We're back from a full weekend at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival - and we took home the Kids Jury Award for Best Film!
Our film screened in Grass Valley's huge, historic Del Oro cinema, as part of a program of kids films that started at 9:30am. I was worried we'd have a really small audience - but the giant hall was packed!
It was, in fact - hands down - the best audience we've had yet (at least, for screenings that we've attended).
Elliot on the giant screen...
and eating popcorn, at the Del Oro Theater in Grass Valley, CA.
Answering audience questions onstage at the Del Oro Theater, at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival
In the lobby of the Del Oro Theater, with fans of Worse Than Poop!
Televised interview with Elisa Parker on KVMR at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival
The festival generously gave us film passes, so we were able to wander from venue to venue, seeing a lot of great films. Elliot's favorite was a student-made short called Distress Call. My favorite was a program on ecological soundscapes - including the jaw-dropping Dutch short The Art of Flying and the fantastic NRDC-funded film Sonic Sea. (I thought I knew about all the ways humans were harming the natural environment - but this film explores how human activity disrupts the sonic environment of undersea mammals in disastrous ways, something I knew almost nothing about.)
Chris from SYRCL gets us ready for a rainy exploration of the local soundscape at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival
After the soundscapes program, we participated in a nature walk to explore the soundscape of our local environment. It was pouring rain - but it felt good to be outside, and it was fascinating to try using my ears instead of my eyes to orient myself.
Recording the sound of raindrops on puddles
After the hike, we came back the warm and dry National Hotel, where we enjoyed a presentation on sound editing using Adobe Audition. There has been a revolution, just in the past five years, in our ability to isolate recorded sounds. This demo used sounds recorded in the field by Bernie Krause , subject of the film Nature's Orchestra.
Elliot and his dad learn about sound editing on Adobe Audition
Happy & exhausted Elliot at festival headquarters
Holding our prize: Kids Jury Award for Best Film, 2016 Wild & Scenic Film Festival