Wow Geir,
That sounds awsome! From Sea to Summit. Sounds like Per Johan's round 1 entry don't you think? I've been to Canada once before for my friends wedding but that was in Summer. Then there was lots of wildlife around, not sure what i will see in winter yet, suffice to say, i'll be out there looking for it that's for sure! Hope your trip goes well, & that you have a nice time with your family.

All the best,

Bryce

Geir Inge,
how exciting to know that you maybe will get some shoots of the muskox!? I'll cross my fingers for you. The weather in those mountains often change very rapidly so take care!

Well, as you might have guessed my entry for this round will be about the Golden Eagle. All footage of this majestic bird of prey is on my computer, lucky me!
I need to shoot some more to make up my story, which I gonna do this weekend.
Good luck to everybody!

Per: This is sounding like an awe inspiring entry! Mat is very jealous indeed :-) I may well have a bird of prey entry myself but thats all I'll say for now ;-) !

Per,

Great pictures of one of my favorite raptors. My entry has an old Hagard Golden coming in to rob/kill a falcon of its kill, but we managed to move it off before killing the falcon, so I included it in my story.

I have it edited down to 2:59 seconds of mostly continious action. Now I have to decide if I want to run a narative with it!!!

This round has been great as I have been able to do what I like doing best.

Being we have such a short window it may not be my best footage, but it will tell the story, and it assuredly is an adventure.



dale

Blimey, is this Golden Eagle month or something......fab stuff guys !

Hello Anne Kari!

Not submitting this round? Are you sure? Hang in there friend. Meryem wooed us into thinking that the first theme would ease us in a bit, but as it turns out, even though we are all out there having great adventure.... adventure as a theme is kind of tough to get your arms around in a 3-min film. It sounds like Per is back, and what a beautiful adventure he has under his belt! Perhaps with all of his good fortune he will be in a good mood and happy to support you a little in getting something in? Just something to get your feet wet? Meryem will be delighted as will the rest of us. It could be a works in progress.... or part of an idea or inspiration. The UWOL gang loves to give feedback and will give you a shot in the arm for the next go around. Either way hang tough and get used to that camera! We need to be doers not watchers in the UWOL community!

All the best,

Cat

May as well post my wonder and woe while I'm at it ...

This time, the woe and wonder go hand in hand! My woe is that I shot this movie with both a concussion and the flu. It was a real hoot, but it would have been an all out crow if I had felt better. I've discovered that to be up for "saving planet earth" you need to be in good health (wink, wink).

The wonder of it all is that I somehow I made it through in one piece and will get something in. It's complete, but I'm sitting on it for a day or so to keep a promise to Mat and Kevin that I'm attempting to turn over a new leaf in 2008 and not have those pesky tweaked re-loaded versions for them to sort out. It just goes to show that we don't always have to be on the couch licking our wounds.... sometime when the chips are down, we do have the resources to get out there and do something!

Looking forward to EVERYONE'S FILM!

Cato

P.S. Interesting weather for shooting this round huh Meryem? And as per your request, the farm isn't in sight on this one! Well, mostly anyway!

I am heading into the shark tank. Without Disney involved, I can't come up with an adventure themed video that doesn't require some sort of story or narrative of some kind. "Adventure" has left me without a clue.

We have lots of Turkey Buzzards and Hawks that hang out in my community. With a decent breeze they like to just hang out over the golf course, probably waiting for some of the older golfers to die of frustration so they can pick the bones clean.

I know there is a story line in there somewhere, but I can't come up with one.

I just came back from my adventure. I met up with one of my best friend and we drove south of Stockholm (capital of Sweden). We finally arrived at a broken bedrock ridge that has created big and small cave systems, some of them are flooded and this is where my adventure begins. Tomorrow I’ll edit up the video and record the VO.

looking forward too all of yours videos... and Steven, do you got a dog our something that you can create a story around, exploring the backyard or some thing...good luck.

Hi Steven:

A bit confused... what's wrong with requiring a story or narrative? Shoot (with film that is) those buzzards over the golf course..... sounds like an adventure to me....

Cat

Especially if they just found themselves one of your golfers you mentioned, Steven! CSI will even be there! Make sure to get some video of those Hummer H2's they apparently drive around in here in FL. ;)

aw, man! no disney world?? dang!

that was the cornerstone of our whole "our world, your vision" diversity program!

while the rest of us are trotting the globe in search of nature's exotica, we could always count on a trip to disney world at the end of this thing. what a letdown!

and Cat, glad to see you weren't sucked into a giant snowbank or blown away by the 80 mph winds!

of course, it's hard to beat Brian for the Nasty Weather prize, but it has not been easy shooting in these parts lately....

Ya...who!....On the way home today I had an idea....
Did some research after work...and it might work....
There's somethin' special just a few miles from my house and if the weather is good this weekend....I...might...just....have...somethin'....

At least there is hope.... :)

Go for it Bob! I'm all for hope. Hope is a wonderful, powerful thing.

Cat

My last two UWOL shooting trips found me in glorious places, but blindingly soaked in pea soup fog. I had the location right, but I got the timing all wrong. So today I tried again, only this time I headed south instead - and again to a place I had never been before. No need to leave at 5am like I did though - When I got there I was surrounded yet again, by fog. You'd think I was shooting in England...

I'm still not sure exactly how this will be an adventure on tape, but it sure has been one to shoot.

Glad everyone seems to be doing well. I'm still struggling, but getting better by the hour.

So nice to see you back Cat. Hope you didn’t go through too much trauma to get that concussion and hope you are feeling a lot better now.

Funny Moment...
 

My wife and I were looking at Per's picture of the eagle eating the fox and I called out to my 11 year old son Arran, "Hey Arran, come and have a look at what Per's filming for UWOL 7" (my son knows who I mean when I say Per). He looked at the picture and said "Dad, don't worry about filming UWOL this time - as your wasting your time". I quickly reminded him that winning wasn't everything, and he just grinned in sympathy as he patted my back. My wife and I just looked at each other and laughed.

LOL, that was the best story I have heard for a long time :-)))))
David, tell your son which I think is a BIG fan of me, that I have to come and visit him one day!
But, you must also tell him to have more faith to his own father!!! And there is much more to get a decent film than just a razor sharp and stunning footage. Think I'm struggling a bit to get my story through!

Hi Marj:

On the mend! I think all I need now is a good South African adventure to push me to a full recovery. Looking forward to what you've cooked up for us!

David:

Too funny! Tell Arron that his dad has wowed us many a time with his entries, right along with Per, and UWOL just wouldn't be what it is without him!

We are getting close now.... I'm starting to feel that craving to submerge myself in UWOL film and adventure!

Cat

well, i'm glad to see that someone is finally getting the point!

i'm editing a bit this morning. still need footage, but i won't be getting what i need in this current snowstorm, bah...no time yesterday and it was 65 degrees, lots of time this morning, and it's dumping again. grrrrrr...

buck up, david, you've made some awesome stuff....the interesting thing this year will be to see if UWOL can crown its first-ever 2-time winner. should be tough for everyone, there's some serious contenders joining the fray, i'm betting! besides, our kids are always the last people on the planet to appreciate how remarkably talented we are...

Meryem,

Was curious if you sent out the uploading details as yet? Not that i am ready, but i am getting there.

HAVING A TUFF TIME WITH A NARATIVE!!!


AND YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE THIS AN EASY ONE!!!!!

Well, Robin and I have wrapped up this challenge, since we are off later this week for a few days as part of her mid winter break to visit an old friend of mine in CA. He and I used to do recording trips around the world, making environmental albums and wildlife sound installations. So we will reminisce, while Robin can hopefully avoid being bored :)

I also wanted to let everyone know we were busy during the UWOL break the past few months. If anyone wants to see our videos, they are posted on our rockfowl.com and naturepalooza.com sites. We posted them all to revver.com starting last week, and I am proud to say that as of today, Marvelous Mammals is on the first page of their editor's picks. So our UWOL entry is being seen beyond the contest!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the video adventures here on UWOL soon-the anticipation is building with all the exciting field reports.


Ruth

Hi Guys,

Per; Yes, like all of us, my son is a big fan of yours, and would love you to visit us down us. Actually, you stay there and we'll come to you whilst visiting my country of birth - Scotland. When in Scotland I practiced the sport of falconry for many years however, it is illegal in Australia. So I haver a real affinity with your Golden Eagle entry.

Meryem; with three competitive young boys, I have learned to become very resilient - especially when they say "Dad wouldn't be able to do that...". Then again, that wakeboard Arran got for his birthday has done something to my back. They might have a point sometimes.

Cat; Hope your entry is coming along. Actually, you probably have adventures on the farm all the time! I am struggling big time, but will come up with something.

Has anyone else ever gotten the eerie feeling while out there shooting, that WE are the ones being watched?

I'm shooting a cute little chipmunk of a bird yesterday when for some strange reason, and spurred on by not one ounce of a sound, I look up over my right shoulder, and....

YIKES!

This adventure is getting interesting

wow Eric thats some close up! Maybe he thought the chipmunk might try and knock you off and he fancied a scrap or two!

oh and is this a secret bird of prey round or something ? :-)

I just had to attach that image, even though it's got nothing to do with my video. For some reason this guy made me think of Per.

Something about big birds with strong talons and flesh ripping beaks will forever make me think of Per.

And if there IS a hidden birds of prey agenda here, I stand to lose my shirt. Any birds that I've captured recently wouldn't even pass as appetizers.

today's tale:

i need bird footage. badly.

so i went to the Place Where There Are Always Ducks.

no ducks.

then i went to the Place Where There Are Always Crows.

no crows.

finally, i went to the Place Where There Are Always Colorado Seagulls Freezing Their Tailfeathers Off.

FINALLY! Some footage. I hope it's enough. I doubt it's enough.

A bonus hawk showed up in my viewfinder.

Hope I can pull this off with what I got...if not, it will be back to the crow place....

BEST PART: My now 14-year-old shooting partner, Violet the Wonder Dog, had a great time, not too much arthritis trouble today...gorgeous day, amazing lighting. Not much footy, though, will have to load it up and see...

Oh well, I just burned out the firewire port on my Sony HDR-FX1 HDV camcorder. I can shoot, but not capture. I was trying out a loaner Matrox RT.X2 and got the connection backwards I believe.

This really sucks. It will be around $550 just to get it fixed. It was my own fault, but still. I have never had a problem with hot insertion before. I guess from now on the firewire cable remains connected to the PC.

It's beginning to look that way! I don't have a bird of prey per se, but my film does feature a killer duck!

Cat

Three days snowed in with my grandsons and I'd build an igloo. But in my case It'll be high water.

Reviewing the footage I got last weekend makes me realise what a bad camera operator I am. It was blowing a gale and I tried out the merlin for the first time (you get seasick watching it).

I threw most of that out and went back with a tripod and confirmed my previous assessment of my camera skills, still I never claimed to be an operator - just an actor.

I was going to jump in the shark tank but I thought .. no I should at least put an entry in, no matter how bad it is. I know.. I'll make it 4 minutes so it's too long (that was a particularly silly idea)

So I added some music and swapped it around a bit and realised it's not about the end result - it's the process. I actually got off my butt and went somewhere I've never been and did something I've never done and learned a lot.

There are actually a couple of snippets that have potential or that give me ideas for something else. I've got a huge amount to learn but I'm in there trying.

this is fun!

Paul,

The day you quit learning is the day you quit improving!!!

I learned so much last year it is a joke!!!

and, you are right it is about the process!!!!!!!!

Look forward to seeing you effort!!!

Well, the wonder and woe did not stop in the editing process. I decided to edit at home with Cineform/PPro2 vs edit at work on my new dream machine with FCS2. Something about stopping to eat between 8 hours of editing at work and 6 hours of editing for play.

Apparently it knows I've been cheating on it. I can't so much as look at PPro without it crashing. My roommate has had to put up with me randomly storming out of my room, miming punting a computer across the room, and storm back in to try again. 4 times tonight, trying to finish a piece all of 2:45 long! CMON! I've edited full-length broadcast television on this goshdarned piece of machinery.

End result - I've got the first few minutes on the timeline, with a LOT of correction work to do. For me to put it on television I'd probably want to manually stabilize most of the shots in AE, but it's looking like I'll be happy to get the right clips in the right order. I'm almost to the point that the metric editing is farfetched - "No, I don't like it when you click me there" is my NLE's motto at the moment. Bah.

Finally some good weather (as in no rain), so I shot my entry yesterday.
Had good help of my sister, and we went kinda crazy. In about 2 hours I got around 20 minutes film, and she... well she got 200 photos!!
Yes, we had very much fun. Nope, it does not include any birds. Didn't even see one during our adventure out in the woods.
Now it's off to editing. And this can almost be an adventure itself.


Steven,
Anyone you could borrow a camera from, so you could capture your footage? Really bad to get such an accident when you finally got something on tape.
Hope you manage to make a film in the end. We need your entries!

Steven, I'm waaay up here in the northeast corner of FL, but if you show up with a hard drive and a tape I can take care of it for you? I'm moving (and editing my entry) tomorrow and monday, or I would offer to meet you half way!

C

not many brits posting here, hope we are still all on track!

well I've done my filming in between having to cope with a family holiday
( aaaarrrghhhh!!! - sorry needed to get that off my chest, family holidays with the wrinklies, I love 'em but good grief! ), didnt get the rough weather I wanted, weather here in the UK this week has been glorious for Feb or thick fog, still I'll work with what I've got and hope for the best. It was just great being behind the camera again, havent done it for a while.

So it's down to the editing, I'm glad I did a script, it's kept me pretty much on target for the shots otherwise I could have been badly distracted.

All the best to all

David

Duck Question
 

OK, bird experts. I shoot video of the duck shown in the image at the link below. There was a pair of them. Is it some kind of mallard?

At first I thought it was a molting mallard, but it larger than the other mallards and there are two of them.

The location was Spring, TX, on the north edge of Houston.

Since it the star of my challenge video, I'd sure like to know what it is.

http://www.wilcoxvideoproductions.co...me_unknown.jpg

Hi Victor:

Nice to hear there is another duck movie out there brewing! I was unable to connect to your web site or your picture for some reason so I haven't seen the duck yet, but if it looks like a Mallard but is bigger than a Mallard it could be a Rouen. They have similar coloring to Mallards but are much heavier birds. It's a wild stab, because Rouens are domestic birds raised for meat.

Hope I can connect successfully and see your picture!

Cat

OK...wish me luck....It's almost 25º and the sun is shinin'

I've got some 5 year old aerial photos, vague discriptions and very rough directions to what I'm looking for....
I have a compass, cell phone, warm clothes, a lighter and plenty of batteries....(Oh...and my camera)

If ya don't hear from me in a couple of days, call my wife and tell her I love her.... :)

OK, I'm finished shooting my uwol adventure and can't wait to get home and start editing. I only have my laptop pc with me to the mountains and it is no good editing on. Here's a picture of the stars in my uwol film, from the right:
Elisabeth, Iselin and Stian. ready to go down hill on snowboard.

Geir Inge