The Cove

Photograph courtesy Brooke McDonald, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society via AP

First of all: the picture above has not been altered in any way, what yyou see is blood, dolphin's blood
Probably you've already had listened something about the documentary "The Cove" especially now that it has won the Academy Award, if it's not the case you really should inquire about it.
The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film that describes the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, in Japan from an anti-dolphin hunting campaigner's point of view. The film highlights that the number of dolphins killed is several times greater than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and claims that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year. The migrating dolphins are herded into a hidden cove where they are netted and killed by means of spears and knives over the side of small fishing boats, a particularly horrible (at least from my point of view) way of fishing called "Dolphin drive hunting". I had already spoken about this kind of fishing in the post entitled "The sea became bloody red.. the horrible bloodshed of the pilot whales in the Fær Øer islands." about the pilot whales slauthering that occurs each year in the Fær Øer islands.
The film was directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos. Among the challenges faced by the production team were the tight security and inaccessibility of the cove therefore portions were filmed secretly during 2007 using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks.

The documentary won, amongst many other prizes the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. On March 7, 2010 The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.

The movie follows former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry captured and trained the five wild dolphins who would play the role of "Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. This pop-culture phenomenon fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins. It was when one of the dolphins committed a form of suicide in his arms, closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, that O'Barry came to see it as a curse not a blessing. Days later, he found himself off the island of Bimini, attempting to cut a hole in the sea pen in order to set free a captured dolphin. Since then O'Barry has worked tirelessly as an advocate on behalf of dolphins around the world.

After meeting with O'Barry, Psihoyos and his crew travel to the small town of Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonder of the dolphins and whales that swim off their coast. But in an isolated cove, surrounded by wire and "Keep Out" signs, some of the townspeople hide a stark reality. It is here that the fisherman of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and a dubious and artificial market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in the unseen killing. Local volunteers physically block attempts by outsiders to view the dolphin killing taking place in the cove. Together with the Oceanic Preservation Society, Psihoyos, O'Barry, and the crew utilizes special tactics and embark on a mission to get the truth on what is really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone else in the world.



For further info you can:

• Visit the official website of the movie: THECOVEMOVIE.COM
• Read an interesting article from National Geographic about the consequencies of The Cove movie winning the 2010 Oscar.
• View the official HD Trailer of the movie:
• View a new video about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji:

The wonderful story of Nadya Vessey, the double amputee woman that became a mermaid

Nadya Vessey is a woman from New Zealand who was born with a condition that meant her legs would never develop properly and by the time she was 16 she had both her legs amputated. However she is a woman with a great inborn fortitude and a lot of humour:

"One day a little boy came up, he must have been about four and he saw me taking off my (prosthetic) legs and he started with the 'why' questions, you know, 'why haven't you got any legs', etc. And I said 'have you heard of The Little Mermaid and he said 'yes' and I said 'I'm a mermaid' and he got this look on his face and he said 'wow that's cool' and ran off to tell his dad."

The idea however stuck in her mind and she found the courage to ask directly to WETA Digital (Peter Jackson's digital visual effects company, famous for having realized the visual effects for academy award-winning blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong) if they would realize for her a mermaid tail to help her swim. She probably never believed they actually would but their answer was Yes!



Two years of study, eight creative artist, and the masterpiece was ready, a fully-functioning tail complete with a fitted suit, and covered with digitally printed sock with hand-painted mermaid scales.



Nadya was astounded and delighted...
'It was absolutely amazing,' said costumer Lee Williams. 'It's beautiful to watch Nadya swim and to see that dream come true and to be a part of that. I feel quite blessed.'




See Nadya finally swimming like a true mermaid and listen to interviews to WETA artists in the following videos:

"La Maison en Petits Cubes" best animated short film

I'm very happy about the choice of the Best animated short film that today won the Oscar award. Because it's deeply water-related, and so I've the chance to speak about it here, and moreover it's a wonderful little jewel. After having won the festivals of Annecy and Milan, contrary to the expectations that were all for "Presto" by Pixar (that rarely let slip this Oscar), it won also the most prestigious of the awards. I'm speaking about "La Maison en Petits Cubes" (Tsumiki no ie), by Kunio Kato.



Obviously it is protected by copyright, therefore I cannot show it here, the only thing is a short clip at the end of this post, but believe me it simply doesn't give you an idea of how intense and delicate is this short film. So purchase it as soon as possible and you won't be disappointed.



This is the story of an old man living alone in a town that has become submerged. His answer to the slowly rising water is to keep building on to his original home--like placing cubes on top of cubes to keep out the water. When he loses his favorite pipe, he wears a scuba wetsuit to retrieve it. As he descends and sees the earlier, now submerged, levels of his home he relives in his mind his life and loves. The idea is great and thanks also to an incidental music particularly on the beam it's all very sweet and sentimental.



The scuba diving in particular is a great plot device. The metaphorical aspects are the real strength of the film: Building your own life block after block each one on top of the previous one to escape to a sea that never stops to rise... and then descending in your own life, stage after stage, and looking at your own memories and to other houses that no more reach the surface...
I wondered if the whole story of the rising sea level is also an attempt to draw attention to global warming.



This short masterpiece has been written and directed by Kunio Katô, and the following are the full credits:

Directed by: Kunio KATO
Country: Japan
Year: 2008
Running time: 12 mn 03 s
Techniques used:Drawing on paper, 2D computer
Process: Colour
Category: 2008 Short films
Target public: All audiences
Directed by: Kunio KATO
Producer: Kusakabe MASANORI, Yuko SHIN
Produced by: ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Script: Kunio KATO
Graphics: Kunio KATO
Storyboard: Kunio KATO
Layout: Kunio KATO
Scenery: Kunio KATO
Animation: Kunio KATO
Camera: Kunio KATO
Music: Kenji KONDO
Compositing: Kunio KATO



Kunio Katô website
Robot Communications Inc (production house) website

The Crimson Wing: mistery of the flamingos

Following the footsteps of movies like: The Fox and the Child, The Bear, Winged Migration, Microcosmos and The March of the Penguins, another nature documentary has hit the theaters yesterday. The title is "The Crimson Wing: mistery of the flamingos" (Les Ailes Pourpres: Le Mystère Des Flamants) and is directed by Matthew Aeberhard and Leander Ward.

As you may have understood the subject of the documentary are the flamingos, the long-necked pink birds. In particular the flamingos of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, one of the most beautiyful places on earth but also an ecosystem recently endangered by the project of building a soda ash plant, a project that if take place will destroy the only successful breeding site of the Lesser Flamingo , killing seventy five percent of the world's flamingoes.

The official synops says:
Look not to the horizon when the world is at your feet.

In a remote and forgotten wilderness, one of nature's last great mysteries unfolds; the birth, life and death of a million crimson-winged flamingos. Against a dramatic backdrop of never-before filmed landscapes, these secretive birds struggle to survive and prevail over danger and fate. This inspiring story, set in the extraordinary "other world" of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, the cradle of humankind, reminds us: here on earth is a universe waiting to be discovered.

Official Trailer:


What's interesting is that this movie is the first production of DysneyNATURE, a new film label of The Walt Disney Company, announced on April 21, 2008 whose releases will consist of big screen nature documentaries. Six other movies are currently in development or production:

• Earth -- is an award-winning natural history film from the BBC Natural History Unit, released in cinemas internationally in 2007 and due to be released in the US on 22 April 2009. The British version was narrated by Patrick Stewart and the US version is to be narrated by James Earl Jones.
• Oceans -- Nearly three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans. French co-directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud have set out to capture the full expanse of these waters that have played such a crucial and constant role in the history and sustenance of man. The deep and abundant oceans are places of great mysteries and dangers that this film will dare to explore. Domestic release 2010
• Orangutans: One Minute to Midnight – Directed by Charlie Hamilton James and produced by Frédéric Fougea, this film tells the true story of a six-year-old male orangutan and his little sister, who must take an incredible journey to find a home and a family. Worldwide release 2010
• Big Cats – Audiences will get to meet three mothers – a lioness, a leopard and a cheetah – as they explore their world on the great plains of Africa. Co-directed by Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill and produced by Alix Tidmarsh, this film will show how these magnificent animals survive on their power and their cunning, while they protect and teach their cubs the ways of the wild. Worldwide release 2011
• Naked Beauty: A Love Story that Feeds the Earth – In this film, nature is ready for its close-up … a very close-up, as exacting macro photography takes us to the realm of flowers and their pollinators. Acclaimed filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg introduces us to a bat, a hummingbird, a butterfly and a bumblebee, demonstrating their intricate interdependence and how life on earth depends on the success of these determined, diminutive creatures. Naked Beauty is produced by Blacklight Films and Alix Tidmarsh. Worldwide release 2011
• Chimpanzee -- Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield co-direct this intimate look at the world of chimpanzees, with Christophe Boesch, head of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, serving as principal consultant and Alix Tidmarshas producer. To be shot over three years in the tropical jungles of the Ivory Coast and Uganda, Chimpanzee will help us better understand this exceptionally intelligent species. Worldwide release 2012.

Click here to explore DysneyNATURE website, it's full of info and images about those projects.



(Photo credit: Shah Brothers © Disney Enterprises, Inc)

Going back to The Crimson Wing, it is narrated by James Earl Jones too and features images that will make you hold your breath... Look at the following examples... I'm really looking forward to see this movie!











Further reading about the danger pending over lake Natron here:
Project feared to spell Lake Natron’s and flamingo’s doom @ Safarilands.org

Water Shrews: a Matrix fight

If you've liked "Oktapodi", the animated short movie I've posted some days ago probably you'll be delighted to see another short cartoon: "Our Incredible Nature". This time the protagonists are the Water Shrews, those little aquatic rodents. Enjoy their fight for mating in a glorious Matrix slow-motion style.



Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom
Director Tomer Eshed
Screenplay: Tomer Eshed
Director of Photography: Tomer Eshed
Editor: Tomer Eshed
Music: Stefan Maria Schneider, Filmorchester Babelsberg
Producer Anne Baeker
Production Company: Hochschule fuer Film & Fernsehen 'Konrad Wolf'/Potsdam-Babelsberg
with the voices of John Berwick

The author is Tomer Eshed, from the German Film & Television Academy (HFF).

If you're curious to see how Water Shrews look in reality click the picture below to see a gallery by Josef Hlasek


© Josef Hlasek

Oktapodi!

Directed by Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, Emud Nokhberi Music by Kenny Wood

"Oktapodi" is a wonderful multi-award winning animated short film. The story of tentacles and tenaciousness of two octopuses in a greek island, realized by some graduated students of the french school "Gobelins,l'ecole de l'image".
Visit the official site of Oktapodi to see a gallery of images and an interesting "making of".

Good bye Mr. "Jaws"

This is a farewell to Roy Scheider, the famous actor has died this sunday at the age of 75. If you are wondering why this blog about sea and water should publish something about him you shouldn't forget that he will always be remembered as Martin Brody, the unforgettable sheriff that fought against the shark in "Jaws". This 1975 movie by Steven Spielberg has been probably the one that most of all had brought the sea in the immagination of the spectators, frightening millions of people (me included) across more than 30 years ("Jaws" was the first movie to earn $100 million at the box office). Apart from "Jaws", Roy Scheider acted in more than 60 movies and earned two Academy Award nominations — a best-supporting nod for 1971's "The French Connection" in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman, and a best-actor nomination for 1979's "All That Jazz," the semi-autobiographical Bob Fosse film.
One of Scheider's most famous lines as the Sheriff Martin Brody - "You're gonna need a bigger boat" — was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

Roy Scheider into the shoes of Martin Brody, the unforgettable sheriff of Amity that fought and finally killed the monstrous shark of "Jaws"


The poster of "Jaws"

Two images from the final scene of Jaws, when Martin Brody makes the shark explode. Terrific!



"Jaws" a part from being the first blockbuster of Hollywood history should also been remembered for being a movie technologically very advanced, for the special effects and for the underwater shooting as you can see in the following pictures:

A very young and unrecognizable Steven Spielberg directing wirh a diving suit!

Steven Spielberg and crew

Underwater shooting

And Finally i couldn't omit the 1975 original trailer:




All the pictures are © Universal Pictures - All Rights Reserved