Take A Walk On The Wired Wild Side with “Bear 71″
Posted on: February 24, 2012 | Filed under: Bear 71, Film News, Videos | 1 Comment
Bear 71 Installation Walkthrough from National Film Board of Canada on Vimeo.
A bear walks through the Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies and is ensnared in a trap where she is tranquilized, tagged, and collared with a GPS device. She has now become Bear 71, and joins a group of wired wildlife who document the interactions between nature and their increasingly encroaching human neighbors. Bear 71 is a new interactive project produced by the National Film Board of Canada’s digital studio, and includes an interactive web documentary site, a social media microsite, and a live installation piece that launched in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival.
The main part of the project consists of an interactive web documentary created by NFB’s Jeremy Mendes and Leanne Allison, which introduces viewers to Bear 71 and then drops them into an interactive map of the Park, where they encounter other wired creatures that live in Bear 71′s home range: golden eagles, Big Horn sheep, wolves, and deer mice, all similarly tagged and under surveillance. The animals’ movements can be seen as they move about the park, and clicking on their markers reveals a video feed and information about the animal. Viewers can click on their own marker as well, which launches a group of surveillance feeds including their own (the site requests access to the viewer’s webcam and microphone, which can be denied) and any other viewers who happen to be browsing the site at the same time, tagged and tracked like the animals. Landmarks such as the freeway and railroad that run through the park can be seen, cars and trains moving on them as the animal’s markers cross back and forth, highlighting one of the project’s main points: when technology and the wild intersect, it is often to the detriment of the wildlife. There are also video feeds and observation points marked on the map, showing actual pictures and videos from their real-life counterparts in the Park.
Barry Watson and Mia Kirshner Star in “Kiss at Pine Lake”
Posted on: February 24, 2012 | Filed under: Film News, Kiss at Pine Lake | 0 Comments
Barry Watson (“Samantha Who?”) and Mia Kirshner (“The Vampire Diaries”) star in a summer romance – fifteen years in the making – as star-crossed lovers who finally share that very special first kiss as they unite to save their childhood camp, in “Kiss At Pine Lake,” a Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere Sunday, May 6 (8p.m. ET/PT, 7C). Watson and Kirshner are joined by Bill Engvall (“The Bill Engvall Show”), Matty Finochio (“Sanctuary”) and Victoria Bidewell (“Fringe”).
On the last day of camp, fifteen year old Luke Garvey and Zoe McDowell are about to share their first kiss, when they are interrupted by Zoe’s dad (Engvall). Now, fifteen years later, destiny is about to come calling. Luke (Watson) is now a philanthropic entrepreneur, who recently purchased his uncle’s Camp Pine Lake for sentimental reasons, only to find out the camp may get shut down for safety code violations; and Zoe (Kirshner) is the point person in her upscale development firm assigned to convince the new camp owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, to sell his land. As she prepares to head back to camp, Zoe confesses to her best friend Erica (Bidewell) she is sad to hear Camp Pine Lake is rundown and she thinks often of Luke, her teenage crush.
Romantic comedy feature film “I Think I Do” being shot in Edmonton
Posted on: January 24, 2012 | Filed under: Film News, I Think I Do | 0 Comments
Edmonton might not always come to mind as a hotspot for shooting movies, but our city is earning its stripes in the film industry.
Last week, Parish of Christ Church, 12116 102 Ave., played host to the cast and crew of I Think I Do as they shot scenes for the upcoming romantic comedy by Panacea Entertainment and locally-based Rocky Mountain Picture Company.
Producer Darren Arsenault says Edmonton is a film-savvy city with loads of talent.
“When we’re looking at a community that’s really open to film, Edmonton really does stand out,” he says. “It has an amazing history of shows (made) here.”
Arsenault says Edmonton has everything a filmmaker needs.
Interactive Film At Sundance Tells Dark Side Of Human Interaction With Wildlife
Posted on: January 24, 2012 | Filed under: Bear 71, Film News, Videos | 0 Comments
Bear 71 from National Film Board of Canada on Vimeo.
The trip to the “wild” holds a romanticized spot in the minds of families across the world, but just how wild are campsites and national parks with roads and railways traversing them?
A new interactive, web-based documentary is trying to challenge the notion of pristine valleys and mountains by putting the viewer in the shoes of an original resident of such a valley: a grizzly bear.
Bear 71 is a 20 minute Canadian interactive documentary currently making waves at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah’s Park City. The project charts an uncomfortable course by coupling voice-over narration by a female voice meant to represent the bear with surveillance camera footage from many points throughout Banff National Park.
Interactive film, Bear 71, blurs lines between wild and wired
Posted on: January 23, 2012 | Filed under: Bear 71, Film News | 0 Comments
There are many bizarre sights parading before the viewfinder of a Sundance Film Festival visitor, but the indoor tree imported from Banff and the bear cage outside the library are two of the more cryptic signs of unfettered creativity sprawling around Park City.
Part of a National Film Board interactive film project called Bear 71, the cage and the tree are more than publicity props; they’re symbols of a larger work that aims to jolt the viewer into a different state of awareness about the natural environment, and our relationship to it.
“In our modern age, it’s hard to know where the wired world ends and the wild one begins,” says co-creator Leanne Allison, half the filmmaking team behind the Gemini-winning Being Caribou.
“This whole thing started with a huge collection of trail photographs gathered in Banff National Park. These were images that were not framed by people. They were sort of nature uninterrupted.”
ET Canada Interview
Posted on: December 14, 2011 | Filed under: Interviews, The Barrens, Videos | 1 Comment
Trailer Debut For ’388 Arletta Avenue :)’!
Posted on: November 11, 2011 | Filed under: 388 Arletta Avenue | 2 Comments
Randall Cole’s 388 Arlette Avenue 
produced horror flick starring Nick Stahl, Mia Kirshner and Devon Sawa played at TIFF back in September had it’s first trailer debuted yesterday. Check it:
“The Barrens” On Set
Posted on: October 09, 2011 | Filed under: The Barrens | 4 Comments
Wetpaint has posted a few pictures of Mia with her co-star Stephen Moyer on set in Toronto. It’s a pity her pictures aren’t focusing on her, but let’s hope better pictures surfaces soon. A poster was also released, you can find it in our gallery.
New project: The Barrens
Posted on: September 22, 2011 | Filed under: The Barrens | 2 Comments
Get excited, kids. The cast for Darren Lynn Bousman’s latest film based upon the legend of the New Jersey Devil, The Barrens, is shaping up quite nicely! Read on for details.
According to Bloody Disgusting Mia Kirshner, Erik Knudsen (Scream 4, Saw II), and J Larose (pictured right; Insidious, Saw III) have all signed on to join Stephen Moyer (“True Blood,” The Caller) in the flick.
Filming begins next Monday in Toronto. View the Synopsis after the cut
TIFF 2011: ’388 Arletta Avenue’ First Reviews
Posted on: September 12, 2011 | Filed under: 388 Arletta Avenue | 0 Comments
Well, apparently none of the main actors for 388 Arletta Avenue attended this year’s Toronto Festival. Nick Stahl has said a while ago that he won’t be attending due family issues. And no word at all was said at Devon Sawa or Mia’s Twitter. Sadly, I was hoping for some new Mia appearance.
But the first reviews has started to pop:
388 Arletta Avenue also takes some fairly illogical twists and turns, and James, the film’s main protagonist, makes some pretty insipid decisions merely to move the film forward, which is disappointing considering the film had the potential of being far more witty than the more recent handheld horror offerings as of late.
Despite the film’s transparent shortcomings, 388 Arletta Avenue is still a solid Canadian horror indie that has a simple premise that delivers the goods. The film’s flaws will bother any true horror fan; however, the appropriately harrowing denouement will not disappoint even the most jaded of viewers. [Read More]
The overhall on Twitter is also good. Can’t wait to see it!