you
this is beachy island the three graves you see there belong to the crew of an expedition led
by Sir John Franklin in 1835 and just behind me there is the legendary Russian icebreaker
the captain Culebra cook this is been my home to the last year the day before this
I stood on the deck of that ship and stared down a polar bear and the day before that I
rode shotgun at the helicopter subsonic glacier trench runs this is the Canadian High Arctic now
let me back with it in August of 2016 Norman Chan and I were chosen by Commander Chris has
Belgians done seven Platteville to travel for 18 days with eight other artists photographers
writers musicians on an expedition they called generators Arctic the goal for us
simply enough was to create to offer our perspectives on this experience through
our art and give our audience a chance that the size of the world rarely Badou
Nolan I represented taxes.com we shot produced a number of segments over the courses trip but
this film you're watching here this is the journey this is the rest of that footage
that we shot over those 18 days laid out narrated by me to bring you along with us
to the full generator Arctic expedition hazard a experienced we start our story
here flying from our home in San Francisco to ottawa canada ottawa canada to congeal Aswath
greenland and there we hop on board the club de cough on the club back off we're given our muck
boots are waterproof coats the nickel tour and off we sales began our first leg of the trip
up the coastal towns of western Greenland here we pop in and out of a series of quiet fishing
villages cradled by I see us as we weave through the occasional path of Greenlandic sled dog
now there's something missing anyone needs ever been a passenger on a ship with a schedule like
this well no the hurdles are kind of is it you're trying to soak in an entire culture
within only a matter of hours and that's near impossible there is an adventure to be had here
in Greenland hiking the polar route fly-fishing arctic char photographing the Northern Lights
but unfortunately this wasn't the trip we had 18 days and you had to keep living
now when we want to get to shore to explore maybe gets do some of the more narrow passages
of water we would take DoDEA's now zodiacs are rigid inflatable folks that were capable
of carrying a dozen or so passengers and small crates of equipment there was also
a way for us to get up close to floating icebergs humpback whales and while not
quite as dramatic as the Russian icebreakers the due dates would occasionally break ice
the zodiacs also allowed for wetland do it beat ourselves longshore of uninhabited
areas of Greenland explore glacial streams local wildlife Rockland the other mode of
transportation was perhaps my favorite I've never flown in a helicopter before this trip but if
you want to soar over the arctic mountains or put yourself in couple icy org this was the way to go
you
Oh
you
one of our last real index tops in this trip was an archeological site called collegiate
sod famous for the discovery of eight mummified bodies laid to rest under sheets of rock and
kept preserved through sub-zero temperatures we took a light hike through these peaceful trying
for me this time was used as a sort of mental reset a brief moment to meditate
on the experience so far free the mind for what's yet to come
from here on out we would be surrounded by snow and ice traveling is high north of 81 degrees
with a 24-hour Sun as its kind of drunken lease way above us confusing their body to turn upon
you
hee hee
you
as a temperature drop rapidly and the geographical landscape of the oceans
surface introduced large sheets of ice to block our current course the Russian icebreaker would
do its job twenty four thousand horses powered this ship that's capable of traveling through
both polar regions without any challenge now the path referred is always going to be open
water sometimes there is no way around it we had to get through ice the ship itself would gently
tremble as the bow would climb on top of the sheet of ice and crushed down creating cracks
and splits that allow us to navigate through our current course after a few friendly shots
of vodka with the Russian crew we got access to and room we got a tour of the machinery the
ADEs era technology that still kept this thing out of pearl tight maintenance and a solid crew
there wasn't anything on the Arctic Ocean that was going to stop this ship well almost maybe
we continued on a couple helicopter ride today the occasional sights to see from
the deck during the evenings you gather in the bar or listen to music occasionally I'd
jack my camera into the TV in previous in the day's footage now it turns out I shot a lot of
slow-motion helicopters taking off and landing as mesmerizing as it was to end the day parent
disclosures at a glass of wine the actual helicopter pilots were really quite pleased
to see their flying filled in such a way both outside the heli and from in I can't remember
much of our conversations at night but I do know it ended with the helicopter pilots pulling us
to the side and saying hey if you want we can get you up in the sky with the doors taken off
the last few excursions were among my favorite pure desolation powdery snow silenced the bright
Arctic summer Sun I Tanqueray fjord a small group of us hiked three hours of Mount Kamiya I know
this looks miserable but believe me this was one of the most pleasant hikes I've been on in a long
time the weather cleared up at the peak just as we came across a small group of arctic hare
coming back down we had just missed a pack of arctic wolves
we return to a surprise barbecue on the back of the ship as we shared stories of the rest of the
generator crew of our ribs and beer it was kind of a perfect day I'm gonna get arctic nice flag
amazing and that brings us back here to bgl the last stop literally and twelve short hours will
be bussed over to the resolute Bay Airport while our electronics will wake up after an 18 day nap
as Wi-Fi networks pop up in the notifications bar the floodgates of emails and messages will open
take the bulk of our attention as we fly back by now looking back on it I can't recall what
single one of those messages with valid backup nursery but that afternoon on Beechey Island
I can tell you exactly what I was doing what I was thinking and everything that I was feeling
commander Hadfield said something on the trip that touched up me I'm paraphrasing here but
these unique experiences that some of us are fortunate enough to be a part of or about much
more than just checking off some boxes in the Bible it's our responsibility and honor in some
way to let these experience these moments changes and to take that and channel in a way that we can
share it with others who may not be able to have this kind of opportunity as a filmmaker I use the
medium to achieve some sense of that to share something about myself and about an experience
in hopes that I can connect with someone on some sort of meaningful level and through
that connection to make the world a little bit smaller a little bit easier to comprehend now
if you haven't seen it yet the generator crew has been pushing up some amazing material from
this trail Photography vlogs music this was an inspiring group of people to be around in one
of the most amazing places I've ever had the honor to travel to despite the freezing temperature whoa
waited and wondered if the dream would return what i softened that portal is
tattooed to birth on the show where we land three graves by the sea it was only his play
who ever did see so I think the first day you sing the chorus we play ball Wow don't
rush in horses crush newly I write them an eye on the captain to lift the cup bye