can be. The fact that these filmmakers spent 4 years and 400 hours of footage putting this film together is, to me, a favor to humankind. It was almost like a privilege to be able to see what these filmmakers were able to capture - birds in their natural environment.

I rated it a 5 out of 5 in the festival voting sheet. I think I've only done that maybe once before.

Just amazing.

As a side note, this film is now at the center of a controversary concerning Michael Moore, who's film, "Bowling for Columbine," is in competition with "Winged Migration" for the best documentary Oscar. Moore charges the distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, of witholding screenings of "Winged Migration," from Academy members. His theory is that this will work to the advantage of "Winged Migration" in the voting, leading to an Academy Award for "Winged Migration," which translates to greater box office potential. Members of the Academy can only vote in the "best documentary" category if they have seen all the nominated films, and Moore contends that someone who has seen "Winged Migration" must have gone out of their way to find it, and therefore will probably vote for that film, rather than his film.

I know, this all sounds very confusing, and if you want more information, go to the L.A. Times website and look in the Calendar section for Michael Moore.

I am very impressed by this film, and I would love to have it in my DVD collection.

Ivan

Don't academy voters get consideration VHS copies of all the nominated films in their appropriate categories?

<<<-- Originally posted by Robert Knecht Schmidt : Don't academy voters get consideration VHS copies of all the nominated films in their appropriate categories? -->>>

Not in the "best documentary" category. Each voting member of this group must see each nominated film on a big screen at a movie theatre, or, at a screening provided by the distributor. They are not permitted to vote if they have not seen all the films.

Other categories still provide copies for home viewing, but the vhs has largely been replaced by dvd's.

Where do you live in Cleveland, Robert? I am an ex-Eastsider.

<<<-- Originally posted by Henrik Bengtsson : Totally amazing. Anyone know if its going to be out on DVD (or already is). This looks like a must-have in any wildlife photographers collection.

/Henrik -->>>

It came out on dvd in the US today (Nov. 19,2003). Absolutely a must buy for nature lovers, film fans, or anyone involved in the making of film or video. The directors explain in the commentary how the cameramen were able to get so close to the birds, on land and in flight. I won't reveal the secret to those who haven't seen the movie yet. It came as quite a surprise to me.

The extras are worth the price of the dvd. So much had to be improvised to create the uniquely wonderful shots and perspectives you see in this movie. Next time you tell your dp or director it can't be done, watch this film. Because it can be done. Flying in an open ultralight several hundred feet up in the air, or crawling up a makeshift scaffold 40 feet high- that takes extraordinary guts. There's even a 3-story drop off a very steep cliff. You'll get vertigo watching it on a big screen. This was near Antarctica or S. America, where the King penguins raise their chicks.

Some of the footage was shot pre 9-11, and shows the twin towers standing majestically over lower Manhattan. The birds fly by on a beautiful sunny day. Awesome.

I still haven't figured out how they stabilized a tripod in sand, but that's probably simple compared to some of the other great tricks they pulled off in making the film. It's even more incredible that the Steadicam, ubiquitous tool of American filmmakers, was not used in many shots. How about that, Charles?

Actually It's playing now on Cablevision as a PPV event- I paid $4.95 to watch it and recorded it onto DVD (set-top dvd recorder).....

...I went to a Manhattan movie theatre to see it with my family and we all loved it- very mature movie audience and it was fantastic onscreen....

...Barnes & Nobles has the companion book called "Winged Migration".....it's a very large and colorful book with tremendously beautiful photography.....it's expensive at around $80 or so- but it's an awesome companion to the movie. The book is very thick with allot of pages and is "museum" quality- if anyone's serious about the movie or this sort of project- I urge you to go and check out this book as well (and by the way- B&N sells the DVD!!)