"Project Beaver"
In 2019 I decided I needed a project that would allow me to hone my wildlife filmmaking and showcase the transferability of my existing skillset into wildlife filmmaking.
I had heard about the return of Eurasian Beavers to the River Otter in Devon, the first wild beavers to be seen in England in over 400 years. As I researched, I became fascinated by their story and by the species itself, so chose to base a long project around their story and their behaviours.
The project took several approaches:
Camera Operator Filming - Essencially me hiding in a river bank at antisocial times of the day, using my Fuji Mirrorless and 400mm lens to capture footage of beavers in their natural environment.
Camera Trap filming - With beavers being nocturnal, I would use Infrared triggered Trail Cameras to capture beavers behaving naturally at night, and learn their patterns and movements.
Beaverbot - Inspired by the results of the BBC series "Spy in the Wild", I will design and build a robotic Beaver, capable of being operated remotely and contain a camera. This allows me to adapt my existing robotics skills and learn some new ones necessary for organic mechanics.
Reedbot - After a lucky encounter with a GoPro, I realised the potential for action cameras for close up encounters, so devised a rig to help position a small camera closer to the family, and operate it remotely. It uses a 3 Axis Gimbal on a omnidirectional boat hull.
For details of the shoots, and the rigs I have developed for this project, please see my blog section "Project Beaver"
*I will be adding to this section in the coming weeks.
Adult female beaver swimming in the River Otter
Adult Beaver on land, on a River Otter Tributary
Clay Sculpt of a lifesize beaver, prior to moulding
