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The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Nature on the big screen

Local filmmaker creates 4-part Indiana series

Mammoths once walked the Hoosier state, audience members at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater discovered on Sunday.

The first part of “The Natural Heritage of Indiana” four-part series premiered on the big screen, revealing hidden aspects of Indiana’s natural past to moviegoers.

In conjunction with WFYI, an Indianapolis station and PBS affiliate, the first part of the program premiered on the station Sunday night. However, the program, which received two local Emmy nominations, won’t air in Bloomington until November, filmmaker Samuel Orr said.

Each school in the state will receive a copy of the series and curriculum, Professor Nelson Shaffer of the Indiana Geological Survey told the audience.

As a Marion, Ind., native and the “Natural Heritage of Indiana” filmmaker, Orr studied biology during his time as an undergraduate at IU. Orr’s interest in film and his love for nature led him to his biggest project yet.

Originally published in 1997 by Indiana University Press, “The Natural Heritage of Indiana” is a comprehensive book that chronicles the beauty of Indiana’s natural heritage and the problems troubling its environment.

More than 40 authors contributed to the book and photographers added their images to this word and picture collection.

Marion Jackson, professor emeritus of ecology at Indiana State University, compiled and edited the book. It was republished in 2007.

Inspired by Jackson’s work, Orr decided to take on the task of using the 482-page book as a guide for the film series. Orr used these documentaries to make the mission of the book come to life, Jackson said to the audience during the question and answer session.

To cover one chapter in the book would take more than a couple hours of film, Orr said, so he had to be selective. It took Orr and his team two and a half years to work on the series, during which time he traveled 20,000 miles without leaving the state.

“There are all sorts of things tucked away in the nooks and crannies of Indiana,” Orr said.

He went to every county in the state except two to find subject material.
To collect 250 hours of material, Orr consulted with researchers, naturalists in state parks, bird watchers and Department of Natural Resources and State Park employees to find the perfect spots to capture nature at work.

“You can’t schedule nature ... it just happens,” Orr said.

To capture material such as blossoming flowers, butterflies coming out of cocoons and fish under water, Orr and his team used time-lapse cameras as well as underwater technology.

Living in the woods for several years, Orr captured nature outside his front door by setting up seven still cameras and three video cameras on his property. It was a case of trial and error, Orr said.

After a move to Seattle, Orr taught himself filmmaking by experimenting with film as a video editor and as a director. He created 16 mm short films.

From there, he got sidetracked and started making nature documentaries, Orr said. His film documenting the 17-year cicada infestation of 2004 premiered last year.
After the screening, Shaffer, who helped coordinate the event, gave his thoughts.

“I thought the imagery was stirring in some cases. ... It is rendered in words that anyone can appreciate,” said Shaffer, who saw a lot of things that he never knew existed in Indiana.

Kate Matthen, an assistant sales manager at Indiana University Press, attended the event to coordinate the sale of Jackson’s book as well as the book signing that took place afterward.

“I’ve seen clips and have heard amazing things about it,” Matthen said regarding the series.

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