I'm putting up this thread for Geir Inge, which is out of office for the moment and not able to view nor comment any of the films.
But he would like you to comment on his film the Seabirds and he will be strongly back next week commenting on all the others films for this round of uwol.

Here's the link for the film: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge9/44_UC9_seabirds.mov

Geir Inge, your skills about filming wildlife is stunning to watch. I think this is one of your best to date! You show us the western coastline of our country in a very nice way. And the varied birdlife you got there. I can see you have been traveling a lot to get the scenes in this film!
Opening scene was very nice and the score substantiate the film well.
The close-up of the Oystercatcher was stunning to watch!
One of the top entries in this round!

Well done Geir, I like the way to take of with you on you journey. The story is solid and well told. I don’t like the black fades in the beginning, I think you could have faded as normal or just cut. I don’t se the benefits with the black fades this time and for me they took a bit of the beauty away. This is a very nice film and at the top for me.
Well done!

Great stuff Geir. Your film making is becoming more and more rounded and your imagery is great. The shot of the Oystercatcher on the nest was a remote one I'm guessing??....great work, producing a very intimate shot. I found some of your scenics at the start needed to breathe a bit more, maybe a few less with more screen time might have been better. I also noticed a couple of wonky horizons. Boat shots were very steady. VO was fab, but then you are a seasoned pro now huh :-) The whole piece was nicely wrapped up with a good premise!

Great stuff fella.

wonderful! - I agree about the fade to black, it took something away from a majestic beginning - the music & the mist - I loved the footage and the narration - well done

Hallo Geir Inge

Gratis whit a new fantactic film.The sound is making the film-filing a think,
realy nice.And some of the clos-up of the bird is realy good.So I must say
you make a good entery again.




VJV.


_________________

I liked this film a lot. The majestic scenics at the beginning were wonderful, giving the film an epic feel. I do agree that adding time to the opening shots, and maybe cutting one would have been better. As far as fades, I don't think they were that distracting, and I like fades to black sometimes.

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner!
Surely!
If not I'll eat my hat.

What a beautifully paced and classy film. Exactly the style that I enjoy most.

The oystercatcher approaching the nest was wonderful piece of footage. Were you in a hide or was the camera left to record? I ask because in the final shots of the nest the chick only just makes it into shot but that is really the only criticism I have of this piece.

You gave just enough information for a 3 minute short, not to much and not to little and filled the piece with a good variety of excellent wildlife. The music was spot on and your voice over brilliant.

WELL DONE!

Hi Geir:

You are at your best here. The lead in at the beginning was haunting and beautiful. Your narration is the classic Geir voice, informative and wonderful to listen to. I'm thrilled you were able to capture the chick hatching! It would have been nice to focus on that just a little more. You live in such a beautiful place... oh, and what were you doing so close to the edge of the cliff like that!!!

Stunning, thanks Geir. We look forward to you "joining in" next week.

Cat

This has to be the most spectacular overview of birds of a type on UWOL to date. What a magnificent film Geir. From the awesome scenery to the finest images of the birds it is a masterpiece. A very interesting and informative story to boot. One of the top contenders for sure.

Geir, the opening shots of the morning mist rolling over the coastal cliffs
is a lovely sight,
The Oyster catcher close up incubating it’s eggs, with the wild flowers behind, what a great shot.
From being to end your short is packed with stunning shots and sea vistas, all these sea birds on your cost line, with a bonus pair of White tailed Eagles.
You controlled the music at the right moments for your narration, which was clear and well written well done.

Geir, beautiful job here. Like others, I love the closeups you got as well. Although I am curious as to how you captured the audio in the Oystercatcher shot. Was it a telephoto shot?

I like the fist fade to black and back, but the others you might do without. While I like the music, and I LOVE the film, I'm not sure they go together so well for me. I kept waiting a Geisha girl to jump out wielding a Samurai sword! Who knows though, maybe that music is from the same place. I don't get out much.. ;- )

Great color, and fabulous assortment of shots. Congratulations Geir.

Oh my.....that was beautiful.

The fades worked for me, which is odd because I get so tired of them in feature film trailers. But this time I thought they added a lot, and as Chris said so well, gave it an epic feel.

The Asian music? For a split second it fought with me, but then I didn't care--it was too pretty and set the mood too well for it to be a problem.

I'm in awe of your image quality. Absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you.

Hi Geir,

Yes, this is your best entry to date and one of my top three entries.

A beautiful beginning, middle and I loved how you brought home such a powerful message coming back to your little friend, the oystercatcher and her chicks.

Taking us along for the ride at the start was very nicely filmed. Gee, you've got a steady hand during the boat trips. To then see such beautiful footage of the birdlife and get some appreciation for the dangers involved (gee mate, be careful up there) up on the cliffs was also a well thought out inclusion. I really picked up on the beautiful color of those early morning on the water establishing shots and also the sharpness of your footage. All done very nicely.

Yes, for me, this entry took me along on a very exciting day's filming - and I really got a small sense of how wonderful the days events unfolded. I really could write so much about the things I liked in this entry.

Well done, I truly feel this is deserving in so many ways of being UWOL #9's winner - although I still have a couple more to view. Good luck Geir.

Geir Inge...what can I say? Fantastic stuff!

You hooked me with the opening shots, I got caught up in the middle and at the end...I wanted more.

As others have said, the closeups were great! You must tell us how you got them.

And finally...it was educational. I love that!

Bob

Geir Inge,

Now this is the moment I waited for - as I worked my way through all the entries, I couldn't wait to get to your entry.

That was fantastic. I love your commentary, your voice and your ability to tell a story. You are almost cheeky, mischievous, in your screen presence, but I mean that in a good way.

Your camerawork just keeps getting better and better. The opening shots were fantastically beautiful - and the close-ups of the birds were remarkable. I am not joking when I say that your Oystercatcher close-up is better than the BBC managed on their Springwatch series this year, and they have a much bigger budget and a much bigger production team than you.

That was quite simply perfect. Thank you!

Geir,

Your opening had the feel of some epic film. JRR Tolken was almost springing to my mind. You have captured such beautiful bird shots and your VO completed the story.

Oliver

Great shots! I enjoyed this one very much. You had a good story, I was interested through the whole film. The shot selection was first rate, and the videography matched. Good VO and mix.

Cant wait to see your next entry.

Thank you to all of you for comments on my uwol9 video, and to you PJ for putting up a feedback tread for me. I've been out in the "wilderness" filming some more seabirds and stuff :) Didn't go to Runde today PJ because of some heavy rain set in, maybe later next week. I'll keep you informed about the puffins.

My daughter have downloaded all the uwol films for me, so now I'm going to have a ball, watching all of them in turn and of caurse give my comments.

As for now I'll try to answer some of your questions and comments.

PJ: The film is located around the islets where I did my uwol4 video and at Runde, so you can say I've been travelling a bit :)

Mat (and others): Yes, I agree on the intro comment, maybe take away one clip and make the others a bit longer. Filming the oystercatcher I placed the camera infront of the nest and let it stay for one hour. I'm using the built in mic on the HV30.

Peter: I placed the camera (my Canon HV30) on a flat wooden piece and it some how fell down a inch during the take: That's why the chick dont show very good in the end. I didn't want to desturb the bird too much, so I let it pass. By the way, the birds nest is close to a cabin, so they are used to people and no harm to the bird if you should wonder :)

Catherine: Look at the video again, dont you get it? I'm looking for Antarctica of course :) I'm shure it's down there somewhere, eh? And I needed a cutaway to the eagles :/
By the way, at this place the mist was formed and I've got it on tape but I'm saving it for my project "Wild on the shore".

Marj: Well, in the summertime there are more or less 500 species of seabirds along the norwegian coast. I'm showing just a few :)

Ron: I've been following this White-taled Eagle couple for the hole summer, and I will be back next weekend. Last summer they didn't manage to feed the young. This year they have one baby. It's a wonderful bird to watch.

Eric: About the music I was searching for some kind of flute, willow flute (norwegian flute). Something like this norwegian hymn/psalm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lxYHN2iAb0 I found this tune to late for this round of uwol.

About my VO, thats the part I always struggling with. I am so afraid of saying something wrong or something stupid as Norwegian is my main language. I'll give you an example from our former priminister ( he is also a priest), Kjell Magne Bondevik. He was visiting Spain and was invited to a church in Barcelona. After the preach, sermonize he said (in english): "Thank you for the mess". Well, in norwegian we call the preach "messe" and he, the poor thing, thought he was saying something nice to the spanish priest, hehe.
I also have to say that every clip in this video is taken without hide of any kind. I'm using the natures own rocks and trees and sneaking in on the birds. This is how they act in the wild and when i sit for 8 hours at the same place, they get used to me. During my oystercatcher filming, I spent 3 days (8 -9 hours a day) at the location.

Now I'm on to watch some videos and I will start making my comments tomorrow.
I will try not to make a mess out of it :)

Hi Geir
You know that I am a big fan of your work,you just get better and better.

... You are almost cheeky, mischievous, in your screen presence, but I mean that in a good way...

I did miss out on this one.
Don't know if I'm cheeky or mischievous, but if you say so, hehe.
When i was finishing at the location where I filmed the eagle nest I had to pick 7 ticks off of me :/ I don't like this little blood sucking creatures and I most certainly was not cheeky at all.

John Dennis: Thank you for commenting my film.

Geir Inge

Your films are always informative, but also fun in a unique way when you are on camera. And your VO are both relaxing and educational, a tough combination. Some nature films seem to try giving too much information, and some barely any, but you always strike the right balance.

The opening shots were stunning, and the oystercatcher was simply amazing. As it slid into view, I was hugely impressed. What a shot.

The whole piece hung together well for me, and I liked the music. The only thing I might say is have one less scene at the front, and add another of the oystercatcher or other birds. But I really liked those majestic views, so I wouldn't want to be the one to edit one out :)

Great film!


Ruth

Hei Geir Inge,

As always your videos are entertaining and informative.
Top notch quality as always.

Did you use a tripod out in the boat?
The footage was rock steady, and without any signs of vibration in that footage.

Well done!

Geir,

Sorry about the slow response, we have been away.

what a great little film!!! the shots were magnificant!! At the end I wanted to see the chicks! How close were you?
I loved the sea eagle!! the gliding footage was awesome!! I would have liked more of the Eyrie but that wouldn't have really fit into your video!!

Great Job My favorite of your films to date!!

Thank you Ruth, Trond and Dale for your comments.

I promised to give my comments to all of the uwol9 videos, but I have to say sorry cause I've been to busy working. I have seen all of the videos though and I must say uwol is growing into something big and something I'm proud to be part of.

Now on to "my" seabirds.

It's a tragedy going on round the North Sea.
Many of the seabirds didn't manage to feed their young this year and left their nest and the chicks to die.
At Runde all of the Puffins left their nest and flew away because of no food in the sea at the time they need it for the young. The same with the Guillemots, the Razorbills and the Auks. Also the Black-legged Kittiwake struggles because there are too little food in the sea.

For me this is very sad.
I've spent the last 3 years filming seabirds and thereby getting to "know them" guite well. They are great indicators of Marine Ecosystems and thats what I'm trying to show in my seabird videoproject. Conservation is taken place alongside the coast to protect the seabirds and I just hope it's not too late.

Geir,

If I have learned anything over the years studying wildlife is that some years when all things seem disasterous it is quite amazing to see the bounce back. Also, most wildlife, birds in particular operate on a feast and famine type life style. There are numerous factors that cause these circumstances. I have seen a couple species that appeared to be in great trouble and then and to our great surprise in 2 years the numbers were back stronger than before. So, unless you have had a major eco disaster the odds are that it will be back to normal soon enough.

got to go,

Geir,

If I have learned anything over the years studying wildlife is that some years when all things seem disasterous it is quite amazing to see the bounce back. Also, most wildlife, birds in particular operate on a feast and famine type life style. There are numerous factors that cause these circumstances. I have seen a couple species that appeared to be in great trouble and then and to our great surprise in 2 years the numbers were back stronger than before. So, unless you have had a major eco disaster the odds are that it will be back to normal soon enough.

got to go,

Hi Dale.

I agreed with you on the several factors that might be causing the seabirds to not full fill their breeding season, but I'm afraid this is just a little bit more serious than a common failure in breeding. In the North Sea area ( countries like England, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland and Norway) it's been going on for round about 10 years now.
I'm not so afraid of the common gulls, as they easily find food other places. But not for seabirds like the Auks, Puffins etc. So we have to think of several things to do in conservation matters. I also think Norway has a special obligation to this matters as we have so many seabirds in our country - and our Goverment is on the case :)

As for uwol I'm ready for nr 10 :)
I'm heading North to "Lofoten", I'm leaving August 3th, so I just wonder what Meryem will give us this time.

Trond: I'm using a tripod for the boat scene. Look at the sea, it's like a mirror :)

It's a tragedy going on round the North Sea.
Many of the seabirds didn't manage to feed their young this year and left their nest and the chicks to die.
At Runde all of the Puffins left their nest and flew away because of no food in the sea at the time they need it for the young. The same with the Guillemots, the Razorbills and the Auks. Also the Black-legged Kittiwake struggles because there are too little food in the sea.


Sorry to hear about your seabirds. It's a big worry over here. Our Lundy seabirds seem to be unaffected so far - although the guillemots might be taking longer to find food for their chicks. I've still got to work through the data (I've taken about 40 hours of video of guillemot ledges this month). Our puffin numbers are slowly increasing. We may have 6 chicks this year compared to 4 last year. It would be very sad if they could find food for their chicks.

It's not just the seabirds that starve in these situations. The fish are starving as well.