by professorpan » Wed May 31, 2006 12:44 pm
<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Global warming has been refuted for over 10 years and we recently got 'Ice Age' and 'March of the Penguins' to give tots a rosy view of the planet and assuage their parent's fears some, too.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>I don't understand what you're saying here, Hugh. Global warming refuted? So you buy into the Exxon-sponsored "skeptics" and the "carbon dioxide is good for you" camp?<br><br>And let me see if I understand this: both "Ice Age" and "March of the Penguins" were created to drive home the agenda that global warming is nothing to worry about? How does this fit in with your idea that global warming has been refuted?<br><br>And do you really -- seriously -- believe that somone (or some group) decides to make a documentary about penguins, and then convinces the French director Luc Jacquet to go along with their plot?<br><br>I'm sorry, Hugh, but your theories about nearly *every* film being a Machiavellian tool of thought control falls apart at the slightest scrutiny. Either that, or every director, writer, and producer is a baldfaced liar.<br><br>Take a gander at the interview with Jacquet, for instance. What's the most reasonable answer -- that he's telling the truth? Or that he's a lying Mockingbird collaborator?<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>A CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR<br>LUC JACQUET<br><br><br>How does one become the director of a film like "March of the Penguins"?<br><br>Obviously, totally by chance. It all began with a classified ad which basically said something like "looking for fearless biologist, ready to spend fourteen months at the end of the world"… Of course, I had studied biology, in particular animal behavior, and I wanted to become a scientist. But I was as attracted to nature and adventure as I was to roughing it in extreme conditions, so this kind of premise was very appealing to me. At the time, the assignment was to film images of emperor penguins… The only problem was that I had never held a camera in my life. So I started with a ten-day training period to learn how to film with a 35mm camera. Then I left for my first stay at the Dumont d'Urville French Antarctic station with two assignments: to band the birds, and to film a very precise list of shots. At the time, I was 24.<br><br>Weren't you put off by the fact that you were starting in such extreme conditions?<br><br>No, not at all. I was born in Eastern France, in the Jura mountains, and started skiing when I was three years old. So I already had experienced the cold. In the end, I was not that interested in the academic side of research, which required devoting much more effort to interpretation, instead of working in the field, which I preferred. And it was a friend who came back from shooting a documentary on orcas in Crozet Island, in the French Antarctic Territories, who gave me the idea for my first film "Sea Leopard, Lord of the Ice." Everything took off after this, and there were many trips to the Antarctic. Twelve years later, I am still roaming around the 66th parallel. <br><br>How did "March of the Penguins" evolve?<br><br>I started this project four years ago, and slowly, over months, it began taking shape. The producers (Bonne Pioche) came on in August and we were leaving for production in January, so everything went at top speed. In the middle of winter, the story evolved. We all agreed with enormous enthusiasm - which was an incredible driving force - that what was originally intended to be a television film needed to become a feature-length theatrical film. With challenges at every level of the production, this became a rare adventure. There was a huge desire to make this work, along with a determination and an energy that, at times, made the whole thing feel like a military operation. But it was all pleasure in the end. I had this pure and simple, very straightforward story of survival for this cursed species. I knew where and when to film and had completed my filming breakdown. The only thing left to do was to wait and rely on the actors. We knew what was going to happen, where and with whom, but we did not know exactly "how" it was going to unfold. You have to remember that this is Antarctica, and that penguins are animals. <br><br>Why do you say "cursed species"?<br><br>Because the emperor penguin is a fabulous creature evolving in the open seas, capable of diving as deep as 1,400 feet for as long as 20 minutes. But in order to breed, for some unknown reason, this extraordinary creature pays an enormous price for all his majesty, and finds himself walking like a penitent for miles upon miles in the blizzards of Antarctica, far from the ocean, just to lay one egg. He does this in the most stable environment he can find, and then goes back and forth all winter between the colony where his life is hellish, and the sea where he finds his sustenance! There are only a few dozen places where he can lay his eggs, no more. So the emperor penguin lives his life on the edge. There is no life beyond him. We are almost in the realm of biotics. There are no living cells in Antarctica, and in this white desert, the emperor is the sentinel, the last living element on the planet - assuming we are still on the same planet. Although Antarctica is not yet space, it is almost no longer earth! We are on the border between reality and fantasy. Emperor penguins, desert nomads… nature creates mirages. All our references are gone, or simply reversed, even the seasons are reversed. If you haven't experienced freezing 100-mile an hour (162 kph) winds, it is hard to imagine what it is like. I tried to juggle with all these fantastic elements. I created surreal images with reality. And I attempted to take the viewer along like a father or a mother takes his child on a journey with a bedtime story. The penguin is an extraordinarily endearing creature, who despite being an animal occasionally has striking human qualities. And filmically, there are many twists and turns in the story. In some years, up to eighty percent of the chicks die. <br><br>Were there unexpected dangers?<br><br>Yes. For instance, if you get too close to the colony, then hundreds of eggs can be lost. This is something that gives you a great sense of responsibility. I've never witnessed anyone being attacked. This is probably because it would "cost" the emperor too much energy which he cannot afford to lose, considering everything he has to deal with. The emperor penguin has a very peculiar relationship to man. One day, he'll let you approach, and the next he won't. So you have to be on your best behavior, because if you don't respect him, you won't get any images of him. You always have to manage what's going on. There's a saying which goes something like this: "If you want to dominate nature, you have to obey it." You have to have smarts!<br><br>How long did the shoot last?<br><br>One year and 120 hours of images. A whole winter-over cycle, the cycle of the emperor. And this without seeing any of the images as we were progressing. Neither the men, nor the footage left the shoot before the story wrapped. It took me a year to recover. Re-entry is a long process. <br><br>Is global warming (which ranges from 4° to 10° depending on the region) a menace for the penguins?<br><br>It is clear that if the sea ice shrinks, the penguins will not have to walk as far to get to the ocean. By the same token, they'll have less to eat. Many species - seals, whales, penguins, among others - feed on krill, and because the winter ice has been melting, and the krill feed on algae which grows under the sea ice, there is less krill. This is just one proof that climate change has immediate consequences. <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
