Well summer finally hit below the equator here. A predicted week of around 40 Celsius (100F) after a colder start. But I'm planning on making my video revolve around Cross Country Skiing. So I'm thinking I'll have to incorporate some training aspects for the sport - which will also make me try and build up from past chronic injuries and get some endurance back for this season. I figure I can make good use of available National Parks and other nature spots to do some good training whilst filming. There's come good bushwalks to do. Obviously there's other training involved, but I'll try and get the outdoor version.

I'm still thinking about the structure. At the moment documentary seems more straight forward, with me as guinea pig - putting a number of training principles into practice. I've had good results a few years ago, just slumped the last couple with injury and training for other things.

I'm pondering whether to split it into 2 parts. One being my training and skiing/racing, and the other part being skiing in Australia in general. I might even be able to film and interview some of the national athletes - having met a few, and I'm aquainted with the coach. It's a small sport in Australia - quite the opposite to swimming.

So the nature side is really the backdrop for the training, but particularly the sport itself. You have to venture into the hills to get snow (At least 1300m to get anything most years). And on a good day the views are brilliant. Don't know how I'll go getting the camera to some of the places I'd like to though. I want 3CCDs (no handycam), although that's probably less of a problem than getting the tripod there. If I go to Mt Bogong it's a 1000m ascent the easy way. But the view is worth it. Time to suffer for my art I think.

Mat, I'm so with you on this one. I heard a report the other day that said that 75% of 10 year olds didn't know that the "big black and white bird" was called a magpie. Sad times indeed.
Sounds really interesting!

Rob, Mat,

Ironic as I sit at my computer (35 click winds and about -10 today, a warming front is coming) I agree that anything we can do to connect the youngere generations to the outdoors is a worthy endevor. The trick will be delivering your goods in a fasion that the younger set will take in.

After finishing a career as an educator all I can say is that few young people have this ink, even living out here in the country!!

My piece is primarily ducmentation of process to product. The trick will be trying to show the link between man, wildlife and the outdoor life as apposed to just an experience.

The whole idea of inlightening others is what it is about for myself.

Pulling it off will be another story.

This really made me smile. Here comes Arran the great naturalist - starting out in an off-road pram - next it will be a 4x4 pushchair! Looks like he's in for some fun with his Dad for sure!

Mat - A topic close to my heart! The problem lies with lifestyle - unfortunately people don't have time or inclination to tend gardens any more - a minimalistic look with containers of 'architecturally dramatic' exotics is a fashionable solution for many promoted by some garden designers and gardening magazines. In SA the city trend is to build huge double story Tuscan-style mansions on a tiny plot and to cover all bare earth with gravel and stepping stones and pots containing lavender and lemon trees. This is the look people want.

(Just as an aside - a few years ago I removed all exotics from my garden (including my beautiful roses) and went the indigenous route. It has been such a rewarding experience. My garden attracts butterflies and birds and other small creatures - I have counted 42 bird species in my garden - including visitors - over the period! Ironically indigenous plants require very little work other than thinning every now and then.)

Andrew - looks you have a very busy time ahead of you with your topic, but it also sounds like you have the energy to cope. I would be careful not to chew off too much though or you may run out of time. Look forward to seeing those beautiful places you visit.

As for me, I decided to use this opportunity practice some new video techniques like playing with time, green-screen work and animation and so I will be exploring the mathematical precision found in the natural world.

I am already discovering some interesting things -like plants move, even indoors out of the wind !! - they wilt and perk up and turn to the light quite dramatically over a period of time! Never water a plant just before you want to film it using time-interval and a macro lens - it perks up and before you know it, you are filming something completely off the mark and your focus is way out. :/
Gary is busy with the 3-D animation side of things. I have done a couple of 2-D animations but I decided that 3D would be better for most things.

Hi all, interesting to read about all the cool plans you got!

My piece is still evolving into my head!

Bingo, Dale! That's exactly what I will try to accomplish. As you perhaps have seen in my DVC/UWOL Charity Challenge entry, Ole Arne was one of the dominant part of this piece. He will be the major link between nature, wildlife and mankind in the long-form too!
He has a tough style and looking, and I think if I do my things right, this will be very well worth seeing! The hardest thing is to create that look and feeling on tape! But as said my plan is still evolving.
In fact our first real trip start next week, as we will do one of the major bird of prey scenes.

Marj... I'd like to hear a little about your animation. In a perfect world my film would include some (plate tectonics and sedimentation and other geology kind of stuff) but I think that IS biting off too much for me right now.

Hi Chris
I will be using animation mainly to explain a few simple math concepts as a necessary part of my exploration otherwise nothing will to make much sense to the viewers. The 2D animation program I use is very basic and is part of my graphics suite. (Adobe After Effects is cheaper than my graphics suite and does a far better job judging by Cat’s videos.) Gary uses 3D Studio Max for his design presentations.

Hi all,

I mentioned in a previous post I was departing for a few days to film Trumpter Swan, on the ice flows of a river north of my home, which is a part of a Doc.

Well on the way I filmed: 1min 32sec at -20F

Please enjoy this preview of what nature can provide when you are not looking for it, and in what is a blink of the eyes.

Link: Welcome to worldwidemedia.com Stock Footage Wildlife Short Film 1min 32sec at -20F

I wish you all good luck, and if I can assist any of you please let me know.

My plan for today 31. January 2009:

The sky: crystal clear blue, sunny - no clouds :)
The ground: frozen, no snow, 500 m above sealevel=snow
Outdoor temp: 9C
Wind: no :)

Geir Inge: is chasing "Cinclus cinclus" or "White-throated Dipper, if you like.
Location: hiking the mountains, 1 hour, one way.
Abandon: my schoolwork, tidy "my" hobby room, that's - "my" garage :)
My wife: she don't know, she's at work - she loves me/I love her :)
My aim: having a nice day - bye, CU

Geir Inge

Mike, your film dosn't seem to stream any good! I tried on various browsers and couldn't manage to make it play
Only got 2 seconds glance of the Bald Eagle!

Geir Inge, lucky you! I'm at work this weekend, but next week I'm off duty, ready for some close contact to bird of prey!

Have a nice trip!

Mike, great shot of the bald eagle. Last weekend I was at Lake Gunterville State Park in northeastern Alabama and videoed a few bald eagles but nothing as beautiful as yours.

My entry will revolve around the different wildlife found on the Galapogos Islands. I hope to show how tourism can effect wildlife on these remote Islands. I will be spending 11 days there in May/Jun 09. I think my Feb entry will be an introduction of myself packing and getting ready to fly to Peru to tour Machu Picchu for 6 days and then to the Galapagos for 11 days of videoing. This is going to be fun. Bob

Nice footage Mike.

I like the diverse set of ideas people are exploring here. Sound like a few people are planning on some productive adventures away.

I was somewhat tempted to go and film the bushfires we just had a few miles away. Could have done the video on fire and it's effects on the environment - regrowth, or lack thereof in some places. But I don't know how close I'd be able get, or when we'd get more fires to film additional footage, and I'd probably come under suspicion given that there seems to be an arsonist around. Plus with temps up to 45 Celsius I don't know how much my camera likes sweat dripping everywhere. I think I'll stick with snow - although we could just as likely get very little of that this winter. Maybe by mid July.

Just a thought. If we aren't using previous UWOL footage, but have some footage from before this year that pertains to our current topic, can we use some of that for our first submission? Eg. I have some skiing footage from a couple of years ago, can I use a few seconds of that? It will be all new stuff in the final piece.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Per Johan, I do not know what to tell you, I have tested it on win and mac and you are the only one net getting it.

I am using qt 7 for the film.


Have a great day

Hi Mike,
I was able to view it after downloading Opera Browser to my PC!
Wow, the Bald Eagle shoot was beautiful, real nice to view the slow motion. Was this done with EX-1 or 3 with overcrank 60 fps?

Per Johan,

Thank you for your comments,

Camera was a pan HVX 200 720p24PN overcranck a 60fps normal lense used a blind on the on the bank near the ice flows.

Thanks again and have a great day.

I just got back from my first excursion for this project. The area I’m working is a ten hour drive west from here- about halfway across the state. My fears about winter shooting and continuity problems proved unfounded. In the desert, at least, everything is still pretty green. It’s been a wet winter and there hasn’t been a killing freeze (yet!). Not so in the mountains. Daytime highs while I was there averaged 86°F in the desert and 72° in the mountains with lows of 44° and 36° respectively. I came back with more footage than I expected and shouldn’t have any problem coming up with three minutes. I hope things are going as smoothly for everyone else. We don’t want to lose anyone at the first hurdle.

On my way back from Africa. After this trip, I';m seriously thinking about changing the subject of my long form project. Now I need something that will work with Africa and Iowa. What a combo!!! :)

Been up for 50 hours straight so far. Will be over 60 by the time I'm done. I can hardly see straight!!!

Got my first footage. Realised that too much of training idea would be indoors. So I'm going with fires and their effects on the environment. I only had to walk 100m from my house to get some.

It peaked at 44 C (~110 F), with strong winds, and some little *$!@ lit a fire, which has taken off. So I'm still in the process of preparing the house for ember attack incase the weather turns on us. Time for a cold drink, then I might grab some photos if it's still favourable conditions - not heading our way.
15 trucks and at least 3 helicopters. Plus we have huge fires towards Melbourne with major road blocks. I want to get some more close up shots, but I'll wait till we're not under threat and it's safer to get somewhere near it. But I'll have to check on where I can go, if I need permission. I'm trained (although they lost my paperwork). But I can definitely get stuff on rehab areas. Plenty of past burnt areas to visit.

My friends back in NZ ( where I am orginally from ) say the fires are doing intense things to the night sky there. Have you checked out the google earth images, might be rad to include some how.

jen

Bird of prey
 

Back from a beautiful trip where I did recording of raptors. Fortunately we have several places in Norway, where it's possible to get in real close contact with them.

My friend Ole Arne and me spent 2 two days on this beautiful place. The scattered light at dawn enhanced the great colors of this birds very nice.

Stay tuned for some real nice footage for part 1 of the long-form-uwol next week!

Attached:
- White Tailed Eagle - the largest bird of prey in Norway
- Goshawk female

okay so i am having a wee bit of a panic. well actually I am not panicing just curious... would it be a completely bad thing if my first set of footage doesn't contain any wild life?

Okay i know i know this is the wildlife competition ! BUT I am aiming to produce something for children that uses a book as a means to edutain. I am using graphics and effects reasonably heavily so my first set of footage is more of a moving storyboard .

Is that going to be acceptable?

Hi Jennie,
It doesn't matter what kind of material you're presenting in this first round of the challenge! Anything, drafts, talking head, storyboarding - etc... will do

This first presentation will not be held for any judging. You just have to show that you are doing something and that you're still are working, progressing for the final film which are of deadline the week November 15. this year.

I believe there is many players out there, which have not started yet with any filming. So relax Jennie, remember rule #11 - first of all have fun!

Just to reinforce what Per so clearly stated...

your footage doesn't have to contain any wildlife...it can be interviews, fx, whatever....heck, you could shoot yourself unboxing your new camera and flipping through the manual...as long as your footage contributes to the forward motion of your project. that's all we are looking for, and you won't be judged until the end of the contest. the rest is just keeping up, working on your idea, making progress. you can't leave a project like this until the last minute, its magnitude is too large.

but it's your project...you decide the content, we crack the whip.

and to the players...i will be getting some instructions out to you soon -- i'm preoccupied right now, because my best friend and shooting partner, best dog Violet (some of you know her from her cameos in my films...) is in her last days, and i'm having some tough personal times, at the moment....

Hey Meryem, please give a shout out if you need a hand in lightening the load, I'm sure there's a number of us here who'd be glad to muck in if needed ;-)

I'm not sure where to post this so i'll try this tread.

I signed up for the uwol long form contest but since then i have started working fulltime as a production assistant in one of the longest running norwegian tv-series, so im out of time to keep up with the uwol long form contest. The hours on set is to long to do the uwol at the same time!

I therefore withdraw from the longform.
I'll probably join the short uwols instead if i have some time to spare!
Good luck to everybody!

Per Johan,

Ahhhh, my favorite subject!!! Are those Frame grabs??? They are beautiful and the shallow depth of field emphesizes the subject so well!!!! The goshawk was obviously eating something, eh?

I am assembling some clips of falcons flying that may be used in the winter segment of mine.

hope to get out again this week to shoot some gyrfalcon footage.

Here are a couple shots from one of out shoots

Dale, wow! Are you showing a mid air strike here!!!? What kind of wretched species was hit? Looks like a grouse or something similar to me!
Can't wait to view your footage

Regarding the goshawk, you have to bait it to get in close contact with it. This is a hard to reach species, very shy. The favorite bait was a crow. I will show you some real nice and not so often seen situations of how it prepare and eat the crow in the film

BTW - pics was frame grabs.

stay tuned!

Sorry for dual posting, gateway timeout!

Per,

This particular shoot was a wild rooster pheasant. I also have footage of Grouse too.

It has been real hard filming this winter due to unrelentless winds and cold of course.

As per Tronde's suggestion I did acquire a polar mitten for the camera!! Most of the shooting has been out in exposed air, no blinds to help!! Will be doing another shoot this weekend and hope to get a gyrfalcon in action.

Great pics Per and Dale. Looking forward to see your videos.
Well, way up here on the mid west coast of Norway, the snow finally came last night.
I think that is a little too late in season, as the birds are starting to mate and I have seen the first Primrose this year. "My" White-taled Eagle couple has fixed on their nest and I'm anxious to see if there's gonna be chicks this year.
I had plans for this weekend, but all the snow makes me change them. That's part of being a wildlife film maker I guess :)
OK, my 3 min video is ready to be uploaded and it will be something different from my other uwol videos, and is not to be a part of my final Long Form video. This is just to tell, or rather show my locations for my Uwol LF 2009 video. I will make a link to it later, next week.

Geir Inge

Hi Chris:

Maybe not! I've stepped away for a bit from the forum and am just now skimming through people's posts. My husband has his own business called Computer Terrain Mapping, Inc computer terrain mapping home page and he is really good at geographic animations. My February entry will almost be exclusively an animation he has generated to help me visually describe the layout of the Rocky Mountain National Park region, the topic that I have chosen for my project. If you visit his web site and view his animation samples and like what you see, perhaps we can help you out in your tectonic animation? I don't know for sure, but it's worth trying out if you are interested. Keep in touch on this. This is the fun part about this forum! We can co-work with each other whenever the circumstances fit!

Cat

Hi Chris:

Maybe not! I've stepped away for a bit from the forum and am just now skimming through people's posts. My husband has his own business called Computer Terrain Mapping, Inc computer terrain mapping home page and he is really good at geographic animations. My February entry will almost be exclusively an animation he has generated to help me visually describe the layout of the Rocky Mountain National Park region, the topic that I have chosen for my project. If you visit his web site and view his animation samples and like what you see, perhaps we can help you out in your tectonic animation? I don't know for sure, but it's worth trying out if you are interested. Keep in touch on this. This is the fun part about this forum! We can co-work with each other whenever the circumstances fit!

Cat

Hi Chris:

Maybe not! I've stepped away for a bit from the forum and am just now skimming through people's posts. My husband has his own business called Computer Terrain Mapping, Inc computer terrain mapping home page and he is really good at geographic animations. My February entry will almost be exclusively an animation he has generated to help me visually describe the layout of the Rocky Mountain National Park region, the topic that I have chosen for my project. If you visit his web site and view his animation samples and like what you see, perhaps we can help you out in your tectonic animation? I don't know for sure, but it's worth trying out if you are interested. Keep in touch on this. This is the fun part about this forum! We can co-work with each other whenever the circumstances fit!

Cat

Hi Chris:

Maybe not! I've stepped away for a bit from the forum and am just now skimming through people's posts. My husband has his own business called Computer Terrain Mapping, Inc computer terrain mapping home page and he is really good at geographic animations. My February entry will almost be exclusively an animation he has generated to help me visually describe the layout of the Rocky Mountain National Park region, the topic that I have chosen for my project. If you visit his web site and view his animation samples and like what you see, perhaps we can help you out in your tectonic animation? I don't know for sure, but it's worth trying out if you are interested. Keep in touch on this. This is the fun part about this forum! We can co-work with each other whenever the circumstances fit!

Cat

p.s. Thank you for your gracious offer to host me in Montana if I were going with the Bison theme. Now that would be the place to go and film Buffalo!

Hi Chris:

Maybe not! I've stepped away for a bit from the forum and am just now skimming through people's posts. My husband has his own business called Computer Terrain Mapping, Inc computer terrain mapping home page and he is really good at geographic animations. My February entry will almost be exclusively an animation he has generated to help me visually describe the layout of the Rocky Mountain National Park region, the topic that I have chosen for my project. If you visit his web site and view his animation samples and like what you see, perhaps we can help you out in your tectonic animation? I don't know for sure, but it's worth trying out if you are interested. Keep in touch on this. This is the fun part about this forum! We can co-work with each other whenever the circumstances fit!

Cat

p.s. Thank you for your gracious offer to host me in Montana if I were going with the Bison theme. Now that would be the place to go and film Buffalo!

Hi Chris:

Maybe not! I've stepped away for a bit from the forum and am just now skimming through people's posts. My husband has his own business called Computer Terrain Mapping, Inc computer terrain mapping home page and he is really good at geographic animations. My February entry will almost be exclusively an animation he has generated to help me visually describe the layout of the Rocky Mountain National Park region, the topic that I have chosen for my project. If you visit his web site and view his animation samples and like what you see, perhaps we can help you out in your tectonic animation? I don't know for sure, but it's worth trying out if you are interested. Keep in touch on this. This is the fun part about this forum! We can co-work with each other whenever the circumstances fit!

Cat

p.s. Thank you for your gracious offer to host me in Montana if I were going with the Bison theme. Now that would be the place to go and film Buffalo!

oopppps.....Cat you spammer you ;-) !

You caught me Mat! I apologize all, for posting that twice!! I was having trouble uploading comments and I didn't even know that it uploaded at all much less twice!

Now, I was wondering.... since this is an international forum, should we all use the same numeric system, such as meters and kilometers instead of feet and miles?

Just wondering...

Cat

I think this is a brilliant idea Cat!
Then we all speak the same language, and what about temperature, celsius better than fahrenheit?

EDIT: I know there are lots of free converters out there, for those who have to convert...