Planet Fungi goes ghost hunting
Last week Catherine finished editing two fabulous sequences in our new documentary Follow the Rain. Here are some of the highlights. We also have some big news.
As many of you know we have been running a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funding we need for those big ticket final post-production processes - music composition and production, colour grade, sound mix and graphics.
Over the past two months our wonderful supporters have helped us raise nearly half of what we need $18,000 of $43,000. We are also planning an education impact strategy on completion of the documentary.
Can you help us raise 100% of what we need?
This week Documentary Australia have come on board to support the project by offering tax deductibility status on any Australian or US donations.
Are you an individual or business who could benefit from a tax deductible donation in the lead up to the end of the financial year?
We are getting close to the end of the edit completing the sequence we shot in the Flinders Ranges and Ghost Mushroom Lane last winter. Scroll down for more ….
Last June we started hearing weather reports that unusually heavy rains were sweeping across the desert country of South Australia. So we packed the car and followed that rain, driving 2,000 kilometres to the Flinders Ranges.
This is a place of extreme weather. Droughts and intense summer heat waves are regular events. And then when it does rain, it can transform this landscape, triggering the desert to bloom.
So you may be wondering why a couple of fungi hunters would travel to such a harsh land. Surely there’s no fungi. But the truth is that few desert plants would survive without their fungal partners.
And as the land soaks up the showers, the underground network of life seizes the moment for renewal and rebirth. Both the decomposing and the mycorrhizal fungi send forth their mushrooms, reproductive bodies housing trillions of spores.
We couldn’t believe our luck when we found some excellent specimens of the desert shaggy mane or Podaxis pistillaris, a classic desert mushroom found all over the world.
This fungus seizes the small window of ideal conditions to send up its mushroom loaded with millions of spores. The find allows us the opportunity in FOLLOW THE RAIN to explore how mushroom spores are rain makers. Using some of Catherine’s exquisite slow motion footage we show how nature’s engineering helps mushroom spores seed clouds to create the showers so essential, to life on this planet, and to us.
The second story Catherine edited this week is Planet Fungi’s visit to Ghost Mushroom Lane - their mission to find and time-lapse - in the field - the local bioluminescent species Omphalotus nidiformis. Have you ever wondered why mushrooms glow in the dark? In this sequence we share some of the wow science behind this strange behaviour, and our technique for capturing it in time-lapse footage.
Here are a couple of Stephen’s photos from the night.
Help fund the FINAL POST-PRODUCTION on our new documentary.
Help fund the FINAL POST-PRODUCTION on our new documentary.
fungi of the flinders ranges
WHY WE ARE MAKING FOLLOW THE RAIN
Did you know humans are only just starting to understand how important fungi are to life on our planet and how critical they are in protecting us from the impacts of climate change? Now we realise that without fungi, the world as we know it would not exist - forests would not exist, and we would not exist. The push is on to document as many species as possible, as fast as possible, and then to understand what they do in the ecosystem.
Raising awareness about fungi is critical to achieving that goal. Your contribution will assist in achieving that mission.
This feature documentary will be the ultimate showcase for the beauty and science of fungi. Our passion for fungi has had the most extraordinary outcomes, from discovering new species, to immersing ourselves in fascinating fungi science, to creating exquisite time-lapses of fungi growing.
We are going to share our world of fungi with you in a way that has never been done before. We are pouring everything we have into this project – 10 years of passion and research. We know the story will be captivating, with fungi adventures in the Gondwana forests of the subtropics, the ancient grand forest of the Tarkine, the desert country of the Flinders Ranges and World Heritage forests of Lord Howe Island.
We will introduce our audience to passionate mycologists and fungi enthusiasts, and we even take you zombie fungi hunting. You will be investing in a project that is inspirational, showing how we can all make a difference to understand the planet we live on.
We know we can reach our goal. In fact, if everybody who receives this email gives just $25, $50, $100 or $200, we’d easily meet our target.
So we’re asking you to donate today.
Again a big thanks to all who have contributed so far and for those that have we would be grateful if you could spread the word far and wide via your networks to anyone else you think would be interested.
