UWOL #2: "The fisher king" by Mat Thompson
 

Hey people.

I enjoyed this in the end and thanks to meeting a great chap 'Colin the conductor' yes he's a real conductor!! I managed to capture 'some' of the beauty of the fly fishing art....oh thanks to the Kingfisher too for hanging around a while...I just wish he hadn't been so efficient and quick at eating his fish....it was SO hard to re-frame and re-focus once he'd caught one and re-perched! Also missed 'the strike' too but I'm definately going to go back and fill in the gaps on this one....its fantastic to watch both 'fisher kings' !


.....rip it up guys ?

Mat:

Loved this film. Very nice visually. Kept on theme point, and I think you are a contender !!

Very nice. Yours is in my top three. The shots of the Kingfisher were fantasic. Where I am from Kingfishers are way to skitish to get that close. I have even tried using a blind with no success.

Regards,

This was great Mat. I'm a flyfisher myself and enjoyd this video a lot.
Your changes between the fisher, the bird and the plants where all very nice done. I also liked the music mixed with sound of nature/birds.

One or the other theme- either fisherman or bird- would have been compelling enough for this video. But combining the two "fisher kings" of the river was really great, and I liked the way you moved seamlessly between the two. There was some amazing kingfisher footage- I really enjoyed it.

Ruth

Sorry Mat,

But I really couldn't find anything to rip. So I'll have to say what I liked about it.

Nice titles, and establishing shots. The audio mix is nice. The blend of the two stories, the great kingfisher footage. Selective use of slo-mo. I enjoyed the pacing, although I suppose some might think some shots a little short, and others a little long, but... Most importantly, I think was the way you adhered to the theme. The purpose of the challenge (IMO) is to push ourselves to do something new. To move out of our comfort zones. In my mind this film stayed very true to the 'Recreation' theme, while incorporating the elements of nature.

For the above reasons (and perhaps because I'm a flyfisher), I rate your film as my choice for #1, amongst a field of great and worthy candidates.

Wow..... That was just, wow..... I am blown away! That was incredible. Music match the film almost perfectly, and the footage was beautiful!
Fly-fishing is such an art, it is cool to watch when it is pieced together right like you just did!

Very impressive. I did not see one thing I would change. It is absolutely incredible!

Nice work Mat! Please keep doing what you do so I can learn from you!
~Gabriel

See, what did I tell ya Mat? :)

Mat,

Another stunningly beautiful piece of work. Others have already mentioned all of the things I liked about it, the color, composition, and interplay between the kingfisher and fisher king were super smooth.

Bruce Foreman

Kevin,

I have you in my top four contenders!! I very much enjoyed the video. It really lacked nothing!!! so no criticism from here. I have never seen such a colorful kingfisher. all the ones we have are a drab blue with some white.

Great job.

Mat!

This was absolutely beautiful! I'm crying.... (am I supposed to admit this?). It could have been my dad.

This had everything, the music was perfect, the cinematography was rich and deep. Thank you for upping my existence in this world a knotch, I was swept away.

Was the bird a Kingfisher? If it was, that would really be amazing.... a Kingfisher juxtaposed with a fisher king. Hats off to you.

Thanks Mat

Sorry, that is just not possible!
Your video is on my top5 list!

Others have commented the technically, so I'll just mention what I like best:
After about 30seconds you had the reflections in the water from the fisher man. That was a great scene.
Also in the end where we see him in contrast to the sky, this was my favorite part.

What kind of bird was it?

Great film, you covered some wonderful shots and scenarios all while maintaining a common theme. Super good looking footage. Fisher King is the bird right?

Mat, this was very stunning to watch! The close-up of the Kingfisher was absolute great, it's very difficult to capture this!
The conductor seem like a real "pro", I'll guess he get lots of fish?

Very nice edit, I liked especially the silhouette footage at the end did a very nice ending.

You are on my top 5 list!

Hey guys....mucho thanks for all your kind comments, its a real pat on the back.

Cat,Trond, Marco....Its a common European Kingfisher...though not so 'common' unfortunately. The idea of piece was to try and show the two 'fisher kings' is a comparative way although I think I'd need a good few more sessions to start getting down comparative movements and such like....I still think it sits well as it is though :)

I did a lot of research for sites where I knew I if I got lucky I'd be close enough to get some good shots. I'm finding this research phase is as important as anything else doing these films....your only as effective as your 'inside knowledge' with wildlife.

Thanks for all the nice comments!

Congrats on the Win, Mat !!!!!!

Congratulations. Well done.

Congratulations Mat, great job, super video! -certainly had my vote. Enjoy the new gear and the bragging rights. (as I go to sell my gear)...

Wow, very nice video indeed! I didn't realize the judging would be done by today and I'm sorry I hadn't the time to comment earlier.

Great shots...(I really like the reflection of the fisherman in the water and the kingfisher flying twoards the camera), very good editing making everything flow together and a nice musical piece to boot!

Very professional and a great example of how to do things well. No wonder you won :)

James Hooey

Congratulations!!
Your video was one of my favorites, and you deserve the victory!
I really liked how you mixed the fisher man and the bird.
Looking forward to see you in the next uwol challenges.

Matt, magnificent. The best in show. I am so glad you won, it really was the best. Your shots of the Kingfisher are some of the best I have seen, I have been trying for years to get those shots. Again, congradulations. Bob

Mat
Congrads on the win. I thought this was a very clever idea and you managed to pull it off beautifully. Well done.

Gordon Hoffman

Mat,

What gear and software did you use in creating this? :-)

Hi guys....well thanks again for all the kind words and congrats...its a great buzz :)

Marco...Well camera is the XL2 with a mixture of stock lens and EF 100-300 F4-5.6, all of the kingfisher shots were with the EF lens, this is a fairly cheap lens really but can produce good results in the right light. (Hopefully getting a tasty Sigma 100-300 F4 this week) This is mounted to a Bogen 3063 head and legs.

Software wise it was PremPro2.

I had to a bit of colour grading here and there to get things consistant and the slo mo was straight from 25p footage slowed to as much as 55% which still worked pretty well. At least at this resolution anyway. I should write it to a DVD really and see how it looks on a tv...

Very nice! Thanks for sharing the info.

Congratulations Mat,

I loved the shots of the kingfisher. When I see them they're usually flying away at top speed.

I just wish I had known that the bird was called a Kingfisher when I first watched the video. It would have been a completely different experience.