Film & Sound Project
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As magpie chaos ensues, what will become of one aggressive magpie?
A storm brews, and one magpie has decided to unleash its wrath on local pedestrians. After many swoops, squawks, and strikes, this magpie gains a dangerous reputation with children and adults alike the victims of serious injuries caused from the local menace. Spotlighted by local news outlets, the fate of this bird is discussed. With public safety compromised, a decision will be made if the bird will be allowed to live.
The process of this film started with observing magpies around town and doing research on them, from general information to YouTube videos on magpie lore. I started the process thinking about what I wanted to say about Magpies and how I might show that. I had a strong idea of what I wanted this film to look like at first, but as I learned, being open to the possibilities can take you film in a direction that you never anticipated. I never anticipated to make a film about a dangerous magpie but it’s what came about in the edit. I learned that there are many ways to deliver the message you want to give in a film and often it’s not the way you originally anticipated. Sometimes stories tell themselves in a way.
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In Plain Sound
An audio journey into my daily commute.
A boom mic and a mixpre3 to record the sounds of my walk from home to school. A hydrophone was used to record sound from the local stream that runs across campus and a lavalier was used to record sound from inside of my apartment. In addition to these three main sounds that come from my daily commute, a boom mic was also used to record a natural gas pipeline and a prairie dog hole that have unique sound qualities to it. ​
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Stand alone audio clips:
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​Walk to School
MSU Stream
In my Apartment
Prairie Dog Hole
Natural Gas Pipeline​​
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Critical Approaches to Science and Natural History Filmmaking
Something that never fails to catch my eye on the way to school is magpies. No matter the day, no matter the weather, magpies are a part of my little world here in Bozeman. I saw my first black-billed magpie two years ago in Colorado Springs and although I knew about magpies before, it’s beauty, iridescent plumage, and long tail was especially eye-catching, and I was thrilled to see such a beautiful species. After moving to Montana, it came as a surprise to learn that magpies are an especially disliked bird for many. This discovery, inspired me to explore the idea of making a film about peoples relationship to magpies.
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"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." Carl Jung (Memories, Dreams, Reflections, 1961) My original idea was to make a film about people hating the things that magpies do, and showing how all those things, like being noisy, destructive, unclean, or whatever people dislike about magpies, are often things that humans dislike about themselves or others too. Influences such as Coywolf (Lucy Adams, 2025), Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution (Meno Shilthuzian, 2018), and The Accidental Ecosystem: People and Wildlife in American Cities (Peter S. Alagona, 2022), directed my thoughts in the world of urban ecology. What would it mean if we viewed urban wildlife, with the same level of awe that we view so called pristine natural landscapes such as Yellowstone National Park? Drawing from William Cronon, “The Trouble with Wilderness, or Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” in Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, 1995 argues against the idea that humans in nature ruin the idea of “wilderness”. These references argue that wilderness exists on many planes, in cities, people’s backyards, and cracks in the concrete. In my film I wanted to incorporate human structures such as magpies on telephone wires and on top of buildings, thinking about the idea of wildlife not being separate from cities. I also wanted to show the beauty of magpies, considering how films like Songs of Earth by Margret Olgin use beauty as a way of demonstrating an inherent sense of value.
In the third part of El Mar La Mar by Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. Sniadecki they have one prolonged longshot, accompanied by audio of a storm. The storm becomes an emotional aspect to the film as you are given time to reflect on what you have just seen. This is something that I tried to emulate in my film, using audio, and weather to build up the film and then release, allowing time for the audience to consider their own perspective on magpies. I was reminded of Geographies of Solitude by Jacquelyn Mills because the more I payed attention to magpies, the more there was to observe like a new song, or behavior that I had never noticed them doing before. My film seeks to defamiliarize people with magpies, using satire, to draw closer attention to these beautiful birds.
My sound project draws from many of the same influences as To Kill A Magpie. Books and films such as Sounds Wild and Unbroken by George Haskell 32 Sounds by Sam Green have had me thinking a lot about sound in my everyday life, and the idea that sounds connect us to our world, while considering my own sense of place and the sounds that connects me to where I live. On my daily walks to and from school I have been listening more to what’s around me, noticing the airplanes, trains, cars, buildings, and cars but also the birds, wind, trees, and snow. My audio recording represents my walk to school musically, with beautiful and interesting sounds that might easily be overlooked. Both projects challenged me to look a little closer at life, and appreciate the connectedness, beauty, and intricacy of my own little world in the urban landscapes that I inhabit.
