MovieChat Forums > Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973) Discussion > Making of film, specifically with use of...

Making of film, specifically with use of seagulls

posted 13 years ago by lauranorman23
4 replies | jump to latest

Hi there,

does anyone out there have any links/knowledge about the making of this film? I was fascinated with how they captured some of the shots and footage. But as the movie went on my fascination was being replaced with questions as to whether the seagulls were being harmed during filming. Examples would be the two scenes where Jonathan is under water after losing control in a dive, and on the floating wood looking like he is about to drown. Another example is the gull which hits the cliffside and tumbles down, hitting the rock side numerous times as he falls.

I find this story to be very powerful and want to believe that the filmmaker had the animals' best interest in mind, but I never saw any disclaimer like you would see in newer movies which states "no animals were harmed in the making of this film." So far my internet searches aren't coming up with much, so I figured it was worth a shot to ask it on here.

Thanks.

[–] IceboxMovies 13 years ago

The makng of the film is breifly described in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time, in which the movie is unfairly trashed. I don't know precisely where the authors got their sources, but according to them, director Hall Bartlett and cinematographer Jack Couffer had an incredibly difficult time controlling the seagulls. Couffer got attacked by one of them, and then Bartlett had the entire crew wear baseball catcher's masks whenever they had to handle the seagulls in the future. The book also reports that the seagulls were all roomed in the suite of a Holiday Inn.

I'm not quite sure how they filmed the scene in which Jonathan dives into the water or the scene in which Fletcher hits the rock wall--I'm assuming those seagulls were fake.

"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."

[–] crumpethead 13 years ago

I completely agree with your comments about the harming of seagulls. I found many scenes sickening. Birds aren't actors. They will only do these abnormal actions if the scenes are staged by manipulating the birds in some way.

Seagulls and other sea birds can dive underwater in normal life, but the scene you mention clearly involves a bird that has been compromised (sedated), and it looks like it's almost dead. Feathers are saturated to the extent that they have lost their water repellence and the bird has little chance of surviving without being carefully dried and warmed.

Other "staged" scenes include; fight between hawk and seagull (tethered so it can't escape); seagulls being released into a snowbound, freezing forest, far removed from their natural habitat; a fledgling seagull conveniently appearing on cue with a broken wing; injured or dead birds filmed falling after colliding with the cliff face.

Other than this, lots of scenes showing seagulls flying in a steep dive or doing a loop, were actually filmed using a radio controlled glider in the shape of a seagull.

[–] amazon423 12 years ago

At least one bird died, the one involving the cliff collision. I remember reading about it when the movie was being filmed.

[–] Darknessviking 11 years ago

I truly hate movies like this,
where they inflict pain upon innocent animals for entertainment purposes.
I'm happy I'm not the only one.