My film is based on my home area and my passion for sailing.
Our coastline is loaded with islands and skerries.
In the sailing-ships era was the pilot’s local knowledge important to get the ships safe through.
This film is about the island Stråholmen where the pilots lived close to Skagerrak.
They lied on the roofs and looked for ships to pilot.

Stråholmen is an interesting island for botanists and ornithologists. It is also a popular place to visit for the sailing people in the summer.

Here is a rough outline of the film:

1. The rough coastline.
2. Sailing to Ståholmen (island of straw).
3. Showing our boat in the harbour, and some overview of the island.
4. Flora and fauna on Stråholmen.
5. History of the islands population, the pilots.
6. Valonas wreck.
7. Todays use of the Island (recreation and tourists).
8. Maintenance of the cultivated landscape.
9. Nice scenes from the island mixed with languishing music.

The film sketch I have made so long shows:

1. The rough coastline


2. Sailing for Ståholmen.

I have to do some more interesting shots here.


3. Showing our boat in the harbour, and some overview of the island.

These shots will be retaken, not only because of the UWOL rules, but I have bought
me a new tripod. It will hopefully get smoother pan. I need more film for this section.


4. Valonas wreck.

On Dec 4th 1907 a bark ship was on her way from Calais (France) to her home in
Mariehamn (Åland in the Baltic sea) for Christmas.
Dramatic weather in the dark night ended the voyage in the skerries east of Stråholmen.
Only one man survived, 13 were lost.
I have tried to do some animation to show the ship at the sea and the disaster.
I have got a picture from The Marine Museum in Mariehamn.
An old ship model is also used.
I have to do more film to complete this section.
Jomfruland lighthouse was seen from the ship. I will try to do a night shot of the
rotating light cone from the lighthouse.
I need some shots from the place where the surviving man was saved.
It is also a memorial in Skåtøy churchyard.

The narrating is not added to the film yet.


Faale_Stråholmen_UWOLLongForm (http://web.me.com/duovito/Websted/Uwol.html)

Hi Finn-Erik,
very interesting project you presenting here. I'm not so well known in this aera of Norway, so it will be nice to watch your finished film.

Was it a blink of Mølen in first part of your linked film or is it a similar view at Stråholmen?

Thanks for comment, Per Johan.

Your observation is correct. It is Mølen, a well known place for you. I have of course seen your winning UWOL film "From the Sea to the Peak".
Stråholmen is an island situated between Mølen and Jomfruland.

Finn,

Great start to your project.

I really liked the zoom to real wide at the dock and the transition to a yard, great contrast.

Finn, I see what you mean in some of the shots - about the shake, but there wasn't too much. Cut some frames from the start of a few of the tracking shots and it would be barely noticed. Some of the side on tracking shots of the waves look quite good. It just has a nice 'fluid' flow to the shape of the wave. There was some pretty strong wind there too.

It also gives a good indication of what you want to achieve showing the Valonas wreck. Hopefully you can get the shots you need to piece this together. It looks like it will come together nicely.

Hi Finn:

Interesting topic choice and a great jump on footage. It will be nice to see the next stage of your work.

All the best,

Cat

Hi Finn-Erik.
Great topic and I liked your first shots very much.
About Valonas wreck, is this gonna be under water shots too?
You story seems very exiting and I'm looking forward to see more.
By the way. I have been (one time, some years ago) to a place called Loshavn, is your Stråholmen a similar place?

All the best.
Geir Inge

Hi Finn,
Great wave action shots. We don't get that much activity here. In my speakers, the wind noise is a bit rough and peaks out, interfering with the sound of the waves. I wonder if it would be possible to get into a sheltered spot where you could record the wave sound without the wind, and dub it over video?

Hi Finn-Eric,
Wow this is just another film from Norway i'm really looking forward to seeing. You already have some really nice shots. I especially liked the different angles you got on the boat. It will be really nice to see your finished project. Sounds like it should all come together like a a show about a big adventure.
Good luck,
Bryce

Thank you all for comments.

Geir Inge: Unfortunately it will not be underwater shots. First of all, I am not a diver and feel most happy at the surface. Second, it is not much left of the ship. It was smashed, and much of it drifted on shore in pieces. It is similarities between Loshavn and Ståholmen. One difference is that Stråholmen is a small island. It is known for the flora and many observations of different birds of passage. I will try to give this extra attention. The animation and the waves I have done so far could be done in the winter. We have had a cold wintertime until yesterday, but the ice was never strong enough for a walk to Stråholmen.

cool boat shots, nice beginning...

Cool shots.
A good tripod will definitely help, but the shake is not bad at all.

I agree with Steve about the wind noise.

Good stuff.

All those big seas reminded me of New Zealand - lots of wind along the coast there. So it is interesting to see such big waves elsewhere.

I like your graphics with the ship - moving the picture from full frame to the horizon so that it sat on the water. Very clever. I'll look forward to see how you deal with the rest of the ship story.

ahhh makes me want to get out to the coast again...

Looking forward to seeing how your final film turns out and what you do with the animations you included...like that shipwreck (nice touch).

You have a beautiful boat...I too am a sailor (rather, I am learning to be a sailor) and just watching the footage of your boat on the water was lovely although I still get a little freaked out by that much heal in my own boat.

Fun stuff...

Finn-Erik,
I enjoyed watching your video. Others enjoyed the sound of the waves. What I liked was the sound of the boat working in the wind. It made me want to be there! Your use of the model was very clever and I can’t wait to see how the final edit turns out. Will you be visiting Stråholmen during migration season? Best wishes.

Thanks a lot for all comments.


Annie:
Mølen is a place where it is possible to take good wave shots. If, after a while with gale against the shore, the wind turns off-shore, then it is safe film weather. That means no risk for salty spray on the lenses, and it is still possible to watch the spray from the wave crests.

Jef:
I am happy to read that you are a sailor. Maybe you can show up some sailing scenes some day.
After showing summer, flowers and birds i thought it would be fine with a dramatic contrast. I hope this wreck story will work.

Mike:
I will be visiting Stråholmen during the migration season. Parts of the island is bird reserve. This area is not legal for humans in the first part of the summer. Hopefully the migrating birds prefer the inner part of the island.

Finn-Erik

Hi Finn-Eric
You have certainly captured the feel of the rough sea and relentless pounding waves - small wonder a sailing ship would flounder on those waters. Some very nice footage so far.

I think the way you have included photographs with live footage is very creative. My personal preference regarding the handling of the first photograph would be to see the photograph of the sail boat followed immediately by the boat on the horizon (leaving out the zoom in between).

Sounds like an interesting story you have to tell and I look forward to seeing more.

Stråholmen #2

I have made some clips from the winter around Stråholmen.

I have also some shots from the first sailing trip to Stråholmen in April.

It shows the old houses and the cultural landscape maintained by wild sheep.
Actually, Stråholmen is from current year a cultural preservation area.

When the domestic animals disappeared from the island, the pastures were reclaimed by nature.
Trees and bushes popped up and were embraced by climbing plants.
The area has been cleared and grazing sheep prevents the return of the wilderness.

Link to the film:

Stråholmen 2 (http://web.me.com/duovito/Websted/Uwol_2.html)

Soem gorgeous images there. I kind of saw the boat coming towards the skiff of ice as spring coming to break-up winter.... did you plan that?

It is only the 2nd submission, and the footage was lovely. I will be interested ins eeing your story told through your brethtakingly beautiful images.

I will be anxious to see your next submission.

Thanks for the inspiration Finn-Erik!

Chris

ps. What IS it about your Norweigans?

Finn-Erick,

I thought you had some lovely shots in this film and I am looking forward to how it will unfold in you final piece. I know it is only the second submission, but will you have any narration? I think it will benefit.

I loved the snow scenes at the beginning and the oystercatcher at 4:57 was beautiful. My only criticism is that it was framed a little too centrally.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks, Chris. You are too kind to my footage.
The ice braking boat was not planned.
In strong winters is it possible to walk to Stråholmen on the ice. When I considered reaching Stråholmen on foot, a man was missing in the area.
He had gone through the ice....
Then my winter scenes had to be taken from the mainland.

Hi Finn-Erik

Beautiful footage you have there. I am a little lost as to how it contributes to your main story and some sort of rough narration would have helped with context I feel. I also found that while very pretty some of the video lacked dynamic and had more of a photographic feel to them.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about your film.
Mat

Hello Finn-Erik:

Lovely. You have a way of letting the footage speak for itself. How beautiful and so very different your land and seascapes are from our dry and rugged terrain here in Lyons. I thoroughly enjoyed the capturing of the newborns in the spring.

Judging from your theme layout you described in the beginning of this thread, this footage is depicting a small subset of what you will eventually be doing, so I will not make comments about that at this stage of the game.

Just a detail, but perhaps a long transitional fade between the snows of winter to the greens of spring would add some drama to this beautiful and pastoral film.

Cat

Finn-Erik, I just saw that my reply did not get posted. So again. beautiful footage, It reinforces my determination to visit your beautiful country. I especially liked the transition from the harbor to the peaceful houses, and the shots of the birds were great. It looks like such a wonderful place to live. I am really anxious to see more small boats in the harbor, I bet you have some great old wooden boats there. A great start, but am a little confused on how you are going to tie in the sailing aspect. Bob

Finn-Erik, nice to watch "your part of Norway". You have some fine sequences there, maybe some rough cuts from time to time, but I think this will improve when you cut the final masterpiece.
Good work, looking forward to next round.

Finn-Erik,
Very nice footage. I like the way the way you frame your shots. The composition is very satisfying to watch, and your follow of the flying birds is good. Could you maybe get a little closer? Your audio features some intruguing bird song. I recognized one, about halfway through as an Oystercatcher. It would have been good to put your Oystercatcher footage right after that call, using it as an introduction. Good luck on part 3.

Hi Finn-Erik,
Well you have some really nice footage for your project! Firstly i have to make comment on your guitar playing, it was absolutely beautiful & went very well with your footage. Like Matt, i'm not sure how this all fits in with your story as there was no narration telling what was going on, but i'm sure like me you have still got all the narration to do & in the end things will all come together & will make sense. On that note though, the footage you showed in this piece, seemed to be a little bit confusing because you were cutting from one thing to another then back again. This may well work with narration where you are drawing a comparison of the two subjects, or showing how they interact or effect one another, but if not, then i would perhaps try to make each one a sequence on its own, then move on to the next. The footage you have shown us so far looks very impressive & i'm sure everything will come together in the end & i really look forward to watching your next part.
Regards,
Bryce

Such a peaceful place and so very beautiful I can see myself strolling along a dirt road with the sheep baying in the background and hearing the boats on the water. I think that you footage is rich, full of interesting structures and animals. My favorite part of the film was listening to your guitar during the scenic shots then the change to the sounds of the country side as you switched to he farms and cottages.

Nice job looking forward to seeing the final piece.

Thanks a lot to you all for nice and constructive comments. I will have them in mind for the next part. Actually I was short of time. My boat was not ready before late April. One day, we stowed the boat with photo optics and equipments and headed for Stråholmen. After two hours out of the fjord, I recognised that the video camera was left at home. We resigned and made a new attempt another day.

Hi Finn-Erik.
Some great footage you have in your ULF2.
Love the sheep :)
My Uwol5 film was about "The Viking Sheep".
Looking forward to see your next contribution.

Best of luck.
Geir Inge

My UWOL long form 3 is now uploaded.
The video is a "disaster" form the oil country.
I have observed some editing bugs, but I have not time to fix......

Link to Stråholmen Long Form #3:


Straholmen 3 (http://web.me.com/duovito/Websted/Uwol_3.html)

Finn-Erik,
You have a very good submission this time. The animations are excellent.
I like the way you tied the modern disaster into the Valona tragedy. I have only one suggestion. Where the scene changes from the dark sea to the daylight cemetery, perhaps putting a fade up from black on the cemetery will give a smoother transition. You have made a fine video. It is perhaps one of the few good things to come out of such a horrible occurrence.

Mike,

Tanks for your comments.
I will follow your suggestion and do a fade up on the cemetery.

Hi Finn-Erik.
I must agree with Mike, me too like the way you tied the oil disaster into the Valona tragedy. I know from todays news that the ship has been drawn from the cliffs.
One question (me and my questions):
Can we expect a change in your original plan due to this oil disaster?
Just curious :)
Great shots, editing and colours.

All the best.
Geir Inge

Hallo Finn Erik.


Its very sad whit the oil, I hope they get a good clean up. We have the MS Server her
on Feije and it end good. I really hope you will make a finale Straaholmen. And you
have allot of nice cut.


All Best
VJV.

Geir Inge and Vidar, thanks for comments.
After all, I will not change my original plan. But, I will use the oil disaster sequence in the final video.

Hello Finn-Erik:

You have produced a fine film, and you cover the oil disaster extremely well. Your cinematography is excellent and the presentation of the historic ship scaling back to look like it was sailing on the ocean was very creative. Nicely done, to weave the historic and current disasters together as they both have a huge impact on Straholmen.

This is a tragic and solemn addition to your promising and beautiful film.

Cat

Finn-Erik,
a very sad but interesting piece in the same time! To watch the oil spill in your area and suffer to all creature living there, makes me very, very sad!

The combination of the historic event with Veronica was nice.

There was some issue, with sound however. I often use to make audio cross-over dissolves to avoid those huge jumps in audio levels as you got in some of your scenes.

Your narrating was very nice to listen to. You have a great voice, Finn-Erik!

Per Johan,
thanks for good advice. I am shamed of the sounding. All is recorded with built-in camera microphone without a good windshield. I think I will have to do some sound recording in post-production.

Excellent piece. Good use of shots and good narration. I did notice the sound issue Per Johan mentioned, and the shots of waves were a little dark, but overall a very interesting piece! Well done.

Chris Swanberg

Hi Finn-Erik - Sorry I didn't manage to watch your submission for round 2 - I will comment on both this time round.

Your video work is very nice. It always seems to have a peaceful, structured feel to it. Your shots in general are carefully considered and a treat for the eye and your talented guitar playing complements these beautiful images.

After watching your sequences I am really taken with Stråholmen - it is very picturesque has some beautiful wildlife and has some interesting stories to tell - good choice of subject in that respect. Your shots of the various birds and animals are very crisp and the colours are good. I enjoyed the delightful Oystercatcher in particular. I was fascinated by your first shot of the swan in your second submission - it came as quite a surprise to see one of the pieces of ice floating on the water turn into a beautiful swan! :)

It is nice to hear your voice this time round! Your voice is clear and pleasant to listen to. Although I do realize it is very difficult to do when you are speaking a foreign language, which you do very well, it would lift the mood and heighten the interest a lot if you added a little more expression/emotion while telling your story. It comes across as being very matter-of-fact.

Something to think about when structuring your story:
I realize that you are probably wanting to do a simple story about Stråholmen, but in order to give a bit of strength to your story, consider putting more focus on the contrasting situations and moods that can be and have been experienced here - the almost idyllic serenity of the island (as witnessed by views of your boat and lovely scenery) as opposed to the perils of the sea (as witnessed by the oil spill and the wreck of the Valona.)

Another suggestion to consider: You have had a good, meaningful story drop into your lap - Stråholmen in the third round is not the same as when you started - the story in real life has taken a turn - what are the implications? Seeing the main attraction of Stråholmen - the stunning scenery and its wildlife - at stake is dismaying and it could perhaps be used to great effect. In this respect your shots of the oil spill and the damage it has caused could be a bit more dynamic (rather than calmly beautiful) with the inclusion of some quicker camera shots and use of diagonals in the framing. It would be good to convey the urgency of the situation in mopping up. It would be good to get your viewers more involved to appreciate what is actually at stake here and why it “will bleed for a long time”. Your story could be used to send a strong message to your viewers rather than remain a simple portrait of a beautiful place on earth experiencing a sad interlude.

Fin,

Have to agree with prior posts. Good use of graphics and I really liked the grapic drawing back to the ocean. It took me a bit to realize you were using the dark ocean as an ominous factor in your film.

It is coming along great.

the finale should be real nice.

Oh yea, I liked the pace of the audio and you do have a terrific voice for voice overs, as per mentioned.

You need to get an external mic for you camera, or perhaps borrow one.

Tanks so much for comments.

Marj,
Thank you for good suggestions. I will try to follow your wise advices and do more out of the contrasted sequence and voice over. My native language will be used in the final version.

Dale,
I will bring with me an external microphone on my next visit to Stråholmen.
The weather has been unstable for a long period. The rain is falling heavily outside my window at this moment. I hope the weather will improve this weekend so I can go to the island.

Hi Finn- Erik

What a mess we humans can create huh ! - This story has the potential to be quite hard hitting. However at the moment I find the edit quite flat and monotone. I think Marj has given you a fantastic critique talking about more heavilly using comparisons in your imagery and building a better back story. - You have good shots, the building blocks of what you need but this is an emotive and sad story and want to feel that more when I watch the images. The use of music/score/sounds will of course help this a lot too.

Good start and I look forward to your progress on this.

Mat

Here is a link to Stråholmen UWOL long form #4.
Narrating is in Norwegian. Below you will find the English translation.

Straholmen 4 (http://web.me.com/duovito/Websted/Uwol_4.html)


00:04:18
The southern part of Stråholmen was declared a nature reserve in 1990. In the nesting period no human is allowed to enter this area.
Lots of seabirds nest out there. Migrating birds land and rest and leave.

00:05:18
As the ice withdrew more than 10 000 years ago the terminal moraine called the Ra was formed.
The sea has rounded the stones as here at Mølen. The Ra stretches further out and reappears at Stråholmen.

00:06:05
There were settlements on the island before 1600. Solid mooring rings are reminiscences of the time when Dutch ships stayed here waiting for fair wind.

00:06:21
Situated in open sea and close to the fjords and towns of Grenland Stråholmen was a perfect station for the sea pilots.
Agriculture and fishing were supplementary means of living. The population grew with the increase of shipping trade.
In 1875, 7 sea pilots and 49 people lived here.

00:06:46
The port conditions were poor until the pier was constructed by workers from the Telemark canal. The pier was finished in 1892.

00:07:16
The many skerries made the waters a frightful area.

00:07:24
I 1907 the Ålandic bark-ship Valona left Calais in France. She was on her way home to Åland in the Baltic sea. Christmas time was approaching. Increasing southern wind blew the ship towards the Norwegian coast. At 4 pm the Jomfruland lighthouse was seen to port. After a few hours breakers were heard. The lifeboat was launched and three men went aboard. A huge wave seized the lifeboat and turned it around. The three sailors managed to crawl up on the keel but lost the grip and disappeared. Shortly after the ship crashed on a skerry and everyone was thrown overboard.

00:09:06
13 men lost their lives. 12 were found and buried at the Skåtøy cemetery. A granite memorial was erected in memory of the unfortunates.

00:09:35
Here at Little Mostein the tragic shipwreck took place. The next morning a man caught sight of pieces of the wreck on the seashore. Then he heard screams from the skerry. A 20 year old sailor from Stockholm was rescued, strongly cooled down. He was the only survivor from Valona. In 1912 another shipwreck took place outside Stråholmen. A ship named Gustava of the nearby town Kragerø hit a skerry. 6 men lost their lives, two survived. After these tragedies a rescuing station was established at Stråholmen.

00:10:27
In 1911 a pilot station was established in Langesund. The island people made their living from fishing and agriculture alone and some became sailors. Since 1954 people have not passed the winters here. The homes of the pilots are now just summerhouses.
A few cottages have also been built.

00:11:08
The winter with snow has fallen upon the archipelago. This is the quiet season. A mute swan dwells where there is open water. A fishing boat maintains the channel in the ice.

00:12:01
Spring has arrived. The flowers grow up and face the sun.

00:13:24
Many new lives are born. Eggs are hatched. Many shall learn how to take the world with so many dangers

00:14:38
The house martins nest under the overhanging roof. At the end of August the young birds are still staying in the nest.

00:15:12
Then what should not happen yet happens. A cargo ship on anchor near Såsteinflaket drifted away a stormy night.
The ship stranded on a skerry and leaked more than 200 tons of heavy crude oil into the sea.

00:16:00
Crude oil drifted away with wind and stream. Shores from Sandefjord to Grimstad were affected and littered.

00:16:31
Many seabirds were hit by the spill.

00:17:26
A great job was done cleaning up the affected shores of Stråholmen. These stony shores were washed. Afterwards they were covered with bark and seaweed to soak up the remaining spots of oil. Oil booms are still floating on the waters as a final assurance.

00:18:00
Stråholmen is renowned for its botanical diversity .

00:21:11
Stråholmen has much to offer keen photographers.

Congratulations Finn-Erik:

This looks like a final entry to me, or very close to it. This is a solid documentary of Straholmen and how it continues to survive past and present tragedies with grace and beauty. I thought this was masterfully put together, with very creative shots and transitions like the historic ship moving back to the sea horizon and the view of the sailboat through the eye bolt on your own boat. Nice way to wrap the movie up with you sailing in the beginning and at the end. The narrating in your own native tongue was perhaps the best way to do this, even though it is work for those of us who don't understand Norwegian. Your camera work is first rate, subject matter interesting, the choice of music and how you use it with your video is all very well done (like the timing of the news articles about the oil spill with the music). I enjoyed the wildlife and the domestic animal life as well. The sheep are wonderful, and the swan with her chick riding on her back was fantastic.

This is wonderfully put together and 21 minutes went by very quickly, even without understanding the narration (except through the script provided in your thread). The only minor point that I noticed was that around 5 minutes into the piece, perhaps the audio dips a bit and then recovers?

Straholmen is a beautiful place and I can see why you chose it as your topic for a long format film.

All the best,

Cat

p.s. I'm glad to hear that the oil spill clean up was successful and very well executed. That is good news!

Finn-Erik...

I agree with Cat (again) this does appear to me a mostly finished film... you have been making good use of your time (unlike some of us). The photography and music were superbly matched. All nicely done without being "overdone".

A question, have you considered doing a subtitled version? While the entire world does not speak english (and I do only because of anaccident of birth) you do significantly limit your audience with your native tongue narration (which was delightful to listen to even if I didn't understand a word).

Beautifully done. Bravo.

Chris

Hi Finn-Erik.
I think you have made a great video from Straaholmen.
I'm lucky to understand your language and must say it's all fine.
Both relaxing tempo and interesting to follow.
I will recommend you to make an english version though. This video is to good not to be understandable to others than Norwegians :)

I have some technical to point out, but only suggestions though :)
There are a few jump cuts, as follow:
At the beginning, sailing to Straaholmen, I think you shall put a cutaway between the two clips of thge seals. Also later in the video when you show the bushes (in norwegian: kratt/gror igjen), too many similar clips.
When tha man is talking to the crowd, maybe shorten that scene? I think it last for just a few seconds too long.
Then at a point, just for a short period the sound seems to get a bit low, I think it's when you say; "Villsauen er mindre..." The sheep is standing on some rocks (norwegian again; steingard).
I think you can make the night clips just a little bit lighter (?).

I am certain this video can be sold to NRK (our national TV), it's a grerat documentary.
Your narrations is relaxed and suits well to the video and I think it's quite a job you've done.
Of course I love the sheep (just have to, I made my mammal video about the Wild sheep/Viking sheep). You have managed to make the oil disaster (Full City) a natural part of the video - great.
Also love the scene of the, not so beloved American (sorry folks) The Mink. Maybe you should link this to the other disaster (oil)? The Mink doesn't belong in the norwegian nature, but is a result from animals in captivity for the fur.

OK, that's it from me, hope you can use some of my thoughts.

All the best
Geir Inge

Thank you all for overwhelming comments.

Cat,
I have adjusted the narrating level in the video, but as you observed, one place was omitted.

Chris,
It is a good idea to do a subtitled version. The other possibility is to narrate the comments with my Norwegian tongue. I am not quite sure what would be the best.

Geir Inge,
Thanks for your technical suggestions. I think I will follow them all. After hours in editing I get blind. At the end, It was impossible to decide what was good or bad...