(2025) Feature Documentary
Runtime 89min
About the Film
Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and the sixth mass extinction, a team of women biologists set out to save a North American bat species from a deadly fungal disease called white-nose syndrome. As the disease reaches the far corners of the continent, a global pandemic attributed to a bat species in China interrupts their project, their jobs, and their commitment to protect bat species, no matter the odds.
Credits
Written, Directed and Produced by Kristin Tièche
Produced by Matthew Podolsky
Executive Produced by Holly Mosher, Windy Borman, Eileen Kim, Kristin Tièche
Edited by Heidi Zimmerman
Cinematography by Skip Hobbie, Aaron Peterson, Darryn Schulte, Owen Bissell
Sound Design/Mix by Daniele Dantas, Dave Nelson
Color by Marco Ramirez
Animation by Jackie Bonnema
With Music from Carla Patullo
Notes from the Grading Suite
A feature length documentary always brings many challenges; but working with this talented crew was a real treat and a lot of fun. Kristen and Heidi are such great storytellers and being able to creatively collaborate and visually strengthen their story was a pleasure.
There were at least 7 different kind of cameras used during production [a few Red cameras, a Sony FX6, A7s-verite, A7sII, a Panasonic GH1, a BMC, and Drone footage], a bunch of purchased stock footage, also user generated content, still images, graphics, etc... We needed to be very organized and meticulous prepping the cut for color just so we could efficiently tag the cameras and move through the project setup faster and with less effort.
In this project I got the chance to play with footage shot by Emmy Award-winning Cinematographer Skip Hobbie, who shot all the bat in the wild, at caverns and at a studio with multiple Red cameras at very high frame-rates. These were masterfully crafted shots that added to my delight.
Kristen wanted a very natural look, clean colors, detail in the shadows and highlights. As we matured the look, we wanted to make sure we braced the magic hour, the colors at Sunset throughout the film. This was about Nature, Dramatic skies, silhouettes, warm tones, nature greens, lots of rich detail, and of course -consistent natural fur.
