Su Rynard

The Messenger Canadian Campus tour kicks off

in News  by September 21, 2016 0 comments

Toronto,  ON (September 21, 2016)

The award-winning documentary The Messenger is teaming up with Bird Studies Canada to tour Canadian University and college campuses this fall.  The tour kicks off this evening at Dalhousie University in Halifax.  Each screening will be followed by a discussion led by local conservation and biologists. For more information on campus locations, dates and times, see https://songbirdsos.com/screenings/canadian-screenings/

Confirmed campus locations and dates include:

  • September 21 – Dalhousie, Halifax, NS Hosted by professor Cindy Staicer.
  • September 27- McMaster University – Hamilton, ON Hosted by Instructor Greg Zilderbrant
  • September 28 -Ottawa University – Ottawa, ON Hosted by Professor Scott Simon
  • September 29 – University of Saskatchewan, SK – with Professor Christy Morrissey and Kiel Drake from Bird Studies Canada
  • October 2 – Mount Allison, Sackville, NB, followed by Q+A with Bird Studies Canada and Environment Canada
  • October 2 – Fleming College,  Lindsay, ON  hosted by the City of Kawartha Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee with Director Su Rynard and FLAP’s Michael Mesure in attendance
  • October 5/6 University of Victoria, followed by Q+A with Dr. David Bradley of Bird Studies Canada
  • October 21-23 The Antigonish International Film Festival, NS – Home of St.Francis Xavier Univeristy
  • October 25 The University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC followed by a Q+A with Dr. David Bradley of Birds Studies Canada
  • November 9 Queen’s University, Kingston ON
  • November 9 The University of Guelph, ON followed by a Q+A with Dr. Ryan Norris and others
  • November 10 – The University of Windsor, ON
  • November 10 McGill University, Montreal, QC, presented by Le Nichoir
  • November 15 Lakeland College, Vermilion, AB
  • Date TBA – The University of Western Ontario, ON
  • Date TBA – The University of Regina, SK
  • Date TBA – York University, Toronto, ON with Bridget Stutchbury

“We are delighted to be introducing The Messenger to students and educators across the country” says Director Su Rynard.  “Since its premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival, The Messenger has wowed audiences the world over at more than 30 international film festivals and  played in over 100 Cinemas. We are really pleased the film has been so well received.  We hope it is will inspire people to make a difference for not just birds, but the planet too.”

 The Messenger is an international story with high stakes global consequences. The film argues that the decline of songbirds is due to human activity, signalling an uncertain shift in an already fragile ecosystem while warning the uncertain fate of songbirds might mirror our own.

A Hot Docs 2015 ‘Top Ten Audience Favourite’ The Messenger has received several awards including The Best Conservation Program from The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival plus a Canadian Cinema nomination for Best Cinematography in a Feature Documentary and Ontario Nature’s Carl Nunn Impact Award.

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Filmed on three continents, The Messenger features a number of Canadian scientists including biologist Dr. Bridget Stutchbury, (Author Silence of the Songbirds and Professor, York University) Erin Bayne, (Biology Professor, University of Alberta)  and Dr. Christy Morrissey (Avian Ecotoxicologist, University of Saskatchewan) and citizen scientist Michael Mesure from FLAP. More on the film participants here. https://songbirdsos.com/featuring/

Without a doubt, The Messenger is the most outstanding film I’ve seen on birds. The fact that it is so strongly science-based, so emotive in its pitch, so beautiful in its design it captivates me and everyone who has had a chance to see it.” – Steven Price, President, Bird Studies Canada

A free study guide will soon be available for educators who wish to use The Messenger in classroom discussions.

Campus organizations wishing to request a screening as part of the tour should send request a screening here.

To book an interview or request an appearance by the filmmakers or the participating  scientists, contact:

Joanne Jackson, Producer, SongbirdbirdSOS Productions Inc.,

Email:  joanne@songbirdsos.com

Phone +1  416 801 1118

For US inquiries please contact Jeff Tamblyn at Kino Lorber. Jeff Tamblyn (edu@kinolorber.com) 212-629-6880

For more information visit www.TheMessengerDoc.com

 

JOIN THE MESSENGER ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

 
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/SongbirdSOSfilm/

Twitter — @themessengerdoc

#BirdFriendly

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90 MIN  English,  (or English with French subtitles)
Directed by Su Rynard

Written by Su Rynard and Sally Blake

Produced by Joanne Jackson, Sally Blake and Martin de la Fouchardière,

Diane Woods and Su Rynard

SongbirdSOS is a Canada/France co-production
Produced by SongbirdSOS Productions and Films à Cinq/ARTE

Produced with participation from the Ontario Media Development Corporation Film Fund,
CBC, ARTE, Canal D and the Rogers Documentary Fund, Canada Media Fund, CNC,

Telefilm International Co-production office, Rogers Telefund, Procirep-Angoa
and the Documentary Organization of Canada.
Developed with the assistance of the CFC-NFB Documentary Program, OMDC,

National Film Board of Canada & David J. Woods Productions.

US Distribution Kino Lorber, International Sales ZED

Distributed in Canada by SongbirdSOS Productions Inc.

Marketing and promotion assistance by Telefilm Canada.

Special thanks to First Weekend Club, Women Make Movies, Hot Docs Deal Maker,

Sunnyside of the Doc and National Outreach partner Bird Studies Canada.

Related posts:

  1. The Messenger Spreads Its Wings and goes on a Road Trip!
  2. The Messenger nominated for Canadian Screen Award for Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary
  3. Heeding The Messenger
  4. The Messenger is coming to select Canadian cinemas!

The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Wood Thrush

in Director's Blog  by August 23, 2016 0 comments

This summer we have had many unusually hot days, and with the heat comes the memory of another very hot summer day when we filmed with Dr. Lyle Friesen and Dinuka Gunaratne in Waterloo, Ontario.

Dr. Lyle Friesen (formerly with Environment Canada) has been studying Wood Thrush in the region of Waterloo since 1996.  These songbirds are in serious decline, but without clear answers as to why this was happening, Lyle knew he had a mystery to solve.

“Since 1970 the population of Wood Thrush in Canada has declined by 85%, that’s just an astonishing number.”

Screen Shot 2016-07-15 at 6.09.14 PM

 

Our day of filming started with a lucky shot of a Wood Thrush on her nest. We were hoping to capture behavior so we patiently filmed this shot for a long time, waiting for this songbird to forage,  wiggle, eat or sing — any action for the camera! However we ended up in a stand-off.

 

The Wood Thrush knew we were there and simply froze. The only movement we could see was the occasional blink of an eye. She seemed to believe that if she stayed absolutely still we would not see her. This was likely a tactic to defend her nest, which apparently is serious business for a Wood Thrush.

“We found and monitored almost 900 nests and about half of the nests fall prey to predators, yet we’ve never seen a predator at a wood thrush nest.”

Lyle and his team set up a series of infra red camera’s and installed ‘nest cams’ at the nests. Over the course of several years, Dr. Lyle Friesen documented an amazing night-time woodland drama.

lyle comp shot

Screen Shot 2016-07-15 at 6.10.22 PM

 

 

We created a short video documenting the process of Lyle’s research. This video features amazing footage that reveals who the mysterious predator is, as well as their modus operandi.  watch: https://youtu.be/i57Mou6HiEE8

 

What we learn from Lyle’s work is that the world is becoming a less friendly place for Wood Thrush. Predation in itself is a natural phenomenon, but in this case the reasons behind its dramatic increase are anthropogenic. Humans have modified the landscape and upset natures balance — with devastating consequence for Wood Thrush.

 

Related posts:

  1. Songbirds in Decline but Conservation Works!
  2. Çağan and road kill Near Kars, Turkey
  3. The Secret to Filming Wild Birds in Big Cities & “Jungles”
  4. The (almost) Impossible Task of Filming Songbirds in Flight

The Messenger Nomination for the 6th Annual CCE Awards

in News  by April 23, 2016 0 comments

It was just over a year ago that we locked picture on The Messenger. Today we are so proud to share this news.

Congratulations to Eamonn O’Connor and The Messenger editing team, Sally Blake, Carole Larson  for their well earned Canadian Cinema Editors Award “Best Editing in Feature Documentary” nomination.  We owe a big thanks to our inspired Editing Guru Ricardo Acosta, our technical wizard Andrew Kines and Mark Alberts for the beautiful graphics and compositing work.

Read more about editing The Messenger in our Director’s blog.

THE MESSENGER Picture Lock: 120 hours of footage – One year later

Related posts:

  1. THE MESSENGER Picture Lock: 120 hours of footage – One year later
  2. The 6th edition of DREFF – Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival, Santo Domingo
  3. THE MESSENGER WINS BEST CONSERVATION FILM AWARD AT JACKSON HOLE
  4. The Messenger nominated for Canadian Screen Award for Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary

Birdsong: The Forest Bird in Wagners’ Siegfried

in Director's Blog  by March 16, 2016 0 comments

The Forest Bird in Siegfried, not unlike today’s songbirds plays a role in warning Siegfried of impending danger.

Birds have something to tell us indeed.

I recently had the opportunity to see Wagners’ Siegfried, one of the four operas that combine to create the epic “Ring des Nibelungen” or Ring Cycle. Wagner took his inspiration for The Ring Cycle from Norse mythology and an ancient German epic called the “Nibelunglied.” The Ring Cycle took more than 20 years to write, and was first performed August 16, 1876.

While I had seen Siegfried ten years ago, the experience was more significant after making The Messenger. What made it so special this time round was the role of the Forest Bird.

The Forest Bird is an actual character in the drama and has its own musical themes. Much of the Siegfried score occupies a somber yet beautiful low, bass tonal range with the exception of the Forest Bird — a musical motif that soars beautifully over the dramatic, emotional music.

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In act 2 Siegfried takes in the tranquility of the forest around him. Here, the audience is treated to a series of birdcalls, which Wagner is said to have modeled on actual birdsong. The oboe plays the first and it is answered by a second on the flute. Next the clarinet takes up a melody. This melody on the clarinet later becomes incorporated into the soprano vocal lines of the Forest Bird character.

bird calls

Humans have been inspired by birdsong for hundreds of years, and there is evidence to suggest that music pre-dates language in humans. In The Messenger we playfully re-purpose the musical motif of Wagner’s Forest Bird. Framed within a scene featuring contemporary techno artist and DJ Dominik Eulberg we created our own unique operatic moment with real forest birds singing along with the symphony. You can watch a short excerpt of the scene here.

 

Once we believed that birds were messengers between humans and the supernatural world. We would interpret the flight and songs of birds to foretell the future.

The Messenger opens with the voice over quoted above. Herein lies another interesting connection between The Messenger and Wagner’s Ring Cycle – as the Forest Bird does indeed have something to tell Siegfried. Like today’s songbirds, who in their very decline warn us of the environmental dangers we all face, the Forest bird warns Siegfried of danger, and by listening to the bird he is saved from a betrayal that would have cost him his life. Birds have something to tell us indeed.

Watch an except of The Messenger with Dominik Eulberg on Youtube.

Sneak Peek Preview: Dominik Eulberg

 

Related posts:

  1. Die Gotterdammerung – Reason and Mercy
  2. Listening to Boreal Birdsong while filming SongbirdSOS
  3. SongbirdSOS heads to Germany
  4. SongbirdSOS Newsletter#1

The Messenger nominated for Canadian Screen Award for Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary

in News  by March 9, 2016 0 comments

Su Rynard, Canadian cinematographer Daniel Grant,  Joanne Jackson and a very stoic (cardboard cut-out) of CSA host Norm Macdonald

The most popular question we get at screenings of The Messenger is how we managed to capture these small and incredibly agile songbirds on camera. The simple answer, if you dare to call it that, is that it took years of planning and an incredible team of hardworking cinematographers. Collaborating with director Su Rynard to bring their shared vision for The Messenger to the screen were Daniel Grant, Amar Arhab, Laurent Charbonnier, Chris Romeike, and Joshua See.
This week, The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television recognizes that work with a nomination for The Messenger in the Best Cinematography in a Feature Length Documentary category at The CSAs.

Messenger Cinematographer Amar Arhab, draining the water out of the water jugs we used as counter weights for our high angle shots, while at the same tie trying to squeeze in a smoke break. That’s the truth of our shooting schedule — we never really stopped moving.

Messenger Cinematographer Amar Arhab, draining the water out of the water jugs we used as counter weights for our high angle shots, while at the same tie trying to squeeze in a smoke break. That’s the truth of our shooting schedule — we never really stopped moving.

Sometimes we had more than one crew filming simultaneously in different locations. Joshua See camped out in the Boreal forest, trekked to Costa Rican coffee farms and managed to capture footage of birds in Toronto, while the main crew was elsewhere.  Check out a previous blog post revealing some of his photography secrets. 

“Filming wildlife, tiny songbirds included, takes a special set of technical skills, nature-knowledge, and patience.” – Joshua See 

 

Camera Assistant Lori Longstaff and cinematographer Daniel Grant filming with Phantom camera inside the wind tunnel at AFAR

Camera Assistant Lori Longstaff and cinematographer Daniel Grant filming with Phantom camera inside the wind tunnel at AFAR.

The task of capturing The Messenger’s songbirds in flight for the film couldn’t have been accomplished without the work of our talented cinematography team, but we also have the scientists and staff at Western University’s Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR) to thank. Without access to their expertise and hypobaric climatic wind tunnel we could not have captured The Messenger’s stunning slow-motion sequences of the birds in simulated night flight.

The 800-frame-per-second footage, captured with a Phantom camera by lead cinematographer Daniel Grant and his team became the unifying force for the many stories in our film, and even provided the beautiful photography for our movie poster. You can watch The Messenger documentary crew filming in action at AFAR in our amazing short “behind the scenes” short documentary and read about it here.

And don’t forget to tune in to The Canadian Screen Awards on CBC, Sunday March 13th at 8 pm to cheer on our talented team!

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The Messenger is an international co-production between Canada and France.  

Produced by SongbirdSOS Productions Inc. and Films à Cinq.

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The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television has been celebrating Canada’s talented film, television and digital media professionals since 1945. Founded by the academy, The Canadian Screen Awards (Formerly the Gemini and Genie Awards) celebrate Canadian productions and talent who excel in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes. The awards have evolved from humble, pre- beginnings at Ottawa’s Little Elgin Theatre to the star-studded red carpet event taking place at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Sunday, March 13th at 8 pm (ET).

Related posts:

  1. The (almost) Impossible Task of Filming Songbirds in Flight
  2. Touring Costa Rica to film the birds
  3. THE MESSENGER WINS BEST CONSERVATION FILM AWARD AT JACKSON HOLE
  4. The Messenger premieres on documentary Channel May 31st