“DID YOU KNOW A GRIZZLY BEAR CAN EAT MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND BLUEBERRIES A DAY? THAT’S A LOT OF BLUEBERRIES!”
Craig was waiting for them at the Stony Dome overlook. When Buck stood up, he noticed Rek’s GPS receiver was still on, resting in his hand on his lap. Rek’s head was back again. Buck pulled out his camera and took another picture. When he got off the bus, he zoomed in on the screen and clearly saw a set of numbers and letters: 63º27´50´´ N 150º12´28´´ W.
Dad and Shoop were talking with Craig about the bears they had just seen. Buck showed the picture of the GPS reading to Toni.
“I know the N and W mean north and west,” he said. “But I don’t know what the degrees, feet, and inches marks mean.”
“Craig will know,” Toni said. Buck didn’t have a chance to ask him, though. They all piled into Craig’s truck and headed back up the road in the same direction they had come from. Craig stopped so far from the grizzly and her two cubs, they could barely see them.
“This is a safe distance from the sow and cubs,” he said.
“We’ll go up that hill. I’d like a shot in the tundra,” Shoop said, pointing to the opposite side of the road. “Toni, keep the shotgun aimed. I want some covert audio.”
Buck looked at Toni. “What’s he talking about?”
Toni didn’t answer. She put on the earphones but didn’t seem to be aiming the shotgun mic at anything. It just sat cradled in her arms with its end sticking out sideways between her and Buck as everyone crossed the road.
“The tundra is so springy!” Buck said as soon as he stepped from the road. “Just like a trampoline!” He went from one rounded tuft of plants to another, bouncing like he was moonwalking.
“And look at the blueberries! They’re everywhere!” Buck pulled off a handful in one swipe and popped them into his mouth. He kept eating handful after handful, juice pouring down his chin, until he was high on the hill. Buck scanned the bears with his binoculars. They were way below them and across the road. “They’re still stuffing themselves with blueberries too.”
“We might as well go ahead with the scripted blueberry scene,” Shoop said. He handed Buck a kerchief. “Wipe your mouth off. You want to start with a clean face. Then pick a whole handful of blueberries but don’t eat them. Stand over here, holding the berries out with both hands cupped like a bowl.”
Buck cleaned off his face and gathered a bunch of blueberries. Dad added even more. He had so many, they were pouring out of his hands.
“Angle your hands just a little so I can see the berries,” Shoop continued. “Good. That’s great. Now look right at the camera and when I say, ‘Action,’ say your line about the blueberries. Then stuff all the berries in your mouth, look back up, and smile.”
Buck got ready. His heart was beating as hard as when the moose had charged him. When they had recorded the first scene, he had been so excited about the caribou kill, he didn’t have time to be nervous. This was different. This time he had to remember one of the scripts he had been practicing. Don’t mess it up, he thought.
“Okay, you look good,” Shoop said, peering through the camera. “How’s the sound?”
“Buck, say your line just like you will when we shoot,” Toni said.
He got halfway through his line when Toni interrupted.
“Too loud,” Toni said. “Just use your normal voice.”
Buck started his lines again. He got a few words out, and Toni spoke up.
“That’s fine. We’re good to go.”
Dad held up the whiteboard, this time saying Blueberries, Take 1. The little red light came on and Shoop stated, “Action.”
“Did you know a grizzly bear can eat over two hundred thousand blueberries a day? That’s a lot of blueberries!” Buck put his hands up to his mouth and crammed in as many berries as he could. With his mouth stuffed full and purple juice pouring down his chin, he looked at the camera, grinned, and said, “Mmmmmm!”
“Cut.” The little red light turned off. “Audio?”
“No go,” Toni called out. “I need a windscreen.” She rummaged through her backpack, pulled out a black furry thing, and put it over the mic like a sock.
“We’ll have to shoot it again,” Shoop said. “Wipe your mouth off and get some more blueberries.”
As Buck gathered more blueberries, he looked down the hill and across the road. The bears were no longer directly behind him.
“Should I move over there?” he asked Shoop. “You won’t be able to see the bears from here now.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Shoop said. “I’ve already got footage of the bears. When I get done editing, you’ll see them down below you.”
Dad changed the 1 to a 2 on the whiteboard, and they reshot the scene. Shoop checked the shot and said, “That’s a wrap. Let’s shoot the opening scene across the road. Those alders will be perfect.”
Buck waited while Shoop and Toni set up. Then he walked slowly across the tundra, sometimes sneaking behind alder bushes and peering out, sometimes crouching low.
“Hi! I’m Buck Bray, and I’m in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. I’ve just spotted a grizzly bear and her two cubs.” Buck spoke very quietly as if he really were creeping up on a 450-pound grizzly and her 100-pound cubs. But in reality, the bears were almost a mile away.
They made a few other shots and then put the equipment back into the truck.
“I didn’t know it would be like that,” Buck told Dad.
“You can’t believe everything you see on TV. There’s a lot of manipulation to make things appear the way you want the viewers to see them.”
“Could we get some audio on those bears eating?” Shoop asked Craig. “I couldn’t do that from the bus, but I could hear them. It was incredible.”
They piled into the truck. Craig drove slowly, pulling to the side of the road when they neared the bears. Shoop sat in front on the passenger side, camera pointed out the window. Toni sat behind him, the earphones on, holding the shotgun mic out her window. Buck sat beside her and Dad next to him. The bears never even glanced toward the truck.
“It’s not that they’re used to people,” Craig informed them. “They really just don’t give a darn. They’re at the top of the food chain and they know it. With no hunting in Denali, they have nothing to worry about, and right now all they’re thinking about is filling their bellies before winter. They’ll be on a feeding frenzy from now until they hibernate.”
As Shoop shot the bears eating, Toni pointed to the earphones and gave a thumbs-up to indicate she was getting good sound. The sow and the cubs were side by side. They walked parallel to the road as they ate, but the dark cub turned and wandered toward the truck. Shoop kept the camera pointed at the cub. Buck thought if the cub didn’t look up soon, it would walk right into the side of the truck. The sow lifted her head and looked toward the cub. Suddenly the sow sprang up on her hind legs and roared so loud, Toni jumped and let out a little cry. Shoop gave her a hard look, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
The cub turned to look at its mother but stayed beside the truck. Still standing upright, the sow made another loud roar, and the cub dashed back to its mother’s side. The sow dropped back to her feet but gave the cub a vigorous spank with her paw. The cub bawled out, but the sow ignored it and returned to eating, moving farther away from the truck. Neither cub left her side again.
“That was awesome!” Buck said when Shoop finally put the camera down.
“It sure was,” Craig said. “I’ve seen a lot of bears, but I’ve never seen one get after its cub like that.”
“Did I mess it up, Shoop?” Toni asked. “Her roaring startled me. It sounded like she was right next to me in those earphones!”
“I bet!” Shoop said. “But don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of sound to work with.”