UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Bring the stories of the making of your films.
What goes well, what did not go as planned, and everything in between.
This is the place to share it.

Hope the weather is cooperating for all of you. :)
Remember the very important Rule 11: Have fun!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Great theme Trond,
Ok, maybe i'm just saying that because i have an idea already!!!
Good luck to all.
Bryce

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

even though there is nothing interesting in the sky, there surely is something thats coming into the area which is due to change in the weather.
Now thats a good morning thought let me see if i can explore it

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Has started to plan my little Uwol-36 adventure.
All my battery is charged, the lenses are polished and ready for recording and I've picked out my warmest winter clothes.
I put everything on one card this time, no plan B.
Whether I succeed remains to be seen, whether it is going to be an exciting hunt.
A piece of a infrared hunting camera is purchased, so this mission mainly takes place at night, well ...
I ain't afraid of no ghosts.

Hope everyone is doing well and have started their respective project.
Cheers!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Looking forward to see what you are working on Geir. Along with everyone else of course.
For the first time ever i have actually started already. Normally i am rushing around with a week to go, & hardly even a plan, let alone anything in the can! I have a script written & recorded, i even managed to get some footage last Wednesday! With so much done already, i certainly hope i can get the rest of the footage i need to finish putting this together.
Good luck to all. I can't wait to see everyone's films.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Don't know how I can work this into my idea but my local nature center is doing a prairie burn tomorrow, weather permitting.

It's been years since I filmed a prairie burn and that was in 720p/60p. Can't wait to film in in 1080p/60p and 4k!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Wow that sounds interesting Kevin. Sounds like the use of some slo mo is in order!! Can't wait to see if you do indeed make it work with your idea.

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Good to see some of you already have some work in progress.
My idea is still hiding somewhere in the stormy clouds.

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Hey guys.
Nice to hear you getting swing of things.
Don't get burned Kevin ;)
It will be exciting to see the finished results.
I myself have filmed a part during the daytime, at the island of Runde.
Some time lapse and then some recordings with my drone.
The ones taken with the drone I think is pretty good.
I have a little problem with filming in the dark (nighttime) though.
And you know what? It is because of wrong weather, haha.
I want starlit weather, but it is not sure I get it, this time of year.
Storm and rain is also weather, right?
I live in one of the roughest areas of the Norwegian coast,
then it should be possible to get some weather on tape or chip.
Anyway, the shark tank is not relevant in this round - shooting at night or not.
Attached is a picture from the island of Runde.
The purple dot, is the island where it is measured the highest wind in Norway.
It's located right outside my home.

Hope everyone is doing well and has started recording.
Cheers!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Hey Geir,
Just wondering how you are finding the Phantom 3 pro drone? If my memory serves me correctly, you did have one of the earlier Phantom drones with a Gopro on it. How would you compare the two? I have one of the first Phantoms & use it with a 3 axis gimbal with my Gopro 3. The footage is lovely, but really hard to get the exact shots i want due to not being able to see what the camera is looking at.
Is the Phantom 3 pro worth the price to upgrade?
Thanks in advance,
Bryce

Sorry to take this thread off topic!!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Had a great time filming the tallgrass prairie fire! Don't know if this can be tied in with weather at all but I've been trying to coordinate filming a burn for some time as it's a crucial element in the story of the tallgrass prairie!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Fantastic Kevin. Can't wait to see if you can make it work!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Great pictures, Kevin.
Will be interesting to watch the video and how it binds to the topic.
You have a certain hand find exciting approaches to the theme.
This will be good.

Hi Bryce:
Well, I think it is fair to discuss recording equipment as part of certain themes. Or am I wrong?

That's right, I have a Phantom 1.
Totally agree with you, it was hard to know what you filmed, without a proper monitor.
With my Phantom 3, it all turned upside down. I see the footage in real time and have more control.
Drone also has some features that are wonderful. It can automatically circling around a house, area etc.
Moreover, it can follow you/your car etc, and it can also follow a plotted route.
A big plus is longer battery life :)
It is not further good in strong wind, rain or snow though.
The camera has tilt function, I like that.
If it's worth the money?
I am satisfied with my purchase, I do not regret.
Hope this answers your question?

Cheers!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

My video will be of a much more gentle nature than what I see here. But all of the footage is in the can!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

That's great Tim. Good luck with putting it all together. Gentle is good. To be honest, i think i could speak for many here when i say i am well & truly over all the false drama i see on the tv nowadays. Especially when i look at the programming of channels like History channel, & Nat Geo. etc. While they do have some good stuff, most of what i see i don't bother to watch much of, & would rather watch what people here put together.
Thank you Geir, your opinion is valuable & very much appreciated! I will definitely look into upgrading.
Bryce

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

I also have the first generation Phantom with gopro 3, on a 2-axis gimbal.
I use a videolink to download in real time the video image to a monitor I have attached to the remote control.
Makes it easy to frame the shots I want.

The new Phantoms are more dependent of smartphones or tablets to see what you are filming and to control the camera.
I'd say that is a step backwards for serious use.
What happens if you receive a call in the middle of the flight? Will you loose all telemetry data?
The only thing I believe is better with the new phantoms, is the ability to remotely control the camera in real time. For me, it is not worth upgrading at this time.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Good to hear your opinion too Trond,
What sort of run times do you get from your setup then? One of my gripes with my setup is the very short run times. I have made everything as light as possible, but i still struggle to get more than 4-5 mins per battery. I have 4 batteries, but they all give roughly the same run time on a full charge. Being able to carry just 2 batteries & have more than double the flight time would be fantastic. With regards to receiving a call while flying. I have to say i am not too worried since where i tend to fly it there is no cell phone coverage anyway!
Thanks for the input Trond & sorry to take this thread off topic.
On that note. Maybe we could have a sub forum for all equipment etc related to wildlife/outdoor filming? For things like drones, jibs, sliders etc, maybe simply having a link to specific threads on DVInfo that are related to how we would use them. I'm thinking pack-able types of things. Like a slider that you can throw in a backpack, making it easy to use in the great outdoors. As an example, here is a great lightweight jib that i wish i had instead of the very big & very heavy (relatively) jib that i have & don't use nearly enough due to that.
Lightweight Portable Camera Cranes and Travel Jibs
I don't mean to make more work for yourself or Chris, just thought it might make it easier for sharing ideas on equipment where it won't get lost amongst all the other posts here.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Bryce,
A subforum in the UWOL section will probably not happen.
But it is totally up to C. Hurd to deside. I don't have any other priveleges than you guys here on dvinfo, except for running the show.

Equipment is in general covered in the appropriate subforums, and I believe posting questions in those subforums instead of here in the UWOL-forum, will give you a better chance to reach the right people to get the best possible answers.


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Flight times for the phantom 1:
With a 3000mah battery, I get about 6-7 minutes flight time, give or take a little depending of how I fly with my setup. Winter temperatures reduce the flight time with at least a minute or two.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

good evening,

I have been out on two filming excursions. The conditions were challenging to be certain.
It has been a while to be certain. I was shooting some birds and sat the camera down. little later I found a great shot to shoot, grabbed the sony and hit the record button and filmed my target flying right by me. then I realized I had left the camera on and when I hit the record button in a hurry I actually put it on standby!!! Now there's a novice move if ever!!!
I have two theme ideas but will have to see what footage I can round up before I jump into the editing.

I thought of building both simultaneously then just pick the one I like best.

Things are going well and I my son is down in the states visiting his sister, no worries.


Dale

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Yes fair enough Trond.
Dale, glad to hear i'm not the only one that's done that trick with the record/stop button!! Glad to hear you're back out there enjoying filming again though, with no worries!!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

If there is ever a tale of woe, it is the devastating and tragic attack on Paris that has infinitely grieved our hearts. In lieu of this event, UWOL becomes most significantly important: an international platform where people are welcomed from all over the world to pursue a peaceful passion that unites us all in friendship.

Way to go, Trond, keeping this little community going with such good-natured and faithful cheer.

I am so very thankful you are all in my life!

Sincerely,

Cat

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

A bit off topic:

Everyone: Please follow the "Get together 2016" thread.
There has been some updated information lately.

-----------------------

Catherine, yes, UWOL has developed very well over the years. Some has launched their professional careers, friendships have been made, and each and every participant has developed their film making skills.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

It's looking like weather of all things may put the kabosh on my Plan A idea.

So working on a Plan B just in case. There's some overlap between the two so if the weahte rcooperates then maybe I can still do Plan A.

With Plan B I'm debating if it's still on theme. I think it is. It's not so much about weather as it is the results of weather. Some of the stuff I want to shoot coincides with weather but really isn't because of weather. So I guess I better refine and clarifiy the idea before I get too far into it. :)

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Back today from a week of zero internet, just shut it of so that I could edit my doc.
This week I will try and shoot , got a general idea of what I want to do let me see if I can execute it in real

Good to know about the phantom experience , it's tough with flying permissions in India so not buying it yet.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

So true Cat!

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Hi Kevin:

It sure seems to me that doing something on a topic that is the direct result of weather would apply to the theme. The theme choice is amazing this way, so literally obvious and so wide open at the same time :).

Hi Trond:

When do you release the password info for uploading, now that we are in the final week?

Thanks!
Cat

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Catherine, I have sent the upload info to your email.

Everyone:
Remember to send an email to uwol@dvinfo.net to request the upload instructions for Vimeo.
(Do not wait until the last day, remember the time differences around the globe might cause delays)

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Slowly starting to bring together fragments of Plan B in my head. Writing them down then I'll try to sort them and see if something comes together. Still hoping that Plan A works out but I won;t know if that's possible until at least the 22nd.

It's funny how nature kind of puts things in front of you to help your ideas along. You just have to see it.

Was out filming another tallgrass prairie fire Saturday when I discovered something that fits perfectly for my Plan B idea. The light was poor since it was about one in the afternoon but I shot a minute or two just in case I can't film it again in better light. First time I've ever seen this in all the years I've filmed out on the prairie and didn't even know that this occured.

The weather is kind of dicey this week here in Eastern Iowa but hopefully I can get one afternoon in to do some filming.

Getting home at 4PM with sunset about 46 minutes later doesn;t make for a lot of filming but it does make for beautiful light if I can get out and film! :)

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Well at last I have a workable idea, and hope to find time this week to get something on camera. Ive been pretty busy with a documentary for the last few weeks, but that is coming together, so if things work to plan I have an entry!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

So far I have only filmed a little bit. But a working idea is still missing.
Been a lot of the wet element the last weeks, but this weekend looks promising.

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Finally I managed to shoot something that I planned for, but still not enough footage to get out something useful. I am happy that I started
It's very odd thing I am trying to work on with wild life, we normally work at getting colours of the wildlife I am trying not to get them :)
Let's see if I manage to string it together.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

I'm excited to see all the videos. I think this will be an exciting game.
I hope the shark tank will be empty this round.

Today came the first winter snow.
Yesterday I made some recordings with the drone of an essential element of my story.
There was some wind, but I think the footage was good enough.
The night recordings I talked about earlier are intended for the northern lights.
Yesterday night, there was some amazing northern lights.
Unfortunately for me, I could not leave my job.
Because of this, you understand for sure that I am not in the cheerful mood today.
Will probably be happy again until tomorrow.
Then there is some new unwritten sheet that provides new opportunities. Right?
Do you know that here in Norway, the weather is something we talk a lot about?
Talking about the weather is often something that gets you started a conversation between people.
But we've also blessed with a lot of different types of weather, so we always have something to talk about, haha.
We have no tornado or cyclone though. Although we talk a lot about the weather, I do not think we miss the two types of wind ;)
All the best good friends.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Cat, well said. We are an international group with one interest. Shooting video. Peace! Bob

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Geir Inge if I set the shark tank up in my back yard I think it would be empty. At least a person wouldn't have to tread water as it would be froze over with snow on it.
I'm still waiting to the shoot the main part of my idea which looked like it might happen this weekend but now they've change the forecast again. Have had about all of it this month so far. Some nice sunrises/sunsets, sunshine, rain, snow and wind with gust to 110k. Not easy coming up with a plan.

Gordon

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Well,

I have shot my video and now I am trying to make it work, may have to change my ideas and go a new direction to stay out of tank, my main star came down sick and wont be making an appearance at all.

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here is a screen grab just for fun.

good thing ther's no audio, eh?

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Wow that is some serious chop on the lake Dale! Might there be a little wind in your film perhaps?
Sounds like there may be less people in the shark tank this time round, myself included i hope! Can't wait to see all the films.

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

I know that feeling too well. Have had some amazing weather perfect for film this month. But it all happend while I was at work, haha.

Still plenty time until deadline, and I have at least filmed something. But a story... well that's a different issue.

Have fun!

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

My plans keep having to change because of the weather of all things but I feel I've shot some of the best footage of my life!
I've reviewed some of it the other day and I thought to myself, that can't be something I've shot!

Now I need to figure out how to put something together that flows and is on themes! :)

Re: UWOL36 Tales of wonders and woes
 

Railsback - "I've shot some of the best footage of my life!"

Looking forward to seeing that then :) !!!!