Wild Things: Shooting in the Wild (page 2)

Choose a Theme

Once you have decided on a subject, it is important to establish early on what your theme will be. Determining this makes it a lot easier to decide what and how to shoot. In my case, the subject was a particular desert state park, and the theme was the seasons. You might decide to concentrate on animal behavior, or conservation, or research, or just the beauty of a place. Ask yourself, "How does this landscape, this flower, this animal or this person fit into my theme?" Keep your theme in mind, and the finished film will be more cohesive; all the pieces will fit together better.

Gathering the Footage

Now comes the hard part, but also the fun part: gathering the footage. Not everyone is going to enjoy making a nature film. It is not usually something you can do in an afternoon. It took me two years to make my desert film, and that was just the filming. The editing took another six months. That was extreme, but I took my time, since I had to go through a whole year of seasons. Then I tacked on another year for good measure. In reality, I spent a lot of time that first year getting to know the place. If you are already familiar with an area, a species or a conservation issue, this could be a good starting point for choosing your subje…