Naesje_Nordic_Wildlife_UWOLLongForm 09
 

My concept for the Long Form UWOL 09 will be to show you how a wildlife photographer experience to be out in the wild, trying to get stunning and amazing pictures.
The main actor in this piece will be Ole Arne, which some of you might have seen in the Norwegian Wood piece for the DVC/UWOL Charity Challenge.
I have titled my project Nordic Wildlife for now, but I might change the title during the shooting/editing periode.

In this first piece we are at the North-Western part of Norway (not far from Geir Inge!), doing som shoots of the amazing White Tailed Eagle and the Goshawk. Ole Arne has dreamed about getting some photos of raptors for a long time and I believe this stay touched him almost to tears when a huge White Tailed Eagle did a touch down just 10 meters from the blind! To get a amazing shoot of a eagle touch down in front of a Goshawk is very rare I believe!?

To sit in a blind has cons and pros. The main problem is that your view angle is very narrow. Almost impossible to get control of what's happening on the side and behind you. The raptors often sits on hights or in tree tops for hours just watching out for danger before they approach. So even if there's nothing to hear or view, keep total silence is essential to success. And when thing first start to happend everything is happening on the same time. It's like you struggleing with a bottle of chetchup, first nothing, then nothing and suddenly everything at once!
When the bird has landed, being patient and don't move too much with your lens is essential. My rule of thumb is: move when the bird moves. Hold when the bird stop and watching. Doing it this way you'll extend the time the bird stay on the bait many times!

I learned a lot from this first trip. I have to do more planning, do much, much more cut-in clip, particularly of Ole Arne in various situations. More landscape (wide) shoots etc, etc.
Various close-ups of preparing gear etc, can be shoot afterwards, but I think it's essential to do as much as possible on location, where you have the same surroundings, light etc
Another thing is do Ole Arne's dialog credible. I've found that if I write a script for him to talk from, it doesn't be as good as if he is allowed to speak more freely. So for now I let him speak a lot about his experiences and trying to edit the best part for the film.

Recommende version is located at Vimeo in HD:
Nordic Wildlife Part 1 on Vimeo


If you want a smaller version with underlying text in english (428x240), which can be found here:
http://www.video-film.no/snutter/UWO...OLLongForm.mov 57MB of size (please right-click and download before viewing)
I would like comments of how you're able to read this text and it's size and apperance?

Appriciate any comments to this first entry!

Enjoy!

Pictures show some screen grabs from the film

Hallo Per Johan

You have here some exselent, cut and I realy look forword to this film.
I shold meybe wait to the finich film. But you get me wonder how in eart
you get so close.Is it in a cabin or a tent ? Denne burde du prøvd som forprocekt
hos NRK se (exstern prod)

All Best
VJV.

I am really impressed. Your shots are so sharp and detailed. The scene with the goshawk and the eagle flying into the foreground is amazing.
I am looking forward to see twenty minutes or more of this high standard.

Finn-Erik

Per Johan,

You spend enough time in the field you will certainly see amazing things!! some of them are once in a life time!! the Gos and the eagle is a perfect example!!! To be set up and record it with the camera makes it even more fantastic as you can share the moment with others!!!

Looking forward to seeing the completed version.

Per Johan

I say this with some embarassment and humility, but the images you have shown, shared and created and your methods have inspired me (and I know others), and led me to try and emulate. I stand in awe of what you can do, and hope someday to be able to have learned enough to reach the same levels with my own subjects.

I will await to see your project's end result, and I know I will study it carefully to learn as I can.

Chris

ps. I already own the same crane because of your suggestions. <g>

Superb, can't fault it in any way.
Goshawks are very difficult to film in any country I've ever been to, not just yours Per Johan!
Looking forward to the rest of it.
Steve

Hi PJ.
I like your idea of making your friend, Ole Arne, the main character in your film. Well, that is together with the birds and great nature of course :)
You have a lot of work ahead to make this film, but with your experience from filming muskox at Dovre in freezing cold, I think you are prepared :)
Two questions:
1) Close to me you say about your location. May I ask exactly where?
2) Those clear and beatuful coloured clips. May I ask you for the preset?

Wish you best of luck.
Geir Inge

Hello Per:

This is a marvel take on how you have chosen to present your film. The combination of both your filming talent and Ole's camera work is unbeatable. You have incorporated effective transitions and the sub titles are very legible. I noticed a few miss-spellings which I would be happy to review your text and offer corrections if you would like. Your English is near-perfect!

Nicely done Per! All of the details (native tongue and subtitles, transitions, incorporating film and stills, etc) are adding up to a powerful film.

Cat

This film really provides an interesting way to approach the subject. And blends things really well. Great shots of scenery, some really good shots of the birds - capturing a lot of what they are like, and also the human element with Ole Arne. It provides a good balance.

I can only assume knowledge (about wildlife and the local habitats) combined with patience are an absolute must for this kind of work. But it makes for great footage. I have much to learn yet.

There is no way most of us can compete on visuals. These really are awesome shots. But I'm inspired to learn more so I can get the most out of the 8-bit SD equipment I have.

I look forward to seeing more, and how this develops as a story. Also, thanks for the subtitles - I'd be lost without them, they were quite easy to read, and follow along.

Per, very well done. My hands got cold just watching. I also picked up on a few spelling errors. And, I think you need to keep the transcription on the screen longer, there were a few times it cut off before I got to read it all. I know the final will be a winner. Bob

Wonderful, Per. As in your owl and capercaillie work, you have a knack of getting into these birds' eyes, which draws the viewer into the scene. Doing the same with Ole was a good stroke. I look forward to the rest.

Thanks for comments to my entry!

Vidar:
This shoots was made from a hide (fotoskjul) at Nordmøre on the West-Coast of Norway. The bait was a roe-deer and a crow. Even wild birds prefer free meals when possible so to get this close and you're not have plenty of time, this is the way to do it!

Finn-Erik:
My current set-up is Canon XL-H1 and I shoot 1080i50 HDV. I found the original viewfinder to be difficult to get good focus, especially in winter and cold weather. Therefore I use mainly a FU-1000 black/white viewfinder, much better with nice peak function. This is in fact a small CRT-monitor. Can't value it enough for my work!

Dale:
You asked once about my set-up for the H1 camcorder, see below for details.

Chris:
I'm very humble of your kind words! Unfortunately I haven't used my crane as much as I should, but I have plans for it in my current long-form.

Steve:
Thanks, I think there was some luck to get the footage we get. It's not an everyday event.

Geir Inge:
I've send you an email. See below for the preset.

Cat:
Thanks very much for your offer. I'll think about it. In fact I have been thinking about asking for someone who want to do some collaboration regarding to do the narrating for the film. Anybody wants to help me out?

Andrew:
In fact I'm working in 8-bit myself, HDV and SD is both 8-bit systems.
There's not much difference between those two formats except frame size. But please arrest me if I'm wrong!
HDV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bob:
I will notice the transcription duration, but I'm thinking of doing narrating in the finished film. See my answer to Cat above.

Steve:
Thanks, my aim is to get footage of wild birds/mammals which is not so often seen. Like doing real close close-ups. My advantage is having huge focal lenghts to work with!


I want to share some of my technical settings:

My wildlife preset for Canon XL-H1:
GAM - CINE1
KNE - MIDDLE
BLK - PRESS
PED - 0
SET - 0
SHP - +2
HDF - MIDDLE
DHV - 0
COR - 0
NR1 - OFF
NR2 - OFF
CMX - +1
CGN - +2
CHP - 0
RGN - 0
GGN - 0
BGN - 0
RGM - 0
RBM - 0
GRM - 0
GBM - 0
BRM - 0
BGM - 0

Ambient sound:
I almost always use external microphones for ambient sound. I have 2 each of Sennheiser ME-67 shotguns, feeding them with +48V phantom power from the camcorder.
When I use them in pair in somehow uncontrolled areas, I always record with two different levels, one high and one low. In that way I can switch in post the soundtrack with best levels of ambient sound.
IMPORTANT always monitor ambient sound recording wearing a pair of headphones!

Viewfinder (VF):
FU-1000 black/white viewfinder, this is a CRT VF which I find superior to the original VF shipped with the H1.

Batteries:
I have 5 each of BP-970G, 7,4V 7200mAh batteries. Even when I feed microphones and the FU-1000 viewfinder (which consume more power than the original VF) I can continuous record for at least 2 hours on each battery.

Tripod:
I mostly use a huge Miller Arrow HD tripod system in all situations. This is rock steady under most conditions and gives you really vanilla smooth pans and tilts. But it's rather heavy, weight 20 lbs (10 kg). Heavy load on my shoulders on hikes in the mountains!

Transport gear:
I usually use a back-pack for storing the equipment for all my trips. This is a huge back-pack (110 liter) with lots of spare rooms and pockets. When hiking I put the Miller tripod on my chest hanging in elastic straps fastened to the harness of the back-pack. This way I got some counterweight in front, makes it "easy" to carry, if 40-50 lbs (20-25 kg) is easy to carry for a couple of hours!

Last but not least:
I found it very important to use a stripe of black tape to cover all leds and lights on my gear/camcorder (where possible turn of light by the menu).

Well, hopefully this can be of usefull information. There's no secret with what I'm doing, but you need a huge amount of patience to get good recordings of wild birds and mammals.
Feel free to ask, any additional questions!

Hey Per,
Well it certainly looks like you have got your story all down pat, & the footage that you have so far must have you feeling fantastic with so much more time to get even more. If you continue to get footage of this calibre, & with the story you have told us so far, this will end up a brilliant piece of work. I can't wait to see it! You mentioned about doing some narrating for the final piece. Are you looking at having the level of Ole's voice low so as you can just hear it, and have the narrators voice telling people what he is saying like an interpreter? I'm sure you will find someone more than willing to help you out with the narration, & there are a few here that have wonderful voices, & do their narration as well as any, but personally i love the sound of your accent. It just goes with the beautiful footage you keep showing us from Norway.
Regards,
Bryce

Hi PJ.
Just want to pop in and say thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
It really shows what a great guy you are.
Your preset is almost similar to one I use :)
The difference was I had Color Gain (CGN) set to zero (0).
Now I will try out your preset :)

Regards
Geir Inge

Well with a theme like this I guess we’re all in for a real treat with beautiful footage and plenty of lessons about filming and photographing birds in the wild - from both of you. Sounds really great Per and Ole and look forward to learning a lot more from the professionals!!!

Ole is easy to listen to and his narration is interesting, judging by your easy-to-read translation. In response to your question - the font in the translation is clear and the size just right. I am glad you made the black background to the text transparent so we didn’t lose the picture entirely. (Incidentally I watched the smaller version that you provided because I couldn’t get your Vimeo video to play. I am glad I did because having the translation definitely made it more enjoyable.)

Your sound is very clear as usual and wow - you even got the goshawk sneezing!!! Amazing.

One thing I found a bit distracting is the presentation of Ole’s photographs in this video. The photographs are not the same aspect ratio as your 16:9 screen and you zoom them in straight. This causes the tops and bottoms to be cut off as they zoom in but leaves white at the sides.
(In your ‘Norwegian Wood’ video you changed the aspect ratio and rotation of each picture which added variety and made the magnification and aspect ratio difference less noticeable. I also really liked the couple of variations you threw in showing Ole’s camera screen in that video.)

One final suggestion. It may be a good idea to explain things like scattered light to the uninformed viewer and why it is difficult to take photographs in scattered light. Ole could also describe how he got such magnificent photographs despite this problem - or would that be giving away too many trade secrets? :)
Look forward to the next episode Per and Ole.