Yellowstone 88  -  Song of Fire

BLUEPRINT

Evocative, magical, suspended in that mythic world of woodland folklore where animals are predominant and the planet moves to encircle the ecosystem in a constant tranquil accord.

Yellowstone 88 - Song of Fire tells the story of the devastating fires that engulfed the park for five months of 1988 until winter snows and rain quelled the inferno and ended the destruction – or did it?

In dual tones of fiery reds, purples, yellows and oranges set against a dark, burning backdrop of damaged, diseased and drought ridden trees, dry lightning sparks a fire that rages like an avenging angel until its crusade is complete.

We see the many animals that live in the park – bear, bison, elk, deer, ground squirrels, fox and coyote. We see trees and scrub and plant life. We see mountains and rivers and valleys. We see dawn and dusk and the dark night skies that reveal the magnificent nebula in the galaxy above.

These sculpted two dimensional animals - part spirit and part real - flee the fire to quickly reach a place of safety, if they can, some go to water, some go underground. Eventually a white winter snow of intense severity covers the scorched earth where now nothing edible can grow and fauna, exhausted from the fire and weakened by hunger, starve to death in search of food.

Bleak and desolate the starry cosmos turns from one season to the next and the next, and the land rests and renews and life begins again like the primordial spring. Flora grows in abundance, nourished by the fallen ashes of destruction, and animals and birds return in strength to once again reclaim their birthright. And so the story is as much about evolution as loss, and the spirit that resides in such an ancient forest

At the time of the fire there were no wolves living in the park but their existence in Yellowstone predates the creation of the park and their presence and soul has always been felt, and so the spirit of the wolf speaks through this poem and guides us through the animation. Once reintroduced into the park their presence altered the shape of the ecosystem and returned it to an original stature.

YELLOWSTONE 88 – Fire Facts

In the summer of 1988 dry lightning sparked a fire in the parched and drought ridden landscape of Yellowstone, igniting a blaze that would scorch over 1,500,000 perimeter acres of the park.

More than 20,000 firefighters and military personnel from around the US descended upon the park to try and make a stand against the inferno.

For five months the fires, some natural and some caused by humans, raged unabated until winter snow and rain finally put an end to the conflagration

Relatively few animals died in the actual fires. Instinctively fauna understand and are able to gauge fire and can usually survive one. Some flee and some go underground, most note the wind and smoke patterns and move away from the fire as quickly and as far as they can. Multiple fires converging pose a greater threat but the real danger to animals and birds comes after a fire when the land is scorched bare and there is no food to be found. The same winter snow that doused the uncontained fires was so severe that animals simply starved or died attempting to find food. It was a bitter loss of great proportion.

Multiple lessons in wild land fire management were learned from those harrowing months - lessons that continue to shape on-going policy, communication and command structures and changes in critical ecological doctrine.

Numbers in Yellowstone

  • 9 fires caused by humans
  • 42 fires caused by lightning.
  • 36% (793,880 acres) of the park was affected.
  • Fires, which began outside of the park, burned 63% or approximately 500,000 acres of the total acreage.
  • About 300 large mammals perished as a direct result of the fires: 246 elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 9 bison, 4 mule deer, 2 moose.
  • $120 million was spent fighting the fires.
  • Total of 10,000 people were involved in these efforts
Time Line of the Event
  • June 14: Storm Creek Fire begins.
  • June 23: Shoshone Fire begins.
  • June 25: Fan Fire begins.
  • June 30: Red Fire begins.
  • July 5: Lava Fire begins.
  • July 11: Mink and Clover fires begin.
  • July 14: On a backcountry fishing trip near the eastern border of Yellowstone National Park, Vice President George H.W. Bush must leave early when fire comes close to camp.
  • July 21: Yellowstone National Park begins suppressing all fires.
  • July 22: North Fork Fire begins.
  • July 25: Fire camp crew jumps into West Thumb Bay to escape flames.
  • August 20: "Black Saturday," fires double to more than 480,000 acres.
  • September 3: Storm Creek Fire burns over Silver Tip Ranch, north of Yellowstone National Park; the historic ranch survives.
  • September 7: Firestorm blasts Old Faithful area; Old Faithful Inn is saved and no one is injured.
  • September 10: Residents of Mammoth Hot Springs evacuate as fire moves across Bunsen Peak toward the area.
  • September 11: Rain and heavy snowfall suppress the fires. Thus begins a time of deprivation and starvation for many animals.

INSPIRATION

The penning of, Song of Fire, the narrative poem that guides the animation of Yellowstone 88, has it’s roots in a TED Talk given some while ago by the writer, journalist and eco-activist, George Monbiot, on the subject of rewilding. Rewilding is a newish word coined for a forward thinking concept, it means the mass restoration of ecosystems. Watching Monbiot happily lay out how the discovery of rewilding changed his life - gave it purpose and meaning – I was inspired by the notion of Trophic Cascade which he explains here:

This is an ecological process, which starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles all the way down to the bottom, and the classic example is what happened at Yellowstone National Park when wolves were reintroduced in 1995.

How Wolves Changed Rivers - George Monbiot

THE POEM - SONG OF FIRE

I alone have shaped the valley
Moved the water, trod the stream
Spreading far and wide the forest
River’s cradle, mountains, dreams

Home of bears and wolves and bison
Lodgepole pines and blue, spruce trees

Summer solstice. All is quiet
All is waiting for the rains
Broken trees like broken promise
Set the scene for great travails

Cloud to ground the silent lightning
Strikes not once, but twice again

Then an ember falls cascading
Light as air and breath exhaled
Racing, drifting, like some wishes
Cast their spell as kindling sails

Now the sky is orange, glowing
Now the fauna pressing on
Running, rushing, hooves-a-beating
All is fleet in speed and song

Winds like tempests set in motion
Whirl the fire overhead
And the forest strains to hear it
Seeking, speaking. Voice of death

Far beneath the maelstrom moment
Far beneath the fire’s dread
Bear and cub and squirrel soundly
Rest their weary worn out heads

Quickly moves inferno onward
Jumping roads and rivers wide
Catching, snatching, Taxa burning
Nothing can the forest hide

Parched and dry the tinder valley
Gives the fire all it has
And the fire soon consumes it
Dancing, spinning, turning mass

On it rages in a fury
On it wages hellish war
Through the summer, through the season
Can the forest give it more?

Pinecones seed their children onward
Explode to rest on forest floor
Then the hand of fate’s abated
And the spirit needs no more

Softly falls a silent blanket
Ghostly swirls that form within
Winter snow comes cold and riding
Drifting in on arctic winds

All is quiet all is muted
As the Bison trundle in
Slowly sinking, tired, mired
In their seeking, in their quest

Head and hoof move earth and water
Nothing - does this land possess

Fall where standing, life extinguished
Creatures of the ancient earth
Now to roam where dreams enlighten
Time of waiting, time of birth

Rest one season, then another
Weave a spell. A shift. A sign

Then the forest will rekindle
Flora, fauna - all in time

Betsy De Fries

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Yellowstone is the oldest national park in the world. Established by Congress in 1872, the park boundaries cross the state lines of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone existed even before those territories became states. Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for more than 11,000 years.

The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which at 28,000 square miles is the largest remaining, nearly-intact temperate-zone ecosystem on Earth.

Yellowstone Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.

Credits

  • Narrated by:
  • Peter Coyote
  • A Poem by:
  • Betsy de Fries
  • Production, Design, Animation:
  • Little Fluffy Clouds
  • Director, Designer, Animator:
  • Jerry van de Beek
  • Director, Producer:
  • Betsy de Fries
  • Sound Design:
  • Jerry van de Beek
  • .
  • Mark Murphy
  • Music and Sound Mix:
  • Secrets & Machines
  • Composed by:
  • Mark Murphy
  • Voice Over Recording:
  • Mixstream.org
  • Audio Engineer
  • Stephen Barncard

FILM FESTIVALS
  • Walker Nature Center 2024
  • Brighton Int. Animation Fest 2024
  • Santa Barbara Int. Short Fest 2024 Best Animation Short
  • Palermo International FF 2023
  • Orion IFF 2024 Finalist
  • Ireland Wildlife FF 2023
  • Catalina Film Festival 2023
  • Lebanese Independent Film Festival - LIFF 2023
  • SENSEI Film Fest 2023
  • I WILL TELL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023
  • First Glance Film Fest Philadelphia 2023
  • Brussels World Film Festival 2023
  • 26th Gran Paradiso Film Festival 2023
  • Rhode Island Int Film Fest2023 Semi Finalist
  • International World Film Award 2023 Best Animation
  • Gig Harbor Film Festivals 2023
  • San Diego Int Film Awards 2023 Semi Finalist
  • Woods Hole Film Festival 2023
  • New York Indie Short Awards 2023
  • Acampadoc Panama 2023
  • Blue Whiskey Independent FF 2023
  • The John Hopkins FF 2023
  • Julien Dubuque IFF 2023
  • Green Film Festival 2023
  • Cinema Verde Environmental FF 2023
  • Gold Movie Awards 2023
  • Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2023
  • Socially Relevant Film Festival NY 2023
  • Beeston Film Festival 2023
  • So Cal Film Awards 2023
  • Snowtown Film Festival 2023
  • Omaha Film Festival 2023
  • Oceanside Int Film Festival 2023 Best Animation
  • Media Film Festival 2023 The Golden Trolley Award
  • Catharsis Int Film Festival 2023
  • Blissfest Poetry in Motion 2023 Best Animation
  • Sydney Indie Short Festival Semi Finalist
  • Alameda Int Film Festival 2023
  • Abbeville Bird and Nature Festival 2023
  • Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2023
  • Sandbar Int Film Festival 2022 Honorable Mention
  • SunChild Int Environmental Festival 2022
  • Rome Prisma Film Awards 2022
  • Southampton Film Week 2022
  • Rotterdam Independent Film Festival 2022 Award Winner
  • Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2022
  • BASH Bay Area - Sacramento Short Films Fest 2022
  • 12N61W Film Festival 2022
  • Sustainable Stories Film Fest 2022
  • Deep Fried Film Festival 2022
  • Festival Int du Ornithologique 2022
  • Jackson Wild Media Awards 2022 Finalist
  • New West Film Fest 2022
  • Kyiv Indie Fest 2022 Best Documentary
  • Cannes Indie Short Awards 2022 Semi Finalist
  • Fano Int Film Festival 2022
  • Vienna Indie Short Film Festival 2022 Semi Finalist
  • Tryon Int Film Festival 2022 Best Animated Short Film
  • Venezia Shorts 2022
  • Athens Int Children’s Film Festival 2022
  • Austin Int Art Festival 2022
  • Niagara Falls Int Short Festival 2022
  • Inkafest Mountain Film Festival 2022
  • High Desert Screening Albuquerque 2022
  • Kinosaray Positive Film Festival 2022
  • World Houston Int Film Festival 2022 Special Jury Remi Award
  • JellyFest 2022
  • Indy Film Festival 2022
  • Chesapeake Film Festival 2022 Best Animation Award
  • Denali Film Festival 2022 Best Animation Award
  • Vaasa Wildlife Festival 2022 Finalist
  • Southern Cone Int Film Festival 2022
  • New York Int Women Festival 2022
  • Maui Film Festival 2022
  • Hamburg Indie Film Festival 2022 Best Short Animation
  • Long Story Shorts 2022
  • Good Natured Short Film Festival 2022 Life on Earth Award
  • Berlin Shorts Award 2022
  • Seattle Movie Awards 2022
  • Milan Arthouse Film Festival 2022
  • Int Cosmopolitan Film Festival Tokyo 2022 Winner Best Sound Design - all catigories
  • Sacramento World Film Festival 2022
  • Athens Int Video Poetry Festival 2022
  • Prague Int Film Awards 2022
  • AniMate Australia Animation Film Festival 2022
  • Eugene Environmental Film Festival 2022
  • Int Wildlife Film Festival Missoula 2022
  • San Francisco Green Film Festival 2022
  • Wander Wild Festival 2022
  • Kosice Int Film Festival 2022
  • Rotterdam Independent Film Festival 2022
  • Paris Women Festival 2022
  • Amsterdam ARFF Int Award 2022
  • Phoenix Short Film Festival 2022
  • Madrid Arthouse Film Festival 2022
  • ArtHouse Festival of Beverly Hills 2022
  • Sevilla Indie Film Festival 2022 Best Animated Short
  • San Francisco Indie Short Festival 2022
  • Hong Kong Indie Film Festival 2022
  • Stockholm Short Festival 2022
  • Boulder Int Film Festival 2022 Best Animated Short Film Award
  • FestMedallo Int de Cine de Medellin 2022
  • Findecoin 2022
  • Thomas Edison Film Festival 2022 Jury Choise Award
  • Clermont-Ferrand Festival du Court Métrage 2022
  • San Francisco Indie Fest 2022 Special Jury Award for Spirit of the Environment
  • Green Bay Int Film Festival 2022
  • European Short Film Festival 2021
  • Toronto Independent Film Festival of CIFT 2021
  • SIGGRAPH ASIA 2021
  • Eau Claire International Film Festival 2021
  • Great Lakes Int Film Festival 2021
  • Accolade Global Film Competition 2021 Best Animated Short Film Award
  • The IndieFEST Film Awards 2021 Award of Excellence
  • Int Social Change Film Festival 2021
  • Overcome Film Festival 2021 Best Voice Actor & Best Audio Narrative Poetry Film
  • Encounters Film Festival 2021
  • Innsbruck Nature Film Festival 2021
  • Roma Int Film Festival 2021
  • WILDsound 2021 – Best Sound & Music
  • Festival For Trailers 2021
  • Feedback Animation Film Festival 2021 Winner Best Sound & Music
PUBLICATIONS
  • ASIFA 2022
  • STASH MEDIA
  • Little Black Book UK
  • Motionographer
  • Cinesource Magazine
  • ASIFA 2021
  • ZIPPY Shorts Corner 2021

Sources

Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Sketch - Lamar Valley
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Final Render - Lamar Valley
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Full Color Sketch Spring Scene
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Line Drawing Spring Scene
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Illustrator Spring Scene
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Sketch Mountain Range Spring Scene
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Full Color Mountain Range Spring Scene
Yellowstone 88 | Song of Fire | Award Winning Animated Poem by Little Fluffy Clouds a Bay Area Animation Studio
Final Render Spring Scene

WILDSOUND Film Festival Audience Feedback

Hear what members of the audience had to say about Yellowstone 88 - Song of Fire

Little Fluffy Clouds Awarded a 2022 IWFF LABS FELLOWSHIP

The International Wildlife Film Festival invited six filmmakers including Little Fluffy Clouds to be special guests at the festival to take part in their LABS FELLOWSHIP. This residency involved shooting and editing a short documentary over a period of four days.

Our Creative Director Jerry van de Beek teamed up with fellow film makers Lara Tomov and Nick Stone Schearer to tell the story of wildlife management, including wildlife crossing structures, along Highway 93. HWY 93 runs through the Flathead Reservation home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT).

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) pushed for a “context-sensitive design of the expansion of Highway 93” to take into account the surrounding mountains, plains, hills, forests, valleys, and sky. It includes the paths of waters, glaciers, winds, plants, animals and native people. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes call this approach “Spirit of Place”.