Rob,
I'm always fascinated by the natural history of Britain, and how much is contained in small spaces. You did an admirable job of explaining what was there to be seen, and getting it to fit into the estate's history. If Gilbert White had done a video, your's would be it.

Hi Mike - thanks so much for your feedback on my film. I will respond to it on my own thread so as not to clutter this one.

Marj

Marge,

All I can say is, "WORLD CLASS". What an inspiration!! Per Johan inspired me to work harder at my compositions and images. Your work has inspired me to work harder with my after effects, which to be honest I have hardly ever used.

this should be manditory for science classes and math classes!!

there is a Market out there!!



What a huge effort!!!! It is awesome.

Steve, you are a master storyteller. everything about this film hit the spot for me - great clean footage, massive amounts of wonderful bird species and behaviours, amazing history (that I knew nothing about!) backed up with great illustrations and images. This is indeed the result of a lifetime's passion, and you convey it with humour and honest enthusiasm. I love the way you managed to keep the flow and interest going throughout the time - 50 mins is an amazing feat. The v/o was warm and personal too, like sitting and listening to a friend.

I salute you, sir!!!

Bob,
What an amazing experience your trip to the Galapagos Islands must have been.
Your film made me feel as if I was there with you. Thank you!
Very well narrated, and so facinating to watch all those different animals.

Have you thought about selling this to tv? You should!

Dale,
you have a very interesting project. I did not know anything about coaching falcons before watching this.
I think your first part is the best.
I specially appreciate the sequence showing traveling and fetching the small bird in the mountain.
You are good to talk in front of the camera. The guitar, falcon, cat scene is fantastic.
Maybe you should lower the music level a bit on voice over.
The second part could profit on economizing on the hunting scenes. You have some very good flying shots which could be amazing, shortened down and clipped together.

Finn-Erik,

thanks for taking the time to view it and the constructive criticism.

I am going to rework the Hunting scenes totally. I will be pulling in footage shot outside of the challenge. I knew the flight sequences were to long. I built them last January-spring. What I learned is when you nest a project all the audio goes onto a single time line, it does not bring the audio in project format. that was news to me. Hence If I cut any sequences it interupted the audio. What I now have to do is go back and rebuild them without any background audio, place them in the current project then put in the background score. I also will reduce actual flying time, but I do not want to give the impression it only takes seconds for the whole thing to happen.
Bottom line, I have work to do!!



Mike,

I agree there is a fair amount of vernacular unique to the subject, I was aware of that and did try to explain as much as time alowed, but I proabably should have done more explaining. I tried to make it so general public could follow it but not dumb it down so much aspiring or experienced falconers would be put off. Probably should go one way or the other in hind sight.

Dale,

A very nice film you made! You really show how much hard work it takes to train those birds, and quite a bit of hiking too.

You do well both in front of the camera and behind it, and the story you tell is really interesting. Nice, calm VO. Well done.

A few times, you had some sequences with different aspect ratio. I believe it would have been better if everything was the same instead of mixing it.
As you comment yourself in the post before mine here, a few bird clips were a little long.
Like the clip at around 2 minutes in part 2. (The bird flying with only the blue sky as background)

Rob,
I am sorry about your father's health and your own health problems before the finishing date.
Your film is a pleasure to watch. You show the Cliveden area with so many interesting aspects. Your video has high technical quality and it is a pleasure to view throughout the whole film.
You also have a narrating talent in front of the camera.
I wish you all the best for the film's future.

Cat,
I am so glad you were able to deliver your video to the last round.
It is always interesting to observe your creative way of making exciting film. What a nature you can show up with, followed by these great masterpieces of music. Your animations are very good, and your voice over is always crystal clear.
If you need to shorten the video a bit, I will suggest to do some in the beginning and some in the end section with the information and credits.

Mike and Trond, thanks for the feed back. This has been a great challenge. I was fortunate to get to go to the Galapagos at the right time. My hardest part was comming up with the footage for the two uploads before I even left the country to video. I am trying to watch an entry a night. Right now I would propose to Meryem that since there are only eight left that we all send dvd's to the judge. I pity the poor person that has to choose between all those great videos. Everyone put so much work into these. Like the others, I am saddened that so many really good videographers had to drop out of the contest. I have my video on Vimeo, but as this was my first try with Vimeo I am afraid the resolution is not as good as it should. I posted my mpeg-4 one instead of a windows media file.

Cat, we will be watching yours this evening.

Bob

Bob,
The Galapagos is one of those places I will probably never see, but your perspective on it, and the shots you got of the birds makes it almost unnecessary. I really enjoyed your interpretation of the Islands. The one suggestion I would make is that you might want to run your audio through a noise filter to cut back on some of the wind, and to remove the electrical hum.

Finn-Eric
After a long day, I watched your film again just to relax. It worked. Your weaving of rich color and sound, land and sea are close to perfect. So is your choice of music. I would like to see this piece on a big screen.

Dale,
With all the tribulation you have had to bear in the making of this film, I was glad to see your final product. Just how long do you keep a bird? Do you have a whole stable of them, or do you release them at some point? Are they allowed to hunt all year, or during the off season is it chicken?

Dale, you presented us with a really amazing story,and your passion for it shines through. I remember talking to a documentary filmmaker a few years ago, and his number one shining rule was "shoot the cr*p out of everything!" - i felt that if you had more cutaways, different angles and frames, it would really help the visual flow a lot, and stop you from having to rely on jump cuts as much as you did.
I loved the way that the vast landscape plays such a role in your film, and was really sucked into your environment. The behaviour aspect of the birds themselves I found fascinating, particularly after walking over a hill a few months back and getting "buzzed" by an immature perigrine in training - it's backfilled a lot of the story for me. found the long flight sequences a little too long, perhaps just again need a wider / closer shot or a shot of the handler fixed on the horizon.
Overall, great job - thanks for showing me your world!

Cat, oh my what a wonderous thing you have created. I tip my lens cap to you. Your video was... well lets just say magnificent. Not only was the story great, but those graphics were outstanding, and the music perfect! The one chapter where you fade to black to match the music was great. Your video bought back so many memories, not only did I work there during the summer of '75, but my wife and I did most of our courting at Rocky Mountain. As a matter of fact we walked up to Cub lake two years ago and I videoed the water lillies there. With your permission I would like to send this to my nephew and his family that like in Fort Collins and spend lots of time in the park. Cat, again, you did a really magnificent job. Your love of the park, its flora and fauna really expressed itself. Thank you for such an enjoyable experiance. Bob

Bob... I watched your entry last evening. I must say that inspite of the tight time constraints you had to shoot your film, you managed to make a nearly perfect film on the variety of life in the Galapagos, make it interesting. and keep the viewer's interest. Your titles were well done and the soundtrack was about as good as I can image anyone doing. The VO was very listenable, and the narration interesting. Professional !!!

My only minor critique/suggestion is that to me, your ending was a little abrupt. Might I suggest that maybe you do a 30second reprise of the trip at the end?

Having "been there - done that" I have found myself caught without footage to cut to, in, or otherwise use... the "reprise" might soften the ending a little. Just an idea.

Like I said almost a year ago - "Take us with you!" ...and you DID ! Thank you for a wonderful film !

Chris S.

ps. I cannot say enough about your sound levels, mix, etc...best soundtrack so far. Edits were very pleasing as well.

pps. Oh! The prop plane foley with a jet on the screen may need a little retooling, maybe? <g>.

One note on judging - I was a fool to think that I could have an outcome by Dec. 1...so the outcome is postponed, don't have a specific date yet, I am still watching the films. And will have to watch more than once....

The really hard part is that, without an overarching theme like we are used to, the judging process becomes very "apples to oranges," another unanticipated outcome.

Lots to grapple with, on the judging end.

All of you can send me your mailing addresses, for your hard-earned t-shirts, though. I only have L and XL left, I think.

Steve - a beautiful film. I can't say it more eloquently than Rob has. You have given us spectacular visuals and some very rare sightings of the birds of the USA. Very well done!

I did not count the list at the end but you have a sizeable collection there that you should be able to compile into films of all sorts in the future and I'm sure that, together with the species you collected before this challenge, you must have a good percentage of the birds of USA on film by now. How many bird species do you have in the United States?

My passion for filming birds is what got me to DVinfo and this challenge in the first place, so I can appreciate just how difficult some of those scenes were to film. You
follow individual birds masterfully with the camera - not easy.

Just a couple of observations for all they're worth:

I enjoyed so many parts of this film but especially the white birds, the birds in the 'land of the barking seals' and the camouflage sequence. I am a very impatient TV viewer but your film held my attention all the way. However, I still feel it it is a tad too long overall. My feeling is that if you trimmed some sections a little it would be perfect. (for the likes of me that is) :)

I realize your introduction is part and parcel of submitting a personal film but in a way, it pins it to the family so to speak and for me it came as a bit of a surprise. I would suggest rethinking this.

Marj,
Your video is impressing. The easy way of showing the mathematics in the nature is excellent. Your animated figures could hardly be better, the time-lapsing growing plants are very good and your clean narrating is easy for me to understand.
I think 90 minutes would be to long for that sort of video.
Then you have to make some sequences in strong contrast to the mathematical elements. How to do this is not easy to figure out.
What about three films, each in 30 minutes length?

Bob,
Thank you for watching and commenting my video.

I have watched your video twice. The Galapagos Islands have been just a dream for many years. Your video is the sort of traveling document I love to see. After watching I feel: I have been there.
This video would be a perfect showpiece for the traveling agency.
If the distance from Norway was shorter, I would by a ticket.

Hi you guys:

Steve, Mike, Finn Erik, Dale, Chris, Trond and Bob for watching my film and the generous comments and insightful critique. I so appreciate you and all that you do!

Bob: Of course you can send the link to your nephew in Fort Collins! It also sounds like you and your wife are due for another trip to the Park... we can hike some together and snag a bit of film too! Not quite the Galapagos, but it too has its charm!

Meryem: I so respect the difficulties of your job... and I thought filming for a year was tough! No worries about sending me a t-shirt... I'll stop by sometime and pick it up in person, maybe in the New Year! I'll take whatever you have. If it's a large, I'll wear it, if it's an XL my husband can have that one!

Cat

Mike,
Thanks for your encouraging comments. I give you credit for the bluish night scenes.

I have watched your video, and I am amazed by all the different animals, birds, insects and plants you have shot. There are many good close-ups and the macros are superb.
The voiceover by a zoological specialist strengthens the film.

Marj,
Thanks for the comments. I think that if I ever do more with this piece, instead of shortening it, it needs to be broken up into more than one program. The Audubon Wilson part is something I have long dreamed to do, and would make the core of something else.
Of course, in any future presentation of this, the intro narrative will be totally changed.
Since we have all been shepherding each other through this for a year, I thought it was an appropriate way to start. Maybe not.

Steve,
Thank you for watching my video after a long day.

I have watched your video. I am amazed by the quality. You have so many great shots and you must have a talent for following flying birds with your camera. You are a good storyteller and that is important for keeping my interest through the whole film.
I wish you all the best for the future of your film and
I hope many will enjoy the pleasure of seeing it.

Dale, First off I have got to say you really had me going there the last 30 sec. I thought you lost the bird. It was a very interesting subject, I never would have realized that all that work went into training a falcon, or any other bird. I would have liked to have heard a little more VO during the hunting scenes such as, how often do they hunt in nature? What is the "life expectancy" of a hunting bird? Are they released back into the wild? You may consider cutting back on the hunting shoots in part two and maybe adding close up stills of the birds with VO. There was a scene where you were standing there with the bird on your arms and she started to flap her wings. Man, what I would give to experiance that moment. Your music was fantastic, but could have been toned done a bit, especially when you were talking. Ghost Riders in the Sky was a perfect fit. What a gift to be able to do your own music.

As a viewer, I would have appreciated more information about where you were geographically, I know you said the bad lands in the beginning, but I wonder if all of your footage was shot there. Where was the lake? One other question, do you have more one than one bird in training at one time? Do they require special permits to capture birds in Canada? The US? I am very ignorant about falconry althouth you have educated me alot. Thanks

Bob

Well Rob I knew you were skilful and creative when it comes to making films but I never realized just how skilful until I watched this! This is exceptional stuff. From start to finish this is a well-crafted, professional film.

You did an excellent job as presenter, your interviews are informal and relaxed and yet convey all the pertinent and interesting information desired.

It is obvious that you put a great deal of thought into filming this. Your shots are well-considered, polished and support wonderfully the structured story that runs through the film from one aspect of wildlife at Cliveden to the next. Each sequence with its variety of shots, angles, points of view, camera movements and dissolves flows seamlessly to the next. I loved the transition between day and night using the moon and the turning of leaves used to show winter moving to spring. Not only have you managed to capture the breathtaking beauty of the countryside and immediate environs of this gracious old estate you have also drawn us to the finer details of the wildlife that inhabits the secluded places here.

I thought it was very practical to include the sequence on the mushrooms to warn visitors of the dangers but also to draw their attention to the delicate and transient beauty of these fungi. This for me was once of your most artistic sequences – beautiful colours and framing of the subjects. (I also enjoyed your handling of the bluebells with accompanying music.)

I missed the birds in this piece. I can hardly believe that Kites are the only species to be left there. Surely a few bird songs in the background to the woods would not go amiss – or have the planes flying overhead chased all the birds clean away?

Just something I noted -your audio is out of sync at the end (Crayfish Bob and yourself) but I’m sure you have fixed that already.

Rob this film admirably fulfils the purpose for which it was created. I am sure there are many ways people would use this but I should imagine on those grey dreary days when no one can go outdoors this is going to be a wonderful compromise for visitors to the site. I know you will have great success with it. Buy some sunglasses – you are about to become a local hero. :)

Marj

Thanks so much for your comments Finn-Eric.

Steve I am still interested to know how many bird species are found in the USA.
I also have a question - how did you get such smooth diagonal pans across your photographs - did you use a rail of some sort was that handheld?

Marj

Marj - I had the distinct pleasure of viewing your film last evening and must say it is a magnificent effort. The subject was highly entertaining and instructive, the graphics were well into the professional range, and your script and narration were simply delightful. The more of these films I watch the happier I am that *I* don;t have to tryand pick the winner. Yours is surely a contender, and as you have stated, you haven't even polished it yet.

Thanks for a VERY enjoyable watch !

Chris S.

ps. As was also true with animations, your macros were beautifully done. You display a wide array of film making talents in this one!

Steve: I think you made the best use of our quarterly submissions as I saw most of them here and there throughout your film. A lesson learned.

I really enjoy your voice in VO, and the scripting was excellent, the storyline interesting and the pesonalization provided a nice "hook". I sat enthralled through your entire film.

I think you nailed the dialogue levels versus background... your voice was always up front and at no time in danger of being lost in the ambient or soundtrack, yet they too were easily heard. Your ambient (and I suspect some dub and foley) was absolutely perfect. Best I've run across on here perhaps. Your music choices were good, and if I had a criticism at all, it is probably more an issue of my style on this versus yours. There were times your sound tracks ended abruptly, as opposed to a fade out... and I like to try and avoid any extensive period of dead air, blending as close as I can. Between chapters there was sometimes a longer than (what I expected anyway) comfortable span of dead air.

That said, it is probably more an issue of taste, and as for everything else (99% in other words) your efforts in the making of this epic on birds is apparent. Your use of photographs and drawings, and handling of them was well done and appropriate, and the bird footage itself, from the closeups, to birds in flight (which you follow very well) was a joy.

You chose a BIG topic and managed to do it justice. Awesome watch ! Thanks !

Chris Swanberg

Good Morning,

Thank you everyone for taking the time. I hope some of you went to the vimeo site as it is definitely better in a couple ways.
Trying to make this general as apposed to advanced specific was really difficult. My friend Nairn (in the video talking) helped a lot in that regard.
Now to comments and questions:
Rob, Yes, I will shoot more of everything, I think that is a great suggestion!!! More cut aways !!! the flight sequences will be reduced big time and were too long for the reason mentioned!!
BOB, We do lose falcons for a barrage of reasons. Most survive just fine and join the wild population which is good because there is an 80% Mortality the first year for wild falcons).
Life expectancy: My oldest was a gyrfalcon that lived 23 years. Reality, in the wild 6 years is average life expectancy. If you hunt them the legal season of 6 months a year getting them past 7 years of age is not all that common. My best falcons have been killed in the field by Great Horned owls, blind sided while they eat on their prey. It isn’t Disneyland out there, lions do not talk to the Jackels, one doth eat the other. It breaks the heart as you develop such a bond with them as they are part of your life every single day.
In nature they are prone to hunt twice a day, morning and evening, but being opportunists they will take advantage of any good chance anytime of day.
Generally I only keep two falcons to hunt with, that is plenty. However, I have three right now because one has a recurring health issue( in the wild he would have been dead three years ago). Flying two takes me 1.5 to 4 hours each day, aug 15 to Feb.28. Of course they require attention in the off season.
In US and Canada you must have provincial permits. You must serve a 1 year apprenticeship under qualified individual before you can carry forward on your own. This is to protect the raptors.
Steve,
Any falcon I take will receive two years of work to prove itself. If it is conducive to falconry and what I do I will hang on to it. If not it can go back to the wild where it is better suited and I will start with a new member of the team the following spring or fall depending whether I take a youngster or trap a wild one.

My biggest problem is that I can not actually fly my own falcons and film them properly!! That means I am required to make trips to other falconers to get good ariel footage. Filming flying falcons is the hardest thing I do.

Being part of the UWOL group has been such a huge benefit to my videography . Not just the constructive criticism but rather the inspiration so many of you provide with your amazing videos!!!
Sometimes it is kind of like listening to my friend Keith Richmonds guitar music, it is so good I just want to put my instrument away or donate it to salvation army!! Seeing videos like some from this round makes me think the same about the camera. Of course, I plug away trying to learn more from you all and doing a better job!!

Thank you all so much.

Dale, thanks for all the information. I would never have thought that it took so much to raise and train a bird of prey to do something that should have come naturally. Thanks again for introducing me to a world I would have never experienced. We all learn so much from these Challenges. Bob

Rob, As a long time fan of the National Trust on PBS I completely enjoyed your video. It was like a real "behind the scenes" of one of their gardens. You presented it in a way I have not seem on the series. I think you did a fantastic job of presenting yourself as the tour guide as you took us through the different seasons and areas of the Garden. Your narration and VO was clean and very clear, as was your natural sounds. Your use of interviews were like mini-stories within the story. Your lighting on the night scenes were some of the best I have seen, especially with that bright lamp burning right next to you. And, as a former entomologist I loved the insects. Very clever to include the use of the invasive crawfish as a dining experiance. The mushroom sequence was very educational. You really pointed out the danger of picking wild mushrooms unless you really know what you are doing. Your camera movement was very smooth. Did you use a dolly and crane in your shots? Again, thank you for such a wonderful tour of Cliveden. Bob

Hi Marj,

Your video was very nice and interesting to watch. I see a great potential for expanding this into a series for tv. Concentrate about one or a very few of the subjects in each episode.

Seing how skilled you and Catherine are with After Effects, that is a huge motivation factor for me to finally begin learning AE much better.

Very well done!
And since you said this was only a "rough cut", I really look forward to see the final cut.

Marj, what an incredible video. The graphics were fantastic and actually easy to follow. I loved the concept of relating everything to math. All those swirls and squares within a rectangle within a square. I, like some of the others think this should be divided into two of three parts and shown in science/math classes. As it was a bit over 40 minutes long it got to be a little over powering. Sort of like to much information to absorb at one time. My favorate part was the honeybees and the way they build their cones. Such presision in such a small brain. Begs the question...How do they do that? Thank you for taking us to a place where most of us have never been. An excellant productions. Bob

Finn-Erik,
Your film was very atmospheric and the island felt similar in many ways to summers I have spent on the coast of Denmark, so I felt very "at home" from the start! The storyline, framing and capture of nature was excellent throughout, with some great relaxed and precise camerawork and a wonderful feel for framing - the open garage with the tractor in particular really holds in my mind! I thought the research and subsequent telling of history was done with confidence and excellent narration from you both, and as others have said, the use of two voices added to a sensation of you discovering the place as a team - which worked well for me. I personally would have liked to have seen a little more of winter, the section felt a little rushed.Great storytelling on the story of the oil spill.
The photos at the end were great, but I kind of feel I wanted a little bit more of an ending, perhaps a summary or a few words about the islands past, present and it's future. But that would only make a very good product that little bit better.
The guitar music was wonderful throughout too, very appropriate and it ran almost like a metronome, setting the pace for the sections.

Note to self: must go back to Norway - soon!!!

Wonderful stuff!

Cat,
After watching this i just pulled out some of your old UWOL entries. Your skill at using AE has really come on so much in the last few years, and you should feel really proud - the intro sequence with map anims and the whole book effect is simply wonderful, not just professional in it's composition but also seamlessly in time with the V/O, which I must add was also warm, enthusiastic, well practised ( well, sounded it ;-) ) and well researched. It's an amazing educational tool at the same time as being really interesting and watchable. Your footage throughout was great too, I can imagine a lot of it must have resulted from a good few hour's hiking!! You have a wonderful playground and I feel as if I have been given a great insight into it. I hope this goes on to find a wide audience, it does deserve it!!
Well done :-)

Thanks for the feedback all,
Meeting the NT again next week, they have a few things they would like modded a little ( mainly down to me not paying enough attention when recording my facts!!) but they seem really happy with it, maybe I'll have to organise a launch party :-)

Steve, the comment about Gilbert White - thanks, that's really touched me. One thing that has really been reinforced this year for me is the aspect that everything in nature has behaviour, cycles and patterns, and it's only by taking time, observing and then thinking about what you're seeing that you really start to see the world in it's true glory. It's sometimes too easy to forget this when you leave the country to work in a conrete box in the city every day...

Cat, Cliveden actually has some really strong American tie-ins, from the Astor Family who owned the place for the first half of the 20th C, to the fact that it was a foreign campus for Stanford university in the 70's ( what a campus!!!) In fact I was speaking to a guy the other night who lived there for a while with his Californian G/F - but that's a story for another time!! It is a very special place.

Marj, glad you liked it! Birds. Yes. Birds. Must do better next time.
I only acquired by xlh1 with a decent Zoom in June, so a bit too late for the breeding season really, which was a big shame. The woodlands are also pretty tough for birdwatching due to the high overstory. Wanted to do a piece on woodpeckers or Jays, but never had much luck in the time allotted!!!! But yes, there are a lot of bird species living at cliveden, including most raptors and some fairly uncommon species - maybe next year :-) The audio was my bugbear. I think London Heathrow is the 2nd busiest airport in the world and most of the flights go over Cliveden at about 10,000 feet, so 75% of the time the audio is useless. But i did manage to scratch bits together here and there - should have gone somewhere else really ( erm which I think someone did actually suggest! oh well)
Funnily enough the mushroom sequnece was almost an afterthought that required the least preparation and shooting time - funny how things work out!
No need for the sunglasses, I've gone for a red cape and some spandex tights !!!

Bob, I never knew that PBS had done a series on NT, I'll have to track it down!
I did use a glidetrack for some of the earlier sequences, and a jib for the bluebells, and also a 35mm adapter for some of the early + roundgarden stuff. As the year wore on, I realised that I had to cover a lot more ground on foot so opted for the xlh1, which didn't leave much space for the other bits. I think i need an assitant/best boy/sound guy all rolled into one!!!

As a few others have said, I can't imagine where you would start to judge all of these, so good luck to whoever is brave enough to step up!!!

Cheers,

Rob

Mike. Fasinating. I watched your video last night and it was great. The concept of following the buzzard "over the mountain" was very interesting concept. I loved the way you went through the different eco-zones. You sure got a lot of different wildlife out there. I did not know the white tail deer was that far west. I lived in colorado and Idaho for many years and never got to see a mountain lion. Were they captive? Your narration was clean and clear, but your natural sounds were outstanding. Even down to the sound of the spider feeding on the other insect, and the beating of the hummers wings. If it is true that video is 90 percent audio then you really proved the point. My two comments are, I think you could have done away with the buzzards head in a few shots and just had gone with a buzzard flying. Also, the last scene of the buzzards feeding. Since you did not use music anywher else it was a bit distracting, and the scene may be cut down just a bit. Other than that, it was a really great video and an educational one also. Question, why did she leave her home and fly over the mountain? Is that normal? Bob

Steve,

Your video is fantastic, and so interesting to watch! You told me a lot about all those different birds. Thank you! I enjoyed watching it.

I really like the opening shots, the magnificent colors, and the sky reflecting from the glass building. And same with the end. So great colors of the sky.

The sequence with the falcons hunting was awesome. I didn't know they were flying so low, like just above the vegetation.
Your voice over is calm and easy to understand. Together with well chosen music, it fits the video real good.

In my opinion this is more than good enough to be aired on tv.
You should try to sell it if you haven't done it yet.

Haven't watched all the long form videos yet, but the judge will have a tough job. :)
So many good videos.