John Aldrich – Behind the scenes with“The River and The Wall” - a podcast by Other World Computing

Months of research, many more months filming and editing, this movie tells the story of the Wall and its impact on the flora and fauna spanning over 1,200 miles along the Rio Grande bordering the United States of America and Mexico.



The latest film by John Aldrich, "The River and the Wall,"is a documentary he edited and helped shoot. It tells the story of five friends who descend the Rio Grande on bicycles, horseback, and canoe to examine issues surrounding the border wall. The film premiered at SXSW 2019 and received rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Outside magazine, and a number of others. As of this writing, it currently enjoys a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.



John's website gives more information on feature documentaries he has worked on. These include,"An Unreal Dream,"and"Audubon,"as well as a number of short films and music-themed works including the"Geo Sessions,"a music series he produced, shot and edited for National Geographic.







In This Episode00:08 - Cirina introduces John Aldrich, a producer/editor/DP based in Austin, Texas. He has worked on several feature-length documentaries, among them The River and the Wall, An Unreal Dream, Audubon, Let The Fire Burn, The Russian Five, and Above It All.05:30 - John talks about the people involved in making the film The River and The Wall.10:26 - John shares how they managed to work with the cold weather while camping in West Texas together with the crew.16:07 - Cirina and John describe the feeling of finding motels and mini grocery stores to get the necessities in remote areas while in production.21:04 - John shares the mic systems and equipment they used for The River and The Wall.27:08 - John highlights the advantages of using DaVinci Resolve and an experienced colorist for high-quality color correction in a film.32:15 - John shares one of the most challenging parts of production and post-production of The River and The Wall.38:51 - John tells an exciting story of how he met Larry O’Connor, the owner of OWC.43:19 - John talks about his experiences working with Al Reinert in making the documentary film, Unreal Dream. He also shares how Al was a very brilliant man.49:03 - Follow John Aldrich on his social media accounts, and watch the film, The River and The Wall, a story of five friends who descend the Rio Grande on bicycles, horseback, and canoe to examine issues surrounding the border wall.



Jump to Links and ResourcesTranscript



This is Cirina Catania. I have John Aldrich on the line. He's a producer and editor and a fellow adventurer. And I'm really excited to talk to you, John because I've heard some stories about what it took to film this last film that you were involved with called The River and The Wall. How are you doing? Have you survived?



I'm doing great, Cirina. Yeah, production wrapped a little while ago, so I've had a chance to recover. Great, great to talk with you.



Yeah, you too. Tell everybody a little bit about what The River and The Wall were when you first started. And then we'll get on to what it was for you by the time you were done. When you first started the project, how do you feel about it, and what kind of prep did you do? Let's go under the hood a little bit.



You bet. So The River and The Wall, for those who don't know, is a feature documentary that follows five friends as they go down the Rio Grande, from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico under their own power. First on bicycles, and then on horseback through the Big Bend and then on canoes through lower canyons and other sections of the Rio. Because the Rio in some sections doesn't have water, and you actually have to be on foot or on horseback. And so they ended up going all the way down the Rio Grande to Boca Chica, which is the [mouse of the Rio de Arte, the Gulf of Mexico. And along the way, they encounter folks who tell them about what a potential border wall would do to the environment,

Further episodes of OWC RADiO

Further podcasts by Other World Computing

Website of Other World Computing