Protect our Coastal Ecosystem

Last week I had the great pleasure of filming a second time in Beaufort, NC. Back in November we did our first few days filming this cleanup effort see Rachel Carson Reserve.  In November we filmed a full day of interviews, local clean up in the harbors, along with the Rachel Carson Reserve.  Then I put together a video for the TowBoatU.S. Foundation Conference to show the towers there is more then just towing. 

This time was to film more b-roll of cleanup, debris, so we can build the story to educate boaters and have footage to match the interviews.  As with all great laid plans, and decent weather, I was off to meet up in Beaufort 3 June with Alanna Keating of BoatU.S. Foundation.  Of course there is always a glitch or two when you put a crew together for multiple days of filming.  There were some emergence salvage jobs that popped up, so we needed to adjust with the flow.  I love this part of going on location.  You have to make it happen, grab it when you can, all while being creative with your filming.

Paula Gillikin, Central Site Manager, North Carolina Coastal Reserve (just one of her many jobs) was again our guide.  Working with Paula the three days of filming were two interns, Sophie Uthe who is going to NC State, and Ashilyn Healey entering her senior year at Conn College.  We could not have completed the volume of work with out the help of this team. 

I did a rare thing for people who have been filming with me.  Normally I do not let people use, much less handle my gear.  But, I had both Sophie and Ashilyn run cameras while I was flying the drone on a salvage job.  Both were great, being creative on their own, and following instructions well. It was a treat to see them dive right in and help make it happen.  Always good to pass along skills and help people learn.  And they have a pretty cool summer job learning and helping our sensitive coastal eco-system.

Another huge help was Lee Sykes, Owner, Atlantic Coast Marine Group, Inc/TowBoatU.S.  Lee let us dive in and film a couple salvage jobs.  He handed me great underwater footage of salvage work in the area, along with photographs of jobs.  And his crews were helpful letting me stick my cameras right in the middle of the job to grab shots.  With out cooperation like this documentaries would not exist. 

So now the hard work starts, telling the story.  We plan three productions with a 1-2 min as an educational one for general boaters, 5 min documentary about the project, and 20 min more detail documentary about the project and ongoing projects.  This type of story takes a lot of time to put together.  Luckily as a group we have a plan.  So stay tuned to view all of them from shortest to longest, with releases from Aug through early fall.  Each one will be highlighted on my site.

Have Fun and See You Soon

Paul