Well, I have one more day to try and get something for the mammal challenge then I'm tied up for the next 45 days pretty much from sun up to sun down.

The only wild mammal I've seen so far has been a squirrel on my bird feeder.

Yeah, I know I can film my dog or go find some cows or film some horses running in slow motion. I really don't feel the passion for doing something like that just to enter something.

So, most likely, I'll be taking a dip in the tank.

The sad part is I was supposed to be in Yellowstone this month where I could have had mammals coming out of my ears! Oh well.

Maybe I'll do a non-competitive entry of some of the stuff I've shot in Yellowstone in the past.

C'mon Kevin!!! Don't give in so soon! Thats my job. ;-)

I know how it is to have a jammed pack month, but you can get something in... You may be tired, but you could shoot at night. Theres lots of interesting mammals out in the night. Just gotta keep yourself from falling asleep. Think it over, go sit in your back yard (providing you have a house) at night for a couple hours, I'm sure you'll see something.

Don't drop out! You can do it!
~Gabriel

look how well we have collectively raised up young gabriel! good job, UWOL team.

it will just not feel like a UWOL Challenge unless kevin plays...i thought i was throwing one up that was right down his alley. but i guess work is more important than play....

WHO SAID THAT?? did that just come outta my mouth? disgraceful....

It would be right up my alley if I wasn't in Iowa.
Was out all day and all I saw was a squirrel running across the road.
Why do you think I spend every moment I can out of state? These challenges are about the only Iowa footage I have and I've lived here since '76.

If it moves here, they kill it. They introduced otters because they wiped them out. Well, now they want to wipe them out again because fisherman complain it's to hard to catch fish now. They're shooting all the deer in town now because people's hostas get eaten. Bobcats were coming back in Southern Iowa but now they're opening a season on them to get rid of them too.

The shoot hawks and eagles around here as well because they think they affect the pheasant population.

Did film some great stuff today though. Just none of it had anything to do with mammals.

So, I'm done till the next challenge.

Maybe I'll luck out and I can get out of state for that one.

Sorry to hear you had to take a swim in the shark tank, Kevin.
Blame your boss if the sharks get too agressive!

Looking forward to have you back with us.
The uwol family will be waiting for you in the next challenge.

If it moves here, they kill it. They introduced otters because they wiped them out. Well, now they want to wipe them out again because fisherman complain it's to hard to catch fish now. They're shooting all the deer in town now because people's hostas get eaten. Bobcats were coming back in Southern Iowa but now they're opening a season on them to get rid of them too.

The shoot hawks and eagles around here as well because they think they affect the pheasant population.

Did film some great stuff today though. Just none of it had anything to do with mammals.

So, I'm done till the next challenge.

Maybe I'll luck out and I can get out of state for that one.

Sounds like you missed an opportunity to do a piece on mammals killing mammals…

I don't believe it Mr Railsback will give up his T-shirt.....I'm sure he'll russle up some mamalian action from somewhere :-) !!

On another note. The way you speak about Iowa makes me very sad, why oh why do human beings think they have the right to say what should live and what shouldn't because of it effecting us in some small way.

Hey Mat,

I doubt Meryem would have had my size anyway. :)

If my situation changes, I'll certainly get out there and try to shoot something. It just looks highly doubtful.

In my old neighborhood the guy a couple houses down from me would trap and kill all the squirrels because he didn't want them eating his birdseed.

Didn't matter that I set corn out for the squirrels because I enjoyed them.

I stopped setting it out when I thought I might be contributing to their demise by attracting them to the neighborhood.

Yeah, Iowa is certainly not a wildlife haven that's for sure. :(

But by golly is you're a duck or pheasant you have all kinds of people trying to increase your numbers. It's just everything else has to die so as not to lower the numbers.

do any of these help? a good opportunity to do a 30-second PSA and help transform the killing fields of iowa....

i hate the idea of kevin in the tank. kinda bruises my heart a little. though i myself have spent several months in the company of sharks, during the first 2 Challenges which kept me busy busy busy....


Iowa
• Last Hope Animal Rescue and Training - Saving Eastern Iowa's Homeless Animals. (Cedar Rapids)
• Noah's Ark Animal Foundation - We are an environmentally friendly no-kill shelter for cats and dogs . (Fairfield)
• C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter Inc. - Animal Sanctuary. (Nashua)

another idea would be for everyone to upload a clip of a mammal to the UWOL website and let kevin edit something for us from that....

where do i come up with these brilliant ideas??

hey everybody,
KEEP KEVIN OUT OF THE TANK!

Meryem,
If I really wanted out of the tank I could just go film some cows. :)
But that's like just throwing something up just to keep in the running for the T-Shirt.

A stock agency was looking at some work of mine. They wanted stuff I considered junk.
They said my junk was better than anything they had. Well, I still wouldn't let them have it.

The head of acquisitions called me and said if someone was willing to buy a junk clip of mine for $5k would I still refuse to sell it. I told him I do that all the time. He was at a loss for words at that point. :)

For me, it's not about money, it's not about getting a t-shirt. It's about passion. If I don't feel it, it doesn't matter to me how much someone wants to pay or how important it is to keep the string of films from breaking.

That's why I have a business partner. She's a little barracuda. :)

So, if I can find something I'm passionate about, I'll try to wrangle my way out of the tank. But, I'm not gonna just go out and film my dog just to say I made the challenge.

But I sure would like to see you in one of those T-shirts :)
as much as I will miss your film in uwol5, so hang on and keep up the good fate. All I'm doing these days is complaining about the weather, and it doesn't help a bit.

it's not about getting a t-shirt..

it's not?? you make this sound so inconsequential. when we're all struttin around in our hard-won UWOL garb, you're gonna be singing a different tune, my friend, a different tune!

awright, enough with the jokes. i am just sad to see you out of the game when you have put so much into it.

Just got back in after running around this evening. Zip, nada for mammals.
Even hit a wetland where I can usually find some muskrat's running around.

Saw a butterfly, dragonflies, 2 frogs and a bunch of swallows.

It's frustrating cause I know if I was in Montana right now, I'd be knee deep in mammals. :)

Sunset is about 7:30 here this coming week so maybe I can luck out in the last 30 minutes of light each day.

I'll have the director of the nature center scope things out for me and email me if something's up.

another idea would be for everyone to upload a clip of a mammal to the UWOL website and let kevin edit something for us from that....

where do i come up with these brilliant ideas??

hey everybody,
KEEP KEVIN OUT OF THE TANK!
This could have been fun and interesting.


Don't give up yet, Kevin!
Hope you can find some mammals during those 30minutes in the evenings.

Meryem,

A stock agency was looking at some work of mine. They wanted stuff I considered junk.
They said my junk was better than anything they had. Well, I still wouldn't let them have it.

The head of acquisitions called me and said if someone was willing to buy a junk clip of mine for $5k would I still refuse to sell it. I told him I do that all the time. He was at a loss for words at that point. :)


Can you send them my way? I'm in debt up to my eyes and those are about to be repossessed any day now, :-)

I hear where you are coming from about the tank thing. I'm getting the feeling I'll just get beat out by someone with dolphins or whales, or something a LOT more spectacular than what I have to shoot around here. Not even getting an HM on the last DVC or UWOL was a big blow to the ego as well.

Marco,

You shouldn't worry if you get a HM, the win or nothing at all.

It's just an opinion. You're never going to make everyone happy.

I bet if you had different judges go over previous challenges, you'd get different results.

The key thing is how YOU feel about it.

I know I could slap something together to stay out of the tank. I mean I could do a day in the life of a cow or something. But, I'd feel like I was cheating myself.

So, don't get down on yourself. I don't worry about the level of films that are being entered. There will always be people that can shoot and edit better than I could ever dream of. I mean I look at the films being entered and I'm just blown away But as long as I can see progress in my work and I can live with my work, that's all that matters.

At least that's how I feel about it. :)

Makes sense to me. Thanks for the re-up Kevin. Your right about the judging thing. It is so hard in these contests to gauge what type of judge the "judge" is. In some cases it's all the entrants, in others maybe a single person or small circle. I don't get too down about it, heck, at least it's free to enter, lol...

you all have no idea how freaking difficult it is to pick a winner in this thing....every judge who has ever participated has commented on that exact issue.

you all have no idea how freaking difficult it is to pick a winner in this thing....every judge who has ever participated has commented on that exact issue.

I know perfectly well how they feel.
In Norway we have, each year in January, something called UKM ( Culture Youth Gathering) much like the "Battle of bands if you heared about it. There's a gathering in everyone of our 431 commune and the age is from 10 to 25 years. The youth is participating in different categorys and I've been in the jury in our commune so tell me; how can you put a piano playing girl or boy up against a rock band, painting artist, dancing troup, flute players or even one who's made a go cart? We are, the jury, to choose 4 of the acting numbers that will participate in the gathering for the county, then on to the national gathering. It's hopeless if you ask me. But it's fun for the kids, it's a opportunity to perform on a big stage and show what your good in.

So I think the uwol jury's doing quite well, and I might envy Brian for his polar bears, Per Johan for his musk ox, but I don't envy the jury their job :)
I salute them, cheers!

so tell me; how can you put a piano playing girl or boy up against a rock band, painting artist, dancing troup, flute players or even one who's made a go cart?

that's pretty much how it is judging UWOL! weighing someone's macro piece against a great timelapse against a completely unique approach to the theme. et cetera.

just because you don't win or don't even make the final cut doesn't mean you didn't make a great film. the level of competition is pretty serious...i think DJ summed it up perfectly when she said, in any given moment, any one of the top four entries could have won, but in one particular moment, the one moment that counted, the judge had to settle on one, not four....

so don't take any of it personally, as kevin sums up nicely, when we make a great film and improve our craft, we win. that's the real goal. that other form of winning is just the carrot on the stick that we little bunnies are chasing.

it's great fun to run a contest that i probably could not even win, given the quality of the top entries....some days, it's great to be judge!

Hello Guys:

I find it so interesting this topic of the compatition part of the challenges. I'm without question one of the most competative people you'll ever meet. That's why I'm sitting here nursing a broken sholder blade, cracked ribs and my brand new metal collar bone...don't ask...lets just say that during a race in late July I parted company with my motor bike.

Back to the UWOL challenges, for some odd reason I haven't looked at them as a compatition but more of an opportunity to give new found friends an insight into life in the arctic and at the same time have the opportunity to travel to Norway, California, Africa and a little (soon to be gone) park in Washington. Don't get me wrong I'd love to win but honestly it's absolutely secondary. I'm looking forward to showing you some animals that you don't see everday as well as looking forward to seeing what others had opportunity to film.

Brian

I don't know that I will ever be able to win. But to be given an honorable mention in the top four would certainly assure me that I am on the right track. And that is what I really want. To get better and better until I get more positive commens than negative, then perhaps make the top four.

Steven,

I'd put more weight on the feedback than whether or not you place or win.

If you have a large group of diverse people telling you the same thing then you can bet that's how your work is being perceived. It's still people's opinions and you still can disagree. But, what you think and feel about the work may not be coming across to the rest of us. A small change in the edit or music might make a big difference to how your work feels or looks to other people.

I may have told this story before here but bear with me if I did.

I did a documentary on mountain lions returning to Iowa. I entered it in a bunch of festivals. Even my local film festival rejected it. I changed a couple things I got from feedback and entered it in more festivals. The changes were very minor. But then it started getting into festivals, won a couple international festivals for best documentary etc.

To me it was the same film. But it was perceived differently and suddenly it was an award winner.

The biggest change was getting a professional to do the VO. Same script, just a different way of presenting the words.

So please, don't hang you hat on winning or placing in order to be successful. It's just one persons perception of your film.

If twenty of us here say oh yeah, don't do that, then maybe take a look at a different way of doing the same thing. Doesn't mean we're right either. But, it doesn't take a win or to place to be on the right track.

I'm not saying it doesn't feel good to win and I'm not trying to sound like a sad sack to those who have. But, to have Mat or Per or you or anyone else say "Man, the really moved me." That means WAY more to me.

To show Meryem some work and have her say it brought tears to her eyes, THAT means more to me.

I went back and read the feedback for your last challenge film. Read them again. People are liking what you're doing. THAT my friend is being on the right track! :)

All righty, I gotta run. I really hate not having a free day until the middle of October!

i agree with every word that kevin said, but it is also good to have goals, like steven. if your goal is improvement, it helps a lot to imagine yourself in the company of some of the most consistently best players and to learn from how they handle their cameras, sound equipment, editing systems, compression schemes, etc. and then add your signature to a similar technical expertise.

i'm proud of the UWOL judging system, actually, because there's no room for any individual or set group of shooters to develop a reputation which tilts the outcome. the regular players may know who those people are, but the judge doesn't, and every contest is judged with a set of completely fresh eyes. whether you agree with the judge's final selection or not, you can trust that each contest is a brand new day, and anyone has the capacity to win on any given month.

discussing how to maximize the use of the judging to improve your skills is way more fun than watching people swim with sharks. kind of a hijacking but an interesting hijacking....

Don't misunderstand, it is certainly the feedback that is important. However, getting to the point where I get to bring tears to someone's eyes is the real goal. It means I am actually listening to the feedback, you know?

I think Kevins got it spot on. He and Meryem know how I feel about feedback and for me apart from actually completing finished productions its definately the best part about uwol to me. On a side note I do wish people we're more inclined to critique rather than pat on the back but I've always been that way....I'm thick skinned and believe in praising where its due but telling it how it is....if somethings bad or not working then tell me! Every time this happens you look at things from another angle, every new angle brings greater depth to your creativity!

This said everyone likes to feel like they've achieved and I know I was buzzing for a couple of days when the Fisher King did me proud....especially with the grief I'd given Meryem about the topic choice ;-) !

Its been great to see the improvement in everyones work and be a small part of that improvement as part of our uwol community.

Keep it up folks :)

Kevin is indeed spot on! This challenge has given me very much from the feedback to my films. Others see my film from viewpoints I haven't thought about.

I just wonder if Meryem foresee that this challenge should develop such a strong group worldwide and still growing. It also seem that we have a large audience viewing our films and threads, there's always many guests looking into our community when I'm online.

Theres a pretty good chance I will actually be taking a swim this time...

After reading all this, I definitely am thinking I wont be submitting anything.
Kevin has a great point.

Can't wait to see the entrys though.
~Gabriel

Don't bail out yet, Gabriel.
You still have one more week to come up with something.
The shark tank is not ready for you yet. :-)

Hey Gabriel,

Don't bail just cause of what I said.

Is it a time issue or a subject issue?

I may have a solution that will keep you out of the tank. I'll have to go read the rules. In fact, it might not even be in the rules but Meryem had it in a post.

I'll email you and we can talk about it tomorrow. I'm whipped and need to egt some Z's so I can drag myself out of bed again at 5:30 and repeat my never ending day. Can't wait for Thanksgiving to get here so I can actually sleep in for a day or two. :)

Anyway, I'll send you an email tonight so we can chat tomorrow. I don;t have internet access during the day but I can email with no problem.

Hey guys,

Its not about time, themes, or anything like that! I think this challenge is very generous in those areas. And in General. Its lack of the capability to fallow my dreams. I normally have plenty of ideas, just flowing like crazy! However, none of them can be done in my situation, and can't be for another few years. This is of course, due to lack of transportation. I know I say that every time, but its the truth. I'm not making up excuses or anything like that, so please don't get me wrong...

When you are in the middle of two (big) cities, and what parks are there, got destroyed and turned into playgrounds, the only thing 'wild' you will ever find is most likely something dead (other then drunk drivers... But I repeat, something dead).

I had the option to do this killer documentary on the Humane Society not to far from here. However, I passed this opportunity up... This is not my kind of likings, it could have been a winner, but would I really care to get a prize, or even a shirt (I do want the shirt though!) if I hated what it was I did?

At this current point, I'm not even sure if wildlife is what I want to get into, I've never even tasted the wildlife experience in video (me doing it, that is)! I find the thought behind going out in the middle of nowhere, throwing out a tripod and letting it role as you capture and discover all sorts of things you never have before, absolutely amazing! But I honestly don't know if that will ever happen, or if it is just a dream...

Its just a tough time for me right now, and the ability to think clearly was lost back sometime in May of this year... So I'm sorry if this sounds like a rant or anything, not my intentions... But I've had a long and stressful night (and past couple of months), and it just seems to keep getting more so as it progresses.

So thank you guys/gals for trying to keep me out of the tank, but I'm still on 'the plank.'

We'll see, only one week left...
~Gabriel

Hi Gabriel,
I get the impression life in general is really difficult for you at the moment (and in recent months). Hope the issues are not too serious and something you can manage.
Hang in there, and don't let life's pressures build up too much.
All the vest best...

wow - where did the time go!

I actually got some footage of roos but it was the first time I've used the A1 and the HV20 and ... well I must have had the wobbly boot on.

I tried to keep something but ended up with under a minute of very average stuff

I hope the water's not too cold!

Hi Paul,

I really could relate to your situation after getting about two hours of what I thought was reasonable material (Kangaroos) - only to struggle to put 3 minutes together of "quality" material.
I am seriously thinking of taking the long drive back to "my" spot up in the mountains to get some more shots.

Good luck Paul - I'm sure it will all work out for you. Still another week left...
Looking forward to seeing your entry.
David

Go on guys.....more roo action !!!

Good morning,

Work has been blistering for me. first time on the computer in ages.

just finished reading all these posts!! so much so well said!!!

I had a documentary idea about Real canadian beef, wife and i worked it out. Just could not bring myself to do it, as kevin said, no passion for it.

I finally got some mammal footage (where I live is bird paradise), non domestic, but nothing to compare to what some people will get, like wolverines, bears, cougars or such!!!

Besides the HUGE learning experience, I just love seeing what people have to film in other parts of the world!!! We get to see things we would never have the opportunity to see.

so if kevin shoots only squirrel footage it is still of huge interest to me.

I also really like to see how people put their footage together!!! no matter what it is.

So guys, several days left, get after something, I will miss not seeing your goods.

Tack me to the wall, all I can say is I'm totally done. It has been one disappointment after another these last couple weeks, I have nothing left to give at this point.

Come on Marco! You think of something...

Its amazing how such a "simple" theme can become so difficult! I would have thought this one to be easy, but its not...

Hopefully you can get something in. I would normally offer some thoughts right now, but I really don't have any myself.

Try to get something in though! I'm sure you can and your just not seeing it..

Best of luck everyone.
~Gabriel

Thanks Gabriel, for the push. I just have had three attempts shot to shinola in the last two weeks and now have a huge pile of stuff on my plate. I'm not sure I'll even have time this week to film anything, not that there are many mammals around that aren't in cars...

Marco,

this has been a difficult one: Here is a thought

the local grocery store has lots of mammals in it. It is a totally different perspective. Different texture, looks, taste. You want live food? In the orient cat makes a good meal, in other parts of the world dog made a good meal in hard times. Ground up blackbirds (feathers and all) look better than the best ground beef, wait, thats a bird scratch that. You could have some fun creating a dialog for it too!!

think different

And Meryem thought she was throwing us a bone. :)

Since it's killing me to be sitting on the sidelines, I've been cutting some of my recent Yellowstone footage late at night. Maybe it'll give some of you teetering on the edge some inspiration.

When I talk about passion, I talk about Yellowstone. It's the bar I set for myself when I work on these challenges. Although I know I'll never achieve it shooting here in Iowa, it keeps me reaching for that bar.

I haven't even come close to capturing and sharing with you the feelings I have when I'm in Yellowstone. Maybe if I keep plugging away, I might get close some day.

But for all of you in the tank or thinking about jumping in, this is for you. I hope maybe it will encourage you to go out and give it one more try.

I hope you like it.

http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/Yellowstone.mov

Marco,

this has been a difficult one: Here is a thought

the local grocery store has lots of mammals in it. It is a totally different perspective. Different texture, looks, taste. You want live food? In the orient cat makes a good meal, in other parts of the world dog made a good meal in hard times. Ground up blackbirds (feathers and all) look better than the best ground beef, wait, thats a bird scratch that. You could have some fun creating a dialog for it too!!

think different

um, I now have to change my nickers after that one. I don't think I've laughed that hard in at least two -three days. So you guys aren't going to let me fail and I'll probably end up completely bewildered around 11:59pm on the 23rd. lol

Here's the straw... I was invited to a wildlife reserve to film several surgeries yesterday -a tiger, a white wolf, snakes, and some big rat looking thing from Padagonia (?). Without badmouthing anyone, this is so hard, we (me and two other animal techs, one other person) were shooed away from the pens long before or after I could get any good shots. It is very hard to go into as this is a public forum. But in so many words, they (everyone important) knew we were coming to film and it "seemed" like certain 3rd non-decision making parties (doctors and owners excluded :-) ) were not going to let that happen. They won. I got shots of chainlink fence and maybe a little bit of the wolf behind it before the shooing. I got other shots, but nothing that any of us can't get at the local zoo and no where near enough. Then I left. I'm not allowing myself to complain any further as it was a great "chance" at getting something hardly seen by the public. I'll post some pics of the wolf surgery that I did manage to grab. Maybe the lion that was upset and his pride.

http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/Yellowstone.mov



Now that is nice!

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for sharing this with us.

As I have said before, you are so talented, and I just love your work.
If some day I can create those sort of images and capture the feeling that you do, I will be very happy.

Got a sort of depressed felling, now that I have to go back to editing my UWOL entry.

Looking forward to you getting out of that tank so I can marvel some more.

David

Kevin, absolute amazing and stunning footage from Yellowstone! I have to ask how are you shooting the bear scenes? Are you sitting in some kind of hides, in you car or just walking among them!!?
Yellowstone will definitive be on my wish list for places to go to before I'm leaving this world!

Thanks for sharing Kevin!

But for all of you in the tank or thinking about jumping in, this is for you. I hope maybe it will encourage you to go out and give it one more try.

I hope you like it.

http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/Yellowstone.mov

Kevin:

You need to hookup with Steven Dempsey. He has some awesome Yellowstone stuff too... Here is a post with some of the footage.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=745687#post745687

Weirder yet, I have short downloaded from his website that has a title come up almost exactly like yours even at the same waterfall, though his is wide.

When I talk about passion, I talk about Yellowstone. It's the bar I set for myself when I work on these challenges. http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/Yellowstone.mov

I've never been to Yellowstone, but I think you've captured the soul of the place Kevin. Just beautiful and it makes me understand what you say about passion. And I really do wish you could stay out of the tank.

All the best
Geir Inge

Kevin, that was awesome footage from Yellowstone.
Your video made me feel like I was there.
Thank you for sharing.

Hope you manage to stay out of the tank.

Move a side guys… I’m getting in!
I hate this theme… We only got two species of marine mammals in my area. The first one is Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena and that one is so rarely seen that that was no way to think of that one. The second one is Gray seal Halichoerus grypus and that should not be a big problem to get on film… the only problem is that my boat doesn’t work and I have not got a fair price from anyone that can take me out to the seal colony. I guess that it is a few days left… maybe I can get out that, but the weather doesn’t look good enough.

Well well… that will always come a new challenge…

Markus Nord

Sad to see you in the tank, Markus.
I guess the weather on the south east coast of Sweden have been almost as bad as on our west coast, past weeks. Maybe there is a chance for you to get something on tape these last days before deadline? It would have been great to see some grey seals.

All the best
Geir Inge