This round I had a hard time coming up with a topic. But when I finally found the idea, it didn't take too long to make the story.

So when the one day with sunshine finally arrived, there was no time to waste, so I grabbed my gear, and went hiking.

The purpose was to show how the nature or vegetation changes as I went higher and higher up on the mountain.
This is only a small mountain, with the top I went up to at about 350 meters. But still, the differences from the sea level and up to the top was really big. The forest dominates the lower half, but then as I went higher, the view of the surroundings gradually appeared as the forest became thinner.

Link:
http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge8/38_UC8_mountainnature.mov

Youtube: (lower quality)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM1J0svTfj4

Hallo Tond

Nice entery here, and wee was nerly in the same area in this entery.
I was a bit longer in the fjord.Was it Lyderhorn. You maked
a good film from this place.

Greait work!!

VJV.

_______________

Hi Vidar, thanks for the comment.
Yes I was on the mountain Lyderhorn.

Hey Trond,
What an amazing mountain & a great story. I would never have thought that you could have so much difference in the vegetation over that little elevation change. Your shots were great, all the shots were held for the right amount of time, & the music went well with it. The whole time i watched it i was thinking i wanted to be there.
On a technical note, your sound was quite distorted from the compression, would you be able to up the sample rate of the audio to improve it & still make it in under the 60mb limit? I'm not great on that sort of thing yet, but noted that your file was only 52.4mb so figure you may be able to up that a bit to improve the audio. Apart from that, i thought it was your best yet, well done.

Bryce

Hey Trond.

Nice piece. I like the premise a lot. I'm always intrigued to see how the environment change with altitude and seeing how spring arrives that bit later in your peice made an interesting story. Shots were nice generally although a bit more compositional thought might be needed here and there. One or two fading transitions used in the right places might help with some variety as well. Your VO was nice in content but the recording/compression brought down the quality of the piece.

Nice story...great stuff!

Bryce and Mat,
Thank you very much for the feedback.
I will check the audio compression settings. Seems like I might have used another audio codec and a lot more compression than I use to.

Tronde,

Nicely done!! I liked the theme of showing the transition in relationship to elevation!!!! Great idea!!
Some very fine footage. I realize you shot in HD, but I was curious how you compress it so that you still retain such nice resolution/clearity at 60 mbts!!

Favorite is the ice shot with traveling water behind the outer ice layer!!!


Second favorite is your opening shot!!


Keep up the great work.

I realize you shot in HD, but I was curious how you compress it so that you still retain such nice resolution/clearity at 60 mbts!!
Hi Dale, thank you for the feeback.
It was not shot in HD, but standard SD. My camera is the good old Canon XM2 we both are familiar with. :)
I use Sorenson Squeeze 4.5 to compress the avi file into quicktime.
Will check the settings I used for this video later when I come home from work, and let you know.

This was an interesting perspective on how altitude influences spring. Something I am familiar with- living at about the height of your peak, we had a brief snowfall a couple days ago here, while down in town, the cherry trees have finished blooming. I like your mix of shots, and you managed to convey a feeling of movement through time and space. As others note, the audio quality seemed diminished by compression, but that was the only technical problem I saw/heard. Great job!

Ruth

Trond!

This is your best yet! What a great interpretation on the theme! Well done friend. To have one good day of filming I'd say you pegged it.

Cat

Catherine, thank you for the comment.
I am glad you liked it.

As others note, the audio quality seemed diminished by compression, but that was the only technical problem I saw/heard.
Thank you for the comment, Ruth.
I did some testing with different audio codecs today after receiving your comment, and it seems like I got much better audio quality by using mp3 audio codec instead of the one I originally used.

Very pretty film, Trond, you Vikings are spoiled with beautiful scenery. It is always a treat to go on a journey through such lovely landscapes. I like the concept of transitioning through the ecosystems at different altitudes--Colorado is a lot like that, too.

My only suggestion would be to add a little more motion to some of your shots. It was a little bit on the photographic side. Nice composition and a good job of putting it together.

Very pretty place you have there Trond....

Like your panoramic shots from the top....I got a good sense of height and distance....

You used the theme very well....I'll watch this one again.

Bob T.

Trond:

Nice film and images and great idea to follow the announced theme.

You really brought me to the top of that mountain. The view was very spectacular and I think I saw a suspension bridge off in the distance. I agree the audio sounded like it suffered in compression, your voice sounded over-modulated.

Other than that, this was a very good piece of work and I'm sure the audio problem will be easy to sort out.

Meryem:
I'll keep that in mind and have more motion next time.

Bob:
I'm glad you like it. I wanted to use the panoramic shots at the end to give the audience a good look at the area where I come from.

Chris:
Thanks for the nice comment.

Adrinn:
Thank you for the comment. I think I have sorted out the audio problems now.
Yes, you are right, you can see a suspension bridge in the final clip.

Hi Trond,
I liked the way this was put together, the vo clearly explained and tied closely to the visuals, the shots were well composed with great use of simple but effective editing. There was a pan at around 2.30 that was a little jerky, but later on the pans on water under ice and city shots were beautiful!
So thats where you get to if you keep following the road over the Hardangervidda huh?

Good entry!

Trond,

An excellent video, with great scenery, and a good solid storyline too. I thought mine was a bit of a tenuous link to the theme, but yours actually shows the transformation happening as you climb higher.

I particualrly liked the melting ice at 1:46, with the water tricking underneath the surface. Loved the view from the top of the mountain, the vivid blue of the lake contrasts with the dull, wintry browns on the land.

I did like your video, well done.

I've also spent an enjoyable ten minutes looking round the area in Google Earth too. Maybe we should do an UWOL Google Earth layer showing where everyone shoots!

Trond, I enjoyed watching how you showed us the change some degree of elevation makes. Like one other, I would not have imagined the amount of change only 350 meters could cause.

The music fit, the detail in your visuals worked, and I, like others, was impressed by the panorama you showed at the top.

Hi Trond
It is so easy to say that this is your best entry yet.I liked your whole idea of showing transformation on one mountain.I watched this more than once and enjoyed it every time

Hi Trond,
Much of my thoughts have already been expressed by others. So, I'll repeat only the ones I feel strongly about:

IYour idea of showing transformation over change in elevation was a nice and unique interpretation of the theme. I must admit, I am envious of how natural you are at narrating - something I need to work on! I also really liked your "writing" - decisions on what to say and how to narrate. The story was very poignant in its simplicity.

The views were amazing and the ice patches with water trickling beneath were gems. Thanks! Really looking forward to seeing more of your videos.

Amelia

Rob,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I agree about that jerky pan. Should have been replaced or removed, I guess.

Mike,
The Google Earth option sounds like an interesting thing to look into.
Maybe we should have a discussion this before the next uwol challenge?

Bruce,
Yes, it is amazing how big changes there can be in such a short elevation change.
I am glad you like the video.

John,
Thank you very much for the comment. Glad you like it.

Amelia,
I have to confess, the narration was not written this time. I just wing it, and do a few different takes to see what sounds best.
Glad you like the video.

Thank you everyone for the great feedback!

Hi Trond.

What a great idea to make a story out from different levels, from the sea and up over the treeborder.
It really show the changes as you walk.
Nice editing and VO, but maybe I would like a bit more variation in choice of shots? Also vice of you to leave Vera for a while :)

Maybe it's just me, but I'm a big fan of trying out different angles. It can enrich your film a lot, just by putting the camera in different hights, etc.

All the best from Sunnmore.
Geir Inge

I enjoyed your video very much Trond - another interesting interpretation of the theme ‘Transformation’. Your scenery in Norway is indeed spectacular, as you say. Can’t really add more to what has already been said. Well done. Look forward to your next movie.

Geir Inge,
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Got some great tips from your video about different angles.

Marj,
Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad you like it.

Hopefully I will be able to get a new computer in time for next uwol.
My "old" one died about a week ago.

Trond, beautiful video. Composition of video was excellant. I like the trail shots, made me want to follow them to the summit. It looks like a dream world there. For some reason I was not expecting those bridges in the last shots. But then again, why not. The audio was a little off in a couple of places. I understand that we are both having that problem. It may be in the compression. Bob

Hi Bob,
Thank you for the comment. Yes, the audio problems must be caused by the compression, because the audio in the original .avi file sounds fine.

I did some testing with different compressions and different audio codecs after the uwol deadline. Best results was achieved with mp3 audio.
Can't remember now which audio codec I used for uwol8, and my own computer died 3 weeks ago, so I can't test more until I get a new one. Hopefully that will be in time for the next challenge.

I havent got the time to watch and reply to the entries from uwol 8 because of a heavy workflow but finally i have some time to spare.
Your images was beautiful, and you have a nice story to tell. Nice approach on the theme as well. Great V.O.
As always in naturefilms you could have taken advantage of more moving shots "dolly maybe?" but i guess thats hard to take with you on the trip over a mountain. hehe

Nice work! Keep it up