EuroFlyAngler -  Gaula the movie fly fishing


 Gaula the movie 

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Phototgrapher and film maker Daniel Göz teamed up with Anton Hamacher to film the Gaula from perspectives never pursued before. Gaula River of silver ond Gold is a visual experience and a story that goes beyond stereotyped fly fishing scenes. Here an interview to the authours.
E.F.A.: Daniel, after the Tapam adventure in the tropical jungle of Central America, where huge tarpon brutally towed your belly boat (and crocodiles where not to exclude) now a change of latitude, why the Gaula ?
D.G.: Manfred Raguse owner of the Norwegian Flyfisher’s Club approached me after the release of Tapâm and proposed me to do a full film there. I was immediately in, as I knew the river. This also gave me the opportunity to do a flyfishing totally different to Tapâm.


E.F.A.: In comparison with the recording in the wilderness of the Tapam movie what has been the biggest challenge in Norway.
D.G.: Now that Gaula is complete, I can say that the shooting Gaula was much harder, than the production of Tapâm, actually! Hooking, fighting and landing a large and beautiful Atlantic salmon doesn’t come easy, getting that on tape was a huge challenge. Anton Hamacher, my partner for the Gaula film project, showed tremendous stamina as he is the fisherman in the film. This often meant filming 18 hours a day or more, and don’t forget, during mid-summer the sun does not go down and you can fish and film 24/7.
Left: Daniel Göz in action


E.F.A.: Anton, fishing 18 hours a day is definitely hard work, but I am pretty sure many readers would have dreamt being in your shoes. What was the most difficult scene and what the one that gave you that greatest emotion.
A.H.: Yes, you are right, it is an honor to fish in such exceptional water. And the most difficult was trying to enjoy and effectively use the time on the river as much as we could. This time of the year, the sun never really goes down and there is a very captivating and mystical atmosphere during the hours with less light - so you just don't want to go home to bed... But after a couple days with almost no sleep, we realized something had to change (we were completely exhausted!)...


A.H.: This was one of the most difficult tasks: to be confident in the decision when it is time to fish and when it is time to rest. The experienced salmon fishermen are very good in this sense, and it was a pleasure to see how they decide to relax although knowing there are huge salmon in the pool but that right now might not be the best time for getting one to take the fly, compared to maybe an hour later. One of the most emotional moments for me was getting in touch with the wild Atlantic salmon. The beauty of this fish is hard to capture in a picture. Having one of them in my own hands, I immediately understood why fishermen have been so obsessed with catching wild salmon, for centuries. And to be honest with you - I got hooked on it too.


E.F.A.: In Gaula The Movie fishing scenes in gorgeous landscapes and underwater salmon sequences are complemented with stunning aerial footage, do you like to tell us a bit more about the techniques employed.
D.G.: The wild Gaula valley is truly unique, we wanted to show this in the best possi- ble way. We filmed the entire film with Canon’s 5DII DSLR (like we did on Tapâm), this gives an outstanding “cine-look”. Furthermore we had the help from a good friend Andreas Büttner, who’s one of two well respected aerial cameramen we have in Germany. Andreas did build a custom made ”oktocopter”, which is a remote controlled airborne solution on which the camera is suspended. The unit creates stunning aerial footage, a large helicopter would not be able to create.


D.G.: For the underwater footage, we had a custom build Subal housing for the Canon 5DII. The camera could be operated through a waterproof USB cable via laptop, on which I had live view. For all the non-stationery underwater drift images images, I swam through the river with the 5DII in its housing. Both, the aerial and underwater images rival BBC production in quality.


E.F.A.: The images and scenarios are breathtaking what more you like to convey in your works, nature and wild life preservation ?
D.G.: Wildlife preservation is a big part of the film in Gaula, actually this is what it’s all about! It’s the story of one of the last untamed rivers, left in Europe. Gaula has to be preserved under all circumstances. Manfred Raguse has dedicated his life to this river, Anton and I hope to contribute to its preservation and raise the awareness for its beauty through the film.


E.F.A.: Wild salmon, there's nothing like it, at least in Europe ?
D.G.: I love all the fish, to be honest, be it a roach, tarpon or salmon. Yet, wild Atlantic salmon have a very special and almost mythical allure. They are absolutely fascinating fish.
This fascination grew with every day we spend on the water observing and filming them.


E.F.A.: Waiting for the final release in May where can people get a feel and have sneak preview of the film.
D.G.: The full film will be released beginning of May as DVD and true full HD blu-ray. I heartily recommend buying the film in the blu-ray format, the quality is simply mind-blowing. In the mean time we have a short film: www.gaulathemovie.com The full film will be available on our dedicated film site and through retail.


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