The musician has made a film about the Sopchoppy River, premieres this weekend
By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Correspondent
“I produced a movie about the Sopchoppy River. I live there and I felt it had to be documented; I want people to say, “This is a beautiful part of Florida and I got to see the unique, genuine, untouched Florida that must remain untouched and undeveloped.”
On Saturday, Aug. 31, at 6:15 to 7:45 p.m., at the IMAX theater at the Challenger Learning Center in Kleman Plaza in Tallahassee, Sammy and Sandy Tedder will unveil “River Obscura: Secrets of a Blackwater River.”
Musician, composer, cinematographer and naturalist Sammy Tedder reveals this blackwater river from a perspective mostly unseen – from underwater – and along hidden tributary creeks few have explored.
“Nature sounds are recorded straight from the river so its authentic, raw and pure,” said Tedder.
“The film was created mostly during Covid, although I had to use older footage to build the foundation of the movie, about 90 percent of the film is from 2020 and on,” he said. “I like to do things chronologically with seasons, the film is focused on spring and summer on the Sopchoppy River and viewers can see what it’s really like,” said Tedder.
“I would mount an action waterproof GoPro camera in approximately two and a half feet of water at the most and wait until the water is not as dark as normal,” he said. “his happens during droughts, based on my personal experience, with the blackness coming from tannins leaching water out of leaves turning the water very acidic, it’s like brewed tea.
“During droughts, there are myriad of crystal-clear springs from limestone walls that seep into the river when it’s low that dilute the tannins and make it visible for filming,” said Tedder.
“It (the river) will never be 100 percent clear so I waited for the perfect moment to film and I set up my camera up a channel of the river and let it run powered on until the battery was dead. it was like Christmas every time I watched new footage, the first time I filmed an alligator snapping turtle, I jumped out of the chair.”
“My wife Sandy and I bought our land in 1979, eventually built a cabin and moved there in the year 2000. I have a personal relationship with the Sopchoppy River, I love the river.
“I have seen the Amazon, Neva River in the Soviet Union while it was communist, I’ve seen how rivers can be overused, so eroded from use and I am glad the Sopchoppy is protected by the National Forest and Wildlife Refuge. The Sopchoppy is very fragile.” said Tedder. “People here in Wakulla have to be stewards and protect our rivers and wildlife.”
Anyone who is familiar with Sopchoppy is familiar with the pesky and painful yellow fly.
“I had to endure quite a bit of yellow fly bites, mosquitoes, ticks, and redbugs,” he said. “There is always something trying to bite you and suck your blood and eat you – you are part of the food chain out here.
“At least with the movie, folks can enjoy the river without suffering,” said Tedder.
“I enjoyed making this film and the process of creating is why I do what I do; it’s the creation, putting it together and telling a story, I let people see how beautiful the river is, I guess it’s the creative part that drives me to do this and share the beauty and see people smile and their reactions.
“It meant something to someone at some point is why I do this,” he said. “You want them to see what you see and if they do not live here in Wakulla, they probably would never get to see the river, and now they have the opportunity through the film,” said Tedder.
“There are at least 30 species of fish, birds, insects, reptiles, collectively. I particularly enjoyed the black bear scene with me in a blind and when I scared him off with the sound of the zipper of my blind, he just turned around a stared right at the camera, my hands were shaking.”
Tedder, along with his wife Sandy, is the cinematographer, editor, musician and creator of the film.
“I want to thank my neighbor Matt Morgan for shooting the drone footage, he was kind enough to come over and film.”
“When the film was entered into the film festival and they accepted it, I thought it was a miracle being it was my first submission.”
Tallahassee Film Festival
The film is being shown as part of the Tallahassee Film Festival. Tickets will be available at the door. For other films and venues that are part of the festival, go to tallahasseefilmfestival.com
