CANOE | Launching The River Dreams Series (Ep 1 A 70 Day Canoe Journey)
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
- The Murray River in Australia. Stories take take time to tell, as rivers take time to flow. I have a profound sense of connection to the River Murray. My ancestors farmed on its banks. I worked as a canoe guide on it for years. I paddled its 2000 mile course years ago. I've come back to make a film series that explores my journey with the river through all those years. I use prose, poetry, photography and the great soundscape of the river to capture this physical, emotional and spiritual journey.
VISION
A combination of original moving and stills footage from my descent in 2005/2006. Some of this was retrieved from old mini-dvd tapes that I recently had digitised. The stills were taken on a range of cameras, including by my daughter Bess on a point-and-shoot cheap, waterproof camera. Those were the days. Recent footage is on GoPro and iPhone 14 Pro. There are also old photographs and artworks from Australian library collections - and credited in the films. Some of the footage is from other rivers and streams in the Great Dividing Range.
NARRATION
Most of the narration is scripted. I've reconstructed the story from memory, field journals, old annotated charts, etc. There are some 'live' passages when I speak to camera in the field - mainly on trips specific to this project. Several of the poems are from the collection I published after the original descent in my book 'The Song of the Wounded River'. Others are new poems written for this series.
SOUND
Construction the soundscape is one of the most pleasurable parts of the whole project. Sound, even more than vision, brings the project to life. The soundscape was mostly recorded in the field on my return trips to the River Murray. Much has been recorded on a Zoom H5 recorder or via a Rode VideoMic Pro+ (a fantastic, lightweight field mic coupled with the iPhone). Also, some sound is from the condenser mic on a GoPro Media Mod (a surprisingly good field sound recording outfit when you have nothing else). The narration is recorded with a Shure SM7B mic (brilliant). Music tracks have been sourced from Artlist and the track and artist are always credited.
MUSIC for this Episode
'Heavy Clouds Drawn Back' by Be Still The Earth
'Let Me Be Me' by Reed Pitman
'In The Clouds' by Be Still The Earth
Another good yarn Ponch. To be on the river!
Cheers Beau - always so great to be back on the river getting the paddles wet again.
Nice one mate,pure Aussie tale of history & interest for an aging pom.luv it😊
A lovely Intro to the project Brian and a tale very much worth telling. I'd seen one or two of the later installments that popped up on my feed but decided I needed to start at the beginning to fully appreciate the unfolding story. I love the captivating combo of older film and stills with recent footage, narration, poetry and music. You will surely take many people along with you on your journey down the Murray.
Cheers David, I'm glad you made your way back to the top of the river. bw
Looking forward to this with great expectation!
Thanks Gggnome - hope I can do the great river justice.
As AmyOutdoors said "Excellent! Another river journey to enjoy through someone else's eyes" I have really enjoyed watching peoples Murray River Journeys and I am sure I will enjoy and learn watching yours . I Might even give it a crack myself someday
Nice work Brian. You've published in time to be included in my PhD on the Murray River (kayaking the 2016 floods). Taking me almost as long as you to get this done.
Thanks Peter. PhDs and long rivers - lots of similarities!
Good on you Ponch. Looking forward to this and your insights of your river journey. All the best mate.
Thanks Nev, I appreciate the support and encourament, ponch
Excellent! Another river journey to enjoy through someone else's eyes! Nice to meet you Brian! Really looking forward to your series and hearing your reminiscences... hopefully it'll inspire me to get on with my own series edit 😉
Hello Amy, my brother David put me on to your series about your trip down the Murray. So, I'm enjoying following your journey as well and look forward to the next episode.
On second watching this your most elequent Ponch.This Series shoukd be compulsory in Nsw/Queensland schools. Believe the current state of the Murray river is a symbol of mankind - gurgling, rampant at times but resilient 😅
Cheers Andrew - the series will continue in the second half of the year. I just need to get back up to the river to do some more filming. The further one travels down the river the greater and more obvious the human impacts become. But there are also some very hopeful developments - good stories to tell as well.
Nice J stroke eh!
Had to learn something during a year and a half in Canada Mike!
Great film too! Looking forward to the next installment. Better than Netflix!