Fischer Edit/FX Blog

“Left Behind Without a Choice”

Documentary

When Kim Walsh Borgan (director; former Campbell Mithun employee) approached me about editing a documentary about the Hurricane Katrina animal rescue effort, I enthusiastically said “yes!” and it has been an honor working with Kim and the rest of the crew on “Left Behind Without a Choice.”

Hurricane Katrina left a path of physical and emotional devastation across the Gulf Coast region.  Not only were people forced to evacuate their homes, but they were also told that they had to leave their animals behind. In fact, many human lives were lost because they would not leave without their pets.

I remember very clearly seeing those haunting images on the news of a dog standing on the roof of a submerged car or a cat climbing to safety on a rooftop.  It was beyond comprehension that they were left to survive the five feet of toxic floodwaters without any human aid.

A group of dedicated volunteers, organized by Best Friends Animal Society came to the rescue. Working day and night, they were able to save thousands of animals (dogs, cats…even tarantulas!) in what became the largest animal rescue effort in American history.

Volunteers at Best Friends’ Tylertown, Mississippi rescue camp

Kim Walsh Borgan was one of those volunteers.  Kim took home movies and photos documenting her multiple experiences working at one of Best Friends’ rescue camps.  

Kim Walsh Borgan with a rescued dog

Another thing she took away from the experience was a rescued orange Tabby kitten named Linus!  When she returned, she was inspired to tell her story and honor the volunteers who made great personal sacrifices for the love of animals.                      

I am inspired by Kim and the volunteers featured in the documentary who miraculously found hope, beauty, and even humor in the one of the darkest experiences of their lives.  The film really is about the significant bond between humans and animals.  And, even though the floodwaters have receded, we still have a long way to go in helping the animals and people of the Gulf Coast Region.  My hope is that this film will inspire people to get involved in the effort.

A heart-warming reunion 

“The entire country shouldn’t forget.  It isn’t better.  It isn’t done.  It was big.”

-Sherry Woodard

Animal Behaviorist; Best Friends Animal Society

Original music was composed for the film by Minneapolis musicians Marc Perlman (Jayhawks), Jessy Greene, and Wally Borgan. 

Two of the tracks featured in the film:

• Memories by Marc Perlman
• Thick N Thin by Jessy Greene

The film will premiere in Minnesota August 29^th 2008 on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Stay tuned for more information.

by editor Katie Carpenter
Fischer Edit
Minneapolis, Minn.

Washington Lottery’s “Birds” edited by Fischer Edit from Fischer Edit on Vimeo.

What do a penguin, a chicken and an emu have in common? They’re all flightless birds who share the screen in Washington Lottery’s latest TV spot “Birds” voted #1 last week on Adcritic. The television ad shows how winning the lottery can offer people a chance to do something they never thought possible—that could change their outlook on the world.

Seattle’s Publicis West was hired to bring the spot to life. They enlisted Sticks+Stones Studios to shoot and went to Fischer Edit and FischerFX in Minneapolis for post production. Editor Lindy Wilson with visual effects supervisor and Flame artist Jake Parker had to create the feel and believability of these birds taking flight across a grassy hillside. Wilson was able to tap into her past experience with private flight lessons to help create the airy feeling present in the spot. “It’s such a rush,” Wilson says of both her piloting lessons and the hang-gliders floating above the hillside.

Most of the flying birds were shot as practical elements, suspended from the hang-glider pilots’ harnesses. For the bird’s safety, those gliders were suspended just a few feet from the ground and lensed from a low camera angle to create the illusion that they were flying high in the sky. The emu and several gliders were shot against a green screen and white screen, then composited together to provide the illusion of the emu taking flight.

The spot is quite an atypical direction for a state lottery to go, away from brazen consumption and excess. Focusing on the birds’ journey allows viewers to consider what they might do for others. Wilson describes how the images tie it together, “The beauty shots bring it value while the documentary style shots bring it honesty.”

Lindy Wilson (Editor/Fischer Edit) and Jake Parker (Visual Effects Supervisor & Flame Artist/Fischer FX) are available for interviews regarding their work on Washington Lottery’s “Birds” advertising campaign.

News:

• Adcritic
• Digital Arts Magazine (UK)
• Marketing Magazine (Canada)
• Best Ads on TV

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Fischer Edit/FX, Minneapolis
Creative Editorial, Visual Effects & Finishing for the Advertising, Film & Television Industries
Tel: 612-332-4914

  I love to tell stories.  A good story becomes a great story by the way it is told. When I saw the boards for the Washington State Lottery spot “Birds” from Scott Rausmassen and Jeff Siegle at Publicis West, I thought it was good story.  The challenge was how to tell it and make it a great story. 

  Creativity and excitement feed each other.  I met with Fischer Edit Producer Bill Rogina and Fischer FX artist Jake Parker.  I also had a conference call with Director Jerry Brown from Sticks ‘n Stones in Los Angeles.  Jerry and Jake talked a lot about the effects work and green screen and how to make it seamless and totally believable.  We could all sense this spot would be very cool.

  Building emotional impact, and making people feel something.  When I started editing with Jerry, it just clicked.  I had seen his reel and could tell what a great storyteller he was.  My editing background at The Sundance Institute, Moonstone, and the short films I have done, made me a good match with Jerry.  I love the little nuances and shots that give detail and propel the story forward. 

                                         Hang-gliders in Washington Lottery’s ad 

  As an editor I pull from personal experiences: with the “Birds” spot, it was flying lessons.  When I was getting some solo flight time out of the Crystal Airport in the Piper Tomahawk 2423November, I flew out west of Minneapolis to practice some maneuvers.  I was flying over a farmer’s fields practicing turns and then leveling the wings when I’d cross a road.  It was such a lovely free feeling out there, I was so into it.

  I decided I had better get back to the Crystal Airport. It was then that I realized I was so into the maneuvers I was lost! I thought quickly and pulled out the map from my flight kit to start looking for lakes, railroad tracks, freeways, etc.  I pulled it out and, WHOA, it’s for the Dallas /Ft Worth area!  After the initial shock, almost stalling, I kept my composure. I found the Albertville Water Tower and made it back to the Crystal Airport – and made a perfect landing!

It’s just like editing.  

- by Lindy Wilson, editor

Fischer Edit, Minneapolis, Minn.

www.lindywilson.com

View “Birds” here:

Washington Lottery’s “Birds” edited by Fischer Edit from Fischer Edit on Vimeo.

The “Birds” shoot was a great experience. The director, producer, crew and agency folks were all top-notch and a pleasure to work with. Unfortunately, the weather was not as cooperative as we all had hoped it would be. Every morning was socked with fog that usually lasted into early afternoon – which led to some creative thinking.

 Fog on set 

For one thing, the gliders we composited into the spot were shot against “white screen” (fog) instead of blue sky, as we had hoped. The emu element was shot against green screen (as planned) but they had to set up a “fog barrier” so we wouldn’t have the mist drifting through, thus contaminating the green.

                                                                Glider shot set-up

  Since there were no insane glider pilots available to fly with a 150-pound payload suspended between them, the emu shot was built in the Flame. The biggest challenge was to figure out what a pair of gliders would do! Clearly, they would not behave as normal?gliders do in flight and as there was nothing to reference, it was a matter of best-guess (and trial and error) until we arrived at an animation that worked. In addition to the glider challenge, the emu’s “performance” was singularly uninteresting, so for the composite we needed to animate his legs and head first and as separate elements.      

The emu’s rig 

A couple shots in the spot required air-to-air photography. This was achieved with the Borg (”Resistance is futile”) helmet cam, which was a Photo-Sonics 16mm 1VN camera mounted on Joe Greblo’s helmet (”Glider Joe”). Look at the photo and you’ll see why I felt the Star Trek reference apropos. He did a great job filming while piloting a motorized glider above the subject glider. The other camera you see attached to his helmet is a consumer video camera which was aligned with the film camera and served as the video assist, as the Photo-Sonics had no video tap.
                                                                         Glider Joe

One of the overhead glider shots required additional gliders. These were shot on green screen from above while being suspended from cables. The same rigging setup was used to photograph them from ground level with a second camera (against the “white screen” sky), so we had overhead and profile glider composite elements to use in post.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the RATTLE SNAKE!

- Jake Parker, Visual Effects Supervisor and Flame Artist

Fischer Edit/FX, Minneapolis, Minn.

Washington Lottery’s “Birds” edited by Fischer Edit from Fischer Edit on Vimeo.

Have we learned nothing in fifty years?  By we I mean here media professionals who advise, spin and manipulate the images of our esteemed leaders.  Let me offer two simple images ok?

These are from the same night.  I was under the impression that media professionals were supposed to make the candidate look good, like the way Obama looked.

And now a third image…

For those of you for whom history is nothing more than a TV channel you don’t watch let me explain this piece of Americana.  This is an image from the 1960 presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.  This was a big deal at the time because people’s perception of who won depended less on political affiliation and more on whether they heard the debate on the radio or saw it on television.

Radio = Nixon wins.  TV = Kennedy wins.

I’m not saying this triumph of image over content is something we should all celebrate, I just thought it was something that we are all aware of.

Remember kids… the medium is the message.

Tim Taylor