This is the place to let us know about your trials and tribulations. How things are going and how things have not.

Sounds like ideas are starting to form and people are starting to venture towards their shooting adventure.

Went out today trying to catch some nice cutaways and a blizzard.
The blizzard won!
I had no chance, what so ever to catch it on tape.
My camera don't like snow or water :)
Two pics from my tour though.
Nr 1 is view to my wifes homeplace.
Nr 2 is view into a valley where the deer live in the winter. Just look at the paths, spreading around.

All though I have an idea for my adventure video.
Working title is "Following Elisabeth", hehe...

Geir Inge

Hello All:

My adventure will be to keep from freezing while I film my adventure....me trying to stay warm. Isn't my hat great.....the pin is to keep the flap from falling in my eyes LOL.

Good thing it's not a "look who's cool" contest.....

Brian

Today is my big Adventure start. I'm still sitting at the launch pad, gear and other equipment need a final cleaning and finish.
It will be a point of no return, when the vehicle has launched!

Had the most amazing FUN adventure this weekend!
While it is probably old hat for some of you, I had the opportunity and privilege to do something I have never done before but have had on my mind to do for over a year now - to get a bird’s eye view of things (with a specific target).
It was an awesome experience and one which I shall savour for a long time to come.
Thanks Meryem for your theme that gave the incentive to get on and do it!

Oops sorry - my pic needed to be a jpg!

Marj, wow that was an amazing picture! Can't wait to view your finished footage of this. Bird view footage hasn't been screened in the challenge so far AFAK!

think i'll wait for the next challenge, haven't got a mail from this anyway
and nothing really cool in the surroundings aswell :>

Well, i've settled on an adventure to base my film on. Probably old hat to many here in the UWOL family, but something i've never done, so i am pretty excited about it. The main problem i faced with coming up with a plan for this theme was the fact that i only have one full day free to come up with something before i head over to Canada for a month of skiing with a very good buddy of mine. I'll try to upload some pics as soon as i've been on my "adventure"

Bryce

Come on Jurgen,
Get those creative juices flowing, i know there's some mountains in Belgium & i for one would love to see them!! Or anything else for that matter! I think this is the best part of these challenges, the fact that you have to get out there & try something different sometimes to get something to upload. Every experience will be one that we will all learn from.

Regards,

Bryce

Jurgen - I think you'll certainly get the award for the quickest swim with the sharks in uwol history. Come On...get stuck in !

Mountains in Belgium.....have I missed something :-)

Sounds like some of you allready got your plans to start filming :)
The other part of the contestants, including me are still looking for that adventure to shoot. Hehe

Hopefully i'll get one of my ideas realised before the 22.
Good luck to everybody !

Jurgen - you will only get the mail once people are ready to upload.
Try getting onto a train and see what surprises turn up.
There is an amazing butterfly garden and bird 'sanctuary' near Catzand that I visited a few years ago. Check them out. I know this is nature in captivity but its a start anyway!

Thanks Per. The limited space certainly made it difficult to manoevre my XL2 around. With the earphones and goggles my view of the screen was severly hampered so a lot was done on a wish and a prayer! (It is so windy in that environment that any field monitor would have been blown clean away!) I will know better next time and be better prepared for some of theses issues.

Marj… really cool with the birdview. Last April I was filming out thro a small airplane with my XL2, the cockpit was so small that I couldn’t move my camera around without hitting the pilot in the head. But I got the picture I wanted so in the end the job was done. Good luck with you aerial filming. Looking forward to view the result.

Markus

Thanks Markus guess you can really relate to my problem. Also look forward to seeing some more of your awesome underwater footage - or is it going to be spelunking (caves) this time?

Oh by the way, before I get shot down across the globe for suggesting butterflies and birds as an adventure topic you need to understand that I am totally facscinated by animal and bird behaviour and the macro world of butterflies, so please forgive me - I really could find material for an adventure there!

geez, you took an XL2 up with you? that is quite an adventure. looking forward to the film!

my tale of woe is that i had film festival duties on saturday and then had to spend sunday watching the Super Bowl....great game, but not much footage!

went out this morning but a front came through and socked us in with fog. had fun stomping around the mountains with my old doggie, though.

guess i might as well send that e-mail around to jurgen, since i can't shoot anything...

that's a good look for you, brian, really brings out the inner you....!

Thanks Markus guess you can really relate to my problem. Also look forward to seeing some more of your awesome underwater footage - or is it going to be spelunking (caves) this time?

Maybe something with both. But I’m not telling… :) (do you read mines?)

ok, jurgen, an official mass e-mail is circulated, so no more excuses, get out there and shoot something! i already told the world wide community in a radio interview that Belgium is in the Challenge, so your country's representation rests entirely on your shoulders, lad!

oh, the pressure!

and marj, birding and butterflying definitely qualifies as a form of adventure--in fact, almost anything can fit the mold, as promised. it's more about the approach this round, than the topic itself. adventure is where you find it...

Hi Marj, now you have introduced an up to now unused dimention to the uwol challenge... The Airborne!
I'm really looking forward to see the finished video.

So far I have filmed some, but not sure if I can get anything useful out of it.
I'll probably have to get out again and find something new.
My brain is working overtime trying to come up with a good story.

GOOD LUCK, everyone! Hope we all manage to make a film before the deadline.

ok, jurgen, an official mass e-mail is circulated, so no more excuses, get out there and shoot something! i already told the world wide community in a radio interview that Belgium is in the Challenge, so your country's representation rests entirely on your shoulders, lad!

oh, the pressure!


well after this and many other replies on my "backing-down" I'll promise to try my best, Belgium represented!

(but we don't have any mountians tho :p )

nice! that's what we like to hear! go after it, fella!

Jurgen

I've been to Belgium numerous times and every time was an adventure....I always started by drinking beer and end with drinking beer.....some hellish good adventures, what I remember of them that is :)

Good Luck

Brian

Mines Markus - wow - a veritable rabbit-hole! now I'm "curiouser and curiouser"!

Well I've worked out my script and storyboard, every single shot and it's length and position, and I can see the whole thing in my head but I can't start shooting till next week which is so frustrating ( on holiday with the family next week) but I should have most of the audio done this week so I reckon I'll bring it home.

However I'm a bit daunted by you experienced guys.

Wow, allot of you people are so organized!
I just get sort of an idea. Never really flesh it out then just go out shooting and see what I get. Then usually around the last day or two before the deadline, I take a look at what I have and try to put something together.

Unless I'm on a trip somewhere it's kind of hard to predict with any certainty what I'll find around here to film unless it's corn fields and soybean fields. :)

Anyway, in about the last hour of light yesterday, I managed to get out in an incredible snowstorm.

I knew from past experience that my mattebox would do a good job of shielding the lens from the snow.

So, I headed out into the woods to do some shooting.

It was a magical experience. It was so quiet you could hear the larger flakes hitting the dry leaves on the forest floor.

I probably could have shot more before the light faded but I was just so moved by the moment that I took allot of time just taking it in.

It's moments like those that are priceless to me.

I tried uploading a couple of images here but the uploader only works about once every twenty times for me. :(

Weather is not the problem. It was a beautiful day here in Central Florida. I just can't seem to come up with a topic that fits the theme.

I think I will be taking a swim with the sharks this time. Adventure? Yikes! Nothing comes to mind. Nothing I could actually shoot, that is.

Now that would be an adventure,,,,, swimming with sharks, that is....

My tails of woe (so far):

I'm anxious to finally read my first theme post, but when I do I don't quite get it. Something about rabbits on adventures? So I go to the new UWOL site to try and get a feel for how themes typically pan out. Finally it hits me - "Just go out and shoot something dufus. And have fun."

But since the moment I came to understand the theme, to now, I keep thinking of picking tile patterns and colors with my clients over the years. Back in the day it was easy - "You can have yellow, white, blue or black." Took most people ten minutes to decide. But now? Good lord now they need a designer, an architect, and six weeks to thumb through all the different colored and textured samples. It's kind of like this "Adventure" challenge. While I do understand and appreciate the generalness of this theme, holy moses I can't figure out which way to face the camera!

So I asked my wife, "Babe, I've been waiting months for this. Now I'm stuck. What do I do?" Her response was simple, and quick - "Look up. Lots of times people forget to look up."

Girl's a genius.

Good luck to everyone!

Wow, allot of you people are so organized!
I just get sort of an idea. Never really flesh it out then just go out shooting and see what I get. Then usually around the last day or two before the deadline, I take a look at what I have and try to put something together.

You and me both, Kevin. This is how several of my films have been made too.

I'm off to the woods and mountains today to see if I can discover some adventurus moments. Hopefully it stops raining, or I will have to talk my camera into liking the wet enviroment.

Hi all

You are not alone Trond and Kevin,I was totaly lost on frayday on the thema.
And weery worry about the wether,here it cold easy reining in tree week.
But suterday ther come a litle hope,I now I was in hurry went out and.
Then it went as a wind and the storry only came.

Good luck to you all!!!
Thing turn fast.

VJV.

________________

Vidar,

Those are some nice shots there! Love the light on the icicles.

That's it Kevin - you keep getting out there and thinking of an adventure to film! It's been too long since we've seen your mastery of that camera.

My wife and I are taking our children out of school early on Friday to head up the river for the weekend. I have quite an adventure visualised however, it will be interesting how the end result works out. Regardless, it's gonna be a lot of fun!

You know me David, my stuff is more fluff than story, but that's the kind of stuff I like to do.

We're supposed to get another 6 to 10 inches of snow today so I may see if I can get out and do some more filming before it gets to bad.

Course, today isn't starting off to well. I just tried to update my iPod and now it seems that it has crashed. Let's hope the rest of the day gets better. :)

Steven,

I feel your pain. And I'm supposed to know what I'm doing when it comes to adventure video - but I don't have anyone to make swim with sharks for me to film. :(

So, no Wonder here. But lots of Woe. Well, I am Wondering if I'm going to get an idea before the submit date. =D

Weather is not the problem. It was a beautiful day here in Central Florida. I just can't seem to come up with a topic that fits the theme.

I think I will be taking a swim with the sharks this time. Adventure? Yikes! Nothing comes to mind. Nothing I could actually shoot, that is.

Steven, no topic?? But you have a fantacy world "next door" to you. I'm sure you can come up with something cool this time too. "Steven exploring wonderland"... ummm yeah, that could be a topic for you.
Besides, the sharks are not ready for your company yet. :)

Good morning,

I appreciate all the trouble dealing with the theme. I spent most of last night trying to sleep but continually running through my mind different possibilities.

One theme I really need a second man and that wont likly happen. the other I just do not know if it will wash well enough.

I shot some real nice footage, got home and played it and it seemed to grainy!! I accidently left the gain on +6 from doing my moon shoot awhile back!!! Uggggg.

I should know better!!! and I need to do as Per Johan wrote, checking all his gear the night before!!!

While I am prone to operate like Kevin, general idea, shoot and then assemble.

I am actually going to set down and try to at least make a shot list and narative.


time is passing by!!! fast.

So, no Wonder here. But lots of Woe. Well, I am Wondering if I'm going to get an idea before the submit date. =D

Ah me too!! When I don't sign up for these things I have a bunch of ideas....as soon as I join in, my mind locks up.

I accidently left the gain on +6 from doing my moon shoot awhile back!!! Uggggg.


now that is a tale of woe. it's always some dumb thing, isn't it? forgot my tripod plate is my favorite boneheaded thing to do...

i'm still kicking around my idea. i have a bunch of ideas, no footage yet, but don't think i will get any footage until this weekend. i was hoping to avoid shooting snow scenics, but after yesterday, looks like snow it is!

nice looking pics, vidar!

No ice down here. I got a few shoots on Monday, 75 and sunny. Most of the cast I'd planned to shoot left town so now I need a rewrite. Now a "cold" front is coming through, 60, so I'm waiting for the rain to clear. My wife is coaching her elementary school’s Destiny Imagination team. I’m hoping to get them to help with the animal character voices.

Wow, this can’t be happening. I’m starting two weeks before the deadline. I’m sure something’s got to give. Watch out for Murphy’s Law.

Meryem, I'll trade you some Colorado snow scenics for some Iowa snow scenics? :)

We're supposed to get about a foot of snow tonight.

Went out again today in the snowstorm. The flakes were allot bigger today and falling much slower.

Witnessed a scene that took my breath away. Haven't looked at the footage yet but was so happy to be out there it really doesn't matter if I got it or not.

Once again, the silence was incredible. Hopefully tomorrow I can get out early and spend the day in the forest filming.

I guess it depends on how fierce the winds whip up tonight.

I used to live where it snowed, the silence during a snowfall was exquisite. I miss that about snow sometimes.

I have an idea for this and am in the process of shooting it now, I just hope I can get it all done and uploaded in time.

"silence during a snowfall was exquisite"

Hear hear !!! lovely :-)

Well this is it I have everything arranged for this weekend. The forecast calls for sunny and clear with zero cloud cover. However the woe is the temperature, at this moment it's -40F the wind chill is -69F the XL2's rating is +32F to +40F so needless to say that camera will stay at home.

The plan is to use one of my old Hi8 kits, if I destroy it oh well not to big a loss.

I don't know if my idea is an adventure or not but I sure as hell know it's going to be a challenge to keep from getting frost bite.

I'll let you know on Sunday if I'm swimming with the sharks or not.....

Brian

However the woe is the temperature, at this moment it's -40F the wind chill is -69F the XL2's rating is +32F to +40F so needless to say that camera will stay at home.
Brian, with those temperatures I would recommend this cover for your XL2:
Portabrace Polar Bear (http://www.portabrace.com/productB-POL-25)
I'm using one for my XM2, and even with temperatures of around -25C, the camera has been working in about +10C inside the cover.

Idea 1 scrapped, after about 12 hours of discussion with more intelligent people than I. Maybe another time. :\

Idea 2 brewing. =D

Carl,
Was that the timelapse idea that's scrapped for now?
Sounded like quite an undertaking but also sound very, very interesting as well. Hope you're able to shoot it sometime in the future!

Good luck with Plan "B" !

I find it interesting that if I leave my challenge film alone for a day, I find something I want to change when I take another look at it.

Normally I edit everything last minute and rush it in before the deadline.

This time around I'm actually almost done with the exception of a few more shots and the final shot which I won't be able to do until the day of the deadline if I can do it at all.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny which is what I need in case the day of my final shot is sunny. This way, I can cut in the final shot if it's cloudy or if it's sunny and it will match. Can't believe I actually thought of that. :)

Anyway, if it will upload, here's a still from the production so far. We were well on our way to getting 15 inches of snow and I had the wild places of Eastern Iowa to myself.

My tale of woe. Last week my Canon XL-2 went to Canon in NJ for a fixing. If need be I will have to use a back up that I am unfamiliar with. Oh well. No one ever said these would be easy. Bob

I'm still trying to come up with a story for my entry. I have a basic idea what I want to include, but still need to find a good location.
Hopefully I will be able to shoot it late next week.
Weather guys say no more rain, so that will help.
(It's allowed to be optimistic, right)