The Avian Encounters Trilogy

The Avian Encounters Trilogy: A Summary Of Each Film by Christina Giordano

Avian Encounters I...And The People Who Love Them

I am an imaginative person and I was initially inspired to do the first video by a very compelling emotional state: Boredom. Working in a big box pet store isn’t exactly the most stimulating environment for one’s creativity!

A video on You Tube about the animal rescue effort during Hurricane Katrina was the model for Avian Encounters I. Not long after, a visit to Epcot gave me the inspiration for the music selection.

When I initially heard the music, I began visualizing wild parrots flying in their natural environment. With this intoxicating combination and a bit of encouragement from the creator of that inspiring You Tube video, it gave me the idea to begin working on what is now the first of the three films I’ve created.

At first, I thought my expectations for the first film might be too high. I wasn’t entirely certain that there would be much interest in a film of this sort and I wasn’t too sure if my technical skills were up to the challenge. Initially, it was going to simply be a personal video with only my birds, but I thought it would be more fun and more interesting if I invited my Face book friends to participate…besides the fact that after I got into working on the project, I realized I had not enough photos of my own to fulfil the musical composition. I had a hunch that this concept would take off and my gut instinct was right. People all over the world began sending me their photos and the project was launched.

Although I will admit to you Avian Encounters I is merely a slide show and the initial trial project…it is also the introduction to people and their lives with birds. The intelligence level of these creatures goes far beyond the intelligence I question in humans… sometimes. We care very deeply and harness our emotions for these creatures. They become a way of life for most of us. It is an emotional connection that increases with every trick that is taught, accepted and learned, with every new food that is introduced and accepted, as well as every kiss, hug and cuddle that these birds give us on a daily basis. I understand that some of you in the audience do not have birds and the concept of this is foreign. Hopefully after this night you will see and understand and the message of the Avian Encounters Trilogy will have done it’s job. With that I’d like to thank the “real stars” of these films…The Avian Community of Facebook…

Avian Encounters II...A Facebook Collaboration

With the closing of Avian Encounters I came a rush of joys, praise, and contradiction. Friends were lost and friends were gained. Throughout the next 6 months I kept receiving photos and video footage from people that wanted to be in the “Next One”…What “Next One”? I asked…I wasn’t planning on a “Next One”. So with that, new software was bought, new music was picked out and a whole new world of editing film opened up for me. And thank goodness for that initial emotional state creeping up on me once again…Boredom!

Avian Encounters II developed with the idea in mind to show the veiwer where we all have been and where we all are going. This is a tribute to 6 of the birds our community had lost over the past year and the rejoice of the young fledglings that we have been blessed with. For the Avian Community this was an emotional film. For me it was equally emotional. Twice as many people were involed in the collaboration and I was working with video footage. This was an actual invitation into the lives of people whom I had never met in person. They gave me the permission to enter their lives and feel their emotional bond with their birds through their eyes.

Avian Encounters III...The Finale

One day, the magnitude of what I was engineering all came together and I realized what I had done : I was creating the first worldwide, collaborative films from a social networking platform. This is an accomplishment neither Patricia Sund nor I have ever ever been able to attribute to anyone else. And believe me! We looked!

I sat back and realized that I had managed to bring 116 people in 15 different countries from around the world together with only one common denominator. And that single common denominator was birds! Which begs the question: “Why is it that a group of wacko bird people on Face Book can put together a project like this in 68 days and in the entire history of the world, Leaders around the world STILL cannot find a common denominator for World Peace?” I mean really....

As I thought about what we all were able to accomplish, I remembered words spoken by one of the world’s most legendary creative minds: Walt Disney. He once said:

“The age we are living in is the most extraordinary the world has ever seen. The human species is still reaching for the stars. Today we are the shapers of the world of tomorrow. Often we cannot explain what we see. But the era we are living in is a dream coming true.”

Avian Encounters III – The Finale took 87 days and 609 hours of editing time to complete. There are 20 countries represented and 116 people who contributed photos and video footage to this work with 11 people contributing their voice. There are 37,709 frames that comprise Avian Encounters III, and probably equally as many tears, cheers and swear words that came out of me when I was editing it…just ask my father! And to quote Disney again, “It's kind of fun to do the impossible.”

While this trilogy may not bring about world peace; it’s a step in the right direction.