[ MUSIC - RAY LAMONTAGNE - FOR THE SUMMER
BIBIO - BEWLEY IN GREY]

USE THE HANDHELD!

SHOTS TO GET:

• Timelapse of tower with clouds

• Get shot of Tower with cosmos for superimposing

• Get a shot of the Tower in the rear view mirror with scenery going by so it’s not static

• Driving shots with sunset and the tower like in 2020 folder

• Shot of my face while driving looking around, then me smiling slightly and calmly saying “there it is”

[OPEN WITH CREE MUSIC AND THE STORY OF HOW DEVILS TOWER FORMED THEN HAVE IT LEAD INTO TITLE SCREEN]

[FOOTAGE OF ME LOADING TRUNK OF RENTAL CAR, CLOSING TRUNK WITH LICENSE PLATE FRONT AND CENTER, DRIVING, OVERLAY OUTSIDE VIEWS, PRAIRIES AND MOUNTAINS, SWEEPING LANDSCAPES]

[USE STOCK FOOTAGE AND REALLY COOL SHOTS FOR TRANSITIONS BETWEEN TALKING SEGMENTS, LIKE PALM TREES IN SALTON SEA VIDEO]

[ROLL SOME STOCK FOOTAGE, DURING TALKING. VOICEOVER BUT ON SITE. HAVE ME TALKING INTO THE BOOM MIC ATTACHED TO EITHER THE NIKON OR THE SONY, AND READ OFF PHONE SCREEN SO AUDIO MATCHES UP, BUT THEN THE ITALIC PARTS, LOOK INTO THE CAMERA SO IT ALL SOUNDS LIKE ONE CONTINUOUS TAKE]

Have you ever seen a place in pictures, or in a movie, and just something deep down tells you you just… need to go? That cosmic voice that says “don’t think about it, just GO”. Like fate has something waiting for you there. Back in 2018, I flew into Denver, and drove about 9 hours north across the endless plains of eastern Wyoming called the Thunder Basin because that voice told me… just go.
It’s not on the way to anything, because it’s not close to anything, so you really have to want to come to see it. As strange as it sounds, you know you’re finally getting close, because you can just feel it. I know that sounds weird, but I swear… it’s true. You can honestly feel its presence... it’s like something inside you just knows it’s there. You start looking out for it around every turn of the road, until all of a sudden it just… appears… and when it does, you just can’t take your eyes off it. I mean.. I know… it’s just a rock, but… it just has this power…

[TALK ABOUT HOW THE NAME DEVILS TOWER CAME TO BE NAMED DEVILS TOWER BY COLONEL RICHARD DODGE BACK IN 1875. WHEN HE CAME OUT TO SURVEY AND JOURNAL ABOUT THE LAND OUT HERE, HE MET SOME OF THE LOCAL INDIAN TRIBES, AND HE MISTOOK THE WORD FOR BEAR AS ‘BAD SPIRIT’ BECAUSE THEY SOUND VERY SIMILAR, AT LEAST TO THE UNTRAINED EAR OF THE WHITE MAN. SO WHEN HE HAD TO GIVE AN OFFICIAL NAME FOR IT IN HIS JOURNALS, BAD SPIRIT TOWER BECAME DEVILS TOWER. BUT LET ME TELL YOU, EVIL AND DARKNESS IS THE LAST THING YOU FEEL HERE. THIS PLACE IS SO PEACEFUL, SO CALMING. YOU REALLY FEEL LIKE YOUR SOUL GETS WASHED AND REFRESHED HERE. IT REALLY IS JUST… A VERY SOOTHING PLACE.]

[DEVILS TOWER IS A VERY SACRED SITE TO NATIVE AMERICANS, AND HAS BEEN FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. SOME TRIBES BELIEVE THIS IS SORT OF A GATEWAY TO THE SPIRIT WORLD, WHERE THEY CAN COME AND PRAY FOR THEIR LOVED ONES WHO HAVE PASSED, AND THEIR LOVED ONES COME HERE TO BE REUNITED WITH THE LIVING. YOU’LL WALK AROUND AND SEE RIBBONS AND CLOTHS TIED TO TREES AND BRANCHES FROM WHERE THE NATIVE AMERICANS WILL TIE THEM OFF AS THEY SAY THEIR PRAYERS, AND THEY SERVE AS OFFERINGS AND A REMEMBRANCE FOR THE LOVED ONES THEY’RE PRAYING FOR. IN JUNE AND ON THE SUMMER SOLSTICE, LOTS OF DIFFERENT TRIBES COME HERE TO CELEBRATE. THEY HAVE SWEAT LODGES, VISION QUESTS, DIFFERENT RITUALS, AND THEY DO THE SACRED SUN DANCE. BECAUSE TO THEM, THE TOWER IS A PLACE OF RENEWAL]

[TALK ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ACTUALLY CLIMB THE TOWER. THE NATIVE AMERICANS ARE TRYING TO GET THAT STOPPED, BECAUSE TO THEM, THIS IS A VERY HOLY AND SACRED PLACE. IT WOULD BE LIKE A CHURCH OR A TEMPLE TO US. IMAGINE SOMEONE RECREATIONALLY CLIMBING A TEMPLE OR THE NATIONAL CATHEDRAL… ACTUALLY IN 1941, THERE WAS A MAN NAMED GEORGE HOPKINS WHO MADE NATIONAL NEWS WHEN HE PARACHUTED ONTO THE TOP OF THE TOWER FROM A PLANE, AND COULDN’T GET DOWN. HE WAS STUCK UP THERE FOR 6 DAYS.]