UWOL 7 Operation Killer Duck by Cat Russell
 

Finally we arrive. It seemed to take forever to get to the due date.

So! Welcome to this little adventure! My hopes are twofold: 1) that it captivates you to the end and 2) that you find yourself laughing, chuckling or rolling your eyes at least once. Meryem I hope you are amused because it is per your request and off the farm!

I am giving myself an E for effort on this one because I shot this with both a concussion and the flu. Completely on the mend now however!

Just a bit of background so all are in on the joke. Not far from where I live there is a famous 14,256 ft peak called Longs Peak. Its east face is a 1,000 ft vertical rock face called The Diamond because that is its shape. This peak, rock face and next door neighbor, Meeker Peak (13,911 ft), are a draw for hikers and climbers from around the world. It is here where our little adventure takes place. To keep it in the fictional realm (since we do not actually climb on The Diamond) the name of the fourteener in our adventure is not Longs but Shorts Peak and its east face is not The Diamond but The Cubic Zirconia which is a fake diamond. Dead Man's Pass is all in fun and fictional. Below is a link to a photo of the actual Longs and Meeker peaks with The Diamond.

The cast of characters who didn't make it into the credits (since it's just us and there was no time) is listed as follows:

Mr. Quest, climber 1: Ed Russell
Ms. Sally Slick, climber 2: Cat Russell
Bob the goat: Bob the goat
Alien killer duck: Mabel the duck
Cameo Appearance of wayward goat herd: Emily, Meagan, Vera Zoe, Zach, A.J. and Abe

the film is 33_UC7_operationkillerduck.mov

That should do it! Have fun and looking forward to all of your creations! One final note is that this will be the last film I submit in standard format. I've purchased a new HD camera and am waiting excitedly to receive it in the mail!

All the best and have fun,

Cat

OK:

So while we are waiting for the actual UWOL versions, here is a link to a 720 x 480 58 mb file of Operation Killer Duck. Have fun!

http://www.spikeproductions.com/uwol7S3_1Mb_Stream.mov

Cat

Cat,

Once again you create a film that doesn't fail to bring a smile to my face.

That was one freaky alien duck to be able to make it snow in it's surroundings without a cloud in the sky! :)

It's pretty clear you took the theme and had a lot of fun with it.

And you're rock climbing with a concussion! What's up with that? :)

I'd say the same thing to you as I said in my comments about Vision Quest, a couple cutaways to things like some rocks tumbling down the side of the mountain or the toe of a shoe looking for that miniscule hold to take the agents closer to their goal would have helped round the film out.

The film still works without knowing the local names for the peaks etc. It can stand on it's own. Having the inside joke for the locals though brings out an extra laugh.

I think you accomplished what you set out to do. I certainly did get a good laugh out of it and it did keep me entertained all the way to the end.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you can do with your new camera!

I loved it, gave me a chuckle too. Why aren't there more comedy/action adventure wildlife films? Johnny Quest was a favorite of mine when I was growing up, I liked the way you integrated it into the theme. Also, the super on the mountain worked nicely.

LOL… this was a fun film, good job Cat. Maybe some quicker shots and close-ups (Kevin, you are one step in front of me…).

Markus

Cat, that was a killer! I really liked it!

Looks like you and your husband had a good time doing the piece! And of course both Bob and Mabel was acting perfectly!

And it looks like you are capable of doing some serious mountain climbing with that kind of equipment, are you doing that kind of stuff?

Thanks for giving me a good time watching your film!

Well Cat, that was fun! And it looked fun to make....

A question....what did you use to create the computer text and cursor at the start of the film?
I need that effect once and had a hard time finding something...

Bob

Hi everyone!

Oh thanks for the great feedback and comments! Keep them coming!

Kevin and Marcus, excellent feedback about cut aways to rocks tumbling and the close up of a toe searching for that elusive hold! And Kevin... darn, you noticed the blue sky and snow thing? My, how observant we are ;-).

Per, I am thrilled you enjoyed this little adventure! There is something about a fun compliment coming from a master film maker....

Oh, and the climbing? Yea, we do that... like Norway, it tough to live in Colorado and not be in them hills whether on skis or a rope!

Adrinn, thanks for the watch friend. And that was the goal, a chuckle or two from you guys and it all was worth it.

Hi Bob: the text on the computer screen was done in After Effects. I'll check, but I think the font is Impact and you can use a text animation to make it scroll on and off. The cursor was simply a rectangle that I manually made it flash off and on.... I'm glad it looked real!

Thanks again everyone for the watch. I just love this stuff!

Sincerely,

Cat

Catherine, you have done it again! This was really fun to watch!
I have done a little rock climbing myself, only a little outdoors, but lots indoors. And your film made me remember how fun it was.
You made a great story, told in a fantastic way! Even more impressive is that you did rock climbing shortly after having a concussion! Talking about passion for making uwol films, right? :)

i was hoping somebody would post a climber film...leave it to colorado!

the size restrictions made the titles a little tough for me to read...i found that i was missing the underlying action a bit trying to keep up. i'm sure the big screen version is much easier to track!

fun film--i'm amazed that you still managed to incorporate a barnyard animal into the theme so elegantly.

i think i'm the only person who got all the goofy Colorado allusions - the Cubic Zirconia, haw haw....one of my climber friends is the Longs Peak historian, he has catalogued all of the history and major routes...

Catherine,

After watching them all I got the two duck ones mixed up and put a comment on the other one I ment to have here.

great story, I love climbing, did a lot in my younger years; now we have no rocks where I live, so it was nice to see, brings back memories.

You told a great story and saved the world too!!!

Hi Dale:

LOL, don't you hate it when you get the threads mixed up and spend time and energy commenting the wrong film? Thanks friend for taking the time to re-comment on mine, I appreciate it!

Hi Trond and Meryem.... I've commented twice and have lost edits both times! No time to re-enter again, so I'll just say thanks for the comments and support. I so appreciate the watch!

Cat

Hey Cat! (or should I say "Ms. Slick") that was pure fun. A good balanced use of live shots and CG made it work very well. I think like a few others have mentioned I feel it needs a little more "pace" injected. It was silly in a cool way. Thanks! ;-)

This was really fun. I liked when you superimposed the Killer Duck on top- making it look genuinely threatening. And the music was perfect to set the right tone :)

It looked like you and Mr. Quest, along with assorted goats, had a real adventure! Hopefully your concussion wasn't from this video shoot. (Not that there's any good way to get one)!

Thanks for making such a funny and entertaining film.

Ruth

Hi Ruth:

You crack me up! No, the concussion didn't happen on the climb (yikes that would have been really bad news for planet earth!), that little adventure was down home on the farm when high winds blew a very heavy door onto my head. On the mend!

OK Rob, "pace" meaning???? Ms. Slick would know what you are talking about, but outside the film, she turns back into Cat who might need clarification on a point or two ;-).

Glad you guys simply had fun.

Cat