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Walking Wild with Karen Edmundson Bean
"...for me it's about getting in tune with nature's rhythms, and the ability to stop racing around like a blue-assed
fly..." - Karen Bean
Cinematographer Karen Edmundson Bean relaxes back into her deck chair, a cup of hot tea curled in her hand and tells me:
"We are all one with nature, which is one with the universe. The nature of nature is change. Delight in the beauty
of the moment and accept the inevitability of change, because change is the nature of nature and we are all one with nature,
which is one with the universe."
She laughs as she finishes saying this and tells me she can usually hold a yoga pose in the time it takes to repeat this
out loud.
Karen Bean is one of a few women in the world to hold the title Director of Photography: International Cinematographers
Guild. The guild represents the most talented camera professionals in the world. The technicians and artisans in the guild
are the creators of the visual images on the big screen, the television screen and more recently, the computer screen. Directors
of Photography in the International Cinematographers Guild are also members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees (IATSE). IATSE affiliates include highly skilled technicians working in film, television, live entertainment, animation,
special effects and new media.
Bean's passion is in the creation of natural history documentaries. The Walking Wild along the Pacific Crest Trail series
encompasses her most recent works. Bean's documentaries take her viewers on walks through scene after scene of delicate yet
tumultuous beauty, ever changing vistas, ominous hills, and alpine peaks.
The first of the Walking Wild series, Walking Wild: What- com County, Washington was released in 2003. Subsequent documentaries
in this series have taken viewers hiking with Bean along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The series also includes: Walking
Wild: The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and Walking Wild: Goat Rocks Wilderness. Bean's most recent trip took her from Rainy Pass
to Manning Provincial Park, the last 70 miles of the northern part of the PCT. Walking Wild: Pacific Crest Trail, Extreme
North is expected out this summer.
Bean ventures alone, deep into the backcountry to shoot these vivid portraits of the PCT. She is the sole person involved
with the production of Walking Wild,
which includes such titles as producer, production
manager, director, cinematographer, writer, narrator,
and editor.
The majority of the Walking Wild films were shot on
a Sony PD150, 3 Chip DVCCam, using a Sennheiser
microphone. When asked about her pack weight, Bean says through a large smile, "I firmly believe my pack is 55 pounds."
In order to film, along with her survival gear, Bean needs to carry her microphone, back-up batteries, tripod, tapes, release
forms for interviews, and a stack of business cards. While carrying all this, Bean likes to sing. She claims singing tunes
from the musical Cats, for example, not only helps her keep time while walking, but because of her horrific voice, it also
helps ward off potentially dangerous animals!
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Bean started hiking when she was 10 years old. "Some of my first cognizant memories
are of hiking in King's Canyon with my mom,"; she reminisces. Bean's vivacity to experience life has led her to pursue
her education in places such as L.A., Paris, and Vermont. Bean holds a master's degree in journalism. Soon after obtaining
this she became a fellow of cinematography at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
Bean's passion is filmmaking. The Walking Wild series has allowed Bean to blend all her interests into one smorgasbord:
her fascination with science, love of storytelling and hiking, and her keen ability to research anything are what contribute
to her zeal for natural history cinematography.
Why does she do it? "Everyone has different reasons for venturing into the wilderness," says Bean. "With
the risk of sounding hokey, for me it's about getting in tune with nature's rhythms, and the ability to stop racing around
like a blue-assed fly."
In Bean's opinion, many human beings have lost the fundamental ability to open up and use all their senses. "We don't
stop, we don't listen, we don't hear the sound of the bees, feel it, or smell it," she laments. Bean hopes the Walking
Wild series will help to inspire people to re-engage with life; to get back to a way of living that people have grown so separated
from: to just get out and breathe, even if it is only to the trailhead.
In addition to the award-winning Walking Wild films, Bean's list of films includes another award winner, Desert Pronghorns:
Sentinels of Time, Wild Burros, California Condors, Animals Nobody Loves, and many more.
Bean's Walking Wild series is available through both the Bellingham Public Library and the Whatcom County Library. Videos
may also be purchased through customflix.com and greenplanetfilms.org
by Adriane Bonaparte
writers@whatcomindy.com
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