Faale - Straholmen - UWOL long form
 

My film is based on my home area and my passion for sailing.
Our coastline is loaded with islands and skerries.
In the sailing-ships era was the pilot’s local knowledge important to get the ships safe through.
This film is about the island Stråholmen where the pilots lived close to Skagerrak.
They lied on the roofs and looked for ships to pilot.

Stråholmen is an interesting island for botanists and ornithologists. It is also a popular place to visit for the sailing people in the summer.

Here is a rough outline of the film:

1. The rough coastline.
2. Sailing to Ståholmen (island of straw).
3. Showing our boat in the harbour, and some overview of the island.
4. Flora and fauna on Stråholmen.
5. History of the islands population, the pilots.
6. Valonas wreck.
7. Todays use of the Island (recreation and tourists).
8. Maintenance of the cultivated landscape.
9. Nice scenes from the island mixed with languishing music.

The film sketch I have made so long shows:

1. The rough coastline


2. Sailing for Ståholmen.

I have to do some more interesting shots here.


3. Showing our boat in the harbour, and some overview of the island.

These shots will be retaken, not only because of the UWOL rules, but I have bought
me a new tripod. It will hopefully get smoother pan. I need more film for this section.


4. Valonas wreck.

On Dec 4th 1907 a bark ship was on her way from Calais (France) to her home in
Mariehamn (Åland in the Baltic sea) for Christmas.
Dramatic weather in the dark night ended the voyage in the skerries east of Stråholmen.
Only one man survived, 13 were lost.
I have tried to do some animation to show the ship at the sea and the disaster.
I have got a picture from The Marine Museum in Mariehamn.
An old ship model is also used.
I have to do more film to complete this section.
Jomfruland lighthouse was seen from the ship. I will try to do a night shot of the
rotating light cone from the lighthouse.
I need some shots from the place where the surviving man was saved.
It is also a memorial in Skåtøy churchyard.

The narrating is not added to the film yet.


Faale_Stråholmen_UWOLLongForm

Hi Finn-Erik,
very interesting project you presenting here. I'm not so well known in this aera of Norway, so it will be nice to watch your finished film.

Was it a blink of Mølen in first part of your linked film or is it a similar view at Stråholmen?

Thanks for comment, Per Johan.

Your observation is correct. It is Mølen, a well known place for you. I have of course seen your winning UWOL film "From the Sea to the Peak".
Stråholmen is an island situated between Mølen and Jomfruland.

Finn,

Great start to your project.

I really liked the zoom to real wide at the dock and the transition to a yard, great contrast.

Finn, I see what you mean in some of the shots - about the shake, but there wasn't too much. Cut some frames from the start of a few of the tracking shots and it would be barely noticed. Some of the side on tracking shots of the waves look quite good. It just has a nice 'fluid' flow to the shape of the wave. There was some pretty strong wind there too.

It also gives a good indication of what you want to achieve showing the Valonas wreck. Hopefully you can get the shots you need to piece this together. It looks like it will come together nicely.

Hi Finn:

Interesting topic choice and a great jump on footage. It will be nice to see the next stage of your work.

All the best,

Cat

Hi Finn-Erik.
Great topic and I liked your first shots very much.
About Valonas wreck, is this gonna be under water shots too?
You story seems very exiting and I'm looking forward to see more.
By the way. I have been (one time, some years ago) to a place called Loshavn, is your Stråholmen a similar place?

All the best.
Geir Inge

Hi Finn,
Great wave action shots. We don't get that much activity here. In my speakers, the wind noise is a bit rough and peaks out, interfering with the sound of the waves. I wonder if it would be possible to get into a sheltered spot where you could record the wave sound without the wind, and dub it over video?

Hi Finn-Eric,
Wow this is just another film from Norway i'm really looking forward to seeing. You already have some really nice shots. I especially liked the different angles you got on the boat. It will be really nice to see your finished project. Sounds like it should all come together like a a show about a big adventure.
Good luck,
Bryce

Thank you all for comments.

Geir Inge: Unfortunately it will not be underwater shots. First of all, I am not a diver and feel most happy at the surface. Second, it is not much left of the ship. It was smashed, and much of it drifted on shore in pieces. It is similarities between Loshavn and Ståholmen. One difference is that Stråholmen is a small island. It is known for the flora and many observations of different birds of passage. I will try to give this extra attention. The animation and the waves I have done so far could be done in the winter. We have had a cold wintertime until yesterday, but the ice was never strong enough for a walk to Stråholmen.

cool boat shots, nice beginning...

Cool shots.
A good tripod will definitely help, but the shake is not bad at all.

I agree with Steve about the wind noise.

Good stuff.

All those big seas reminded me of New Zealand - lots of wind along the coast there. So it is interesting to see such big waves elsewhere.

I like your graphics with the ship - moving the picture from full frame to the horizon so that it sat on the water. Very clever. I'll look forward to see how you deal with the rest of the ship story.

ahhh makes me want to get out to the coast again...

Looking forward to seeing how your final film turns out and what you do with the animations you included...like that shipwreck (nice touch).

You have a beautiful boat...I too am a sailor (rather, I am learning to be a sailor) and just watching the footage of your boat on the water was lovely although I still get a little freaked out by that much heal in my own boat.

Fun stuff...

Finn-Erik,
I enjoyed watching your video. Others enjoyed the sound of the waves. What I liked was the sound of the boat working in the wind. It made me want to be there! Your use of the model was very clever and I can’t wait to see how the final edit turns out. Will you be visiting Stråholmen during migration season? Best wishes.

Thanks a lot for all comments.


Annie:
Mølen is a place where it is possible to take good wave shots. If, after a while with gale against the shore, the wind turns off-shore, then it is safe film weather. That means no risk for salty spray on the lenses, and it is still possible to watch the spray from the wave crests.

Jef:
I am happy to read that you are a sailor. Maybe you can show up some sailing scenes some day.
After showing summer, flowers and birds i thought it would be fine with a dramatic contrast. I hope this wreck story will work.

Mike:
I will be visiting Stråholmen during the migration season. Parts of the island is bird reserve. This area is not legal for humans in the first part of the summer. Hopefully the migrating birds prefer the inner part of the island.

Finn-Erik

Hi Finn-Eric
You have certainly captured the feel of the rough sea and relentless pounding waves - small wonder a sailing ship would flounder on those waters. Some very nice footage so far.

I think the way you have included photographs with live footage is very creative. My personal preference regarding the handling of the first photograph would be to see the photograph of the sail boat followed immediately by the boat on the horizon (leaving out the zoom in between).

Sounds like an interesting story you have to tell and I look forward to seeing more.

Stråholmen #2

I have made some clips from the winter around Stråholmen.

I have also some shots from the first sailing trip to Stråholmen in April.

It shows the old houses and the cultural landscape maintained by wild sheep.
Actually, Stråholmen is from current year a cultural preservation area.

When the domestic animals disappeared from the island, the pastures were reclaimed by nature.
Trees and bushes popped up and were embraced by climbing plants.
The area has been cleared and grazing sheep prevents the return of the wilderness.

Link to the film:

Stråholmen 2

Soem gorgeous images there. I kind of saw the boat coming towards the skiff of ice as spring coming to break-up winter.... did you plan that?

It is only the 2nd submission, and the footage was lovely. I will be interested ins eeing your story told through your brethtakingly beautiful images.

I will be anxious to see your next submission.

Thanks for the inspiration Finn-Erik!

Chris

ps. What IS it about your Norweigans?

Finn-Erick,

I thought you had some lovely shots in this film and I am looking forward to how it will unfold in you final piece. I know it is only the second submission, but will you have any narration? I think it will benefit.

I loved the snow scenes at the beginning and the oystercatcher at 4:57 was beautiful. My only criticism is that it was framed a little too centrally.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks, Chris. You are too kind to my footage.
The ice braking boat was not planned.
In strong winters is it possible to walk to Stråholmen on the ice. When I considered reaching Stråholmen on foot, a man was missing in the area.
He had gone through the ice....
Then my winter scenes had to be taken from the mainland.

Hi Finn-Erik

Beautiful footage you have there. I am a little lost as to how it contributes to your main story and some sort of rough narration would have helped with context I feel. I also found that while very pretty some of the video lacked dynamic and had more of a photographic feel to them.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about your film.
Mat

Hello Finn-Erik:

Lovely. You have a way of letting the footage speak for itself. How beautiful and so very different your land and seascapes are from our dry and rugged terrain here in Lyons. I thoroughly enjoyed the capturing of the newborns in the spring.

Judging from your theme layout you described in the beginning of this thread, this footage is depicting a small subset of what you will eventually be doing, so I will not make comments about that at this stage of the game.

Just a detail, but perhaps a long transitional fade between the snows of winter to the greens of spring would add some drama to this beautiful and pastoral film.

Cat

Finn-Erik, I just saw that my reply did not get posted. So again. beautiful footage, It reinforces my determination to visit your beautiful country. I especially liked the transition from the harbor to the peaceful houses, and the shots of the birds were great. It looks like such a wonderful place to live. I am really anxious to see more small boats in the harbor, I bet you have some great old wooden boats there. A great start, but am a little confused on how you are going to tie in the sailing aspect. Bob

Finn-Erik, nice to watch "your part of Norway". You have some fine sequences there, maybe some rough cuts from time to time, but I think this will improve when you cut the final masterpiece.
Good work, looking forward to next round.

Finn-Erik,
Very nice footage. I like the way the way you frame your shots. The composition is very satisfying to watch, and your follow of the flying birds is good. Could you maybe get a little closer? Your audio features some intruguing bird song. I recognized one, about halfway through as an Oystercatcher. It would have been good to put your Oystercatcher footage right after that call, using it as an introduction. Good luck on part 3.

Hi Finn-Erik,
Well you have some really nice footage for your project! Firstly i have to make comment on your guitar playing, it was absolutely beautiful & went very well with your footage. Like Matt, i'm not sure how this all fits in with your story as there was no narration telling what was going on, but i'm sure like me you have still got all the narration to do & in the end things will all come together & will make sense. On that note though, the footage you showed in this piece, seemed to be a little bit confusing because you were cutting from one thing to another then back again. This may well work with narration where you are drawing a comparison of the two subjects, or showing how they interact or effect one another, but if not, then i would perhaps try to make each one a sequence on its own, then move on to the next. The footage you have shown us so far looks very impressive & i'm sure everything will come together in the end & i really look forward to watching your next part.
Regards,
Bryce

Such a peaceful place and so very beautiful I can see myself strolling along a dirt road with the sheep baying in the background and hearing the boats on the water. I think that you footage is rich, full of interesting structures and animals. My favorite part of the film was listening to your guitar during the scenic shots then the change to the sounds of the country side as you switched to he farms and cottages.

Nice job looking forward to seeing the final piece.

Thanks a lot to you all for nice and constructive comments. I will have them in mind for the next part. Actually I was short of time. My boat was not ready before late April. One day, we stowed the boat with photo optics and equipments and headed for Stråholmen. After two hours out of the fjord, I recognised that the video camera was left at home. We resigned and made a new attempt another day.

Hi Finn-Erik.
Some great footage you have in your ULF2.
Love the sheep :)
My Uwol5 film was about "The Viking Sheep".
Looking forward to see your next contribution.

Best of luck.
Geir Inge

My UWOL long form 3 is now uploaded.
The video is a "disaster" form the oil country.
I have observed some editing bugs, but I have not time to fix......

Link to Stråholmen Long Form #3:


Straholmen 3

Finn-Erik,
You have a very good submission this time. The animations are excellent.
I like the way you tied the modern disaster into the Valona tragedy. I have only one suggestion. Where the scene changes from the dark sea to the daylight cemetery, perhaps putting a fade up from black on the cemetery will give a smoother transition. You have made a fine video. It is perhaps one of the few good things to come out of such a horrible occurrence.

Mike,

Tanks for your comments.
I will follow your suggestion and do a fade up on the cemetery.

Hi Finn-Erik.
I must agree with Mike, me too like the way you tied the oil disaster into the Valona tragedy. I know from todays news that the ship has been drawn from the cliffs.
One question (me and my questions):
Can we expect a change in your original plan due to this oil disaster?
Just curious :)
Great shots, editing and colours.

All the best.
Geir Inge

Hallo Finn Erik.


Its very sad whit the oil, I hope they get a good clean up. We have the MS Server her
on Feije and it end good. I really hope you will make a finale Straaholmen. And you
have allot of nice cut.


All Best
VJV.

Geir Inge and Vidar, thanks for comments.
After all, I will not change my original plan. But, I will use the oil disaster sequence in the final video.

Hello Finn-Erik:

You have produced a fine film, and you cover the oil disaster extremely well. Your cinematography is excellent and the presentation of the historic ship scaling back to look like it was sailing on the ocean was very creative. Nicely done, to weave the historic and current disasters together as they both have a huge impact on Straholmen.

This is a tragic and solemn addition to your promising and beautiful film.

Cat

Finn-Erik,
a very sad but interesting piece in the same time! To watch the oil spill in your area and suffer to all creature living there, makes me very, very sad!

The combination of the historic event with Veronica was nice.

There was some issue, with sound however. I often use to make audio cross-over dissolves to avoid those huge jumps in audio levels as you got in some of your scenes.

Your narrating was very nice to listen to. You have a great voice, Finn-Erik!

Per Johan,
thanks for good advice. I am shamed of the sounding. All is recorded with built-in camera microphone without a good windshield. I think I will have to do some sound recording in post-production.