Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

What is UWOL without the stories about our film making process.
This is the place to tell the good, the bad, and everything in between. Don't be shy.

Good luck, everyone! Hope you all finish so we can watch 19 submitted films from the 11 countries.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Went out this morning and filmed some nice stuff.

I have an idea, just an idea but no idea on how to make it into something. I like the idea of the idea but I don't know if I can take a thought and turn it into a film at all.

Need to see if I can find a way to weave a tale with this.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

After 5 years of prioritizing studies, I finally have time for other things in my spare time.
Filming is one of these things :)
I have also been troubled with my old camcorder, Canon XLH1 and the need for cleaning and adjustment. The company that took the task went bankrupt and there is now a new company. I thought, "Is it time for a new camera, or should I find myself a new hobby"? So NRK TV (national TV station) broadcast a program called "Hidden Kingdoms". Who but our dear friend Mat Thompson is one of the camera operators on many of the scenes in this series. I was overjoyed and sent him an e-mail. He is currently in Africa on film projects. The positive e-mail from our friend Mat, gave me the energy to continue with video filming and new camera has been ordered and so I hope to complete Uwol 31.
I wish you all a colorful, fun and educational game.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Great to hear hear your studies are now over, hopefully you were successful in your exams. So don't keep us in suspense Geir, what camera have you ordered? Could be a steep learning curve for you this challenge!

Mick

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Hi Mick.
My exams went all well and my new camera is a Canon 5D Mark3.
New camera is fun (rule 11) and I hope it will turn out fine.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

A rather sad sad tale of wonders and woe yesterday. Came across this water vole (endangered here in the UK as a result of predation by escaped mink and water pollution, although now starting to make a good recovery) trying to feed on a plastic bag. As the caption on vimeo indicates we did stop it and remove the offending item. It did however bring home the dangers faced by our wildlife as the result of human carelessness.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Geir Inge, that is a great camera.
Just a question: Why did you choose a dslr instead of a regular video camera? I see the good thing about having 2 cameras in 1, but if you do any handheld shooting, how is the form factor of the 5d working for you?

Mick, what a poor fellow trying to eat plastic. Your short video is a great example of how humans affect the wildlife. Hopefully many people see your video and realize what throwing garbage in the nature can cause.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Mick, thanks for preventing this little one from eating the plastic bag.
Might make a good UWOL theme down the road "The Hand of Man in Nature".

Congrats Geir on the new camera!! I thought about getting one just to do star time-lapse stuff but I need to make more money before I can afford one! :)

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Hello Trond.
I have a friend who works at NRK TV and he uses 5D Mark 3, which has made ​​the award winning film "Lysleite" (Hunting the light). Here is a link to a short version of it: I asked him for advice and he said this camera is very good, both photo and video.
I wanted a camera with good video quality, which was easier to carry for hiking and that is affordable in price. In Norway the camera housing cost around 25 000 NOK ( about 4020 USD). AND - the XLH1 is a much heavier camera and my back just gets older and older (laughing out hysterically).
Furthermore, I have some Canon lenses that can be used on my new 5D which I get tomorrow :)).
So all in all it's cheaper for me, living at Sunnmore that is very important ;)
I rarely operates with hand-held camera, so I do not think it will be a big problem for me.

Kevin, I have saved money for a while and the time had come for me to make a choice. Continue or stop filming. After a nice email from Mat, in which he urged me to continue filming - I chose to listen to his advice. The camera has been on the market for a while, but I'm really excited to get it in my hands.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Hi Gier, Good choice of camera considering you already have good eos lenses. Enjoy your double challenge this round, looking forward to seeing your entry.

Hi Kevin, thanks for commenting. I'm very disillusioned at the way we/governments etc ignore the roll all fauna and flora plays in keeping nature (including us) in balance, as well as the way we continue to abuse it.

Right off my high horse and back to checking todays clips.

Mick

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Can't wait to see what you can do with your new camera, Geir Inge!
I wonder if we would see differences in image quality between your 5D and my XF300.

We should have an uwol get-together sometime.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Just have to say that I got itchy fingers :)

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Geir - I also have a XLH1 and a 5dmk3.

The 5d is very soft (even with good quality L series lenses), you only notice it when you play the footage side by side with a regular camera like the XL.

However you are best to reduce sharpening in camera, as the footage sharpens well in post ( but in camera sharpening is not so good and irreversible ). You should experiment with the settings to find a look you like.

Best of luck with it !

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Hi Simon and thank you for good advice.
Thought I'd get the camera today, but it will be tomorrow.
As I said to Trond, I'm dying to get the camera.
Have had XLH1 for several years and am very fond of the camera, but it will be exciting with the new camera as well.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Got my new 5D Mark 3 and here's a little test on some small creatures.
After chatting with a guy in Japan, I have now ordred me some new lenses :)
A few clips of some tiny creatures:

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Quiet here. Hope everyone is getting along with their film.

I have my idea but still don't know how to flesh it out to make it into a film.

I've asked several people and so ar everyone is clueless in how to make this idea into something.

I'm guessing maybe a better idea would be easier but this one is stuck in my head and after all it is a challenge.

I'll try to give myself until this weekend is over to come up with a way to flesh out the idea into a story, if not I'll see if I can think of something else.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Still doing more thinking than doing. Waiting for the snow to melt so I can get started on with my idea.

Gordon

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

How's everyone doing? Hope you have captured some colorful footage by now.

Already one film submitted.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

I am in a similar position. I locked onto an idea at the beginning of the challenge but I know it is not a very good idea. It is hard to get out once it is set but, as there is still some time to go, I am hoping I will eventually find a better idea. Lateral thinking needed here I guess!

In the meantime I am looking for footage without a shot list - there is not much color around yet so I am taking what I can find. Hopefully we will have some rain and things will change towards the end of the month.

Hope you come right Kevin.

Wow Gordon - snow already. I hope that doesn't mean we will miss the magnificent fall colours for which Canada is famous!

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Marj that's what a lot of people were saying here. It has been awhile since we have had this much snow this early. Not sure how it will affect the fall colours but I'm thinking they won't be as nice in this area this year.

Gordon

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Hi to you all.
While it's snowing in Canada we have had the best summer ever.
Not only the summer, but so far this year has been very good to us Norwegians,
when it comes to the weather.
Usually we have a lot of rain and not so warm, not so this year. I wonder why though?

Hoping everyone is doing fine and shooting some great stuff at your part of the world.
I still got no story for my U31 video, but I'm trying out new angles.
Here's a clip and the color is quite green ;)

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

I've finally been able to figure out sort of how to tell the story for the idea I have.
Now hopefully I can get some of the colors I need to tell it. :)

Just writing things down, moving them around and a story is starting to take shape.
Just need to fill out the middle and Ill have something hopefully!

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Good to hear Kevin.

Thankfully I too managed to extricate myself from the sludge today and I finally have a story idea and a shot list! I have quite a full week, so it will have to wait till next week before I can start the real search.

Funny how you are having good weather this year Geir and Gordon is sitting with snow already!

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Yes, the weather conditions do play a strange game these days.
If I'm right I live much more to the north than Gordon.
I'm here at Larsnes: 62.214163"N, 5.575849"W
Gordon lives her at Pincher Creek: 49°35'29.1"N 113°56'56.4"W

I'm glad you Marj and Kevin are getting ideas for a strory.
I'm still thinking about what to focus on in my video.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Well I have chosen an idea - a bit different for me this time, as I have not shot any footage (hopefully today I'll make a start), but I have an almost complete sound track laid down.
We too have had a late hot summer, with temperatures in the mid 30s until this week, when its back to a more seasonal 25º
Good luck to all!

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Yes Geir you are farther north than I am but living on the east side of the Rockies makes for interesting weather. Last week some of the daytime highs where 3 or 4 C, getting below freezing over night and now we are getting up to 27C. I've got no excuse now, so I better get out and get some footage. The summer was nice here this year also, other than for a few little blips.

Gordon

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

You have taken some amazing pictures of sunsets and sunrises lately. Plenty colors to pick from there.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

You could have "4 seasons in a couple days," as the story.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Hope everyone is doing fine with their projects, I will be in the shark tank this time. Bought a new house today so have to move out, and just came back from IBC on monday after 6 days of broadcast-stuff, so i have way to much work laid out this month.

Good luck everybody! :)

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Congratulations with your new house!

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

I knew what I wanted to film even before the challenge theme was announced, and it fits in well with my subject. Then I had 3 weeks of setbacks, stitches kept me out of the water for 2 weeks, then a big south swell that needed to be surfed for a week. Finally today I was able to go out and search for the creature that I wanted to study. Here's a still shot of me getting the camera into position, Bill Cousteau...

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Looks like I'm in the Gorilla Cage this round....

Hope everyone else has had better luck!

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Simon, don't give up yet.
Still about 1200 minutes until deadline, and you need less than 4 minutes completed film.
I'm sure the nature will give you a colorful idea by then.
Think positive! :)

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

My story has just undergone some rather drastic cuts - for various reasons but mainly to resolve some major problems. Much better now. Still have some way to go before I finish - need a couple of critical shots which are going to be quite hard to find.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

I'm changing the focus of my idea so I'm headed out to shoot today after work.
Still trying to tie all the ideas together into something that makes sense. :)

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Too much procrastination over a vague idea - seems to be my usual form. Admittedly work was a little busier the first 2 weeks of the month. Yesterday was an awesome sunny day, and I spent it inside shunning the light trying to alleviate a migraine.

Did a few test shots today to get an idea of where I might head with it. Maybe some usable footage (a few seconds here and there) - depending on the final narrative.
Next real chance is Sunday and Monday, but will have to see what the weather brings. The forecasts are about as flippant as the weather.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

After one of the mildest winters on record Spring is making up for it. Storms, gale force winds and plenty of rain makes the colours of spring rather drab. Anyway! That's OK. It blew my original idea away, but I have some footage to edit and post up.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Of course, having gone on about what a nice summer we have had, the last few days have been raining....I still need to get a bit more footage to complete - so - hopefully before the end of the week.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

For this challenge I had to finish and upload by the 11th Sept. Luckily as autumn started approx 3 weeks earlier this year I did manage to film, edit and upload by that date. Afraid a bit rushed etc etc, but at least I have managed an entry. Since the 12th I have been away filming another project. One of the subjects I filmed would I been ideal for this theme, so i thought I would share a short clip for you, but of course too late for my entry. Originally did not had internet where we are based, but luckily I have found somewhere to access it, so now looking forward to watching your entries.

Re: Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 31
 

Been out filming the last could of days.
Shot a fair amount but still struggling on how to put my idea into words.
I know what I sort of want to do but haven't been able to get it all to gel together.