Flight School - Fact or Fiction?

Watch a clip - Do you know who Victor is?

By definition, a "document" is: a written or printed paper that bears the original, official, or legal form of something and can be used to furnish decisive evidence or information.
A documentary film is defined as: presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, or a production that records factual material for educational or entertainment purposes.

The image of endangered Whooping cranes following our ultralight aircraft as we guide them along a new migration route has attracted the attention of filmmakers from around the world.

The great advantage of this amount of notoriety for our project, or any project is that the attention it garners can translate into public awareness of the threats faced by all endangered species -- not just Whooping cranes. This leverage makes them a keystone species. Most people can relate to saving critical habitat for a creature as rare and beautiful as a Whooping crane, but the bonus is that in doing so that biome is also preserved for its less enchanting inhabitants. With this bigger picture in mind we are fussy about how this project is portrayed. Most who have covered the story have presented a true and accurate account - there are occasional mistakes and misinterpretations but by and large the coverage has been truthful. Until recently.

In 2001, during our first season with Whooping cranes, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) proposed covering our project with the intent of capturing most of it on film. The advent of high-quality digital video allows filmmakers to shoot hours of tape, waiting for the shot without interfering in any way with their subject. By contrast, shooting in film format has an inherent richness. However, cinematographers are limited by high costs and short film loads, and must be more aggressive about getting the required shots.

Having experienced the demands of shooting in film while working with Columbia Pictures to make Fly Away Home we were reluctant. Repeated takes and complicated set-ups are one thing with non-endangered Canada geese but would not mix at all with the strict isolation protocol we use to keep our captive-produced Whooping cranes wild. We had many reservations but the partnership was excited by the idea of international coverage, so eventually we acquiesced. Unlike most camera crews that follow along and keep out of the way while capturing the real-time events, the BBC crew set up shots and occupied hours of the crew's time. They had us acting out fictitious scenes, and encouraged us to show false emotions to build the drama. Despite being warned that they were not allowed near the birds, each day ultimately ended in an argument over how close was too close? When they could not get what they wanted from one person they would ask another and as a result the team camaraderie suffered.

When you work with a small flock of birds every day, all day, you soon begin to know their personalities. Since you are dressed in a costume to avoid human contact, they relate to you as another bird. We all have to resist the urge to become attached. The best thing we can do for these birds is to have as little influence on them as possible. We need to interact with them just enough to have them follow us south so we can teach them a migration route. We must keep them isolated from all human contact, while providing as natural an experience as we can until they are released and truly become wild. During the first year on their own they could easily be tamed if a well-intentioned observer encouraged them to hand feed.

To avoid the notion that our birds are pets we do not name them, and instead refer to each by an assigned number. The BBC producers decided this was too impersonal and named each crane involved in the '01 project for their "documentary film" -- we think, again, to add to the drama. In the final film, using digital technology, they patched together images to depict the birds and aircraft flying past landmarks that didn't exist. They changed the structure of the team, making it appear as though one person was responsible for most of what was accomplished by many.

The entire experience has left us with a bitter taste and we are now twice shy. The only consolation had been that until now this would-be documentary film had only aired in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the BBC recently managed to sell it in the U.S. and it is scheduled to air on all PBS stations, including Wisconsin Public Television, beginning Easter Sunday, April 11th.

If you happen to catch it, please take it with a grain of salt and tune into our website or the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership website for the real story.