UWOL #14 "Water Cycle"

Per Johan Naesje · August 2nd, 2009, 03:02 PM

As I´m leaving for the mountains tonight and not back for some days - here´s my thread for this round.

The theme Rythms and Cycles lead me to make something about water.
My entry is about the water cycle, which was quite interesting to try and make something about. Weather have been quite variable and I got all kind of weather during the shooting period. Water cycle is about rain too, so luckily I got some last weekend.

Most of the footage is shoot near by my home, here in Oslo, some only of a distance of 5 minutes walk!

I´ve been experimenting with stop motion and DSLR lately, so I´ve included some footage of this kind into my entry. Quite interesting to view thunderstorms building up.
I also did some jib/crane shots which is a interesting angle in doing scenery footage. In one of my trip out in the field I also got good footage of the Black-throated Diver (Gavia arctica)

Link to my entry:

Vimeo version:
http://vimeo.com/5887787

Enjoy!

Dale Guthormsen · August 3rd, 2009, 09:07 PM

Per Johan,

Great shots as always!!!! I really liked the crane footage. Most striking for me however was the audio!!! The thunder just about made me jump out of my seat and the loon call was beautiful. with only three minutes it is so hard to cover something so grand as the water cycle, so I will not criticise in this regard at all!!!

beautiful job as always!!! always my inspiration to work at doing a better job!!

what did you shoot the ants with??

Chris Barcellos · August 3rd, 2009, 09:54 PM

What more can be said... like a broken record... beautiful images, coloration and composition. Nice cloud effects and timelapse material. Another classic.

Mike Sims · August 4th, 2009, 07:19 AM

Per Johan-
I enjoyed this one. Good job covering the water cycle- not an easy task in only three minutes. Your time lapses have good motion and are very smooth. What exposure and interval settings are you using? I also liked the sequence with the ants. We had one of your divers show up in west Texas several years ago. The poor fellow was truly lost. I shot some video, but with a desert background and winter plumage it looked quite different from your beautiful images.

Rich Ryan · August 4th, 2009, 08:59 PM

Per Johan,

What can I say by "Wow". You have some beautiful time lapse. You script and overview of the "Water Cycle" was very nice. I enjoyed the closing segments, particularly the "ants".

My only negative comment is that I would have preferred that the "end of the water cycle" should have closed the video. It almost seemed like you were telling two stories - the water cycle and the effect of water on the cycle of life.

rich

Mihali Moore · August 5th, 2009, 03:39 AM

Another beautiful film from you Per. I liked the timelapse shots very much. The diver at the end was fantastic, was that calling a sound effect or was it actually recorded? It didn't seem to fit the rest of the piece.

Sam Mendolia · August 5th, 2009, 07:30 AM

Per Johan,

I enjoyed this, as I have enjoyed all your other work.

It all worked for me.

Sam

Geir Inge · August 5th, 2009, 08:22 AM

Hi PJ.
Yet another piece of art I think.
Your soundtrack is just great, with the right pauses at the right places, mixed with narrations.
The shot of the loon was great, but maybe I would have shown the loon together with the bumble bee and butterfly at around 2:30. Then I would have made the shot of the lady and the dogs as ending scene together with the sound of the loon. Just my opinion though :)

All the best my friend.
Geir Inge

PS
Forgot one thing to ask you about.
Starting at :16, how do you plan these shots?
Just beautiful zooming in on that little islet in the lake.

Finn-Erik Faale · August 5th, 2009, 02:30 PM

I am impressed by the technical quality your videos always have. The sharpness the colors the sound...
The macro scenes are great.
I am also fascinated by the scene which in sequence has three different focal points.

Trond Saetre · August 5th, 2009, 02:38 PM

Hei Per Johan,

Most have been said already, so I'll just chime in and give my thumbs up for a very well made film. I always learn something new by watching your films.

Well done!

Per Johan Naesje · August 6th, 2009, 09:42 AM

Thanks all so much for your kind comments to my entry!

Dale: the macrowork of the ants was shot with a Sigma 150mm f2.8 macro lens

Mike: This is a very big discussion, so I will make up something for my next long-form-uwol describing some of the technics I use when I shooting wildlife, including time-laps setting, crane-work and hopefully some tips on the editing both footage and sound.

Mihali: the diver sound was in fact ambient sound which I´ve recorded a couple of year ago. Back then I got good sound but no decent footage of the diver, this time I was more lucky with the footage!

Rich and Geir Inge: I was very in doubt myself when I edited the piece, how I should put it together. Your suggestions may have worked better, thanks for the tip!

BTW I have been in the mountains for some days. I have been almost on top of Norway, Galdhøpiggen which is about 8100 ft. A spectacular view up in those mountains.
I´m involved in a environment/climate project and my job is to make a small video for documentation of the project. A part of the film will be screened in a small town called Lom, next week.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and other local authorities will be present during this screening!

Mike Sims · August 6th, 2009, 04:14 PM

“I will make up something for my next long-form-uwol describing some of the technics I use when I shooting wildlife, including time-laps setting, crane-work and hopefully some tips on the editing both footage and sound.” -- That sounds great Per Johan. Thanks, I’m looking forward to it.

Congratulations on your opportunity to shine in front of the dignitaries. Best wishes- I hope it goes really well.

Meryem Ersoz · August 8th, 2009, 08:50 AM

every entry is a little diamond that you share with us, thanks! gorgeous stuff!

your voice-overs seem to be improving a lot - knowing when to talk, and even more importantly...knowing when to give the image space.

Ron Chant · August 8th, 2009, 02:01 PM

Per,
Yet another striking film, with a very good story line,
one group of shots I thought are really good is where the cam is raised up on the crane from the water
then fading the shot while the cam still rising over the top a rock and again a fade to the ants on there nest, good work.
The black throated diver I have heard them at Rutland water but never seen one.

August 3rd, 2009, 09:07 PM	#2
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Per Johan, Great shots as always!!!! I really liked the crane footage. Most striking for me however was the audio!!! The thunder just about made me jump out of my seat and the loon call was beautiful. with only three minutes it is so hard to cover something so grand as the water cycle, so I will not criticise in this regard at all!!! beautiful job as always!!! always my inspiration to work at doing a better job!! what did you shoot the ants with?? __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

August 3rd, 2009, 09:54 PM	#3
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	What more can be said... like a broken record... beautiful images, coloration and composition. Nice cloud effects and timelapse material. Another classic. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

August 5th, 2009, 07:30 AM	#7
Sam Mendolia Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 217	Per Johan, I enjoyed this, as I have enjoyed all your other work. It all worked for me. Sam __________________ I was told I have no vision, but boy do I see great!

August 5th, 2009, 08:22 AM	#8
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,342	Hi PJ. Yet another piece of art I think. Your soundtrack is just great, with the right pauses at the right places, mixed with narrations. The shot of the loon was great, but maybe I would have shown the loon together with the bumble bee and butterfly at around 2:30. Then I would have made the shot of the lady and the dogs as ending scene together with the sound of the loon. Just my opinion though :) All the best my friend. Geir Inge PS Forgot one thing to ask you about. Starting at :16, how do you plan these shots? Just beautiful zooming in on that little islet in the lake. __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm Last edited by Geir Inge; August 6th, 2009 at 03:23 AM.

August 6th, 2009, 09:42 AM	#11
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Thanks all so much for your kind comments to my entry! Dale: the macrowork of the ants was shot with a Sigma 150mm f2.8 macro lens Mike: This is a very big discussion, so I will make up something for my next long-form-uwol describing some of the technics I use when I shooting wildlife, including time-laps setting, crane-work and hopefully some tips on the editing both footage and sound. Mihali: the diver sound was in fact ambient sound which I´ve recorded a couple of year ago. Back then I got good sound but no decent footage of the diver, this time I was more lucky with the footage! Rich and Geir Inge: I was very in doubt myself when I edited the piece, how I should put it together. Your suggestions may have worked better, thanks for the tip! BTW I have been in the mountains for some days. I have been almost on top of Norway, Galdhøpiggen which is about 8100 ft. A spectacular view up in those mountains. I´m involved in a environment/climate project and my job is to make a small video for documentation of the project. A part of the film will be screened in a small town called Lom, next week. The Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and other local authorities will be present during this screening! __________________ - Per Johan

August 2nd, 2009, 03:02 PM	#1
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	UWOL #14 "Water Cycle" - Per Johan Naesje As I´m leaving for the mountains tonight and not back for some days - here´s my thread for this round. The theme Rythms and Cycles lead me to make something about water. My entry is about the water cycle, which was quite interesting to try and make something about. Weather have been quite variable and I got all kind of weather during the shooting period. Water cycle is about rain too, so luckily I got some last weekend. Most of the footage is shoot near by my home, here in Oslo, some only of a distance of 5 minutes walk! I´ve been experimenting with stop motion and DSLR lately, so I´ve included some footage of this kind into my entry. Quite interesting to view thunderstorms building up. I also did some jib/crane shots which is a interesting angle in doing scenery footage. In one of my trip out in the field I also got good footage of the Black-throated Diver (Gavia arctica) Link to my entry: Vimeo version: http://vimeo.com/5887787 Enjoy! __________________ - Per Johan Last edited by Per Johan Naesje; August 2nd, 2009 at 08:00 PM.

August 4th, 2009, 07:19 AM	#4
Mike Sims Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 880	Per Johan- I enjoyed this one. Good job covering the water cycle- not an easy task in only three minutes. Your time lapses have good motion and are very smooth. What exposure and interval settings are you using? I also liked the sequence with the ants. We had one of your divers show up in west Texas several years ago. The poor fellow was truly lost. I shot some video, but with a desert background and winter plumage it looked quite different from your beautiful images.

August 4th, 2009, 08:59 PM	#5
Rich Ryan Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Pleasanton, CA Posts: 127	Per Johan, What can I say by "Wow". You have some beautiful time lapse. You script and overview of the "Water Cycle" was very nice. I enjoyed the closing segments, particularly the "ants". My only negative comment is that I would have preferred that the "end of the water cycle" should have closed the video. It almost seemed like you were telling two stories - the water cycle and the effect of water on the cycle of life. rich

August 5th, 2009, 03:39 AM	#6
Mihali Moore Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bristol Posts: 92	Another beautiful film from you Per. I liked the timelapse shots very much. The diver at the end was fantastic, was that calling a sound effect or was it actually recorded? It didn't seem to fit the rest of the piece.

August 5th, 2009, 02:30 PM	#9
Finn-Erik Faale Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Porsgrunn Norway Posts: 280	I am impressed by the technical quality your videos always have. The sharpness the colors the sound... The macro scenes are great. I am also fascinated by the scene which in sequence has three different focal points.

August 5th, 2009, 02:38 PM	#10
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Hei Per Johan, Most have been said already, so I'll just chime in and give my thumbs up for a very well made film. I always learn something new by watching your films. Well done!

August 6th, 2009, 04:14 PM	#12
Mike Sims Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 880	“I will make up something for my next long-form-uwol describing some of the technics I use when I shooting wildlife, including time-laps setting, crane-work and hopefully some tips on the editing both footage and sound.” -- That sounds great Per Johan. Thanks, I’m looking forward to it. Congratulations on your opportunity to shine in front of the dignitaries. Best wishes- I hope it goes really well.

August 8th, 2009, 08:50 AM	#13
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	every entry is a little diamond that you share with us, thanks! gorgeous stuff! your voice-overs seem to be improving a lot - knowing when to talk, and even more importantly...knowing when to give the image space.

August 8th, 2009, 02:01 PM	#14
Ron Chant Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: West-London - England Posts: 125	Per, Yet another striking film, with a very good story line, one group of shots I thought are really good is where the cam is raised up on the crane from the water then fading the shot while the cam still rising over the top a rock and again a fade to the ants on there nest, good work. The black throated diver I have heard them at Rutland water but never seen one. __________________ <')))>{