Fade to Black: Thomas Winston

DP Thomas Winston (pictured left and below) filming naturalist Casey Anderson and rescued bear Brutus for Expedition Grizzly.

Thomas Winston might get relatively close to bears in the wild, but he''s careful never to get personal. “When we go out, we don''t want the bears to acknowledge us,” he says of himself and his collaborators at Montana-based Grizzly Creek Films. “We want to just shoot them being bears—just observe them.”

But Casey Anderson, the narrator of Grizzly Creek''s latest production, Expedition Grizzly, does get personal with one bear: his best friend, Brutus, the now-adult grizzly he rescued and raised from infancy. Winston met Anderson while producing PSAs on human-bear interactions for the Draper Museum of Natural History in Cody, Wyo., and he became fascinated by both the naturalist''s unique relationship with the bear and his knowledge of grizzlies in the field. He shot footage of Anderson with Brutus and in the wild and, eventually, pitched the idea for a show to the National Geographic Channel (NGC). Last year, he filmed Expedition Grizzly in the remote, pristine regions of Yellowstone National Park.

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The 1-hour special, which aired in May on NGC, showcases classic natural-history-style footage of grizzlies alongside Anderson''s on-location narration. To shoot the wildlife footage simultaneously with Anderson''s realtime interpretation of the bears'' activity, Grizzly Creek employed a two-camera setup: DP Winston used a Panasonic AG-HPX500 with a 42X Fujinon lens to film the bears, while cameraman Rick Smith used the Panasonic AG-HVX200 to capture Anderson''s commentary. To highlight specific bear behaviors witnessed in the wild, Grizzly Creek also shot breakout footage of Anderson interacting with Brutus in a controlled setting.

Because he could rely on Anderson''s expertise to draw near to the bears while still maintaining a safe distance, Winston says the most common challenges were dealing with the extreme weather conditions of the park and steadying his long-lens camera against the wind. But things did get a bit hairy when two young bears they were filming suddenly startled after an older male grizzly appeared from over a hilltop. The crew found themselves first between the young bears and then in a potentially confrontational situation with the older one. Fortunately, the giant grizzly ended up running away.

While the scene made for captivating footage, Winston says this was a worst-case scenario for the filmmakers and emphasizes that they would never intentionally cross boundaries with wildlife. “This shows you just can''t get too comfortable out there,” he says.

Winston, who served as executive producer on the special, says he and Grizzly Creek are in talks with NGC to produce more wildlife shows hosted by Anderson.

More on Grizzly Creek Films

View Winston''s reel