UWOL Long Form Projects- Where are they now?

[Kevin Railsback]

It's the grizzlies that you DON'T see that you need to worry about Bryce! :)

[Bryce Comer]

Ha, ha, yes for sure!! Same as the cougars! On that subject, I do have some night time trail camera footage of a cougar, but the quality, (while 1080p), is pretty average, & quite compressed. Still at the end of the day, if i have to use it i will, but in the meantime, if i am lucky enough to get some cougar footage with a decent camera, all the better.

Steve, i did happen to be in a car when i came across the grizzly. While i am constantly in bear country when i'm in search of or filming the caribou, i have taken every precaution, including enlisting the help of a bear expert for training me in how to look for signs, etc, etc, etc. Actually, it all great when he's with me, as between us we have 4 cans of bear spray, & he carries a 12 guage shot gun with 18 rounds of solids. When he's not around though, which is 99 % of the time. i only have my wits, what i have been taught & read & a couple of cans of bear spray to keep me out of trouble.

I am still tinkering with the narrative script, & seem to change little bits & pieces almost every time i read through it. I am constantly re-recording it, & think (hope) it is getting better with each new variance.

Regards,
Bryce

P.S. I was looking at your website again the other day Kevin. You have some very impressive Grizzly footage there!!

[Kevin Railsback]

Let me know if you need any footage Bryce.
Kind of funny, I still have bear bells in my camera bag. Bear spray is certainly a must. So is making a lot of noise. Most attacks come from surprising the bear.

Bear 399 down in the Tetons is a great bear to film. She's usually pretty visible.

I have footage of a grizzly climbing a tree so that bunk about a grizzly can't climb is just that. :)

As cool as grizzlies are, wolves are my magical animal. Sad that so many people are out to eliminate bears, wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcat, you name it and they want them all dead.

[Dale Guthormsen]

Grizzlies are usually not a threat, however they can also be deadly.


The way to tell grizzly skat from black bear skat is grizzly skat has bells in it!!!



have fun, be smart!!!

there is nothing much more adrenalizing than hunting dangerous game from foot!!! having just the camera takes it up another level!!!

an alternate idea to carrying weapons is simply bringing along a someone that runs slower than you, eh??? LOL

Dale

PS
I now generally do not alow downloading of my videos on vimeo anymore if it is anything I plan to use.

[Bryce Comer]

Yeah i've heard it smells like pepper spray too Dale!!

[Bryce Comer]

Ok, well at long, long, long last, i have finally finished my long form project on the mountian caribou. I'd hate to admit it, but not only did i not get it done on time, but i also went over the time limit, well & truly disqualifying me!! :)
I am just uploading it now to Vimeo so you can all watch it here. I have submitted it to a number of film festivals & hope to even see it screened at some. You have all been such a wealth of knowledge & very helpful pool of resource, & i certainly couldn't have done this without your help & support. I will only have it up for a week as i am going to try to keep it from being ripped off by PBS! :)
As soon as it is uploaded, i will add a link.
Regards,
Bryce

[Bryce Comer]

Private video on Vimeo

Password: TLMC

[Bryce Comer]

Ok, i just made a couple of changes that i think make things flow a little better.

Private video on Vimeo

Password is: TLMC

[Mick Jenner]

Bryce, I have just enjoyed a most magical and informative 45mins, you must be so proud, well done. There is so much I like about the film. All I can say is to those reading this post please take time to watch, this may have been a labour of love for Bryce but, the viewer is well rewarded when watching. I will be watching this again tomorrow and probably several more times before you take it down. Mick

[Bryce Comer]

Wow Mick,
What a lovely response, thank you! It's funny, last night i watched my initial short for the long form round, & i have to say, i was quite surprised at just how much i had obviously researched back then. I was also surprised at how close the final film was to what i described. The whole idea of me being in the film presenting it was never originally intended, but 3 or 4 years ago, after my brother in-law watched it & suggested more of a story to keep the viewer interested, i decided my struggle to capture the caribou on film could be a part of the story. Having watched it in all its different forms over all these years, i have to say, he was absolutely right about having a story. It just makes it that much better to watch.
The other great advice i got from a friend was to use more talking head shots. At that time i only had a couple, but after trying a couple more, i came to realize that as much as i found being in front of the camera awkward, it definitely made it more personal. Interestingly enough, i even found i was starting to relax in front of the camera, & didn't mind doing it as much as i had in the beginning.
Like i mentioned in a previous post, i have so many people here to thank for not just the help they have given me, but also the motivation i have got from all the people here. Andrew Hood, if you read this, & if you watch the film, i am sure you will be shaking your head with my narration after all the help you have given, but i have to say, i think it would have been a lot worse had you not helped me out.

[Bob Safay]

Bryce, that was magnificent. This really needs to be on Public TV. You told a very educational story about the caribou and their habitat. I learned a lot about these beautiful animals. The narration was clear with no distortion, I would attribute that to your excellent sound mixing. Great color and composition of your shots. I noticed you used several different camcorders, I saw Canon's and Sony's. I imagine you had to use different formats at this was probably started about 5 years ago. Was most of it shot in UHD? Can you give us some information on your equipment and formats. I will be visiting the Canadian Rockies this fall, I sure hope I get to see some caribou. Again, this really looked like BBC did it. Please let us know if it gets broadcasted. Bob.

[Mick Jenner]

Hi Bob , I watched this late last night an was gobsmacked! I wrote a quick piece and intended to write a more in depth message today saying exactly what you have just posted and asking the same questions re the production. So Bryce please excuse me jumping in and seconding Bob's post

Bryce, its a shame you are too late to enter it in Jackson Hole, but you should seriously consider entering it in next years UK's Wildscreen (its basically run by the BBC behind the scenes

Mick

[Bryce Comer]

Hi Bob,
Thank you very much for those very kind words. I'm very happy to hear you like the narration. Yours is a voice that i could listen to all day. I love the narrations you do, so while i think i am a long way from that level, its great to hear you thought it was good.
As far as the cameras, well spotted. I started out with my Canon XH A1, then to a Sony EX 3, then the Panasonic GH4. At the same time i had other cams i used as backups & b-cams. I used a Canon HV20 when i was using the XH A1 & got a Canon XA 20 when i had the EX 3. I am now using a Panasonic GX85 with the GH4. On top of all those cams, were all the cams i used for the remote cams. Mainly Canon HF S20, due to the lanc. connection. I also used a small Sony handycam as well, but have to admit i found the colours on that one very odd, & the sharpening was over the top & couldn't be dialed down. I also had a Canon T3i also for a video remote camera. So yes, lots of different cams, & formats to deal with. I use Edius to do all my editing, & the beauty of this NLE is that i can edit pretty much anything i throw at it. Nothing none of the footage i threw at it needed to be transcoded, it all just edited the same. Since i got the GH4, all the stuff i have shot has been in 4k, & i have to say, i won't ever shoot in 1080 again unless it is for a slomo shot or something. The footage is just that much better than anything i have shot in 1080 on all my other cams. Re-framing in post is also a big reason for me shooting in 4k when delivering in 1080. Having done this all single handed, the shots of me where there is a bit of movement, is mainly all just pan & scan in post from the 4k frame. More often than not, it only takes the slightest big of movement to make it really come to life. Some shots i did do with a motorized slider, & those shots really worked well.
Bob & Mick, at the length it is, it will certainly fit in a 1 hour slot, and that was certainly a consideration. I would dearly love to see it broadcast here in BC Canada & ideally in Washington state & Idaho in the US so people know the situation the caribou are in. I am sure, the vast majority aren't even aware they exist in this area. I have it entered into a few film festivals at this time, & yes it's a shame i didn't get it into Jackson Hole. I missed Banff mountain film festival by (would you believe) 2 days!! I will try Wildscreen when submissions open up.
Thank you very much for the comments guys, it's really good to know i'm on the right track!

[Mick Jenner]

Hi Bryce, have just watched again and listened this time with head phones. hope you don't mind me pointing this out but where you have clips with background audio track butting against those without you are getting quite an abrupt sound change. You may wish to cross fade the audio in those places. hope don't mind me pointing this out. Mick

[Bryce Comer]

That's great thanks Mick,
That's exactly the sort of feedback i'm after. I need to sit down and listen to it all carefully with earphones & sort that out. I thought i heard it too when i watched it with a friend last night.
I am able to replace the film on the site where it can be viewed by the festivals, so should get this done & replace it asap.
Thanks,
Bryce