Hi all,
Well i've been really busy of late & unfortunately i haven't yet been able to get any footage for my long form project. What i do have however, is a bit of a script that i have put together. It basically outlines what the project will cover, & will probably change a lot along the way. You will see that i have started with the rut which is in October, then the story will continue through to the summer months. Since it is now getting on to late winter here, & i will only be starting to film in the coming weeks, i will be gathering footage & putting it all together bit by bit throughout the year, but it won't all take it's proper shape until around November, when i have the last of the footage i will need.
Anyway, attached is my script. Please help me out with any feedback you may have so i might be able to better plan how this project will end up. Looking at what everyone has been producing over the last year & a bit, i'm sure you will all have some great ideas that will help me out.
Thanks,
Bryce

Hello Bryce


Lock trow your script and It lock facinating,and hope you get the cut you
nead. But I think we are in same boat ,the mountiain is big were you are to,
I think it give allot of training

Lock forword to your entery.

All Best !!
VJV.

Hi Bryce:

Well, following the caribou for a year and documenting on ways to help them survive in the future is well worth while. I read through your report and am impressed. Do you think you can actually film the calving season? Do you know where they go?

Looking forward to viewing your progress on filming and documenting these beautiful animals!

Cat

Bryce....

Wow...you have set yourself a big challenge. I hope that you can find the herds and bring back some awesome footage of the things you describe.

Some years ago I rode a bicycle across the Yukon. I have always wanted to go back, and hoped to be able to do when when the caribou are migrating. I was told at one place that there were thousands of Caribou there when they passed on their journey. Take me there, please ?

Chris S.

ps. I had heard that a typical Caribou gives mosquitos about a quart of blood in a season. Whether that is true or not or whether it was told to me so I would not feel bad about giving a pint I do not know....but that would be an interesting angle to cover.

Hi Cat, hi Chris,
Well, yeah, i am already thinking that it will be a struggle to get the footage i am after, but if i do, i will be wrapped & it will all be worth it. There are so few of this type of caribou left & in the area where i live, the herd has only about 35 in an area covering 1500 square kilometers, that's a population density of roughly 23 for every 1000 square kilometers. Slightly further north there is another herd that is 130 strong & even though the area where they live is much larger, the population density is slightly better at around 27 caribou for every 1000 square kilometers.
I will definately need the help of some experts on this one, & will be looking to get that expert advice from a number of bioligists that work on maintaining these last remaining populations of mountain caribou.
I have definately set my sights high with this project, & realistically, if it were a project undertaken by National Geographic or the likes, then it may well be filmed over the period of 2 years or more, so if i can pull off something that resembles my original plan in the next 10 months, then i will be very happy.
Bryce

Hi Bryce
I like the idea you have; ambitious and with a good aim in mind. It will be difficult at times I'm sure, but with the right guidance and assistance you should have an easier time of finding places to go to get the footage. Maybe someone knows a mating call you can try, or a smell to lure them over long distance... or not, but you never know till you take the next step.

Good luck, I'm sure you will get something interesting by the end of the project.

Hi Bryce,
a very interesting and ambitious project you have! If you got only a few shoots like the pictures in doc, you have a winner for sure!

Look forward to view some of your footage when you have something to upload.

Good luck with your project, Bryce

Hi Bryce.
It seems like you have a great plan and an ambitious too :)
I guess you have to hike a lot in the mountains, or is it possible to go by car?
Do you have any to ask where to find the herd? I guess the caribou is walking all the time from place to place?
Wish you all the best and looking forward to see your film.
Remember to bring with you enough batteries :)
Geir Inge

Bryce,

Boy you have a big job ahead of you!!! what a great challenge and effort!! I look forward to some of you first posts of footage.
Can you get up there to get some winter footage as well??

Ok, for what ever reason, i don't seem to be able to edit my original post so i will have to put a link here to my video on Vimeo. I still need to upload it to the UWOL site, but will need to do that tomorrow night, as i need to get some shuteye! Here is the link. Comer-UWOL-longform on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/3330650)
Regards,
Bryce

HI all,
Well, i have got a video up on Vimeo now, still need to upload to the UWOL server, but should get that sorted out tomorrow night.
Dale, you're not wrong when you say i have a job ahead of me. The more i think about it, the more i think wow, what was i thinking! I will be trying to get some footage of them before the end of winter. It's actually a bit easier to track them, just harder to follow the tracks! :)
Geir, I will be travelling into areas & along forestry roads by car but then a lot of the places where i will need to go will only be accessible by foot, so there will be a lot of hiking involved. I will make sure i have plenty of batteries, but interestingly enough, i was just looking the other day at a small solar powered battery charger that can be used for hiking. I really like the idea of this as i'm also then cutting down on the amount of greenhouse gasses i am producing every time i charge my batteries. It's only something very small, but hey, every little bit helps huh!
Per, thanks for the encouragement, if i can get anywhere near the quality of footage you seem to be able to get eack time you go out, then i will be very happy. Of course, i would like hope that that footage will include Mountain Caribou, & hopefully some of the predators that prey on them.
Andrew, Yes i will definately need help with this one. I have emailed some people that work in these areas & will be contacting more in the hope that i will get some help & guidance. I may well be able to use a call like with elk, but i'm not even sure if they have one, not to mention that with elk, the calling usually occurs in Autumn when it is the mating season. I would also like to be able to get all of my filming done without any interference to the caribou at all. Quite a few of the nature programs i see on tv nowadays seem to be so "in the face" of the wildlife & i can't imagine that's a really good thing for them. So for me, i would like to do all my work as an "observer" & not as a "player" so to speak.
Regards,
Bryce

That's quite some project you have outlined. I think one of the fascinating aspects of this challenge is seeing how films develop from those initial proposals.

Bt "in your face" wildlife do you mean those that sensationalise the animals, or those with lots of close-ups. I tend to avoid the first kind. The wonderful close-ups in conventional wildlife films must come largely from the incredible magnification possible with today's zoom lenses on relatively small (compared with 35mm film) chips. Our Canon XHA1's don't have quite that ability - so I'll be interested in how much you get extra with that Raynox 1.8 TC.

Good luck

Wow. What a proposal. A great idea for a film and the back drop makes for great viewing. I look forward to your progress.
I think the help of local biologists is a must for this one.

Good luck.

Hi all,
Annie, Yes it will be interesting to see how things develop over the course of the project. I really hope i can put it together as in my plan, but i think it will need a lot of work & some luck too. What i meant by "in the face" of the wildlife was what you thought, the sensationalism & invading the space of the animals being filmed. It may make for better ratings for television viewing, but it's not what i want. I don't mean to be negative towards the people who make programs in that way, it's just not what i would like to see if i had the choice. The 1.8x tele converter that i use does a great job, but still i am limited to the 1400mm (or there abouts), range that it gives me. I will probably need to do a lot of filming from a hide in order to get close enough to my subjects. Only time will tell.
Mihali, Thanks for the encouragement. It certainly is a beautiful place where the mountain caribou live, hopefully i can show it off in my film. I agree that without the help of the biologists i would have little hope of pulling off something like this, even with their help i think it will be a big task. I have searched the internet for footage of mountain caribou & have come up with nothing, so maybe if i do succeed i will have some pretty unique footage.
Regards,
Bryce

Bryce,
Here’s a suggestion. With such a large sexy animal with such small numbers why not play up the air of mystery? Especially if you have trouble getting as much footage as you want. First tease us with a couple of long shots as you do the introduction then follow the efforts of a biologist as he or she tries and tries to locate the animals to study and protect. Follow their early fruitless efforts, their perseverance, and build up to the final moment when they finally find the herd and all is revealed. With little footage existing the offer of access to your raw footage may be just the incentive the biologist needs to help and be on camera. The footage you showed us is really nice. I only have two complaints. That first pan across the mountains could go a bit slower. We flatlanders would like a couple more seconds to take it in. Second, three minutes is not enough- I want to see more!

Hi Mike,
Yes i will certainly be including the "search" for the caribou into my plan as well as a lot of interviews with the biologists to fill my story with facts & to really help the viewer understand the life of the mountain caribou and the threats to their livelihood. At the end of the day my film will either be about the day to day lives of the mountain caribou throughout the year with accompanying shots & cutaways to interviews of the biologists talking about their particular habits etc, or if the shots of the caribou are few & far between then it will be based more on the interviews & the search, with the ending showing how we finally tracked them down and maybe do some stuff on how the herd has changed from the last time they were seen. Hopefully i will get enough to run with plan "A" but even if i have to go to plan "B" then i still think it will make for interesting viewing. I am really excited about this project even though i know it will be a long hard slog. There are so many species dissappearing from the planet every day & as long as humankind continues to eat up resources at the rate that we are currently, then in the not too distant future there will be very little left for any animal, us included.
Bryce

Bryce...

Simply beautiful footage in your initial clip here. Also nicely edited. I cannot wait to see more. The scenery reminds me of "home".

I know that in this initlal entry we all tended to rush things and throw things together to have it in before the deadline, so this comment may be one of those that you already know and will correct, but you had a 60 cycle hum in your voiceovers... If you need any audio help or the loan of any sound equipment when you get to that point let me know.

Nicely done my friend. I cannot wait to see more.

Chris

ps. The time lapse of the low cloud layer was awesome.

Thanks Chris for the kind words. It certainly was thrown together all at the last minute. As far as the audio goes, well, my voice overs are not normally any good anyway, but this one was particularly bad becuase a used the elcheapo $2 mic that i use for Skype. I normally record any voice over stuff with my Rode NGT 2 mic & it comes out sounding a lot better, it's just my voice & the diologue that's normally the problem. I am working on a script early on this time & plan on refining it over the course of the project so hopefully the diologue at least will be better. Unfortunately i can't do too much about my voice! I don't know much at all about the technical side of audio (or video for that matter) & i couldn't tell you why i have that hum, maybe it's just the cheap mic, but if you are offering help, i will gladly accept your offer. Maybe a little further down the track if i am having difficulties i will pm you if that's ok?
Thanks,
Bryce

Hi again Mike,
Yes you are right about that first pan accross the mountains being too fast. I thought it was too fast when i actually filmed it, & then never bothered to fix it in post during the rush to get it up on the internet. Hopefully for the next instalment i can get some nicer shots that are more refined. I really like the idea of this long form project as it allows us time to do things over if needed to get just the shot we want.
Regards,
Bryce

Hi again all,
One thing i would like to do with this project is minimise the amount of music i use. I would really like to get a lot of ambient sounds of the environments i will be in. Could anyone advise what type of portable audio recorders they use & would recommend. Also what type of mics you use for them. I figure i could set up some mics in the areas where i will be, just to capture the ambient sounds then add them to the film as foley. Please if anyone has any suggestions with this could you please let me know.
Thanks heaps,
Bryce

I don't know much at all about the technical side of audio (or video for that matter) & i couldn't tell you why i have that hum, maybe it's just the cheap mic, but if you are offering help, i will gladly accept your offer. Maybe a little further down the track if i am having difficulties i will pm you if that's ok?
Thanks,
Bryce


Bryce, first of all ditch the skype setup you are using. Since you will be needing a decent recorder anyway I suggest you use that. You have a ground loop of some type in the USB setup you have and we can set you up with some significantly better mics as well.

As for recorders, there is a pretty good battle heating up in the small hard media recorder market. I'd suggest you visit the Audio forum here and poke around. Lot sof folks are liking the Sony PCM-D50, others have nice things to say about the Tascam DR-1, still others swear by the Microtrack II, and so on and so forth. I think for the $300 or so you should find something perfect for beautiful natural ambient recordings AND that will be useable for your voiceovers.

And yes, by all means, feel free to PM me. I'll be repaying my debt to others here who have similarly offered me assistance.

Chris

ps. And I think it is fair to say that we all hate the sound of our own voices when we hear them recorded methinks. Yours is not so bad, as you understandably think, hearing it as you do in a recording where it sounds different than it does in your head.

pps. As for USB recording setups, I investigated that and determined at least for myself, that the least expensive method of using a decent mic into a USB port with adequate sampling etc was about $150 - without a mic.

Your film so long is a pleasure to see.
As said before, I understand the difficulties to capture the mountain caribou.
Our Norwegian reindeer is difficult to approach. Many seemingly great shots have been taken on the Sami’s domestic reindeers.
Your ambitions impress me. I will follow your project with great interest in the next months.

Finn-Erik

Hi Bryce.
First I always use my camera for recording background sounds (ambient sounds).
I don't use an external recorder as this will make my rucksack heavier in the field.
As I understand you have the Canon XH A1. I do run the Canon XLH1 and can record sound on 4 tracks, that is 2 mics connected at the same time and stereo on both.
This is my gear for recording sound:
1 Sony ECM-674 and I use a Rycote softie on this one.
1 Sennheiser ew 100 wireless mic, I use this for interviews, narrations and I sometimes place it near a nest or similar to get close to the sound source without scaring the birds/animals. Very useful but an expencive mic to buy in Norway.
I also have 2 Shure SM57 and 1 Shure SM58. I use these occasionly if I'm doing interviews with groups of people, etc.

I think this is good enough and it works for me. Worth mentioning is that I always do use a headset when I'm recording/filming in the field. I always do some extra recordings, just to get some more of the sound at that particular place.
As important as the recordings it self, is to keep track of the recordings and where to find them when you need them :)
I do use a form to keep track of all my tapes, both sound and videoclips that is.
Just a simple form, but it works for me :) attached for downloading.

Geir Inge

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the info, i will look into one of these field recorders, i think they would be a very handy little device to have.
Finn-Eric,
Thanks for your support. I have only been out a couple of times looking for the mountain caribou, & so far have not seen one. I am waiting to hear back from some people i have contacted that i hope will be able to help me out & give me a better chance of getting the footage i will need for this project. The problem is that there are so few of them in such a large area.
Geir,
Thanks for the advise with the audio set up. I may need to look into a wireless mic set up to enable me to place mics closer to the herd when i finally do find them. I am not expecting to be able to get very close so i'm not expecting to get any decent audio from my shotgun mic. At the end of the day, i may have to make the foley sounds myself & add them in post. Thanks for the form that you have attached, that will come in very handy.
Something i've also been meaning to thank you for was the tip on Celtix that will be very handy for this project. I have only used it a little so far, but i can see i will be using it a lot more in the coming weeks.
Regards,
Bryce

You have an outstanding intro to your project. Beautiful imagery especially that shot of the clouds blanketing the mountain ranges…absolutely stunning. I am looking forward to seeing how you approach this film visually because it seems you have several options. For some reason I picture it to be filmed using an “Animal Planet/Jeff Corwin” approach where you are in front of the camera getting all excited about the wildlife you come across on your quest and talking to the camera. Any way you do it I am sure it will be exciting, beautifully filmed and fun to watch. Looking forward to it.

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the encouragement. Unfortunately i have no way of viewing my footage in any decent resolution at the moment so i have no way of telling if the footage is really any good or not. Hopefully i will have my editing computer over from Australia in the next couple of months, & at least then i will have something decent to see it on, & of course be able to edit properly on.
I would like to think that i will be able to make it more a documentary on one or more biologists & be following them around in their search for, & studies of the caribou. I'm hoping to get some interviews & have some nice footage to use as cutaways to go with what they are talking about at the time. I am still waiting to here back from a few people that i'm hoping will help me out, but hopefully it will all come together in the end & i'll be able to go with that plan, if not, then maybe your idea of the "Animal planet" theme will have to be the way to go, only problem with that of course is that i will have to do a lot more research into the caribou & their day to day lives so i am able to tell a story & actually be telling it like it really is. I will keep you up to date on how things are progressing as i go.
Regards,
Bryce

You can't beat a 'Quest for' film and my initial impression is that even if you only get a few shots of the Caribou then the 'getting there' will be just a fun. I think your plan is very good. You look at the changing seasons, predators and you have a question to be answered. Make sure you use this mechanism, it will really keep people watching. Why are these caribou struggling.....a caribou 'who done it' ! Some of your footage needs work on exposure and is a little flat. Think about light and use the time of day/positioning to get depth and saturation into your shots.

I have a good feel about this one and I wouldn't be worried at all, you have plenty of potential for a great story whether you see those Caribou or not :-)

Mat

Hi Matt,
Thank you for your comments. I'm really excited about this project, i hope i can do my subject a service with this film & show just how vulnerable they are & what can be done to help tip the scales in their favour. Of course it is not just the mountain caribou that are in trouble due to the loss of their habitat, but many other species that rely on the same old growth forest & i hope to be able to show this off as well in the film. It is likely that i won't have a lot of footage of the caribou themselves so the "search" for them will likely be a big part of the film along with interviews with biologists.
You are right about the footage i have in my first submission being very flat. A lot of it was shot in the middle of the day, but i will definately be shooting a lot of what i need for the final piece early morning & late in the day.
Exposure is always something i have trouble with & will be working very hard to get this right. I probably could have improved some of the shots i had in post, but didn't really have the time. For the finished project i hope i will be able to get better exposed shots to start with, & will also be doing a bit of CC in post to help the footage along.
Thanks again for your encouragement & help.
Bryce

Well i had some encouraging news today when i received a phonecall from one of the groups i contacted for help with my project. They have offered me information on the mountain caribou, & are willing to pass on information as to their whereabouts obtained from aerial survelliance. This was great news as i was starting to wonder if any of the groups i have contacted were ever going to respond to my requests. I am still hoping to be able to do a lot of interviews as i think that will make for some interesting viewing, but most of all, i am really hoping to get out on some field trips with any scientists studying the mountain caribou. Hopefully this will be the start of the snowball effect, & my project plan will eventually all come together.
I am having a few issues with my car at the moment, so i'm unable to get out to do any filming. Hopefully i can get it sorted out before next weekend & get out to shoot some footage then. In the meantime, it will be a matter of simply keep on plugging away at the script & shot list, & keep refining my overall plan.
Hope everyone elses projects are going well.
Regards,
Bryce

I must say that this is a well thought out movie plan, Bryce. It has structure, a good story line and if you can find the images to support your story then you will really have something worthwhile watching here. You have some stunning images already and I really look forward to seeing how you progress on this.

I am just itching to know how you plan to capture a caribou giving birth (unless of course, you have a guide who knows where their favourite hiding spots are so you can set up beforehand) given the fact that the cows move out of the herd to find a secluded spot to give birth and to hide the calf for a few weeks. Maybe you will be lucky enough to spot a pregnant female moving out but wow you have a task there.

One thing that I find truly amazing about Caribou and other Reindeer is the fact that they can withstand extreme temperatures (-31 degrees!) and not die of hypothermia. I discovered with much interest that they survive because they have a concurrent heat exchange system in the blood circulation of their legs that ensures that they do not lose body heat to the environment through those unprotected, lean limbs. (Seals and Whales exposed to freezing water also have this system in their mobile, lean fins.)

Really good to hear your encouraging news. Hope your car gets sorted out - if it isn't already by now - so you can get out and start filming this again.

By the way - it’s really good to have you back on board - seems that you went AWOL such a long time ago!

Thanks Marj for the encouragement. I will have to leave it until next weekend to reply properly to your post as i am about to head up to Slocan to work & unfortunately i don't have internet there.
Because i have no internet where i am working at the moment, i have had to upload my update for my entry before it was really finished. I have also had to upload it to Vimeo here http://www.vimeo.com/4585851 & not the UWOL site, as i can't find the email from Meryem telling me the password etc. If anyone could please forward the email on to me that would be great. Anyway, back to my entry. I have not yet had any success in finding the mountain caribou, but haven't given up hope yet. The Biologists i am hoping will help me out, aren't able to at the moment, due to the election going on here at the moment, so i will need to wait until that's all over before i will have any hope of getting the help i really need on this project. The sequence i have uploaded is just some stuff that i will probably use in the final film, but it will more than likely be trimmed down to fit the sequence i have in mind for it. No voice over yet, as what i have in mind for the final film wouldn't really fit this sequence properly. Anyway, i hope you could please help me out with the technical details of how i have shot it so i might be able to improve things for my final film.
Sorry too that i may not get the document uploaded until next weekend as like i said, i won't have access to the internet, & really need to be on the road up to Slocan about 3 hours ago.
Bryce

Hey Bryce

Some beautiful light in the deer shots, and I love it walking in the water. It would have been lovely to cut to a close up of this as a detail. Which I guess seems to bring me to my main thought while watching the footage, 'range'. The Coyote hunting was fabulous behaviour and nice light and you got some nice shots. But wow this could have been mind blowing if you could have cut to some close-ups or details to turn it into a solid sequence. What is the range of your camera and is this going to cause similar problems when you eventually catch up with those Caribou ?

Mat

Hi Bryce, lovely shots in a lovely light! I liked it alot! A bit long sequences, but as you said, you was in a hurry.
Would like Mat, love to see some more close-up shots of both the deer and the coyote. As I can see from your clip the coyote is much like the wolf we got here in Scandinavia, almost the same behaviour. Did you sit in any hide during this takes?

Hey Bryce:

You have a real knack for lighting! It turns your filming into a magical experience. The filming of the coyote was a rare find. I've tried with no success to get those guys on film. They are wily and so aware of an on-looker. Well done! This is a works in progress so I have no comments on your overall theme and where this will be going. You have a great start, and as others have mentioned getting cuts to close ups would have made these fabulous clips exceptional. Good job Bryce!

Cat

Wonderful footage. I noticed you didn't upload it in HD... maybe if you have more time you can reload it that way. Also I understand the "throw something in" syndrome. I liked your musical acompaniment.

The Elk would be perfect for some "hooves in water" foley effects - with great effect I think.

The coyote footage was wonderful... I assume you must have been in a blind? I'd have been terribly excited to have been seeing that unfold in the viewfinder. Your coyotes look large like the ones in the Western Nevada mountains (well basin and ranges) that I have seen. The ones around me here in the Calif Central valley are like small dogs in comparison.

Love to see all this start coming together. Great start!

Chris Swanberg

Hi all,
Thank you all very much for the comments on my latest submission. I hope to use some of this footage in the final film, but it will most likely be shorter versions & may well be seperate sequences alltogether. I am trying to get some footage of other animals that live in the areas where the mountain caribou live & what effect if any they have on the mountain caribou. So far i have the footage you have seen along with a bunch of other scenic footage, but i am still trying to get more footage of elk, more footage of white tail & mule deer, & i'm hoping to get some footage of moose, of which i have seen, but haven't been lucky enough to have been in a position to get footage of yet. I also need to get some footage of the predators that live in these areas, so will be looking at getting footage of bears, wolves & cougars, & If i can pull all this off, i think i will deserve a beer of two when i'm done!! :)
Matt & Per, I would dearly love to be able to zoom in further on my subjects, but unfortunately, i only have the 20x zoom on my XH A1 plus the 1.8x extender which equates to roughly 1200mm. Most of the footage of the elk was from about 80 meters away & i was pretty much zoomed in all the way. The footage of the coyote was from about 60m away, & on both occasions, i was just lucky enough to come along them at the right time. On both occasions i stood very still next to a tree using it as "cover". On both occasions however, after a while i was in fact spotted, & my quarry soon disapeared!
Chris, it's funny you should mention the footage of the elk in the water & how it would lend itself to some nice foley sounds of the hooves in the water. When i watch the footage directly in the camera, i can hear the hooves spashing as plain as day & thought when i first watched it how it really made the shot! I still don't have my good editing computer with me here in Canada, but certainly plan on having it in the next month or two, so hopefully i will be able to get the sound that i hear from the camera & make it so you hear it like it do for the final version. (Assuming that it makes the cut of course!)
Cat, thanks for your kind words, i was so excited to get that footage of the coyote i was shaking the whole time!
Ok, & now for the big news......... After 5 months of searching, i have finally been lucky enough to get some footage of my quarry. It was last Sunday morning at about 4.45 am when i came accross a herd of about 12 mountain caribou. I was lucky enough to be able to capture about 10 minutes of footage in total. There is still atleast a couple of meters of snow in the mountains here so i finally have some of the "winter" footage i have been after. I would still like to get some more, & plan on heading back up there in the morning & will look at another likely looking spot. Ever since last weekend i have been on so much of a high i can't believe it! At last i feel like my project is starting to find its rails!
Thank you so much to all of you for your support & enthusiasm for my project as it has been you that have driven me on over these last couple of months striving to get this sort of footage.
Best regards,
Bryce

Bryce.... know that as you go along, you drag an entire bunch of folks anxiously awaiting... and hoping. Glad to hear you had a good encounter....anxious to see it. Hope to see more.... soon. ( and hear watery footsteps from our ungulate friends).

Chris

Bryce,

I am sure I missed it somewhere but where did you film this? I liked the Caribou but I really thought the Coyote (was that a coyote, fox or wolf?) whichever it was it was very interesting watching it stalk it's prey and the edited cuts kept the interest up on the subject...it told a good story which I enjoyed.

Looking forward to seeing more

Bryce-
That’s a nice series of clips you’ve shared with us this time. I thought some of the elk shots were a little dark. You could probably open them up a little in post but I’m not sure you would want to. The darker clips have a nice “very early morning” feel to them. If that’s what the story calls for they’re OK. It’s mostly noticeable when cut against lighter clips. Are you in a blind or stalking? The shots with the elk walking through water got me thinking about this Foley stuff I’m trying to learn. I could see myself (or you) walking in a bucket of water twice. Once for the hind legs and again for the front! Coyotes have such an extensive range and such plastic behavior that animals from one part of their range can behave very differently than those from another. One thing that seems pretty universal is stalking rodents in thick grass. I loved the bit where it wagged it’s tail like a dog in anticipation. They are shot at and persecuted so much around here that it’s hard to get close. Still photographers use “predator calls” to get them in to the camera with good results. I’ve tried it for video and it works to a degree. All I get is a shot of them popping their heads up, saying “Oh, it’s you”, and ducking down less than a second later. It sure is refreshing to see your shots of natural behavior. I’m terribly excited to hear that you got your first caribou footage. Good show!

I think Chris is right - you are drawing a lot of us along with you on your mission because the story of the making of your movie is just so incredibly interesting. What you have put together so far is fantastic and the footage of the Coyote that you managed to capture was amazing. Beautiful light as some have already mentioned. I'm especially excited for you that you have managed to track down your quarry at last. Wonderful stuff.

BTW Your Phase 2 movie on the Uwol site, even though it has _2 at the end of the name is in fact a copy of your Phase 1 movie. Not sure if they have been swopped or not like Steve Siegel's were but you better check. I have notified Mat but haven't had a response so I'm not sure if he got my email.

Thanks all for watching & commenting on my entry. This of course was just to stay in the competition & these clips will be drastically reduced in length for the final film.
Jeff,
yes it was a coyote that was stalking the ground squirrel. It really was a fantastic experience to witness that. All the time i thought it was sure to spot me, but it wasn't until it came to within about 30 yards of me that it happened to spot me & then took off at a million miles an hour! The other shots were actually of Elk. I will be including footage of elk, moose, & deer in the film as these "prey" animals venture into the clear cut blocks where logging has taken place in the old growth inland temperate rainforests that the mountain caribou inhabit. These animals intern attract predators that sometimes turn their attention to the mountain caribou instead of the prey they would normally go after.
Mike,
thanks for the comments. I was playing around a bit with the exposure when i was filming both the coyote & the elk. There are certainly some better exposed shots than others, & i will only be using the better ones in the final film. It was very early morning though, & the elk came up towards me from the direction of the rising sun, so exposing them correctly was a bit tricky. I wasn't in a hide when i filmed either of these two sequences so didn't get too much footage before being spotted. I have been using a blind a bit since & will likely be using it far more for the rest of my filming. Funny story actually about using the blind. Last week i was up in the mountains & set up my blind by a slow section in a small stream hoping to get some footage of elk or maybe a moose at the water. I had set up the blind & was very comfortable in it sitting in a chair & waiting for something to happen. After about half an hour, 3 elk showed up, feeding at the streams edge, then proceeding to walk out into the water, all the time a beaver was swimming in the foreground of the shot, then when the elk began to walk out into the stream, the beaver slapped its tail on the water & swam off. That was great, but no sooner had the elk dissapeared, but another beaver came out onto the bank 20 yards right in front of me. Needless to say, i managed to get some really nice footage of him. He stayed there happily eating & grooming himself until well after it was too dark for me to film. I had a long way to drive back home, so wanted to go but was a bit reluctant to move for fear of disturbing him. Well in the end i thought, ok, so now i really have to go, so i got out of the blind, to pack things up. Of course, the beaver took off pretty quickly with a big splash of his tail. The blind i have is one of the types that you simpy unfold to a certain extent, then it pops out using the spring metal frame. Really easy to put up as there's really nothing you have to do, however, folding the darn thing back up is another story, & while sometimes it can be pretty painless, this time it didn't want to play, & i was left standing there for at least 10 minutes trying to get the darn thing folded back up. While i was standing there getting more & more frustrated with not being able to fold up the blind, the beaver calmly came back to the same spot right in front of me & continued to groom & feed. Seems i didn't really need the blind for him after all. The footage i shot of the coyote was infact in an area where hunting is prohibited, so i guess that may have made it easier, however, i think most coyotes are pretty shy critters & getting any good footage of them is a challenge.
Marj,
thanks for the heads up on the phase 1 & 2 films on the uwol site. I haven't checked it out yet, & am running out of time to do so as i am heading back up into the mountains shortly to do some more filming. Hopefully i can get it sorted out when i'm back next weekend. Thanks also for your encouragement, any positive comments from you are a real motivator for me. If i could produce anything like what you & others are doing, then i will be very happy.
On another note, as i have said in other posts about this film, i will be looking at how the predator prey relationships work with the caribou, & i'm happy to say that i have now got some wolf footage in the can for the project! I have also seen my first grizzly bear the other weekend, but unfortunately just got the focus right, when he dissapeared behind some bushes & i didn't get another shot at it. Hopefully i will get some footage of the grizzly bears, & will be able to include that in the film. Cougars are another predator of the caribou, but getting footage of them will probably be a harder task than the caribou themselves!
Ok, thanks once again to all,
Bryce

Ohhh... I covet some of that beaver footage !!! Love to see it.

Chris

Yes! I also would love to see the beaver footage. Many are surprised to learn that we have beaver in the Chihuahuan Desert. They live in the major river systems like Rio Grande, Rio Conchos and Pecos River. They are very wary as there was a trapping industry here as late as the 1960’s. I’ve never seen them give the classic tail-slap that you describe so well. Normally when they detect a human they just sink like a stone with hardly a ripple. They don’t build stick lodges. Instead they excavate burrows in the bank with underwater entrances so they can just disappear. It’s been a mighty long time since we had Grizzly Bears though…

Hi Mike & Chris,
I will try to include some of the beaver footage in the next submission if it fits in, otherwise i will try to post something just of the beavers for you.
On another note, i now have some footage of a couple of moose for my film so now i really need some grizzly & cougar footage. I have heard of a mother grizzly with 2 cubs hanging around an area just up the road from here & have been up a few times looking for them but so far haven't been lucky enough to see them, oh well, i still have a bit of time yet i guess.
Bryce

Ok, now i'm starting to get excited. I was lucky enough to get some more mountain caribou footage last weekend. Light was really nice too, so that helped a lot.
On the Saturday evening i saw a total of 9 moose as i was getting ready to get some sleep. 3 were bulls, 2 cows 1 with an older calf maybe a year or two old, the other cow had 2 calves with it that were obviously very young as they were both only a couple of feet tall. Unfortunately it was way too dark to get any footage of the cows with the calves as they both showed up just as it was getting really dark. Still really nice to see though, that's the best part about this competition, & i guess filming wildlife in general, you get to see so many really beautiful things!
Hope everyone's projects are coming along.
Regards,
Bryce

Ok, now i'm starting to get excited. I was lucky enough to get some more mountain caribou footage last weekend. Light was really nice too, so that helped a lot.


I bet you are very relieved about that Bryce! So glad for you. Time is getting rather short for these projects now and we all have so much to do still.

You're right about seeing such beautiful things when out filming wildlife - I saw my first otters in the wild on Saturday - a family of six - made my day!! It was freezing cold too! Now that I have found their well-used pathway I am going to stake them out. Hopefully I will get some nice footage too.

Hi Marj,
Yes i am relieved that i am getting footage for my project, never the less, it seems the more i get, the more i am starting to think i need!! You're right, time is running short, & i'm sure the last half of this challenge will go very very quickly. I still haven't got my editing computer here in Canada, so i'm sweating on that a bit as i need it to put my film together. The laptop i have is simply nowhere near powerful enough to be able to edit all the footage i have let alone the fact that it simply won't handle HDV material at all. Hopefully i will have the computer in the next month or so & i can get to work on it.
Great to hear you saw your first otters. That must have been a wonderful thing to see. There are otters around here, but i haven't yet been lucky enough to see one. Maybe i would have more chance if i weren't up in the mountains in search of the caribou for every spare bit of my time!
Hope your film is coming along well,
Bryce

Ok, so it looks like i have got an interview with the biologist that is in charge of the mountain caribou for the BC government. I'm thinking of just asking him to give me his thoughts on how things are going with what's being done currently to help thier plight, & whre he sees things in the not too distant future. I will have to write a list of topics i want to make sure are covered, but hope to let him just give me his thoughts. I have never done any interviewing, so if anyone would be willing to help me out with how i should go about it, it would be much appreciated.
Bryce

Bryce... are you asking technique for lighting, sound etc, or more generally how to go about interviewing a subject from more of a communicative sense?

Hi Chris,
I'm hoping to be able to do the interview somewhere outside in a natural setting where i don't need lighting. I feel that sort of setting will go better with the film & will make the cuttaways more subtle.
So yes, any ideas you have on the communicative side of things would be a massive help. I'm thinking of simply having a list of open questions so hopefully he will give me his thoughts on those issues & i can then use snippets from the interview to cut into the film where it makes sense. As i write this it all sounds very simple but i'm sure it's not, so if anyone has any ideas, or suggestions i would be very grateful.
Regards,
Bryce