Well folks, what do toasters have to do with gardening? And what do toasters have to do with sharks? And where can you get a shark microphone? If you are wondering about any of these questions, I suggest you watch this short, shark-related piece. When I was visiting the Sanibel Sea School to film children at a shark camp for The Riddle Solvers shark episode, I conducted some behind-the-scenes interviews for fun, in the blazing hot Florida sun, and this is what happened. And I should mention that you’ll see some stunning HD footage of sharks, from the Save Our Seas Foundation’s amazing footage library.
Comments (0)Sisbro Studios
Sisbro Studios was founded by the sister-brother creative team of Laura and Rob Sams. Their films, books, music and educational presentations help children of all ages learn about nature (and laugh along the way). [Project Page]
5 February 2010
1 January 2010
Shark Dentists?
Laura and Robert Sams Acting as Shark Dentists
“Are you a shark? Are you worried about constantly losing your teeth and having to see a dentist? Well don’t be. You don’t need a dentist. You’re a shark!”
That is the opening line to a short sketch we are filming called “Your Teeth and You,” featuring a 1950’s dentist (my brother Rob) and a dental assistant (me), who teach sharks about the different kinds of teeth they have. The sketch is for our new episode of The Riddle Solvers, and we just finished filming it in a lovely dental office in Oregon, where we were fortunate enough to find people who would let us take over their surgical room for a day. We were also lucky to work with a great makeup artist who could give Robert a dashing mustache, and who could give me very styled hair (and darker than usual eyebrows).
(more…)
12 November 2009
Shark Riddles on the Oregon Coast
Robert Sams in his shark bed while hearing a shark lullaby
We are hard at work shooting our latest Riddle Solvers episode – The Shark Riddle – taking us on a quest to find a tooth from the greatest living fish, much bigger than the rest. As a backdrop for this story, we traveled to the beautiful and rugged Oregon coast and filmed in places with wicked names, like The Devil’s Punchbowl and Heceta Head, which I think translates to “even worse than The Devil’s Punchbowl.” As a general rule to filming along any coastline, the locations with the most terrifying names tend to be the most visually stunning.
Comments (0)21 September 2009
Whale Shark Teeth
In our new episode of The Riddle Solvers, we find the following riddle in an ancient journal.
Whale Shark Tooth
Teeth can tell you stories, they’re full of many clues,
Of how a creature lived and how its jaws are used.
Your riddle is to find a tooth, this shall be your test.
A tooth from the greatest living fish, much bigger than the rest.
The title of this blog may have given away the answer, but the biggest living fish in the ocean is the whale shark. Our movie takes us on a quest to figure out the riddle, and ultimately find a whale shark tooth. For those of you not familiar with whale sharks, they can reach lengths of over 50 feet (over 15 meters) and mostly feed on small plankton. They don’t need big teeth, and they don’t have big teeth. They have very, very tiny teeth. I just received two whale shark teeth in the mail . . . and I knew they would be small. But wow. I am absolutely blown away by how tiny they are, and how the biggest fish in the ocean has such tiny teeth. We are definitely going to need a good macro lens to film this part of the movie.
In fact, I made sure we have two whale shark teeth, because I know if we accidentally drop one in the sand while filming, we are going to have a very hard time finding it.
I propose that instead of saying “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” people say, “It’s like finding a fossilized whale shark tooth in the sand.”– Laura Sams
Comments (2)10 September 2009
The Shark Lullaby
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Click on this arrow to hear The Shark Lullaby, the first recorded song for our upcoming Riddle Solvers episode: The Shark Riddle.
Laura Sams sings The Shark Lullaby
We are very excited about working on a program about sharks with the Save Our Seas Foundation. And we plan to make a shark program like none you have ever seen . . . with magic, mystery, shark lullabies, singing sea lions, shark dentists and more.
I wrote this song while Robert was away at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival, and then I recorded it at Audiowells in Portland, Oregon. I am singing and playing the piano, but we hired an amazing cello player to add some string accompaniment.
This song is entitled The Shark Lullaby and will be used in a way that introduces the idea that sharks are extremely diverse – different sizes, different shapes, different colors . . . This song is just a demo, so there may be some changes to come, but we wanted to share it with you anyway. Get ready for sweet, shark-infested dreams.
Comments (3)
