TRAVERSE CITY -- A week at Boy Scout camp usually means archery, swimming, canoeing, lifesaving and other physical activities based in the great outdoors.
Camp Greilick, however, also offers a media-savvy twist on traditional summer pastimes, offering courses in computers, amateur radio and cinematography that draw troops from around the state.
"Our committee chair specially picked this camp because of all the special merit badges," said Ray Digby, a leader with Troop 27 based in Ann Arbor.
Digby and some 10 Scouts ages 12-17 from a variety of troops tapped a local resource during their stay at the camp last week. Friday morning, campers pursuing their cinematography badge got up close and personal with filmmaker Michael Moore.
After a tour of the renovated State Theatre in downtown Traverse City, the Scouts visited with Moore for about 45 minutes.
Leading off with a biographical sketch, Moore delved into his filmmaking history that began with his Eagle Scout project in 1970.
The high school sophomore photographed polluted areas around his hometown of Davison. Moore compiled the images into a slideshow, set it to music and showed it to groups around town, including churches, schools and service organizations.
"A number of clubs and groups decided to take some action to clean up the creek and the roadsides and to start writing letters," said Moore, noting that this initial filmmaking effort taught him things he uses today. "It was probably the first film I ever made -- a music video long before there was MTV."
Moore also talked about his first feature film, "Roger & Me" released in 1989, telling the Scouts that he didn't wait for someone to tell him he could be a filmmaker.
"I've always had that philosophy in life. Instead of waiting, you should just do it," he said.
As a corollary to that approach, Moore exhorted his listeners to embrace failure, noting that the best learning comes from mistakes. Acknowledging that this advice contradicts years of programming by the educational system -- where teachers evaluate student performance and punish failure with bad grades -- he extolled the virtues of trial and error.
"We started from illiterate at birth to a vocabulary of 4,000 words at kindergarten, by five years old you can speak a foreign language," he said of the high-speed learning years characterized by nurturing and support. "When you learned to tie a shoe, walk or ride and bike, how many times did you fall down? The more you were allowed to fail the better you got at it."
Translating this approach to movies, Moore noted that the Scouts could go make the same thing that they see in theaters and on television. Or they could create something they like, trusting that enough people would like it, too.
"Don't try to please everybody. Make yourself happy," Moore said, adding that flexibility is also needed: "Don't lock yourself into the way it has to be. Compromise is needed."
Finding and nurturing a small handful of friends who will provide support and inspiration is also important. From this foundation, Moore said he reached a point during his teens when he did not care what people thought about him. This provided creative freedom and the room to fail and learn.
"If you really have friends that are friends to you, you should be set for life," was how Andrew Curtiss of Troop 138 in Lincoln Park interpreted Moore's thought.
During a question-and-answer period, Moore addressed the concept of service that is integral to the Scouting credo. He shared his sense that what each person does affects others, exhorting Scouts to think about how to serve in their neighborhoods and communities.
The message resonated with Tom Stoeber, Scout executive for the Scenic Trails Council.
"That's what we're urging all of our Scouts to do -- become service-minded and they'll carry that for the rest of their lives," said Stoeber, who during a Rotary Club tour of the State Theatre told Moore about Camp Greilick's cinematography badge, leading to the Scout's visit. "Certainly Moore's Eagle Scout project was a great example of service and it prompted some action."
Moore also fielded questions about the industry, including how to break in and whether Michigan's new incentives for filmmaking are working .
Winding up his time with the Scouts, Moore reflected on his years in Troop 154 in the Tall Pines Council.
"I'm very proud of the fact that I'm an Eagle Scout. I got a lot out of it," he said. "Take these values you're learning in Scouts and hang on to them."
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