The Source
 

Good evening,

This short film is unlike anything I have ever done before. I guess it is a form of documentary. I enjoyed making it and having made the shot lists and did alll my prep work before hand there was only one shot I could not get in the time frame, some trusty little muskrats.

I learned that the rats are nocturnal in the summer and they do not use rat houses but dig holes in the mud banks to stay cool. they do not build their houses till September or so (therre are non to be found at present)!! It is always great to learn new things.

I am interested in you comments!!

I am even more interested to see the rest!!

What a great turnout!!

I really enjoyed your vision and the lesson on the vitality of water. Oh yeah, I LOVE BEER too :-)

Yeah, now THAT'S what I'm talkin about!

Blue Ribbon for best ending hands down!!! :)

Your narration at 2:38 plays only on the right channel on my system.

Had some great footage. The hawk getting buzzed was awesome. Nice peregrine shot too. Was it a falconers bird? A good story on how vital water is to the creatures on our planet.

I'm off to have a beer now! :)

some excellent shots running through this one for sure...the new legs are working for you bro. the ending was much to short should have been you doing the voice over after 12 of those brews lol.

good one dale.

brian

Hi Dale:

Wow, 10 out of 10 for really covering the FULL cycle of things. Great wildlife footage. Good narration... and of course, excellent ending. Why do I feel thirsty all of a sudden. Shoot, and it's only 9 in the morning here.... hmmmm it's noon somewhere in the world right? .....


Great film,

Cat

mmmmm beeerrr...

Educational, interesting to watch and really good footage. I love the brave little hummingbird attacking the aloof hawk...comical.

And I agree, the best ending one could ask for. A homemade cold one.

Jeff

good afternoon,

Yes, I made the shot of the peregrine with a falconers peregrine. the resident prairie falcons would not cooperate and set over a marsh; the peregrines are up at Brians and wont be down until September.

Audio:
At 2;38 I believe that is where the guitar picking comes in. I was having trouble with my audition recording. So, I set the gl2 up and I played the piece and recorded it through a mono shotgun mic. Had I realized that I only had one track I could have copied the track and placed it on the other speaker in audition. I just did not notice. The piece was a recomposition of Under the double eagle as played by randy travis and I threw in a Leo kotke sound on top of it. It is miles from professional but I had fun playing my own music for this production. That is why I called it ski music, prretty rough and bumpy.

The idea is to have fun participating in the challenge. While I am not a big beer drinker I thought it would make for a fun/entertaining end. Take what appears serious and make it fun and laughable. I am pleased that the end was appreciated as I wasn't sure how people would take that one!

Hi Dale,

Gee, your entry covered everything - what an amazing effort! I can imaging a lot of work went into this movie.

I just loved the birdlife - particularly the peregrine in the bottom corner of the screen as the story flowed on. Also the falcon being mobbed - you must have been very close to the action here, as the shot came up beautifully.

I liked your combination of human recreation and fauna on the water.

You certainly get a lot of enjoyment from the water in so many ways - which you covered beautifully in your entry.

Technically, I thought you did very well, although I would always discard the use of bird shots with any shakes and also any soft shots (cormorant at 1.55).

One of the better entries I think.

Hi Dale.
Thanks for sharing this great piece. The scenes in this film are beautiful and though I’m not much of a drinker I love a glas of bear now and then :) You’re a great storyteller, but your VO came out a bit noicy, but maybe thats a compression matter?
Now I have to watch the other videos.

Geir Inge

Dale
Yup this is a good one. With the heat we've been getting you ending is perfect. Well done.

Gordon Hoffman

Although I am in no position to comment on the technical merits of your video,I can say that I enjoyed watching it and learning from it.Thank you

Wow, Dale! You must have spent a long time on this one!
Some excellent footage in here!

I am not sure if it was just a bad download that I had, or if it was that way, but it went from 2:58 to 4:00 of just black...

Pretty impressive!
~Gabriel

Gabriel,

I went on hoidays June 30th so I had all the time in the world to put this one together. I spent most mornings out with the camera hunting for shots. the clip is only about 2:58 so I have no idea about the black to the 4:00 mark. I ran it and did not have that, go figure the darn computers!!

I probably should not have used the commorant by the water, but for the story I wanted one by the water where it preydates on other organisms. When I shot that footage it was about 95 degrees out, hence the heat waves.

I leanred a lot from this challenge!!

First, I should spend as much time in post as in the field.

2nd, Practice the naration a lot more.

3rd, be more darn critical yet.

4th making a shot list first seemed to help a lot putting it together!!!

Dale, I think your naration was good.
You made a great and entertaining film.
Well done!

Hi Dale, this was a fantastic entry! I learned a lot from your story. Second what have been commented by the others. I think the metallic sound is a matter of compression. Would love a more close-up of that hawk!