The Shape of Water
a triple feature
This week’s entry is a classic, themed, triple feature archive post, and this time we’re talking about the source of life. Collected over the course of a few months, I’ve got three edutainment videos this week, all centered around water (including one simply titled “Water”). You’ll enjoy the beautiful music of Authur Kempel as you watch the ocean come to life in Al Giddings' Ocean Symphony, marvel at the oceans largest mammals, and then team up with Al Giddings once again to find out just how important water is to our entire ecosystem.
Let’s get right into the tapes!
Al Giddings' Ocean Symphony
1987 | Runtime 47 Minutes
Breathtaking Images of a world few have ever seen are combined with a spectacular original music score to create the most unique underwater adventure film ever made.
Emmy-winning underwater cinematographer Al Giddings has spent
his 25-year career and over 20,000 hours under the seas of the world in search of the most dramatic, beautiful and riveting scenes of ocean life. The result is an amazing visual experience that takes you from the Ice-strewn waters of the hostile Antarctic to the coral-colored streams of the Caribbean with its virtual cast of thousands of unique inhabitants of the ocean world. It's an unforgettable view of the Earth's rarest treasure the lifegiving oceans of the world.
Whales: An Unforgettable Journey
1997 | Runtime 1 Hour
Experience breathtaking close-up encounters with the largest mammal that ever lived on earth - the blue whale. Follow humpbacks, orcas, right whales and dolphins for a stunning new perspective on these mysterious marine mammoths. Filmed in IMAX® "Whales" resonates in an exploding panorama of color and excitement. Acclaimed by critics as a "can't miss film” and a "dazzling poetic experience."
Bonus: 17 minute behind-the-scenes special included.
The Nature Company Video Library Presents: Water, the Gift of Life
1990 | Runtime 50 Minutes
Water is the precious substance on which all life depends. It moves through the air and soil, nourishing animals and plants and sculpting the earth into magnificent shapes and forms. From glistening dewdrops to ice crystals that crack granite, water is one of the most delicate yet dramatic forces on Earth.
The Nature Company joins Emmy award-winning cinematographer Al Giddings to produce this breathtaking video experience of the beauty of water: the dawning of life in a Sierra stream, the steaming Micronesian jungle, the breaching whales of Alaska. An original musical score delicately interweaves the natural rhythms of water and eloquent narration by Gregory Peck. The accompanying full-color booklet explores water in its myriad forms.
The Nature Company Video Library blends stunning imagery, original music, natural sounds, lyrical narration and an informative supplemental text to create an experience both inspirational and educational. We hope it enhances your understanding and appreciation of the magnificent world of nature.
This tape was presented in a custom box with a read-along manual, which I’ve photographed and made into a PDF, which is available here for download.
My last article was posted the day of an outage on Substack, so if you didn’t check out that post, and would like to, you can catch up here!
I keep Youtube Playlists of the all the wonderful media I find. You can check out the Video Archive here, and the Audio Archive here. As always, if you have any questions or comments you can get at me here or here or leave a comment below this post
See you soon.
—Forrest
WHALES!