From the Nov 6, 2003 issue of The Star Tim Croft
Capturing The Music of Nature
This crab, dancing among the grass and berries on the peninsula, found its way into Stoltzfus's viewfinder during recent filming.
Filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus (left) and composer Sammy Tedder (right) discuss the film project they are collaborating on while standing on the sand near the tip of the St. Joseph Peninsula.
Elam Stoltzfus films among the wild purple grasses that dominate the far edge of St. Joseph Peninsula.
by Tim Croft
Sammy Tedder stood last week near the extreme tip of St. Joseph Peninsula and listened - with his eyes.
Tedder, a composer/musician who has built a following while producing five CDs that meld the soundtrack of nature to a stew of jazz-influenced stylings, was on the peninsula as part of his latest project.
He has been enlisted by Blountstown filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus to provide the background music for Stoltzfus's current project, "Living Waters: Florida's Aquatic Preserves."
Among the dozen or so preserves Stoltzfus will spotlight in his hour-long movie is the St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve.
So, last week, Stoltzfus brought Tedder to the peninsula to get a feel for the project, and to begin the process of filtering nature through Tedder's musical mind.
Tedder, who lives along the Sopchoppy River, which has become something of his muse, brought along his video camera.
It is how Tedder works.
He films with his video camera, capturing the images that will become the foundation for his musical creation.
The sounds and sights of nature, captured on video, become the canvas on which he paints, applying color with keyboards, saxophone, pan flutes, recorders and a drum machine.
Tedder also plays reed flutes and natural wood drums he has crafted himself.
"He (puts) crickets, thunder, water sounds together with his music, it's all real organic," said Stoltzfus as he prepared to film a crab that had wandered among the lush grass of what could be a Wyoming pasture that dominates the very tip of the St. Joseph Peninsula.
As Tedder films and listens, the lapping of the waves conjures the syncopation of nature. A brown heron skimming above the water, gathers its wings; Tedder imagines the fluttering sounds of a flute.
"Music is a visual thing," Tedder said. "You listen and you should get images in your mind.
"I try to create an atmosphere to let people's minds take the rest."
A listener can almost hear the Sopchoppy River as it rolls past Tedder's home, the chirp of crickets, the singing of birds, on Tedder's CDs "From the Land of Many Rivers" or "The Soul of the Matter."
And given his repertoire, his catalog of music and his focus, Tedder was a natural fit for Stoltzfus's project, which aims to bring greater awareness regarding the beauty and value of what are, essentially, Florida's petri dishes of nature.
"(Elam) is doing what I've been doing on an amateur level for a long time," Tedder said.
"I was invited. It's a great project, unbelievable. I like getting the chance to do something you've always wanted to do."
Which makes him something of a soul-mate to Stoltzfus.
The "Living Waters" project had long danced in Stoltzfus's mind before he finally secured funding, primarily through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, to capture his vision on Super 16mm film.
Stoltzfus is nearing the end of principal filming. While capturing only a fraction of the state's aquatic preserves, he has also filmed segments with those who have lived and worked on the water. Locally that would include folks like Tom Parker, Danny Raffield and Capt. Dave Maddox.
Soon, he will begin the process of editing down hours and hours of film into a tight 60 minutes showcase of the liquid treasures practically unique to this state.
"It looks really good," Stoltzfus said. "I'm really proud of it."
The future of the finished product is all but set.
The film will premiere Feb. 20 at the R.A. Gray Building auditorium in the state capital during Tallahassee's annual arts festival, "Seven Days of Opening Nights."
Along with Stoltzfus's film, the "Living Waters" project will produce a coffee-table book of photographs by world-famous lensman Clyde Butcher, as well as posters fashioned from Butcher's visions.
After the premier, the film will travel the state over the next four years, presented at museums and similar venues in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Sarasota and the like.
Tedder, as he stood and pointed his camera across St. Joseph Bay, just seemed pleased to be along for the ride.
"It's exciting to be part of something that's not there, yet," Tedder said. "You don't know what it's going to be, except it's going to be beautiful."
To the eyes and the ears.
Capturing The Music of Nature
This crab, dancing among the grass and berries on the peninsula, found its way into Stoltzfus's viewfinder during recent filming.
Filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus (left) and composer Sammy Tedder (right) discuss the film project they are collaborating on while standing on the sand near the tip of the St. Joseph Peninsula.
Elam Stoltzfus films among the wild purple grasses that dominate the far edge of St. Joseph Peninsula.
by Tim Croft
Sammy Tedder stood last week near the extreme tip of St. Joseph Peninsula and listened - with his eyes.
Tedder, a composer/musician who has built a following while producing five CDs that meld the soundtrack of nature to a stew of jazz-influenced stylings, was on the peninsula as part of his latest project.
He has been enlisted by Blountstown filmmaker Elam Stoltzfus to provide the background music for Stoltzfus's current project, "Living Waters: Florida's Aquatic Preserves."
Among the dozen or so preserves Stoltzfus will spotlight in his hour-long movie is the St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve.
So, last week, Stoltzfus brought Tedder to the peninsula to get a feel for the project, and to begin the process of filtering nature through Tedder's musical mind.
Tedder, who lives along the Sopchoppy River, which has become something of his muse, brought along his video camera.
It is how Tedder works.
He films with his video camera, capturing the images that will become the foundation for his musical creation.
The sounds and sights of nature, captured on video, become the canvas on which he paints, applying color with keyboards, saxophone, pan flutes, recorders and a drum machine.
Tedder also plays reed flutes and natural wood drums he has crafted himself.
"He (puts) crickets, thunder, water sounds together with his music, it's all real organic," said Stoltzfus as he prepared to film a crab that had wandered among the lush grass of what could be a Wyoming pasture that dominates the very tip of the St. Joseph Peninsula.
As Tedder films and listens, the lapping of the waves conjures the syncopation of nature. A brown heron skimming above the water, gathers its wings; Tedder imagines the fluttering sounds of a flute.
"Music is a visual thing," Tedder said. "You listen and you should get images in your mind.
"I try to create an atmosphere to let people's minds take the rest."
A listener can almost hear the Sopchoppy River as it rolls past Tedder's home, the chirp of crickets, the singing of birds, on Tedder's CDs "From the Land of Many Rivers" or "The Soul of the Matter."
And given his repertoire, his catalog of music and his focus, Tedder was a natural fit for Stoltzfus's project, which aims to bring greater awareness regarding the beauty and value of what are, essentially, Florida's petri dishes of nature.
"(Elam) is doing what I've been doing on an amateur level for a long time," Tedder said.
"I was invited. It's a great project, unbelievable. I like getting the chance to do something you've always wanted to do."
Which makes him something of a soul-mate to Stoltzfus.
The "Living Waters" project had long danced in Stoltzfus's mind before he finally secured funding, primarily through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, to capture his vision on Super 16mm film.
Stoltzfus is nearing the end of principal filming. While capturing only a fraction of the state's aquatic preserves, he has also filmed segments with those who have lived and worked on the water. Locally that would include folks like Tom Parker, Danny Raffield and Capt. Dave Maddox.
Soon, he will begin the process of editing down hours and hours of film into a tight 60 minutes showcase of the liquid treasures practically unique to this state.
"It looks really good," Stoltzfus said. "I'm really proud of it."
The future of the finished product is all but set.
The film will premiere Feb. 20 at the R.A. Gray Building auditorium in the state capital during Tallahassee's annual arts festival, "Seven Days of Opening Nights."
Along with Stoltzfus's film, the "Living Waters" project will produce a coffee-table book of photographs by world-famous lensman Clyde Butcher, as well as posters fashioned from Butcher's visions.
After the premier, the film will travel the state over the next four years, presented at museums and similar venues in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Sarasota and the like.
Tedder, as he stood and pointed his camera across St. Joseph Bay, just seemed pleased to be along for the ride.
"It's exciting to be part of something that's not there, yet," Tedder said. "You don't know what it's going to be, except it's going to be beautiful."
To the eyes and the ears.
