This post is finally going to answer the question how we ended up in a hotel pool in rural Connecticut a while ago, but let me give you some context first …
We named our project “Connecting the Dots” because we expected to find several dots along our journey that would be waiting to be connected. These dots represent mostly musicians, friends, and colleagues. What we did not expect, however, was that my brother-in-law would draw an additional dot on our map: Markus is not a musician, he is a sales manager at WWS Wasserkraft, an Austrian company that builds small hydroelectric power plants all around the globe. One of their projects is in Collinsville, Connecticut, a short drive north of New Haven. When he heard that we were planning on visiting the area, he invited us to shoot a music video at the power plant. As you might know, we do have a soft spot for unusual shooting locations, so we happily agreed to come up with a new piece and shoot the video in Collinsville.
It sure did feel nice to pick up our rental car in New Haven right after we arrived from New York City, drive through picturesque New England, check in at Avon Old Farms Hotel and take a dip in the pool. A perfect place for a workation. On day one, we went location scouting at the power plant and met Bob, chief engineer at Canton Hydro, who was happy to show us the facilities.
During the night, Anna finalized the music she was going to play at several spots by the river as well as inside the power plant. Day two was the main shooting day. The little camera assistant I had with me helped with carrying the recording equipment from one spot to the next and captured a nice shot of Anna and me setting up. Day three was dedicated to a special mission – we interviewed local ecologist Steve, who explained the principles of the fish ladders on both sides of the dam. Salmon, trout, eels, and other fish can not only migrate upstream to spawn, but also find their way back, past the turbine, without being harmed. According to the ecologist, the Collinsville plant is one of the best examples of a safe fish passage in the area.
We had not expected to learn so much about power plants and migratory fish within these couple of days, but this is exactly the reason why I love photography and documentary filmmaking so much – there are so many interesting stories out there waiting to be told, so many places and people to be shown, so much knowledge and passion to be shared. We are truly proud to be part of this success story.
Enjoy the final product.
I enjoyed this video very much.