Kayak

Here is a shot of the kayak under construction which will be used by Kivioq in the beginning of the film.

Abandoned Erebus Test Shot

This shot shows the abandoned Erebus discovered by the Inuit.

Sinead O'Connor sings Lord Franklin

The below link from YouTube.com shows Sinead O'Connor singing "Lord Franklin."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fgNcx9st1A&search=sinead

Lord Franklin

Lord Franklin

(traditional)

It was homeward bound one night on the deep

Swinging in my hammock I fell asleep

I dreamed a dream and I thought it true

Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew

With one hundred seamen he sailed away

To the frozen ocean in the month of May

To seek that passage around the pole

Where we poor seamen do sometimes go

Through cruel hardships they mainly strove

Their ships on mountains of ice was drove

Only the Eskimo with his skin canoe

Was the only one who ever came through

In Baffin's Bay where the whale fish blow

The fate of Franklin no man may know

The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell

Lord Franklin among his sailors do dwell

And now my burden it gives me pain

For my long lost Franklin I'd cross the main

Ten thousand pounds I would freely give

To say on earth that my Franklin do live

Erebus and Terror

Another shot of the British ships. The Erebus as you can see is in the process of being completed. Both are made from balsa wood. For more info on these two ships:

HMS Erebus (1826)
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HMS Erebus was a Hecla class bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke Dockyard, Wales in 1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in Hades of Greek Mythology called Erebus.
The 372-ton ship was armed with two mortars, one 13-inch and one 10-inch. After two years in the Mediterranean Sea, she was refitted to work in the Antarctic. In 1840, Erebus, captained by James Clark Ross, departed from Tasmania for Antarctica on November 21 in company with HMS Terror. In January 1841, the crew from both ships landed on Victoria Land, and proceeded to name areas of the landscape after British politicians, scientists, and acquaintances. Mount Erebus, on Ross Island, was named for the ship itself. They then discovered the Ross Ice Shelf, which they were unable to penetrate, and followed it eastward until the lateness of the season compelled them to return to Tasmania. The following season, 1842, Ross continued to survey the "Great Ice Barrier", as it was called, continuing to follow it eastward. The two ships returned to the Falkland Islands before returning to the Antarctic in the 1842-1843 season. The ships conducted studies in magnetism, and returned with oceanographic data and collections of botanical and ornithological specimens.
Erebus and Terror were fitted with 20 horsepower (15 kW) engines and single-screw propellers in 1844. Under the command of Sir John Franklin, they were sent to the Canadian Arctic to collect magnetic data. The two ships were last seen entering Baffin Bay in August 1845. The disappearance of the Franklin expedition set off a massive search effort in the Arctic. The ships' fate were revealed in a series of expeditions into the Arctic between 1848 and 1859 when it was discovered that both ships had become icebound and were eventually abandoned by their crews, who were suffering from scurvy. None of the members of the Franklin expedition survived. In addition, in the 1980s it was discovered that the crew had also suffered from lead poisoning from lead solder on their food tins. Lead poisoning leads to disorientation, insanity, and eventually death.

Kivioq

Kiviuq
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Kiviuq (also spelled "Qiviuq," "Kiviuk" and other variants) is the hero of epic stories of the Inuit of the Arctic regions of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland.
Kiviuq is an eternal Inuit wanderer. Spirits, giants, cannibals, bears and sea monsters intermingle in Kiviuk's world, creating havoc for him. He walks, or travels by dog sled, kayak, or may be borne by huge fishes. His supernatural powers allow him to overcome all manner of obstacles in his travels across the North.
Stories about Kiviuq's many adventures are told across the Arctic. Kiviuq has lived a long time and has had many lives. Versions of his adventures vary with the location and the storyteller. In Greenland he is known as "Qooqa" and in Alaska he is called "Qayaq."
One well-known legend of Kiviuq tells of his friendship with the grandson of an old woman. Everyone abuses and makes fun of the boy except Kiviuq. The old woman decides to get revenge. She changes her grandson into a seal and has him swim out to sea. The men follow the seal, intending to hunt it. Before the hunters reach it, however, the old woman creates a storm and drowns everyone but the seal and Kiviuq. The seal swims safely back to shore, where the old woman turns him back into a boy. Kiviuq drifts away in his kayak continuing his adventures and living with people of many foreign lands.
Inuit elders say that he is in his last life now, on an adventure somewhere. However, before he dies he will return to see his people. Oral tradition has preserved many versions of the Kiviuq story-cycle, and today, a new generation of Inuit storytellers is bringing the tales to life in written or graphic form.

Erebus and Terror

This shot shows the Erebus and Terror.

Inuit Testimony About Franklin

The following link describes the Inuit testimony to one of the search parties about their encounters with the Franklin expedition some of which has been incorporated into the story:


http://www.ric.edu/rpotter/inuittest.html

Martin Leonard

An excerpt from Martin Leonard's blog:

Martin Leonard III did what the paddling community said would be impossible, suicidal or perhaps just plain crazy. In 1996, Martin succeeded in paddling a route across the Arctic coast of the North American continent. He is, in all probability, the first modern-day kayaker to complete a coastal route through the fabled Northwest Passage-a route linking the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. He did it with the help of a designer who believes that industry standards are something to measure shoe size by, but never boats. And the motivation? Something called "traditional technology."

See links for his blog for more info.