Uwol 17 the fall
 

Good Morning,

Well, here is my impromtu entry for this round. This one just kind of naturally unfolded. I had a lot of fun going out and shooting, looking for specific shots once I knew what I was doing. One occassion I totally set up for the time lapse and two minutes in I was running around putting cameras away to get them out of the rain. I have rain capes but just do not trust them in real rain. I had two cameras set for two different perspectives on the same clouds, just never got to do that. Then the giant hair and particles blew onto the lens on the next effort. Oh yea, the only tripod shot was the clouds, everything else had to be shot by hand!! One shot was tricky to get without driving off the dirt road and inot the marsh.

The weather made me think a little more creatively.

We definitely stuck to rule 11, inspite of weather.

I did avoid the shark tank, narrowly once again.

I hope you at least get a chuckle out of it.

Hey Dale:

I don't think you have put up anything better! I found this very creative, enjoyable and entertaining. I had a smile watching the entire clip, and actually laughed when the young duck decided he was more interested in eating than moving on. I'm not a parent myself but I think every parent will relate to this.

You are really honing your technical skill, Dale. You had great time laps, the shots of geese/ducks in flight is starting to chase after Steve's expertise. I don't think I noticed that most of this footage was hand-held, and even the voice over is cleaner and clearer than in times past. And I am ALWAYS impressed with your guitar playing and music-writing!

Now the scene where the duck is relaying that when the snow geese come it signifies winter and the ducks will be leaving, and for a moment the snow geese appear in a small inset in the clip...
At first I thought this was a small error. Then replaying the section I understood what you were doing. This is just my 2 cents worth, but maybe what could have made that clearer is either a full screen cut to the snow geese, or keep it as an inset but put it in a little cartoon bubble with the little circles leading to the duck's head to show that he is thinking of the snow geese. Just a thought Dale!

I must be a small child at heart, because I really enjoyed this piece of work. It's a testimony that you should "go with the flow" in your films! Nice job.

Cat

Is that actual aerial footy in the beginning - or where you just up high somewhere, running alongside?

Your colors seem more saturated than usual. Are you color correcting more, or is that just the result of fall lighting? Looks pretty.

Well, no one has completed as many of these as Dale. You are the Steady Eddie of the UWOL Challenge, that is for sure. Rain or shine or hideous Canadian stormy weather. Rule #11 rules.

Thank you for your contribution.

Dale,

I love your approach to this, in the mind of a young duck, although in the beginning I thought it was a kid in the car talking to his mom on a cell phone. Your flight shots are very steady and well centered. I agree with Meryem. It's good to see some more color on the prairie as yet another year has come and gone.

Very entertaining. Loved how you used a little duck as the voice. Would've been nice to see a little guy floating by his mom. This time of year that's probably not likely to be found. I did see a very short 1/2 second clip about 3/4 through which looked a little short. Also, the music was perfect. Congratulations on having a musical talent and voice talent!

Dale,

I know you had me going there for a minute watching the flight shots. I'm like did he go up in a helicopter or something? :)

This was a fun piece. It's pretty much how I would imagine the conversations would go if ducks spoke English. :)

I think this is something that is totally suited for getting children involved in nature. I think if you wanted to, this could be an adventure show geared towards children with the adventures of this duck family. You could educate on so many levels with something like this.

So, I think what you did as kind of a goof and something to keep you out of the shark tank turned into something better than you probably realize you have.

The only thing I missed on the smaller version was the snow geese.

I also agree that I think your colors have more punch than in the past.

This was a fun piece but I also think you may have stumbled on a really bankable formula if you chose to pursue it.

After my film, it was nice watching something on the lighthearted side!

Dale- I’m sorry the weather gave you a hard time again. You certainly made the most of it this time! I loved the first-person (first-duck?) perspective. Brilliant idea. It made for a heart-warming story that left me feeling good at the end. I like the way you did the snow geese PIP. That shot from the marsh of the hunter arriving took some planning and it turned out perfect. As always, the music was very well chosen and executed. (You’re so good at that.) Thanks for another great video, please keep them coming!

Hello Dale,

Once more you deliver quality work! This was fun and entertaining. Had to watch it a couple times.
I agree with what has been said already.
Good to see you finally won the battle with the weather. Well done!

Dale I did get a chuckle out of this. I'll bet the folks over at Disney would look at a story like this, ala Lion King, Finding Nemo, Ice Age etc. Animals on the move, exhibiting human traits. It's a winning theme.

First,

Thanks for the lovely comments.

Saturation: I have spent quite a bit of time working on getting presets in both my cameras to be a little richer and more similar to each other. I used both the xlh1 and the fx 1000 in this, the xlh1 has taken me a long time to get it closer to the sony. I am glad that you all feel the color is better, I call the preset dale's rich. this video had virtually no post color correction though I did adjust the gamma on one of the flight shots. Also this year because of all the moisture everything is very clean and bright making for some nice shots.

Flight shots: My wife Sheila is a pilot, try as I may I could not get her to fly at slow speed 15 feet off the ground, go figure??!! So I improvised, I sat in the truck on a road that paralleled a marsh and was significantly higher than water level. I put the truck in gear and filmed out the window as I put putted down the trail. My only risk was driving off the trail into the Marsh. It took quite a few efforts over a couple days to get any usable shots. Focus was the real issue from my motorized toyota dolly, think I will name the truck Dolly from now on!!

Music, I am glad that some of you like the music I never read music eventhough I can, I never play a tune as it was originally played and I know that bothers some people to be sure, plus I changed the key so all of them were in the same key and that would definitely bother some peoples ears. I also only single track record so any base line is played at the same time as the rest. I sat and watched the video and played and recorded at the same time. It took a few runs and in the end I made one splice putting two licks together. Miles from pro, but it was a lot of fun to tackle. A year ago or so Kevin inspired me to pick up the guitar and work out "listen to the rythm of the falling rain", now I can't get the darn tune out of my head!!!

I have to thank you all because this group of people at UWOL have helped me so much in learning how to tell/show a tale as apposed to just recording things.

thank you all again, your the best.

Dale, very creative. It again goes to show you how many different ways we approch a challenge. I particularly liked the shots of the ducks flying with those heavy clouds in the background. You could feel the storm coming in. Also, as always the music is beautiful. However, I think the third line in your write up says it best. You said "I had a lot of fun going out and shooting". And thats what its all about. Bob