Leon Lorenz
January 2nd, 2008, 06:30 PM
Happy New Year filmmakers, I hope everyone had a safe and successful 2007. I'll share a few highlights from this past year.
January found me hunkered down in my studio editing my last SD wildlife documentary, a salmon film entitled Journey Home of the Chinook Salmon. I shot it over 8 spawning seasons on the greatest salmon producing river in the world, the Fraser river. According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, it is the first film produced on the returning Chinook salmon to spawn. They proofed the script for this production and rate the movie 10 out of 10. The film is 90 minutes in length, has 10 chapters covering subjects like under water spawning action, hatcheries, grizzlies at the top of the food chain, Fisheries and Oceans role, the life cycle of the salmon and so much more. All in all it took 14 weeks of post production to complete and I'm so excited to finally release it on DVD.
From time to time I left the studio to film wildlife near our country home here in the Rocky Mountains using the Canon XLH1. Capturing close-ups of different species of woodpeckers, brown creepers and red squrriels feasting on the Mountain Pine Beetle that's attacking the pine forest here in British Columbia was a welcome break. On one such trip I tracked a lynx ( his tracks looked smoking fresh in the snow ) and located him feasting on a freshly caught snowshoe hare. Capturing 30 minutes of him eating, burying the left overs, interacting with a female who came in later, grooming, etc. was incredible. There was fresh snow on the trees, perfect lighting, and great action, the distance was about 50 feet, what more could I ask for? By springtime every opportunity away from marketing DVDs was spent filming grizzlies, black bears as well as bird life. Capturing intimate footage of a nesting wild Canada goose with her newly hatched youngsters peeking out for the first time was exciting to say the least.
On a different note I was pleased when I received an e-mail in May from the International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula Montana stating that I had won an Honourable Mention Award for Cinematography. I had entered ( Vol. 5 ) Sheep and Grizzly Country which was a 2006 release. My distributor just recently hammered out a deal with a TV station from Finland for 2 broadcasts on this title.
In June Global TV here in Canada broadcasted a film entitled Places of Green which is a story on trees. It was shot on HD and much of the wildlife in the film was shot by me using my Canon XLH1.
Summer went by oh so fast. A lot of time was spent raising my 2 little boys, picking wild berries, gardening, installing a new metal roof on the house, marketing and filming. September found me filming the elk rut. I was charged at close range at one point, however, I quickly ran behind a tree, even managed to film the bull's angry behaviour as he came up to the tree. I'll never forget a 3 hour battle between 4 bald eagles on the spawning grounds. A large spawned out salmon was the reason for their fighting and I was well hidden in a brush blind just 40 yards away. They never locked talons, however, they were awful close to doing that. Shooting 60i with 1 / 120 shutter speed, the footage is stunning and some of it will someday be in my first HD movie. In late September I received CBC radio coverage about my salmon film, a 5 minute interview at prime time, 8:30 am. Exposure is everything in marketing and every bit helps.
Late October and into November is spawning time for small Kokanee salmon where thousands leave a large lake and spawn in a creek near where I live. Filming a grizzly bear feasting on these 10 inch landlocked salmon was exciting.
November is the rutting season for mule deer which I focused on for three weeks. Many special moments were filmed. A 30 minute battle or actually a series of battles between 2 small 8 point bucks was recorded. A very large non-typical buck sporting 16 points ( 8X8 ) and a heavy antlered (4x4 ) with a spread of about 30 inches was also highlights for me.
December came and went all too quickly with marketing, short day trips and family time.
2007 also marks off my 10th year of wildlife filmmaking full time. Despite the huge undertaking of filming my series alone and often in dangerous situations, it has been the best 10 years of my life.
Let's praise God for His wonderful creation. Happy filming everyone.
Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca
January found me hunkered down in my studio editing my last SD wildlife documentary, a salmon film entitled Journey Home of the Chinook Salmon. I shot it over 8 spawning seasons on the greatest salmon producing river in the world, the Fraser river. According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, it is the first film produced on the returning Chinook salmon to spawn. They proofed the script for this production and rate the movie 10 out of 10. The film is 90 minutes in length, has 10 chapters covering subjects like under water spawning action, hatcheries, grizzlies at the top of the food chain, Fisheries and Oceans role, the life cycle of the salmon and so much more. All in all it took 14 weeks of post production to complete and I'm so excited to finally release it on DVD.
From time to time I left the studio to film wildlife near our country home here in the Rocky Mountains using the Canon XLH1. Capturing close-ups of different species of woodpeckers, brown creepers and red squrriels feasting on the Mountain Pine Beetle that's attacking the pine forest here in British Columbia was a welcome break. On one such trip I tracked a lynx ( his tracks looked smoking fresh in the snow ) and located him feasting on a freshly caught snowshoe hare. Capturing 30 minutes of him eating, burying the left overs, interacting with a female who came in later, grooming, etc. was incredible. There was fresh snow on the trees, perfect lighting, and great action, the distance was about 50 feet, what more could I ask for? By springtime every opportunity away from marketing DVDs was spent filming grizzlies, black bears as well as bird life. Capturing intimate footage of a nesting wild Canada goose with her newly hatched youngsters peeking out for the first time was exciting to say the least.
On a different note I was pleased when I received an e-mail in May from the International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula Montana stating that I had won an Honourable Mention Award for Cinematography. I had entered ( Vol. 5 ) Sheep and Grizzly Country which was a 2006 release. My distributor just recently hammered out a deal with a TV station from Finland for 2 broadcasts on this title.
In June Global TV here in Canada broadcasted a film entitled Places of Green which is a story on trees. It was shot on HD and much of the wildlife in the film was shot by me using my Canon XLH1.
Summer went by oh so fast. A lot of time was spent raising my 2 little boys, picking wild berries, gardening, installing a new metal roof on the house, marketing and filming. September found me filming the elk rut. I was charged at close range at one point, however, I quickly ran behind a tree, even managed to film the bull's angry behaviour as he came up to the tree. I'll never forget a 3 hour battle between 4 bald eagles on the spawning grounds. A large spawned out salmon was the reason for their fighting and I was well hidden in a brush blind just 40 yards away. They never locked talons, however, they were awful close to doing that. Shooting 60i with 1 / 120 shutter speed, the footage is stunning and some of it will someday be in my first HD movie. In late September I received CBC radio coverage about my salmon film, a 5 minute interview at prime time, 8:30 am. Exposure is everything in marketing and every bit helps.
Late October and into November is spawning time for small Kokanee salmon where thousands leave a large lake and spawn in a creek near where I live. Filming a grizzly bear feasting on these 10 inch landlocked salmon was exciting.
November is the rutting season for mule deer which I focused on for three weeks. Many special moments were filmed. A 30 minute battle or actually a series of battles between 2 small 8 point bucks was recorded. A very large non-typical buck sporting 16 points ( 8X8 ) and a heavy antlered (4x4 ) with a spread of about 30 inches was also highlights for me.
December came and went all too quickly with marketing, short day trips and family time.
2007 also marks off my 10th year of wildlife filmmaking full time. Despite the huge undertaking of filming my series alone and often in dangerous situations, it has been the best 10 years of my life.
Let's praise God for His wonderful creation. Happy filming everyone.
Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca