I know, I’ve been saying it for many years. Every time someone asks or suggests or ponders the possibility of, the answer has been the same.
I will never do video.
That was the firm stance I stood in up until the start of 2021 when my Dad ran the idea of ‘Running Dry’ past me. Fast forward eight or nine months and ‘Running Dry: Alberta’s Shrinking Rivers’ is now live, premiering this past Wednesday, October 20th. We had almost 300 people in attendance to the digital launch, and a number of the interviewees from the film collaborated to form a panel and answer some of the audience’s most pressing questions.
Creating this film was quite an experience. It’s been over six years now since the last project my Dad and I collaborated on; our book ‘Heart Waters: The Sources of the Bow River’. It was certainly about time for another collaboration, although I wouldn’t have guessed that our second project would be a video, something that is quite foreign to both of us.
Video is at least a little less foreign to my Dad, a lifelong author. About two years ago, he created a video with the assistance of filmmaker Yvan Lebel; ‘Finding Water: Healthy Land, Healthy Streams’. The film launched right around the time that the coronavirus shut down the world, and the film didn’t gain the traction that it deserved. Together, Dad and Yvan were able to create a beautiful visual story of how our watersheds work in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains, some of the same landscapes, issues, and science that we talked about in Heart Waters. If you didn’t get a chance to see the film, I highly recommend checking it out below.
While ‘Finding Water’ took the approach of an educational style video, with ‘Running Dry’ my Dad had the idea of piecing together a series of interviews of Albertans local to the Eastern Slopes region in the form of a documentary style video. Livingstone Landowners Group, a collective of landowners and supporters concerned with the conservation of the unique land and water resources of the Livingstone-Porcupine region in southern Alberta, commissioned the project following a grant from the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.
The Oldman River flowing beneath the snowy ridgelines of the Livingstone Range in southern Alberta. via instagram @brianvantighem
Despite more than a decade of photographing professionally under my belt, video was a relatively new undertaking for me, so Dad and I teamed up once again with Yvan Lebel. It was such a pleasure to work with and learn from Yvan. He has a youthful energy and vigor that would suit someone half a century his junior, and his curiosity and passion for his craft bubble over into everything he does. Seeing his excitement and appreciation for the simplest of things in life, like a bird singing, a deer watching from the tall grass, or the light and wind moving across the landscape really demonstrated the heart of why he is so good at what he does; because he lives from a place of passion and presence.
There were some very basic things that I learned from him that were invaluable; like to film absolutely everything (you never know when you're going to need it), or how to edit video in Premiere Pro. But I think what served to be even more important than these practical lessons was his general outlook and philosophy.
When editing together, Yvan would often emphasize that ‘anything is possible, only your imagination is the limit’. And he is quite right! After these past few months I have a solid grasp of the basic workings of video editing in Premiere Pro, and this foundation has allowed me to imagine so many more ways of getting creative in the future. I think the biggest gift I got working with Yvan, aside from the pleasure of getting to know him, was this imaginative approach. Working with Yvan pushed me towards the place where creativity and ability meet, and it is always at this juncture - where our creativity and imagination surpasses our ability - that we can grow as artists and creators by learning and pushing our ability to catch up with our imagination. I’m very grateful to Yvan, and I can safely say that I am a more able creator thanks to him.
Yvan and I both worked extensively on the editing of ‘Running Dry’, and it was pretty cool to collaborate in such a way. I also created two little teaser videos for the project which gave me a chance to practice using and expanding on the skills he was teaching me in Premiere Pro. Feel free to check out these first two attempts below.
We filmed Running Dry over the course of two seperate week long intervals this past summer. During that time we interviewed nine Albertans (my Dad included) ranging from ranchers to anglers, conservationists to scientists. I found it incredibly inspiring to meet all of these people, as well as some of their families, and to listen to them share their knowledge, wisdom, experience and passion, and to hear just how much each of them value these landscapes and watersheds that we call home. I would like to express my utmost gratitude to each person who contributed to this video in their own way, those who appear in the video as well as those who do not. I was blessed to receive the support, the respect, and the hospitality of so many caring and engaged Albertans. Thank you all so much.
Co-creating Running Dry was a truly special experience. From learning a new craft, to meeting so many inspiring people, to spending time in some of the most beautiful experiences in the world, there were countless blessings. But more than any of them, I think the biggest blessing was to once again collaborate with my Dad; Kevin Van Tighem. He has devoted a large part of his life to speaking for the land, water, and wildlife that we so often forget we are sharing this place with. He has inspired countless people to engage more fully in their democracy, to value their land and water more deeply, and he has affected so much positive change throughout his career with Parks Canada, his books, his collaborative work on boards and conservation groups and the crafting of the South Saskatchewan Regional Land Use Plan among others. He is a man who lives his devotion no matter how uncomfortable it may be at times, and no matter what it takes. The result of his passion and devotion, as well as his firm principles and values is that his voice has become a deeply valued part of the Alberta conversation. I feel so fortunate to be able to use my skills and abilities to further the spread of his message, and that of so many concerned Albertans like the Livingstone Landowners Group.
So thank you Yvan and Kevin. Thank you to all the folks who participated in this project. And thanks most of all to everyone who has and will view ‘Running Dry’. Please share it widely, it is a conversation that needs to be heard.
Links:
LLG Website: https://www.livingstonelandowners.net/
LLG on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm3BCo1cAxGg6sPPzQqTvog
Follow Kevin Van Tighem on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.vantighem
Brian on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNIX8ErH0i1EXSQkzK_R2Aw
Heart Waters: https://rmbooks.com/book/heart-waters/