Tobie Beneli A Casket Maker For The People

I found out about Tobie Beneli’s story from a team member of my hockey team. Tobie was a great person to spend the day with. He has so much to offer in his views of the world. I shot this story with my GH2 with one of Driftwoods settings. At this point I forgot which one is done for this video. Also there are some shots from my old trusty HVX 200.

The Silent Equinox of a Snowshoe Hare

I was able to film the Snowshoe Hare in the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado. They are fantastic animals. I used my GH2 with Driftwood’s Mysteron patch 24p Hi Res for all the Hare shots, the nature B Roll was shot on my old but worthy HVX 200.

Rocky Flats:Life in the shadow of a nuclear bomb factory

It was nice to get this story finally out in the public. After a few rounds of editing the story got into good shape. I knew that editing Kristen’s interview would be hard because she gave me so much good information. Below is more information about the story and Rocky Flats. It was nice to see the story hit number two in the most viewed on the BBC’s website.

Full Body Burden is a historical and personal memoir of Kristen Iversen growing up next to one of the world’s most notorious nuclear bomb factory, Rocky Flats. From 1953 to 1990, Rocky Flats built over 70 thousand plutonium bomb triggers for high capacity nuclear hydrogen bombs. Plutonium bomb triggers are in itself nuclear bombs that contain more deadly force than Fat Man, the plutonium bomb that the US dropped on Nagasaki.

Kristen Iversen weaves a haunting story of suburban life next to one of the most dangerous places on earth as if it were a Spielberg summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, Full Body Burden is not fiction; the book is a true life account of Cold War secrecy. Rocky Flats was run by Dow Chemical Corporation and many of the residents that lived near the plant in Arvada, Golden, and Boulder, Colorado thought the factory was making household cleaning supplies. But why would a house hold chemical factory need guard towers and rows of barbed wire fence being patrolled with tanks? Slowly the secret came that Rocky Flats was dealing with plutonium due to a fire that broke out in the plant in 1957 and once again in 1969. Iversen goes into details of her families personal secrets along with the clandestine operations of Rocky Flats.

Low levels and high amounts of plutonium have been found in the ground and water ways that feed the towns of Arvada, Broomfield and Westminster. Full Body Burden goes into detail of farmers’ mutated livestock and young girls dying of large malignant tumors while the government denies that Rocky Flats has anything to do with these increasingly large numbers or illnesses.

In 1989, Rocky Flats was the only US government plant that was raided by the FBI and the EPA for gross negligence of environmental contamination. The Cold War may have ended-but not in Colorado.  The earth around Rocky Flats is still contaminated; there are still large amounts of strange cancers that are killing people, but the US government is fighting tooth and nail to keep full accountability closed.

The Dying Art Of Navajo Sheep Shearing

Here is another BBC story I did.

With in the remote center of the Navajo Reservation, of the United States. Arnold Clifford keeps cultural tradition alive by raising Navajo Churro Sheep. Churro sheep were introduced to the Americas by Spanish settlers along the Rio Grande Valley during their colonization northward from Mexico. While Churro sheep are a domesticated livestock they almost became extinct in the US. Navajo’s for centuries have counted on the Churro’s for their wool and meat for food.

Clifford was taught by his elders how to continue the art of hand shearing their sheep and not depending on modern electric shears. Clifford’s grandmother was a master weaver, to honor her, he donates the wool to different weaving families through out the reservation. Clifford, hopes to see the Churro sheep industry grow through out the Navajo Reservation and to create an economy where people are not dependent on welfare or the government. Besides being a sheep herder, Clifford also is a expert botanist, geologist and teacher.

The American Who Quit Money To Live In A Cave

Another story I did for the BBC. Please share and support all those have contributed to this story.

Mark Sundeen, the author of book, ‘The Man Who Quit Money’ is a soulful journey into the spirit of Daniel Suelo. Suelo, gave up on money in 2000. He walked into a phone booth, pulled out 30 dollars and left it. Twelve years later, Suelo still does not have a personal i.d. bank accounts, a modern home, does not take money, or live off of federal welfare. Suelo, lives in caves in the canyon lands outside of Moab, UT. Suelo, harvests wild foods, eats roadkill, and dumpster dives. Suelo, is not an isolationist, he still is very active in the Moab community SE Utah politics and he is an active blogger.

Sundeen, knew Suelo from Moab, UT when they both worked together as cooks. But years later Sundeen came across Suelo in a market and payed him no attention. After Sundeen gave thought to the current economy and Suelo’s philosophy he was inspired to write about Suelo. Sundeen’s book focuses on one man, but the message of the book captures the American zeitgeist of a changing economy.

 Additional camera and photos Cedar Banks and Mark Sundeen.

marksundeen.com/

Music: Alfa Kay not this track is a rough sketch of a tune that Mr Alfa Kay is writing for our feature documentary Lasso The Sun. I love this tune.
myspace.com/mralfa

For further reading check out Daniel Suelo’s blog:
zerocurrency.blogspot.com/

Edited on Fianl Cut Pro 7 with Apple Pro Res then down converted to H264. My Panasonic GH2 and HVX 200 were used for the shooting. I used Driftwood’s Mysterium setting on the GH2 in HBR mode.

Lasso The Sun… Documentary film shoot

This past week, I was out on a film shoot for our documentary, Lasso The Sun. I was out filming in Tuba City, AZ and out near Monument Valley. I had the privilege to interview a WWII Navajo Code talker. After the warm he returned home and worked as a uranium mill worker. The exposure to uranium has critically effected his family. We also interviewed a few other exposed uranium workers and their families. I am going to be editing a quick video of some of the footage that I gathered. So stay posted.

Durango UMTRA site… “The Fog Of Nuclear Power”

These are some shots that I did on my new Panasonic GH2. It was fun to start getting to know this camera. I used the kit lens 14-42 and a Nikon 55-200 DX. Some of the shots with the DX I did not get sharp on what I wanted. But keep on working with it and I hope that lens treats me well.

Even tough, The one shot where the radiation sign is soft, I still really like how the image came out. I guess I would call it “The Fog Of Nuclear Power.”  So if you dig the music like I do. Please go out and buy all what Barn Owl has done. I have. So should you. Don’t forget to support our artists! With out us, there would be no form, just function.

Mild To Wild rafting videos

Doing the video work for Mild To Wild was very fun. It was a ton of work. Here is a show reel that I made just to show off my shooting style and to get people in the mood to river running. I will post the other video’s I did for them here pretty soon.

In the spring and summer of 2010. I embarked on a journey to film promotional material for Mild To Wild Rafting, based out of Durango, Colorado. The rivers are the Upper Animas, Piedra, San Miguel and the Salt River in Arizona.

Camera: Panasonic HVX 200