UWOL 52 - The Kingdom Of The Birds by Henry Williams - Feedback Thread

[Henry Williams]

Hi All,

I've really enjoyed taking part in this competition and watching the other fantastic entries. Here's my film, "The Kingdom Of The Birds."

UWOL52 - The Kingdom Of The Birds by Henry Williams on Vimeo

RSPB Cliffe Pools has a wealth of different species and I was keen to capture as many of them as possible. The Curlews and Oystercatchers evaded me but I think I got a pretty decent spread in the bag :)

The relentless heatwave this month restricted my filming hours - after 8am long lens work was pretty much a bust. This project hence involved a lot of very early mornings, although it did mean that I got to enjoy the reserve largely undisturbed and it made for a very zen start to my work days filming more mundane corporate projects.

Thanks very much to Trond and DVInfo for organising the contest.

All the best,
Henry

[Mick Jenner]

Hi Henry,

First of all welcome, I now longer feel like I'm the only Brit in the challenges!!!

Great entry. Although you filmed at a RSPB reserve what struck me first, knowing how difficult it is to film any wildlife in the UK, was the way you established the filming location that at first glance appears quite devoid of wildlife. You then go on to winkle out the animals living there to bring the area to life.
A good variety of fauna and flora moved the film along nicely, loved the unsteady bunny! Well done.

Fully understand where you are coming from with heat haze and air particles spoiling the footage as the days heats up.

Thanks for entering

Mick

[Henry Williams]

Thanks Mick,

So glad you enjoyed with video! And as you say nice to find another Brit on the board :)

I've been mostly filming urban or semi urban wildlife up till now so definitely a learning curve being at a site where often the animals will disappear as soon as you're on the horizon. There really were an astonishing array of species there though when you took the time to look/be still.

[Bob Safay]

Henry, great video. I loved the rabbit in the beginning and then the little field mouse. As Mick said your establishing shot was a master, as were all your shots. Yes, this has been a hot month. One of the things about this video was a minimum amount as narration. Just enough to set the mood, and then you let the visuals and music do the rest. Great entry. Bob

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Henry,

I really enjoyed watching your film! Nice to see you in front of the camera too.
One advantage about getting out very early in the morning, is the nice light you are rewarded with, instead of the bright light in the middle of the day.
Good feedback you got already, and I agree with what has already been said.

Looking forward to see your future films.
Well done!

[Henry Williams]

Thank you Bob and Trond!

The presenting is a learning curve but I'm enjoying it. Hopefully I can gradually improve - I've got a couple of things I definitely want to try with it next time.

Henry

[Dale Guthormsen]

Henry,

I very much enjoyed your video, thank you for sharing your time and your video. Must say that among all the uwols I"ve seen and participated this video fits right in perfectly. l think your wide shots are awesome, love the pace you set with them to start and to close on a serene note! The clearity of the bird shots is staggeringly good. I film primarily birds and I know how difficult that can be!!

A couple thoughts: I loved the rabbit shot and mammals but it is a movie about birds. if you had interaction between the two then it would be cool. However, as an intraduction my opinion is its not quite up to snuff for a bird movie. If it was a movie about the refuge then that is as different video and it would make sense.

I'm not trying to be over critical, just tossing my ideas about.

I think you deserve second place for sure! I"m sure everyone else would agree.

[Chris Hurd]

Great stuff, Henry!

Many thanks for taking the time to create and submit this work.

I can say with certainty that we do not have birds like these in Central Texas, which is what made it interesting for me.

[Henry Williams]

Hi Chris and Dale. Thanks very much for taking the time to watch and comment. I'm glad you liked the film.

I'd respectfully disagree about the scene setting shots of other wildlife in the intro.

Henry

[Dale Guthormsen]

Fair enough, disagreeing is good, would love to hear your opinion. I'd like your perspective.