MTJP | Joshua Tree is a short film created by my brother Jim and me as a part of our project, More Than Just Parks. Joshua Tree is actually the third one of these films we’ve produced following Olympic and Great Smoky Mountains. Through this project, our goal is to effect a greater awareness of the treasures that reside within America’s National Parks. We plan to accomplish this goal through visually stunning short films, engaging online interactions, and breathtaking imagery. Eventually, we plan to create short films covering each of the 59 national parks.
For MTJP | Joshua Tree we spent about a month camping, hiking, and filming our way through Joshua Tree National Park in an effort to capture as many of it’s most beautiful features as possible. We started in the Northwest corner of the park in the Black Rock section and worked our way down and out through the Southern Entrance near Cottonwood Springs. Working with a three man crew including Jim, our friend Matt, and myself, we had a great time and were able to get to some interesting corners of the park.
Joshua Tree National Park stands as one of the most unique places on earth with many geographical features that seem out of this world. From Hidden Valley where the Dr. Seuss-esque Joshua Trees dot the flat landscape as far as the eye can see, to the aptly named Jumbo Rocks covered in immense and towering rock formations, to the Wall Street Mill full of rusted cars, an abandoned mill, and other relics of a seemingly distant past, this bizarre and extraordinary place is truly one of a kind.
Our top five favorite parts of filming in Joshua Tree:
1. The Night Sky
2. Bighorn Sheep
3. Sunsets in Cottonwood Springs
4. Coyotes
5. Geology Tour Road
Walking the landscape by day you’ll find various reptiles soaking in the sun, jackrabbits sprinting from bush to bush, ravens and scrub jays perched atop Joshua Trees, and possibly even a bighorn sheep keeping watch from high above.
Night at Joshua Tree ushers in a whole new world. Down go the lights and up come the stars. Thousands and thousands of stars. Other planets and galaxies become visible along with the stunning milky way.
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