Death Worm 2009

Well, we have about 10 hours of footage digitised (that’s off tape and in the trusty computer), and should be done by the weekend. Then we’ll then get stuck into the editing process. Talking about “We’s” I should mention a wonderful chap named Toby is onboard to cut this thing. Which is great news, as Toby’s a great editor and storyteller.

At around 2pm I got a call from the NZPA who did a lovely story before we went. This time, they wanted to know what had gone on. It was a tricky phone call to get actually, as I hadn’t given “post-Mongolia interviews” too much thought. Of course I want to talk about Mongolia, the Death Worm and what we experienced - but as I said in the last post - I don’t want to give too much away.

Anyway, this is what they ended up running (which has popped up in the likes of the Otago Daily Times):

THE DOCUMENTARY IS DEFINITE.

There may not actually be solid evidence of an acid-spitting, lightning-throwing Mongolian deathworm living in the Gobi Desert but there will definitely be a documentary about it.

Journalist David Farrier and cameraman Christie Douglas have returned from Mongolia, where they spent about two weeks trying to verify the deathworm’s existence.

Some Mongolians say the Allghoi Khorkhoi, or “intestine worm”, resembles a 1.5m-long creature that jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances.

Farrier would not say if the pair discovered evidence of the fantastical creature as they were not revealing too much until the documentary was complete.

People were welcome to assume they didn’t find anything, he said, however: “As far as telling the story about the deathworm I’d say we were pretty successful in what we came back with and we have definitely got a doco on our hands.”

They recorded about 30 hours of footage and spoke to people who said they had seen the worm.

“Because the sightings peaked during the 1950s a lot of these witnesses won’t be around for much longer, so I felt pretty lucky to get to some of them before they are actually dead.

“The story of creature hasn’t been told yet in any kind of factual way. It’s always been crazy people out with flashlights on their heads looking for it, no one has got any facts down about it and that’s what this is going to do.”

Farrier is hoping to produce a 90 minute documentary by the middle of next year, which could be shown at film festivals.

He would try to get it shown in Mongolia because the locals there were keen to see the results of the trip.

In the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator no one had even heard of the deathworm.

However, as they headed south towards the Gobi Desert more and more locals were aware of it.

Farrier said the whole expedition was a fantastic experience, despite experiencing increasingly unpleasant conditions in the Gobi Desert.

They didn’t wash for two weeks, and at one stage it was so dry they blew their noses and blood would come out, Farrier said.

Farrier said he believed the deathworm did exist and another trip to Mongolia isn’t out of the question.

“There are more leads that can be chased up as far as the deathworm goes, and there is also the Almas, which is their version of the Yeti, which comes down from Russia occasionally, and other creatures are calling from Mongolia.”

NZPA

Right - so that’s that.

Finally, I should add that shooter Christie Douglas has been uploading some still photo to his twitter account. They really are quite stunning, especially where Mongolia’s on-mass creatures are involved. Here are a couple:

More can be found here at TwitPic.

-Farrier

Yep, cameraman Christie Douglas and myself are back from 3 weeks in the Southern Gobi shooting our documentary about the Mongolian Death Worm! We both grew quite good beards during this time. Anyway, thanks so much for all your support in the form of kind words, donations, tips and ideas. They’ve all been invaluable in various ways.

Also, thanks to the lovely people of the southern Gobi who kindly invited us into their homes and shared their time and stories. We wouldn’t have a doco without you.

The tricky thing now is that I can’t really say too much about what we did and didn’t find, because that would be a bit of a spoiler for the documentary. All I’ll say is that I’m stoked with what we got over there and I can’t wait to edit this thing together. The tale of the Mongolian Death Worm needs to be told!

Keep an eye here for updates on how the edit is going.. photos.. bits of video.. and other fun stuff as this thing comes together in post.

Cheers,

David (and Christie)

This is a bit ackward. We’ve been updating this blog for the last few months and been really excited about the feedback it’s been getting. People are loving the Mongolian Death Worm, which is all two budding cryptozoologists could ask for. Well, that - and to find the creature we’re looking for: The Mongolian Death Worm.

Which brings us to our next point: Christie Douglas and I are off. We’re going to have a quick sleep, then catch a plane for Korea - before jumping on Mongolian Airlines for, well, Mongolia.

We’re going to be concentrating our efforts for the next 3 weeks finding out about the Death Worm from the locals (from laymen to scientists) and - who knows - maybe we’ll find worm itself. Which means we won’t be on the website, twitter, facebook, cellphones - anything, really. We’re not even taking iPods.

We will touch base again when we’re back, but we’re gonna be pretty tight lipped about what we’ve found - or haven’t found. We’re out to make a doco, and there’s no point in doing this if you already know what to expect because it’s all been outlined here on deathworm2009.com. Whether we find it or not, we’re keeping our lips sealed.

But we’ll give you a tease, don’t worry.

See you on the other side.

Christie Douglas & David Farrier.

P.S. From the phrasebook: “I’ve been bitten by a snake!” Bi mogoid (neg shaivjing) khatguulchikhlaa

Alastair Paulin of the Nelson Mail has written this lovely story about cameraman Christie Douglas.

“Motueka’s Christie Douglas is off to spend three weeks in Mongolia stalking the elusive, and possibly mythical, Mongolian Death Worm.

The search is the brainchild of his former TV3 colleague David Farrier, who is funding the cryptozoological expedition.

The TV cameraman has had a few adventures with the TV3 reporter.

There was the time they braved the mosh pit and pyrotechnics show at the Rock to Wellington concert and the scary time they faced down the cat ladies at the national cat show in Taradale.

But nothing in their reporting career at Nightline could prepare them for the Gobi Desert in the 40-plus degree heat of August, looking for a 1.5-metre red worm that can supposedly spit acid in your face or kill you by an electric shock from its rectum. If it exists, that is. Both men sound convinced that it does.

They point to the consistency of local witness accounts and add that, as the Gobi Desert is sparsely populated, the chance that people are collaborating in their accounts or spreading rumours seems slim. Mr Farrier said he first heard of the creature at age 14 when he read a book about cryptozoology. Over time, he has dismissed other entries such as the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot but thinks the Mongolian Death Worm is likely to exist.

The creature was first brought to the West’s attention in the 1920s by explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, who has been credited as the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character. Mr Douglas said there had been previous expeditions to look for the creature and they would build on that work, as well as local accounts, which have led them to concentrate their search in a specific region of the Gobi. Mr Farrier’s goal is to document the creature’s existence on film, but he has no plans to capture it.

“I’m not taking a net or a gun or anything like that. I don’t think it’s something you want to grab hold of. “It’s a very personal thing for me so if I see it, I’ll be happy.” He said Mr Douglas was his favourite cameraman to work with because he has such an “affable personality” and stays calm in stressful situations. He puts the chances at finding the creature at between 5 and 15 per cent, while Mr Douglas is more cautious. “I don’t think we’ll find anything but we’ll find enough to make a great story.”

The pair leave for Mongolia on Tuesday and will be joined there by a team of three: a cook, a translator and a driver. They will spend two weeks camping in the Gobi Desert, and as the worm is supposedly attracted to tremors, they will set off some explosions to try to draw it to the surface.”

Christie Douglas is shooting this Mongolian Death Worm documentary, and had an amazing photo shoot in Motueka the other day. They were kind enough to let me use the photos on the blog.

So, meet Christie:

What a good looking bloke!

Farrier.

PS. Thanks to all who came to the fundraising party last night - photos to come! It was a blast. So nice talking Death Worm at a swanky place like Sale St.