And the winner of UWOL #15 is...
 

Congratulations to all! I thoroughly enjoyed watching all these short films and was impressed with the quality and story-telling. This is a great community and a good place for my students to come and see how to make short films with beginnings, middles and ends - good complete packages!

It was very difficult sorting out the runners up - and I changed my mind several times - they were all good for different reasons! But for me there was a clear winner in the Animal Kingdon category:

Winner
Finn-Erik Faale ~ Barnacle Kingdom
A good example of how restricting yourself to one group of animals can help give structure to your film and help tell a story. Nice camerawork and interesting angles throughout. The script was good and well read, Excellent to start and end with the boat and a good tie-in of the 'Kingdom' theme. Very good editing apart from the watery transition which was overused! I wasn't too keen on the guitar music but the sound mix of narration, natural sound and music was very good. Overall it was the story, interesting information and visuals which made this stand out as winner. Well done Finn-Erik!

Runner up
Kevin Railsback ~ Silent Kingdom
If the catorgory had been more environmental, this film would have won. An excellent way to portray what is happening to our planet in a clear visual way. Well thought out and planned, just the right amount of information. Great idea to use the disappearing animals in such an effective way. Some beautiful images although the compression (or camera) didn't cope with movement (eg pans) so well. If only this film replaced commercials on every TV channel! Well done Kevin.

2nd runner up
Mike Sims ~ 1000 Feet
This film gets the prize for creative use of graphics. Some nice inserts and also good use of props such as rulers. Good macro work. The script was packed with info - all good stuff but a little dry as a result. The narration could have done with a touch more enthusiasm. The sudden start took me by surprise - would have liked a more subtle intro. The birdsong in the background needed to change more often - it was the same in what looked like different habitats for example - but better than no natural sound. Loved the book at the end! Well done Mike.

3rd runner up
Ryan Farnes ~ Ryan Farnes Short
Some really nice photography here although some of the pictures were a little too dark (even though it was dawn). Excellent camerawork when following the flying geese, lovely smooth pans. Good use of music although the levels seemed rather jumpy. Good script which was well read.

Specially Commended
Geir Inge ~ Land Of The Seagulls
It was over half way through the film bfore we saw a seagull and it was crying out for some close-ups, but I loved this film for its peacefullness and creative scripting. A great film to relax to.

Bill Thesken ~ Monk Dreams
Gets the comedy award! Great idea. Would have liked more different shots of the seals and less text on screen, but the dream sequence worked well.

Well done everybody - keep up the good work.
Best wishes
Piers Warren
Principal of Wildeye Wildeye - International School of Wildlife Film-making
International School of Wildlife Film-making
Editor of Wildlife Film News Wildlife-film.com - Wildlife Film Makers News and Information

Congratulations Finn-Erik, you made an excellent film and you are a worthy winner!

And well done to all the runners-ups, special mentions, and indeed everyone who entered the contest.

Congratulation to Finne-Erik, and all the runners up. This was another fine crop of films for UWOL, and everyone who competed should be congratulated.

Congratulations Finn-Erik, I had a feeling you would win with the excellent closeups of the barnacles at work. This was a very fun competition for me, and an opportunity to view different parts of the globe through different lenses and perspectives, a huge collaborative effort. A great thank you to every entry. Looking forward to the next one.

Congratulations Finn-Erik! Our norweigan film makers just keep on doing awesome work.

Congratulations to the others as well. I thought overall this was a pretty darned interesting group of films this time around. Nice work everyone.

Congrats to all of you and particularly "Finn" For garnering the top spot. They were all rather fine!!!

Congrats Finn-Erik, you had a great entry in this round.
Also to the runner ups, great videos as well.
Thanks to Piers Warren for judging this round of uwol, great job from you too.

There are five videos I haven't got time to comment yet, and I'm not sure I will get time.
I'm back on the schoolbench, no time for holidays :) and then there is the long form.
But I just wanna say that I've watched your videos and they are all great, each one in its own special way and this goes to:
Bob Thieda ~ Please Do Not Feed The Wildlife
Dale Guthormsen ~ Mosaic
Oliver Pahlow ~ Kingdom Of Our Dearly Departed
Ryan Farnes ~ Ryan Farnes Short
Bill Thesken ~ Monk Dreams

Al the best from
Geir Inge

Congratulations to Finn-Erik, Kevin, Ryan, Gier Inge, and Bill. Thank-you to Piers Warren for judging and for the helpful comments. Thanks also to everyone that took the time to view my video, especially those that offered comments. I hope to see you all again next year for the next round!

Congratulations Finn-Erik! Nice work...
And also congratulations to Kevin, Mike, Ryan, Gier Inge, and Bill...

This is an unbelievable surprise.
Thank you so much Piers Warren.
I will also thank the UWOL community for interesting comments and great videos to learn from.
I have learned so much from you all in the year I have participated.
Thanks to Meryem for the inspiring website .
Congratulations to Kevin, Mike, Ryan, Geir Inge, and Bill. You have all winner-films, but maybe I am the happiest guy today.

Congratulations to Finn-Erik, the runners up and all entrants.

Also a big thank you to Meryem for handling all the logistics and finding another great judge.

Congrats on taking home the gold Finn-Erik!! Well deserved!!

Congratulation to Finn-Erik and all the other runners up.

It makes it really worthwhile to have a community of people viewing, advising and judging these small projects. Makes it so much more purposeful to share your work with others.

Always great to see the players learning and developing their skills, great work Finn-Erik, I thoroughly enjoyed your film.

Great round, everybody! Thanks for your efforts and for building a great community.

Did I say "great" enough??

Congratulations to Finn-Erik, Kevin, Mike and Ryan!

I think all the entries this round were very good!
Looking forward to #16. :)