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KEN BURNS: You know, everyone
assumes that making films

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is a glamorous proposition,

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and yet so much of it
is the really hard work

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of raising money
and trying to convince people

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that this is a good idea
and then trying to figure out

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if the idea
will actually work as a film,

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and then finally, you have that
moment when you're out there

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and you're finally filming

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and you're exposing
the first reel of film

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and it just means so much.

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We were at Chaco Canyon
in New Mexico.

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lt was dawn.

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We were suddenly there,

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and the thing that
you've been thinking about

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was no longer this abstract.

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lt was tangible.

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lt was real,
and you were committed,

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and it was sort of
jumping down a chute,

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the end of which
still has not happened,

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and, for me, that moment
when you begin filming

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is really the moment of birth

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where this
is actually happening.

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This is a real thing.

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DAYTON DUNCAN:
Each of the films we do

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have different requirements
and teach us, as filmmakers,

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different things.

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With ''Civil War,'' a lot of that
was inhabiting photographs.

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With ''Lewis and Clark,''
who took their expedition

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before the invention
of photography,

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it was more about
becoming their eyes

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and experiencing the landscape

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the way that
they would've seen it.

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With ''The War,'' of course,

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the footage from incredible
both photographs

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but particularly the footage
that was taken,

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that was the raw
visual material of it.

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This film, probably
as much as anything

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with the possible exception
of Lewis and Clark,''

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glories in the live
cinematography

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of the wonderful,
majestic landscapes

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that we have saved
for future generations,

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and, therefore, the work
of our cinematographers

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is that much more important.

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Ken is a great cinematographer
in his own right.

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KEN: From the very beginning,
l took pictures.

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My teacher
was a still photographer.

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That's what l was involved in,

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and, fortunately,
l've been able to work

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with great cinematographers like
Buddy Squires and Allen Moore

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over the last 30-plus years,

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but l still love the opportunity
to get out and film,

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and some early films,
like the film on the Shakers,

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is all my cinematography,

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with the exception
of the interviews.

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What's been so satisfying
about ''The Parks'' is,

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though l haven't been out
as much as l wanted to be,

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l've been out a lot,
and as l look at scenes,

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as l look at episodes,
as l look at the introduction,

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it's represented by images
l've taken,

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and that roots me, in a way,
not just artistically,

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but in a deeply kind of personal
and human way in the film.

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lt's part of me.
l'm part of it.

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Whatever l saw at that moment

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is now sort of forever
in the film.

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DAYTON: Parks have been
a part of my life

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from the time
l was a little kid,

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and it has a deep appeal to me
to go someplace

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other than whatever it is
that is your reality,

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and over the course of writing
books and others,

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l've been to many
national parks,

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got to know people who work
in the parks,

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and developed this
abiding affection for them,

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and in 1998 when l was on a trip
with my family,

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taking them to parks,

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l realized that there's
an American story there,

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both the history of the parks,
that it is an American idea,

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but equally important, seeing
my kids experiencing parks

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the way that l had.

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l realized it's
an intergenerational story.

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lt's a story
of not just a place,

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but passing on a memory
of a place.

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KEN: You know, we've struggled
with coming to terms

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for the last 30 years with
what it means to be an American.

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ln fact, l've said
that each of the films

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is asking the same
deceptively simple question--

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Who are we?

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We learn a lot
about ourselves in wars.

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We learn a lot about ourselves
in these issues of race

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and other things
that divide us, gender,

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but we also learn
a lot about ourselves

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in this magnificent
continent of ours,

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and there's no better
celebration of it

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than in the national parks.

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CRAlG MELlSH: When we started
shooting this project

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in April of 2003,
going on 6 years ago,

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the only national park
l was interested in going to

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was Fenway Park.

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l had probably flown 3 times
in my life,

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and even the first
production trip l went on,

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l tried to get away from flying.

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l took the train across country
from Springfield, Massachusetts,

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to Albuquerque, New Mexico,
3 days' worth of traveling

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when l could've just done it in
3 hours, probably, on a plane,

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but eventually,
once Dayton and Ken

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were gonna be in places with me,

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there was no way l could
pull that off anymore,

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so l had to get into the planes.

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DAYTON: Well, l'm lucky because,
being both the writer

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and the producer of the films
that l do with Ken,

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my job was to go out to the most
wonderful landscapes on earth

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with a talented film crew
and be up at dawn

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or stay up until sunset
in these beautiful places.

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So, that was hard work
but a great assignment.

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Lincoln Else is a ranger
from Yosemite,

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has climbed El Cap as many times
as, probably, anybody,

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and started off as
an assistant cameraman for us...

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but has accomplished enough
that a number of shots

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in our film are from him.

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Allen Moore, who's been with us
for many years,

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has this particular eye
that you like to have applied

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to different landscapes
and architecture, as well,

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and he's been to a great number
of the parks,

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and then there's Buddy Squires,

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who is an original member
of Florentine Films

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and is our go-to guy.

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He's the best cinematographer,
l think, in America

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and the greatest person
to go out on the road with

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because it doesn't matter
what time it is.

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lt doesn't matter
how tired you get.

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lt doesn't matter how difficult
the shot could be.

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Buddy is gonna go get it.

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We shoot at dawn because that's
the best time for light

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and at dusk, which is the other
best time for light,

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and if it is January
and you're in Yellowstone,

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it's very cold,
but the nice thing about it

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is that sunrise
is, like, 8 A.M.,

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and sunset is 4:30,
so it's a short working day.

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lf you're in Alaska
and it's summertime,

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that means that the sunset--
what passes for a sunset,

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when it just dips a little bit
below the horizon--

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is at 11 :00,
and the sunrise is at 2:30,

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so those can be long,
murderous days.

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God is our lighting director,
and sometimes He,

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with a capital ''H,''
is working on our side,

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and sometimes He's not,
but it's that magical moment

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that you think nothing
is gonna happen

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and then it does that makes it
all worthwhile.

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l can remember flying
after my 50th birthday,

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the day after my 50th birthday,

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all the way
to Anchorage, Alaska,

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getting out at Anchorage,
spending a day there,

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driving many, many hours
to Denali,

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then driving in the 90-plus-mile
road, mostly dirt,

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to Wonder Lake, where we were
going to spend a few days,

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and setting up the camera
and looking at where l was told

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Denali, the high one,
the mountain, ex-McKinley was.

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l mean, l had set my frame
like this,

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and then all of a sudden,
l realized

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it was brown way up there
and that l was literally looking

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at the most massive thing
revealed on earth,

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and we ended up with
this amazing, amazing shot

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that had all to do with
that sense of the unexpected,

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all to do with the sense
of patience,

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all to do with
the kind of family

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that we create to make this.

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DAYTON: That's one of those
big, saucer-eye moments.

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We saw McKinley, and it's one
of the most astonishing shots,

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l think, that we have
in our entire film.

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KEN: You're looking for
that thing that wakes you up,

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that makes you feel a little bit
better about being alive,

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and all of that is accounted for

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in a look at a friend
and a smile.

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You know, you look over at
Dayton, and you just nod,

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like, ''Wow, how lucky are we?''

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CRAlG: When we were in Alaska,
the opportunity

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that we were gonna do
some aerial photography

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flying around Mount McKinley,

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l was a week away
from my 40th birthday,

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and l decided that there was
no way l could not to this,

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and we got up there.

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The door is off the plane,

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and all this sort of weird
sensory stuff is going on.

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The wind is blowing.
lt's getting real cold.

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You can see your breath,
and Buddy Squires--

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our cameraman, who is
a crazy, little daredevil--

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he's actually sitting
out the thing.

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You know, we're at 1 3,000 feet.

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He's gonna sit outside,
put his legs up.

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DAYTON: l find myself
as a producer a lot of times

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saying, ''No, no.
Don't go there,''

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because l'm worried, you know,

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that he's gonna go
over the edge of a cliff

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or he's gonna slip
and be swept away by that river

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or he's gonna fall out
of that helicopter,

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but he's always, always
so ready to go

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and to bring his special eye
to what we do,

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and in this particular film,

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about 68% of all of the shooting
that was done

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was done by Buddy Squires.

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And the jet stream or whatever
is it up when we got out there

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sucked him back so that his legs

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were sort of flapping
along the side of the plane,

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but it was
a pretty incredible thing.

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We were 8 miles
away from the mountain.

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lt still looked like you could
reach out and touch it.

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DAYTON: There's something about
going through the Grand Canyon

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to me and l think for Ken

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and everybody else
that was on the trip

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is that it eventually
overwhelms you.

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l think you surrender to it,
and it was very different

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from many of our other shoots
in which, you know,

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you pull up in a hurry,
try to get your tripods out,

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catch that first light,
and move to another place

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so you can get something else.

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Well, you couldn't do that
in the Grand Canyon.

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We're down there, a mile down.

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We have a campsite that we would
try to shoot around

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at dawn time,
and then we'd go down the river,

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and if the light was good,
we'd shoot,

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and if it wasn't, then we just
become people of the river...

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but we knew that we wouldn't
be leaving for two weeks,

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and that was a very different
experience for us

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because we had to surrender
to the river,

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and it was a great gift,
l think, of the project.

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The requirement of surrendering
was the great gift to us

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of learning that about the
Colorado and the Grand Canyon.

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CRAlG: l'm not adverse
to getting out there

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in the wilderness, but l'd
probably like to get home

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at the end of it and take a
shower at the hotel or whatever.

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l haven't really done
much camping,

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and here we were gonna spend
11 days sleeping on sand

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or on rocks,
not many outhouses around.

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The thing that we were using,
this thing that Dayton calls

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the thunder bucket,
you'd be sitting there,

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and you'd see the raft
coming down from another party,

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and you just sort of give them
a wave as they went by,

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and they'd all say,
''Hey, how's it going?''

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WlLL DUNCAN: One of the most
memorable things

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about the Grand Canyon
for me was our guide,

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00:12:55,054 --> 00:12:57,045
who was a man
named Brian Dierker,

241
00:12:57,090 --> 00:13:02,722
who was kind of an eccentric
aging hippie of sorts

242
00:13:02,762 --> 00:13:04,889
who'd been working
in the Grand Canyon

243
00:13:04,931 --> 00:13:06,831
since he was my age, probably.

244
00:13:06,866 --> 00:13:09,835
He told us these stories as we'd
be going through these rapids

245
00:13:09,869 --> 00:13:13,532
about coming through there
as a younger man

246
00:13:13,573 --> 00:13:15,507
and being tossed out of his boat

247
00:13:15,541 --> 00:13:18,339
and forced to swim
among the rapids.

248
00:13:18,377 --> 00:13:19,969
Hearing that right
before we were going

249
00:13:20,012 --> 00:13:23,743
to these very same rapids
was a little bit frightening.

250
00:13:23,783 --> 00:13:26,274
CRAlG: l got a cool picture
of Dayton.

251
00:13:26,319 --> 00:13:28,719
lt looks like he's been
thrown out of the boat.

252
00:13:28,754 --> 00:13:31,621
Nobody knows that it's really
a ride that he's taking,

253
00:13:31,657 --> 00:13:33,352
and l used to call it--

254
00:13:33,392 --> 00:13:35,451
When he'd be getting on me
on the river,

255
00:13:35,495 --> 00:13:37,429
l called it ''Wishful Thinking.''

256
00:13:44,170 --> 00:13:47,606
DAYTON: One of the great joys
for me in this project

257
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,440
is that it sort of came out
of my own family experience

258
00:13:51,477 --> 00:13:53,570
as a kid,

259
00:13:53,613 --> 00:13:57,049
and then the idea was prompted
by the family trip

260
00:13:57,083 --> 00:14:02,350
that l took with my children
and my wife 50 years later,

261
00:14:02,388 --> 00:14:07,758
and so l brought my family along
with me to a lot of the places.

262
00:14:07,793 --> 00:14:09,852
They went to Hawaii.

263
00:14:09,896 --> 00:14:14,731
WlLL: We went out in the morning
before the sunrise one day.

264
00:14:14,767 --> 00:14:17,395
All we had were headlamps
and we were walking out

265
00:14:17,436 --> 00:14:19,904
across these great plains
of magma

266
00:14:19,939 --> 00:14:23,136
and couldn't really see anything
that we were doing,

267
00:14:23,176 --> 00:14:26,145
but then, finally, we came
around one bend

268
00:14:26,179 --> 00:14:28,739
and got to the shoreline,

269
00:14:28,781 --> 00:14:32,217
and we could see out
across the water

270
00:14:32,251 --> 00:14:34,947
where a stream of lava
was coming down

271
00:14:34,987 --> 00:14:36,454
and pouring into the ocean.

272
00:14:38,324 --> 00:14:40,849
lt was also a breathtaking
experience to see out here

273
00:14:40,893 --> 00:14:47,355
among all this blackness
of the land in front of us

274
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:49,868
to see this light that
was being made by nature

275
00:14:49,902 --> 00:14:52,462
instead of the headlamps
that we were wearing.

276
00:14:53,573 --> 00:14:56,701
DAYTON: They've been part
of the making of the film,

277
00:14:56,742 --> 00:15:01,202
which arose out of sort of
a family feeling of mine,

278
00:15:01,247 --> 00:15:05,377
particularly with Will,
who started off this project,

279
00:15:05,418 --> 00:15:09,149
you know, almost about
my waist high.

280
00:15:09,188 --> 00:15:12,851
lt's this little kid who we then
brought with us to Alaska.

281
00:15:12,892 --> 00:15:14,416
So, he's holding a slate,

282
00:15:14,460 --> 00:15:16,360
and he's, you know,
about waist high,

283
00:15:16,395 --> 00:15:18,226
and then over the course
of time,

284
00:15:18,264 --> 00:15:20,789
l brought him along
as a production assistant.

285
00:15:20,833 --> 00:15:23,393
Then the Grand Canyon,
a couple years later,

286
00:15:23,436 --> 00:15:25,063
he's a little bit taller,

287
00:15:25,104 --> 00:15:29,200
and then as recently as one
of our last shoots,

288
00:15:29,242 --> 00:15:31,972
was at Kings Canyon
National Park

289
00:15:32,011 --> 00:15:34,377
and Great Basin National Park,
and by that point,

290
00:15:34,413 --> 00:15:36,381
he's lugging equipment.

291
00:15:36,415 --> 00:15:40,249
He's almost as tall as l am.

292
00:15:40,286 --> 00:15:44,188
When l look back on the film,
the making of the film,

293
00:15:44,223 --> 00:15:49,525
to me, l'm looking back on
my son growing up.

294
00:15:53,165 --> 00:15:55,759
WlLL: When l was younger,
it was just a family vacation,

295
00:15:55,801 --> 00:15:58,770
the way l was looking at it,
and l was able to appreciate

296
00:15:58,804 --> 00:16:00,738
the natural beauty
of the surroundings

297
00:16:00,773 --> 00:16:03,833
when l was much younger,
but as l've grown older,

298
00:16:03,876 --> 00:16:07,812
l think l've come to cherish
the family aspect of it more.

299
00:16:07,847 --> 00:16:11,283
The national parks represent
something that l've come to see

300
00:16:11,317 --> 00:16:14,946
with my dad and with my mom, my
sister and that years from now,

301
00:16:14,987 --> 00:16:17,182
l'll probably come back
with my family.

302
00:16:30,569 --> 00:16:32,901
KEN: l have the best job
in the country.

303
00:16:32,938 --> 00:16:35,429
The real reason why
it's the best job

304
00:16:35,474 --> 00:16:37,806
is because of the people
that l work with.

305
00:16:37,843 --> 00:16:40,175
They, first of all,
make me look good.

306
00:16:40,212 --> 00:16:43,875
They're enormously talented
cinematographers and producers,

307
00:16:43,916 --> 00:16:46,180
writers and editors.

308
00:16:46,218 --> 00:16:48,209
lt's more than that, though.
lt's a family.

309
00:16:48,254 --> 00:16:50,984
lt's people that l also spend
my downtime with,

310
00:16:51,023 --> 00:16:53,514
and that ought to be
an indication.

311
00:16:53,559 --> 00:16:55,959
DAYTON: l think one of the great
joys of my professional life

312
00:16:55,995 --> 00:16:59,431
working with Ken has been
out in the field with him.

313
00:16:59,465 --> 00:17:01,763
l mean, l love being
in the editing room

314
00:17:01,801 --> 00:17:03,894
and the hog wrestle,
as l would call it,

315
00:17:03,936 --> 00:17:07,030
of deciding what's gonna end up
in the film, what's not.

316
00:17:07,073 --> 00:17:10,270
l love that
collaborative effort,

317
00:17:10,309 --> 00:17:13,608
but one of the great joys
of my life

318
00:17:13,646 --> 00:17:15,511
and my friendship with him

319
00:17:15,548 --> 00:17:18,142
has been taking him out
to these places.

320
00:17:18,184 --> 00:17:23,918
Ken's enthusiasm is like a jolt
of energy transferring to you.

321
00:17:23,956 --> 00:17:27,289
His eyes get really big

322
00:17:27,326 --> 00:17:31,023
when he sees something cool
and wants to shoot it,

323
00:17:31,063 --> 00:17:35,625
and it's impossible not to be
reinfected by that.

324
00:17:35,668 --> 00:17:38,159
lt might be the 20th time
you've been there,

325
00:17:38,204 --> 00:17:40,069
but when you're there with him,

326
00:17:40,106 --> 00:17:43,598
you really feel the excitement
of the place.

327
00:17:51,150 --> 00:17:54,950
Hiking back from an upper valley
one morning

328
00:17:54,987 --> 00:17:59,890
with Ken in Yosemite Valley,
there was just something

329
00:17:59,925 --> 00:18:03,861
about hiking out
with your best friend,

330
00:18:03,896 --> 00:18:05,386
was a wonderful thing.

331
00:18:05,431 --> 00:18:06,762
We didn't have to worry
about the light.

332
00:18:06,799 --> 00:18:08,096
We didn't have to worry
about the shots,

333
00:18:08,134 --> 00:18:10,694
and we're talking
as we're going down a trail

334
00:18:10,736 --> 00:18:15,230
that that trail had been built
by CCC workers

335
00:18:15,274 --> 00:18:19,370
and what a lasting thing
that is

336
00:18:19,412 --> 00:18:23,405
that these guys who were
down on their luck,

337
00:18:23,449 --> 00:18:26,850
needed a job,
had built this trail

338
00:18:26,886 --> 00:18:33,018
that, 70 years later, was still
useful and still beautiful,

339
00:18:33,058 --> 00:18:35,754
and, you know,
as you're walking through,

340
00:18:35,795 --> 00:18:38,559
you sort of hope
that what you do...

341
00:18:40,332 --> 00:18:45,099
might be half as useful
and half as beautiful.

342
00:18:46,806 --> 00:18:48,831
Having the privilege
of working with Dayton

343
00:18:48,874 --> 00:18:51,707
for the last, you know,
nearly 20 years;

344
00:18:51,744 --> 00:18:54,679
of seeing
his day-to-day passion,

345
00:18:54,713 --> 00:18:57,682
a kind of ferocious passion
for these projects

346
00:18:57,716 --> 00:18:59,445
and for the meaning behind them;

347
00:18:59,485 --> 00:19:03,717
to see this tough, tough man
almost always come to tears

348
00:19:03,756 --> 00:19:06,589
because of the meaning of
the thing that he's working on

349
00:19:06,625 --> 00:19:09,093
is one of the greatest gifts
that l know.

350
00:19:09,128 --> 00:19:11,596
These films are made
in the editing room,

351
00:19:11,630 --> 00:19:13,461
but the real hunter-gathering,

352
00:19:13,499 --> 00:19:15,296
the collecting
of these spare parts

353
00:19:15,334 --> 00:19:18,667
for which we need to edit
takes place on the road,

354
00:19:18,704 --> 00:19:21,571
and it's cold, it's hot,
it's uncomfortable.

355
00:19:21,607 --> 00:19:24,770
You're carrying heavy equipment
for long distances...

356
00:19:26,178 --> 00:19:29,614
and you're exhilarated,
and part of the exhilaration

357
00:19:29,648 --> 00:19:31,707
is that you get to look
at a friend...

358
00:19:33,452 --> 00:19:36,785
and realize that you're
sharing it together with him.

359
00:20:03,249 --> 00:20:06,582
CRAlG: l grew up in a town
of about 800 people.

360
00:20:06,619 --> 00:20:10,214
ln some of these parks, l would
be waiting for the sun to rise

361
00:20:10,289 --> 00:20:12,780
and looking out
over an expanse of land

362
00:20:12,825 --> 00:20:15,089
that was twice, 3 times as big

363
00:20:15,127 --> 00:20:18,927
as the area that l spent
my entire life in.

364
00:20:18,964 --> 00:20:21,524
One of my favorite memories
is just simply

365
00:20:21,567 --> 00:20:24,764
in Grand Teton National Park
walking by myself

366
00:20:24,803 --> 00:20:26,862
along the Snake River
and, for all l knew,

367
00:20:26,906 --> 00:20:30,706
it could've been 1800
instead of 2003,

368
00:20:30,743 --> 00:20:33,473
and about 40 elk
come out of the trees

369
00:20:33,512 --> 00:20:35,673
and just cross the river
in front of me.

370
00:20:35,714 --> 00:20:39,946
l'll never forget having my car
surrounded by buffalo,

371
00:20:39,985 --> 00:20:43,978
being alone on a sunrise
at Mesa Verde,

372
00:20:44,023 --> 00:20:48,722
or watching Old Faithful go off
in the early morning

373
00:20:48,761 --> 00:20:52,891
and just being overwhelmed
by the beauty of it,

374
00:20:52,932 --> 00:20:55,901
taking a knee-knocking trip
up to Angels Landing

375
00:20:55,935 --> 00:20:59,029
in Zion National Park where
you're literally looking down

376
00:20:59,071 --> 00:21:01,096
1,500 feet on either side of you

377
00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:03,301
while you're holding on
to a chain.

378
00:21:03,342 --> 00:21:05,776
You know, there's a reason
that Americans think

379
00:21:05,811 --> 00:21:09,110
that they are living in
the greatest place in the world

380
00:21:09,148 --> 00:21:12,242
because we have some
unbelievable landscapes

381
00:21:12,284 --> 00:21:16,880
out there, whether it's
the Everglades

382
00:21:16,922 --> 00:21:20,255
or the granite domes and foliage

383
00:21:20,292 --> 00:21:23,125
of Acadia National Park
in Maine,

384
00:21:23,162 --> 00:21:27,121
the alien landscapes
out in the Southwest,

385
00:21:27,166 --> 00:21:32,035
or the huge canyon that is one
of the most unbelievable things.

386
00:21:32,071 --> 00:21:34,198
There's a reason
that people thought

387
00:21:34,239 --> 00:21:37,697
that this place was blessed,
and l hope that that's

388
00:21:37,743 --> 00:21:39,802
the one thing that you
really come away with...

389
00:21:42,615 --> 00:21:44,310
because that's
what l got from it.

390
00:21:46,285 --> 00:21:48,549
KEN: ln order to understand
who l am,

391
00:21:48,587 --> 00:21:50,953
l have to go out into nature,
and it's there

392
00:21:50,990 --> 00:21:54,824
in your insignificance
in nature, strangely enough,

393
00:21:54,860 --> 00:21:57,328
that you find your significance
as a human being.

394
00:21:57,363 --> 00:21:59,797
lt's there that you forge
intimate relations

395
00:21:59,832 --> 00:22:01,265
with other people.

396
00:22:01,300 --> 00:22:04,133
lt's there as you look
at geological time passing

397
00:22:04,169 --> 00:22:08,105
that your own puny existence
actually takes on meaning

398
00:22:08,140 --> 00:22:09,903
and has some relevance.

399
00:22:09,942 --> 00:22:12,308
''What am l doing?
l've got to get going''...

400
00:22:14,346 --> 00:22:16,541
and it's wonderful to be
in a national park

401
00:22:16,582 --> 00:22:19,210
and to feel
all of that intensity

402
00:22:19,251 --> 00:22:22,948
of experience, of being,
and, l think, of history

403
00:22:22,988 --> 00:22:26,014
because this is not just
an individual story of me,

404
00:22:26,058 --> 00:22:31,792
of us, but of the United States,
a kind of collective thing.

405
00:22:46,645 --> 00:22:48,636
[Birds chirping]