UWOL #5 The Deer of sheen Manor by Ron Chant
 

A little History of this wild area on the outskirts of London.

Richmond Park 2500 acres has changed little over the centuries it’s varied landscape of hills, woodland gardens and grasslands set among ancient trees abound in wild life.

The royal connections to this park probably go back further than any of the others, beginning with Edward (1272-1307), when the area was known as the Manor of Sheen.
The name was changed to Richmond during Henry VII's reign.
In 1625 Charles1 brought his court to Richmond Palace to escape the plague in London and turned it into a park for red and fallow deer.

His decision,in 1637, to enclose the land was not popular with the local residents, but he did allow pedestrians the right of way. To this day the walls remain,
although they have been partially rebuilt and reinforced.


Link
http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...sheenmanor.mov

Ron, a very relaxed and fine piece. Your have a good eye for composition. I have some comments to your camerawork where you was cutting the head of the subject (but that is minor!). Look like you was able to sit near them when shooting.

Very nice entry!

Ron, you got a top 3 video here!!
Great shot, perfectly edited. I really enjoyed watching it.
I also noticed the clip where the head of the deer was cut off, but that's only a detail.

And my sister (the star in my video) said "This is the winning film!!"

Trude speaking: Yes I did, loved it!!! It was just like watching an animal program on National Geographic.

Hi Ron,

Beautiful footage Ron! The opening shot of the stag, breathing in the cold morning is such a great shot - along with so many other shots you got early on the day. This combined with the stunning sunset really polished off the overall feel of your entry.

I probably would have liked to have learned more about the deer and the setting, through narration or some carefully chosen text - although, I have found the use of text can be dangerous.

Overall, absolutely beautiful footage.

Hi Ron:

Moving and rich, beautiful and seamlessly composed. The music was so wonderfully suited to the cinematography! This one tugs at my emotions and brings tears to my eyes... I guess that's a sign of a great film.

Thank you.

Cat

Ron:

Very pretty footage, very pretty music, and a very serene feel. Maybe a little tighter editing to shorten it down a bit. It felt like you were doing a day in the life at the park, going sun up to sunset, but returning to same shot of the buck at the end seemed to jar that sequence of time feel.

Hi Ron

Well to my knowledge this is the first UWOL double....we should have teamed up and done a co-production....we'd have really nailed it!

Ok then...well a lot of your footage is very pretty as others have said, nice lighting conditions and well composed. You do make a few camera ajustments, zooms and pans here and there that don't seem to have a lot of reason to them. My moto is always don't move the camera unless theres a good reason too....less is more I guess! I can point out the shots I mean if you like? Overall I thought the piece lacked some story or real meat, it was really a cinemagraphic 'day in the life' which is fine and you've done that very well.

I do wish I'd have done an early morning shift, you've got some very emotive early shots there. Oh and I wonder if we got that sunset on the same day...its certainly looks very similar.

What camera/lens do you shoot with by the way?

Great stuff !

This is in my top 3 right now.I have viewed everyones video and this is was last on my download list.Could be saving the best till last.You have a way with capturing your subject and or visulising the whole shot.I am trying to learn from people like you,but I sometimes wonder if thats a talent that just cant be learned.Good work keep bringing us the video's

Hi, Per Johan, the Deer’s head cropped out, The shot with the stag rising on it’s hind legs to feed on some Oak leaves I cropped at that moment because of a car passing, I try to keep the video to the subject and keep out distractions cars, people, etc, although I did take a short bit of footage of a wildlife photographer with a lens the length of your arm, but decided to not to use him. The Deer Shots between 15 to100yards


Hi Matt, last Friday I put a few videos up on the big screen 10’x6’ at my video club (Ealing Video and Film Makers) I cringed at some of those twitches, I think I was concerned about getting sharp focus eyes not as good as they were I had the stock 20x and 1.6 extender in place, and it dose go a bit soft at max, and I had left the Nikon 300 at home, although I’d be looking up the Deer’s nostrils with that lens.

Story, well it had a morning, an afternoon, and a sunset, :-) which was shot over the Thames a little down stream from Sonning, it’s one of my favourite places for sun, and winter moon shots or down on the south coast where I fly fish for Bass.

I’ve been slowly putting footage together for a documentary on the upper/middle River Thames; my eldest son said I spend too much time taking cut a ways and should be getting on with the story.
Co Production that could be good.

Thanx Guys for your comments and feedback.

Hi Ron,

It is interesting to watch your take on the deer, having already seen Mat's film. There must be something about it that requires a sunset silhouette shot to end the video :)

I really liked the evocative imagery, especially the stag at dawn in the opening and closing shots. I guess as Chris said that could be seen to jar the time sequence, but it could also be seen as closure, too.

The music really enhanced the mood, giving sort of almost words to the beauty and majesty of the deer. Nice film.

Ruth

Hi Ron.
"Morning has broken" by Cat Stevens is a great choice of music to this beautiful film of yours. Your editing skills are great and so is your eye for the good shot. Very well composed, calm and relaxing film.
My favorite is at 1.25 where the deer pushes the crow off it's back, neat.
Similar to my magpie clip, but maybe I'm incompetent on this one :)
Over all a great and relaxing piece.

Wish you all the best.
Geir Inge

Ron,

what a pleasant wonderful piece of video. so peaceful and the music was absolutely perfect!!
If I have any critique it is the squirrel kind of detracted from the peaceful mood. A slower motion shot or semi stationary wuld have filled in better for me, or at least make it mary poppins perfect.

Just a great piece!