Homer local Bjorn Olson created a series of five short immersive films related to the bioregion of Kachemak Bay with financial assistance from the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies during the COVID pandemic. The intention of the films was to share the the opportunity for youth development through nature when the organization could not provide as many in-person activities.
The films are each set within a specific bioregion of Kachemak Bay:
- Steams and Rivers was filmed from the headwater of the Anchor River all the way to the coast.
- The Saltmarsh was set in Beluga Slough and at the back of Jackaloff.
- The “Fin” or peatlands was in the uplands off of the Old Sterling Highway.
- The intertidal zone was filmed across the bay from Homer and;
- The ocean zone was in the bay itself.
So each one is filled with the soundscape of each biome, each bio region. Yeah, but yeah, there's no narration, and there's no music. And so to have a project there where there's no dialogue. And the kind of the subjective viewer, you know, experience where they get to kind of relate to this, each one of those biomes. So there was, like, a real responsibility from my part, to try to really make it look and feel like each one.
When asked about the variation and quality of sound in each film, Olson shared that:
The intertidal one has quite a bit going on, you know, the audio, because they're just so you know, when you get really close. So it was an awesome opportunity to use my fancy macro lens and to really, really get close and intimate with the intertidal creatures. And there's all this crunching and there's drops of water falling as the tide is going down. And yeah. So I think the intertidal one has maybe the most sound, but all of them have some because each of them you. Know, if you stop and pay attention, there's always sound. There's always something going on, whether it be animals or, you know, the birds or the the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind.
Olson has long Alaska family roots and gave a brief explanation of his history within the state:
“I'm from interior Alaska, and then my family moved to Seward in the early 90s and started the resurrect art coffee house. And so I spent a lot of time, not necessarily full time, living there, but that was my home base for a long time. That I lived in McCarthy for a long time, and then in Moose pass, and was getting, I've always lived in Alaska, in places because of the geography, you know, not close to mountains, but I was really wanting a community. And so in 2008, I moved here, kind of seeking community and a way to kind of be more engaged.”
When asked what he hopes young people will take from the films, Olson said:
And part of my, you know, political stance is that that is so much of what the problem of the world can be kind of like seeing the root causes this divorce we have with the natural world and so these, you know, those kind of programs, those kind of, you know, like taking youth into these environments and teaching them about them, you know, it helps people reconnect in a, you know, way. So it felt it was just really awesome to have the opportunity to try to use my medium as a way to relate, you know, to give people the the option to see these places for what they are, and hopefully give them enough to inspire them to want to know more.
The films will play at the Porcupine Theater on Wednesday August 27 and the event will include brief readings either composed or chosen by members of The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies staff.
