On Mon, 24 Feb 2003 03:11:35 -0700, newvideo@amug.org (Bill
Davis) wrote:
>
>> Having said that my team now wants to head south of
the border to go film at
>> the Grand Canyon.
>SNIP
>> price. Are
there any US film goverment programs to help TV producers in
>> promoting US attractions internationally?
>Dear John,
>
>First, the the parts most people think of as the
"GRAND CANYON" are under
>the jurisdiction of the National Parks Service. (there
are other areas
>such as the Hualapai Reservation or the Havasupai
Reservation inside the
>canyon which come under tribal jusisdiction.) Some parts
are in the
>Coconino National Forest, (particularly the eastern
section near the
>Vermillion Cliffs) so the Forest Service might be
involved.
>
>Pulling permits with that kind of overlapping
jurisdictions is time
>consuming and kind of difficult. You need to know where
you're going and
>exactly what you want to do.
>
>I haven't shot at the Grand Canyon in years, but about
six months ago, I
>shot at Canyon de Chelly. The parks service and the
local tribe had
>substantial aerial photography restrictions - nothing
below 500 feet above
>the rim without jumping through EXPENSIVE hoops. (Like a
Motion Picture
>Permit with beaucoup costs) The Canyon might be a
different story since
>there are plenty of both fixed wing and helicopter
services at the rim.
>
>The last few years, flights into the Canyon have been a
kinda sensitive
>area. The hikers don't want airbus loads of tourists
messing up their
>nature hikes, and I can't say as I blame them. You'd
have to check on the
>current state of the regulations.
>
>If you NEED aerial shots, and are on a budget, you might
be tempted to go
>fixed wing because it's so much more affordable, but
it's usually almost
>worthless for shooting. (cracked and/or discolored plexi
is the RULE
>rather than the exception on most small planes)
Helicopter is better.
>Larger Helicopters like Jet Rangers or the
Aerospacials - where you can
>shoot out of a sliding door are ideal, but are
EXPENSIVE.
>
>That leaves most people shooting from the rim. There are
PLENTY of
>extraordinary vistas all along the rim road. If you can
settle for what
>the typical tourist sees there's plenty of good shots
without much hassle.
>But you'll be restricted to a few (but VERY scenic) parts
of the rim -
>usually along the main tourist strip. (Remember, it's
the GRAND Canyon.
>The sucker has thousands of miles of rim. Literally) It
takes a full day
>to travel just from the South rim to the North rim. And
if you want to get
>from the encircling road to the RIM in many places other
than the
>south-rim hotel strip, you're facing a multi-hour ride
over washboard
>roads.
>
>If you want to go INTO the canyon, you can either hike
or ride a pack
>mule. The last time I hiked it (Hualapai Hilltop down to
Havasue falls) it
>took me a couple of hours to hike down... and about
SEVEN hours to hike
>back up. (Camping permits on the bottom are REQUIRED and
can take some
>time to arrange.) Your mileage will vary depending on
your pack and your
>legs. If you decide on the mule ride, well - lets just
say that unless you
>do a LOT of horseback riding, you'll discover a whole
bunch of muscles
>you've forgotten you have.
>
>Those are some of the "off the top of my head"
basics.
>
>The bottom line is that the Grand Canyon isn't one
single experience. It's
>so vast. So varied. So hard to conceive unless you've
been there - that
>it's kinda hard to just take a couple of days and
"go shoot it." You'll
>likely come back with excellent footage. But you'll have
only seen a
>small, small fraction of what it's really all about.
>
>Which is one of the Wonders of the World. Nothing less.
>
>If you want to know more, contact me via email and I'll
try to help you as
>much as I can.
I was fortunate to be able to climb down the Bright Angel
trail from the south rim to the Ranch (about 11 miles?) in
the early 60's - it took 2 days to climb down (DO NOT DO
THIS IF VIRTIGO IS A PROBLEM!) since I was trying to single-frame animate the
trip with an 8mm film camera,
and the points of some of the heel nails on my shoes had
moved into contact with my heels (it took only 6 hours for
the return trip, though, going uphill without that contact
with those nails...;-). It was a memorable trip in December,
and a FAR better way to experience the Canyon than standing
at the edge and looking in - and the temperatures changed
from freezing at night at the rim (the north rim is higher,
and closed during the winter) to a comfortable 60 degrees F
at the bottom (80 during the day), with the trees(!) just
changing color(!) at the bottom in December. Descending
through the many colored layers of sedimentary rock, and
then through the inner canyon of twisted and folded
igneous rock made me feel like I was traveling toward
the center of the earth and finally visiting the dark,
stirred-up base rock of the earth (which I was...;-).
Walking through climate changes, bio changes, and even
through numerous geological eras going back many millions
of years was something I will not forget. I also will
not forget teetering on the outside edges of trails (with
little but air behind me) as the mules swayed by (or the
occasional smelly "lakes" created by the mules
that
one needed to get around...;-). I'm fortunate to live in a
great scenic place in the Northeast now, with easy
access to a large variety of scenic features (see:
www.visitithaca.com, "Natural Features") - but I
miss
the Southwest!
(Mebbe next year...;-)