Behind the Scenes of Finding Bigfoot: “Bigfoot Crossing in Georgia” with Cliff Barackman
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on June 2nd, 2011
Cliff Barackman is a friend of mine.
On his website, he is answering some of the questions people are asking about Finding Bigfoot.
On Monday night, I tuned in to Animal Planet to watch the sneak peek episode of Finding Bigfoot. I had not seen any of the episodes, so I was a little nervous how I would be portrayed. I was also wildly curious as to what the editors would choose to show and what they would leave out.
Let me start by saying that filming a television show is quite a different experience than bigfooting on my own. We spent seven or eight days in each location, working between 11 and 18 hours a day. Much of that time was actually spent filming things, such as interviews or night investigations. That equates to hundreds of hours of raw footage that need to be whittled down to 44 minutes of viewing time. Obviously, things that are important to bigfooters like me will end up cut from the show.
As far as the Georgia episode goes, I was pretty pleased. The editors pieced together a concise version of what happened out there for the American public. They opened a door into the bigfooting lifestyle that I writhe in on a daily basis. It seems that people are intrigued by what they saw. The educator in me was satisfied.
Then there’s the bigfoot-nerd side of me. He was left wanting a bit more. If it were up to me, the tracks alone would have filled up 40 minutes of the show, but I can see how watching plaster dry might not be good for ratings. I’m learning that there’s a balance between bigfooting and TV making, but I believe our producers are doing a pretty great job striking that balance.
However, I write this blog for fellow bigfooters who aren’t necessarily the average American public. We tend to want more information to satisfy our sasquatch-thirst. I intend to give it to you, and I have permission from Animal Planet to write about the episodes after they air.
Following each episode, I will give you insight into what happened out in the field. Behind-the-scenes glimpses will be given into the weird world of television production from a bigfooter’s perspective. I will write about the witnesses we spoke to and the evidence that we came across. I will always do my best to give measurements when they were taken. I will focus on what I found most interesting, but I am also interested in what you might find interesting. Feel free to contact me with suggestions and questions. We are both part of the same bigfooting community, and you might want to know something I can help with.
Let’s start with those prints. The promos all had me yelling about them being the best prints I’d ever seen. This is true, but only because footprints are so amazingly rare. Sure, I have better casts in my collection, but as far as prints in the ground… Well, these were the best I’d seen.
Bigfooting production assistant and friend of the ‘squatch, Tyler Bounds found those prints while I was tied up doing an interview at the footprint investigation location. I wrote about the circumstances on my website, and you can go directly to my account by clicking this link.
I have added the witness’ footprints that we were investigating, as well as the casts we took of Tyler’s find, to my online cast database. I am still transferring over all of the casts from my old website (which is still up as of this writing), and I will be adding more on a continual basis.
For now, enjoy these behind-the-scenes photographs from our Georgia location. Please tune in for the next episode of Finding Bigfoot on Animal Planet. The show will air at its normally-scheduled time of Sunday nights at 10 pm. Please check your local listing, though… Time zones are misleading things.Clifford Barackman
About Craig Woolheater
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
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I detect circular reasoning in some of the comments.
While I do understand the frustrations of many on this board,I do sort of understand the position that Matt finds himself in. I think many should realize that television is television and has much different interests and hopes for this series (ahem..ratings) than do most of us in the research field.
I am just happy that we do have some real researchers out there getting publicity and a chance to bring this subject to many people who would otherwise pass this off as nothing more than nonsense. While we all know some skeptics will never be pleased until a body is produced, any of us who have done serious research and has spent time chasing these things know that they are 100 percent real and we know what to look for. Hopefully, this show my grab a few new enthusiasts and just maybe a few with money to help fund some other researchers which is what many of us lack. I am hoping that this show, while not perfect, will bring new fans, enthusiasts and researchers into the field and that is never a bad thing.
I think we must understand that these type of shows only thrive if they do well in the ratings, thus getting the advertising dollars necessary to make the channel decide to continue with the show…so we have to understand that there will be some recreations and the producers will hype up certain aspects that maybe should not be given all that much attention.
However, I still think this show is good for the community and I hope the guys find much success. I know Matt can seem cocky, harsh and overbearing, however, we must understand that he, like all of us, has taken his share of insults, accusations and heckling from skeptics, envious researchers etc. and it must get tiring.
I can fully understand his anger as I have came very close to getting a bit physical with a few “skeptics” that I have argued with. However, I would urge Matt to tone down his rhetoric and just try to ignore those who just want to argue for arguments sake, but try to answer the questions that many respected researchers may have.
It is a fine line and we must all try to step back and walk the other guys shoes once in a while. Peace fellas.