What a journey this round has been. Usually it's not having enough footage and plenty of time to edit. This time it was more footage than I could possibly need but due to import issues, no time to edit.

Plan A was a much more diverse narrated piece showing the results of weather in two distinctly different parts of the country.

Without knowing what I would be able to film in Montana, I put off starting my edit until after I returned from Montana, which turned out to be 4AM on November 29th. Had no clue that I would spend the majority of the 29th trying to import footage over and over again.

Finally discovered that it was a hard drive issue of some sort and when I switched to a Thunderbolt RAID hard drive to import to, things went fine.

Just the footage from the Montana trip was 973GB. Add all the Iowa footage and I knew I was in trouble at 12:30 in the morning of the 30th. So what to do?

I skipped my Plan B and C while trying to piece it together at work and knew I had to put something together. So what you see here is something way down the plan alphabet.

I'm stoked that I avoided the Shark Tank but so disappointed because so much great footage was left on the editing floor.

Up until Tuesday in Montana, the weather was near 60F Tuesday evening a snow storm rolled in and the temps took a nose dive. By Thanksgiving the lows were around -16F and the highs were failing to hit even 20F.

With Plan A, there was no worries about having footage without snow, but now with Plan L or whatever letter I was on, all that non snow footage couldn't be used. I did use two wolf shots before the snow flew.
it looked to me as if the alpha male was looking to the rest of the pack to take shelter from the pending storm and they came running for shelter. Hey, it worked in my mind! :)

Have you seen photographer Jim Brandenburg's photo of a wolf peeking out from behind the tree? I got the same thing but mine was with a grizzly bear. But it was in the high 50's with everything in sight brown from the grasses and ground to the bear itself. Not too useable for a piece about snow. I guess if I had time to do some narration I could have worked it in and explained it but for this it wasn't going to work. I'll post a frame grab from it in another post.

There were a lot of other things that happened to slow me down including a trip to the doctor in Livingston but I still came home with some of the best footage I've ever shot, I'm just sad that a lot of it isn't in this piece.

All in all, I don't think it's a bad piece but when held up to what I envisioned, it certainly fell short.

Feel free to rip away, I'm guessing there's nothing you can find that I haven't already found. I see plenty of shots held too long or not long enough but this late in the game I wasn't going to go back and fix them and have something else go wrong with the editing software. :)

My two favorite shots are maybe shots that you wouldn't think would be my favorite.

First up is the aerial shot at 1:50. I love this one because the little pine tree is in a small clearing that you can only discover from above. But what I love about this shot is pulling back while tilting the camera up. I love the look it gives.

The other shot is at 2:08. If you look on the left side of the tree branch you can actually see the snowflake structure. That blew me away when I saw it! I couldn't wait to make it back to base camp and show my friends!

Course, their favorite two shots were the sunset shot pulling back from the Bridger Mountain range and of course, the wolf howling. That little point is the one spot you can see down into the valley below.


Fire & Ice by Kevin J Railsback - UWOL36 on Vimeo

My Brandenburg moment. :)

The most often question I get asked when filming wildlife is how close were you?

Here's a frame grab of the bighorn sheep that is the next to last shot in the film.

A camera with a lot of reach can work miracles! :)

The sheep is near the center of the ridge if you can't see him right off the bat. :)

I really enjoyed your video. You have set the bar pretty high. The wildlife and aerial scenes were mesmerizing.

Thanks Mark!

You shoot all the stuff that I love to film.
Wildcat Creek is one of the mesmerizing, meditative examples.

Ok, i'm sitting in front of my keyboard, not really knowing what to write. I am quite speechless!! What a beautiful film Kevin!!! Sounds like you had some issues putting things together, but what you came up with in the end, was truly spectacular!! There were so many shots i loved, i think it will be much easier if i just highlight all the ones i didn't really love, so here we go.
The shot at 4:01. What the heck's with that? All black? Where did all the beautiful shots go? I could have kept watching shots like all the others for another few hours!!! Actually, i think the whole film sucks. How you can tease us all with just 4 minutes of that i just don't know. In fact, bugger it, I'm done with all this feedback BS, i'm going to go & watch it again, and again, and ..........

Kevin I had to watch yours first after all the teases and well I'm not sure if I could handle your plan A !! All I can really say is wow. You really did have a great trip.and got some beautiful footage. With the burns how big of an area do they burn at a time?
Thanks for sharing.

Gordon

Hi Kevin,

You have a very strong film here! Since you were on plan L or something, I wonder how plan A would have turned out. Would have left us all in the shadows, perhaps.

The colorful shot at 1:10 was amazing, and of the animals, the wolf shot at 2:23 were my favorites.
You say some shots were held too long, or too short. Well, after watching this several times, I disagree.
I like it the way it is.

Have to agree with the others here, Amazing!
I'm glad you were able to submit.

Bryce,

You had me in a panic there for a moment thinking a shot didn't get rendered out or something! :) I thought I had looked carefully for any compression glitches before I uploaded! :)

The film is only as good as it is because you and the rest of the UWOL family ignited my passion again for something that I love but felt I didn't have the time needed to do it justice. So hats off to you and the rest of the UWOL gang for making this film possible.

Gordon.

Plan A looked pretty good in my mind! :) Not sure if I could have pulled it off right or not but it felt "right" to me.

It depends on how the weather is and how well the prairies burn. Usually they do about 1/3 of the prairie so that it is in different stages of growth every year.

Trond,

As long as you like it then that's ok with me. :) I always tend to see what is wrong or lacking with my work instead of the parts that are good.

This was the first time I came back from a Montana trip really tickled with the footage I have. I'll have to put together something with the footage that wasn't used because some of the best isn't in this film, just would have been out of place with no snow.

Here he goes again, the Yeti teasing us with yet another future weather film. :)
Go for it, buddy!

Hi Kevin:

It's a stunner. It is beautiful beyond words. What a joy to watch a master at his craft. I am so humbled and speechless!

The two stills you included in your successive posts were also amazing. I am amazed at how far the bighorn was from you and what your camera and lens were able to do.

What a gift you are! Can we be friends forever? :)

-------
A note to Bryce: LOL, that was the wittiest feedback I've ever read and making the spot on point that when there is nothing to say, there is nothing to say! :)
------

Kevin, another great skill you have shown here is your editing ability. You put this together in a day??? It looks like you spent weeks perfecting timing to bring out the esthetics.

Yay Kevin!

Kevin, that was fantastic. The range of shots and animals you managed to capture was a delight. The composition and shot angle was very varied and kept me engaged throughout the film. I really loved all the close ups, but the wolf was my favourite.

That was awesome!

If you're ever headed in my direction (Minnesota/North Dakota border area), let me know. I'd love to bug the hell out of you for a day or two. I'll bring the sandwiches.

/don't know if its appropriate, but I immediately had the idea that its too bad, for symmetry purposes, that the video didn't open with a sunrise, to match the moon set at the end. Which, by the way, was so impressive you could easily convince me it was CGI.

Cat,

You are so good for my ego! :)
I'm not sure if editing is a great skill or a huge curse. Seems so often my better work comes when I'm under the gun and when everything goes right and I have a lot of time to tweak the edit etc, it ends up less than stellar.

It was the same thing when I was taking some college writing courses. If I waited until the morning the papers were due, I'd do great. Get it done in plenty of time, yeah, not so hot. Trust me, I'd so love to be able to have an entry done a week ahead of the deadline and be able to relax and actually go to sleep before midnight! :)

Tim,

Wolves are such amazing creatures. Listening to a wolf howl in a snowstorm is the epitome of wildness.
Composition is something I try to work really hard on. I have a tendency to plop the tripod down and once I find a composition and I don't entertain the thought that there could be a better composition. So I make it a point after I shoot what I think is "the" shot, pick up and look for a different take. Usually I find something better than what I originally thought was the best shot.

So often in nature you have to stop drop and shoot because you only have seconds to get a shot in some instances. So I tend to find an angle that works and get the shot in the can which is probably where my lack one interest comes from when thinking about other angles.

If I have time, I try to get it right the first time. If I don't I get the best that I can then hop I can get a second chance to recompose.

The biggest issue I still need to work on is camera movement. A lot of my shots are to much like a slide show. I set a goal for 2015 to do more movement and I have but still not enough in my book. So 2016 is the year of movie and groovin for me! :)

Robert,

Hell yeah you can bug me and I don't require any sandwiches at all but hey, I'm not gonna turn em down if you come bearing food! :)

Your comment about the sunrise it totally appropriate and warranted. I totally agree that bookending the film with a sunrise and a sunset would be perfect.

The location I shot all the moon stuff didn't have a good view of the sunrise so I opted not to even try and instead to try and get some alpenglow which happened on the one day I wasn't ready for it and the Bridger Mountains.

I can certainly add one in that I've shot before in Montana but with the importing issues I had I didn't want to take a chance of having something going wrong again so late in the game so I didn't even go back to the well of stuff I shot last week that may have been better in fear I'd run out of time all together.

I'm looking to take a couple weeks next year to tool around Montana and Wyoming. If I take two weeks I'll probably drive so we can certainly see about meeting up and doing some shooting and brain picking. :)

I've learned something about filming nature and wildlife from every person I've met so I'm always eager to meet people and see from their perspective.

I had a friend ask me to take him out on the prairie a couple months ago. Was just a step above knowing how to turn the camera on and he found some great compositions.

I encouraged him to talk out loud what it was that he liked about a subject and then we'd drill down deeper and we'd offer suggestions back and forth and he really came away with some great footage.

It may sound really stupid to be out in nature talking to yourself but I find that if you're stuck for a composition, start talking out loud and it seems that you find a solution more often than not. Weird how that happens.

Here's another behind the scenes shot coming down Highway 89 headed towards Yellowstone with some bighorn sheep right on the road.

I knew I couldn't get a good shot without pushing them and risking that they'd jump into the road so I just took this as a documenting shot that I saw them there and let them be.

My CGI skills are about five steps below stick figure ability! :)

Kevin,
If you don't mind, would you tell us what gear you are using? Wondering what camera, tripod, & particularly what you are using for your aerial footage (Which i thought was mindblowing!)
Thanks in advance,
Bryce

kevin,

I fundamentally live outdoors and I know how much work it is even to see a lynx, none the less get some fabulous footage of one. To me, of all the animals that is the big score!!!
I am curious if you were walking trails or humping into the back country with all your gear, or were you car hopping from hot spot to hot spot. did you round them up on your own or did you have someone on the inside to help (like a local).

It is a beautiful piece. If anyone thought a spot was to long then they ned meds for their attention deficit.
when you get youtr stuff together Id love a bluray of it!!!

Sence my daughter lives in montana maybe I should take my camera sometime, eh?

thank you for wading through the troubles and taking all the time to submit.

Hugely appreciated!!

Bryce,

My camera is a Panasonic PX270. I use a custom scene file so I don't have to do any color correction in post. It comes out of the camera just how I like it.

I started out as a still photographer so I was going after that Kodachrome/Velvia slide film look in my video, hence the customs settings.

Tripod is just a set of 75mm Miller carbon fiber three stage legs with a Vinten Vision Blue fluid head.
Aerial footage was from a DJI Phantom 3 Professional shot in 4k and downsized to HD.

I don't get too caught up in being a gear head because so many people think if they only had this then they could shoot amazing footage. The reality is that with the exception of the Phantom 3 (My PX270 doesn't fly very well on its own!) about any camera can get you the footage you want. Heck, my iPhone 6s Plus shoots killer video. Case in point, my favorite band shot on my iPhone 6s Plus like a week after I got it. :)

Here Come the Mummies Cedar Falls, Iowa 10/3/15 on Vimeo

I used to shoot Sony but fell in love with the organic look of the Panasonic cameras and I've shoot with four generations now. The HVX200, HVX170, HPX250 and now the PX270.

The best advice I can give anyone is to shoot from your heart. I don't shoot with a paycheck in mind, I don't shoot with UWOL in mind. When I go out to film for a UWOL challenge I go out with the theme in mind but I shoot from the heart and what moves me emotionally. I've only really planned shots for one UWOL film. All the others are just me sitting down with everything I've filmed that month and trying to piece something together that makes sense.

I know people that have Red Dragons and Epics, huge field monitors etc and their work is just ok. I think it's because they don't shoot with passion and from the heart.

I get asked a lot what camera I use but you know what? I have yet to set my camera outside and have it come back on it's own with any footage.

It's the person that hits that record button.

My grandfather was a master carpenter and could build a house with a hand saw and a hammer. A circular saw and nail gun just made the job easier is all.

I often imagine Michelangelo being asked what brush he used to paint the Sistine Chapel and dozens of people getting a camel hair #9 and being upset that their painting didn't look as good! :)

Anyway, long ramble there to a simple question but I always try to inject a bit of my philosophy in my answers if I can to help explain where I'm coming from.

Thanks for the info Kevin,
Wow that camera has some reach eh! It certainly does have a lovely colour science to it, & obviously you have tweaked it to bring out the best from the camera in the conditions in which you use it.
I am impressed with the aerial footage, & assumed it was something other than a Phantom 3. It is perhaps the best footage from that setup i have seen so far. I am in the market for something like this myself, so am very interested in what is out there, & what they are capable of. It looks like you have mastered the control of the camera while flying as your compositions & moves looked flawless!! Well done!
You are absolutely right when you talk about the importance of the person behind the camera more so than the camera itself. My gear is more than capable of getting great shots every time, unfortunately i am the one controlling it, & i don't always get it right.

I hope you don't mind if i ask a few more questions.
Are all the animals in your film wild animals that you shot in the wild? I'm not sure i have ever seen such incredible shots of wolves made in the wild.
Was that a fisher at 1:39? I've seen martin before, but never a fisher.
The last shot, the one of the moon, is certainly one of my favourites. Was there still some daylight at that time? You had it so well exposed and yet you still had great colour & detail in the mountains. Is this straight from the camera, or was it CC'd in post? Either way, it is a stunning shot.
Ok, just one more question.
Do you think i will wear it out if i keep playing it? :)

Regards.
Bryce

Kevin,

I love this, with all the Ariel footage and time lapses its wonderful, with those many animals and birds induced it has to be the best.

The only thing that caught me off guard was a squirrel after the wolf howl, i would have expected the wolf howl at the end before the moon shot making the mood elevated higher , this is just my taste and i watched it 3 times with a gap of a day in between and felt the same way hence needed to say it,

You have so amazing colours captured in the film that i have been mesmerized by them all the way.

Wonderful work.

Dale,

Sorry I missed your post earlier. Hard to keep track of things when you're trying to keep up to date on a phone. :)

The cat in the creek bottom was a bobcat. Much easier to come by. I've filmed lynx in the past but like you said, they are very rare.

I have a lot of friends that live there that keep me informed as well as open their land to wildlife. It has it's drawbacks though. One of my friends almost lost their dog to a mountain lion but they still believe that this was their land first and do everything they can to protect them on their property.

Bryce,

I go where wildlife is acclimated to people. I'm fortunate to have made friends with people that have the proper permits etc and allow me to do things that the general public is never allowed to do.

Yellowstone is my favorite spot to go. I almost kneeled on a baby black bear cub once. Found out it was the cub of a bear named Rosie that hangs out close to people to protect her cubs from large males.

The sad thing about working with people that work so closely with animals is that when one gets killed, I think you feel it more than you normally would.

I was working with a guy in Minnesota filming a wolf pack out there and one of the yearling females was shot and killed while I was there. I have footage of her and it still breaks my heart knowing that she was shot the day after I filmed her. (All the wolves I filmed that year are now dead)

There's some people here in Iowa that are doing some wildlife studies that I'm trying to get to know through some friends to see if I can work with them but so far no go. It's hard to earn people's trust that you will do what they ask you to do and don't betray their trust of the wildlife.

Seems that so many animals end up dead because someone tells someone else about a den so the less people that know, the safer it is for the wildlife.

I know where endangered plants are her in Iowa, some federally endangered because the people that I work with trust me. One orchid that grows here is federally endangered but I have yet to film it because it is visible from a trail and I'm worried that someone will see me filming it and the people that told me where it is like to say when the public finds out,we usually end up seeing a hole where it used to be.

But I've earned enough trust that people will call me saying hey if you want to film this we know where you can find this if you want.

There's a guy in Canada that shoots way better wolf stuff than I do. I'll see if I can get the name of the park that he shoots in.

Yep, that's a fisher. We even have them in Iowa according to the biologist I talked to.
There's a guy here that has what must be a fisher motel because you can see them run across his driveway.
A student from Montana State I think it was did a survey on them and went to my friends place because he has them running around all over.

The full moon will set as the sun rises. So it's one of those rare times that you can get the moon with some decent light as it sets.

Still the difference in brightness is too great so I actually on Trond's suggestion when I sent him a frame grab, put a mask on the moon then lowered the exposure to get some of the detail back.

So no CGI or anything, just isolated the moon with a mask and lowered the exposure to bring it into balance more.


On a side note, I couldn't get my girlfriend to go in even the same field that the wolves were in. I told her we have a guy with a gun to protect you but she wasn't having any part of it. She was fine being ion the vicinity of a bear but no dice on the wolves. I'd take the wolves any day over a bear when it comes to safety I think! :)

Judging by the still-image of the amazing bear you filmed, I would be terrified of that guy up close. I had one close bear encounter, cresting a hill with 7 goats in tow I found myself looking into the eyes of one not 40 ft away. He was a young black bear who tend to just want to be left alone. We just stood there staring at each other while I was frantically trying to remember my bear safety rules, but with 7 goats? In the end, I ended up grabbing the collar of the nearest goat and yanking him into an about face. I was hoping we could just sort of slink quietly back down the hill but I think the goats keyed off of my fear (not to mention they saw the bear too) and bolted in a frenzy. Nothing else to do but run with them and new for sure that if anything would prompt a bear to chase, this would be it. By God's grace he let us go up to a high road while he stayed low. What was amazing is he tracked us for awhile as we headed back down the high road, while he stayed low. I just remember how much ground he could cover in such a short amount of time. I think for the bear, it was more curiosity than anything else. Fortunate for us!

A grizzly can run faster than a horse for short bursts. No way you're going to get away from them.

But if you know the right people you can be right next to a wild bear and have no fear. Dr. Lynn Rogers at The Wildlife Research Institute (http://www.bearstudy.org/website/) use to put GPS collars on bears just by earning their trust. He could take their heart rates as well while he gave them a handful of nuts to keep the busy.

Sadly the Minnesota DNR has an ax to grind with him and he can no longer collar bears and of course hunters immediately shot June one of the bears he had been studying for years and years.

The Minnesota DNR also took away some rescue animals from a rehabber and is trying to shut her down so I have no love for those people!

I always wear bear bells, I always carry pepper spray and most of all I always try to stay calm.

I tend to go where bears are used to seeing people and don't get so alarmed which I guess is kind of my secret weapon. Go where the animals are used to seeing people.

Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary is another great place to film bears although you don't have as much freedom as if you are working with someone one on one.

Kevin, I spent 12 weeks in Rocky Mountain N.P. and didn't see half the wildlife I just saw in your video. You really have some magnificent shots. The shot of the wolf howling was awesome. How long did you wait for that one? I cant believe you shot 927 GB of footage. How many hours does that equate to? Your aerial shots of the trees was really smooth. You nailed the color. I loved that statement you made "I have yet to set my camera outside and have it come back on it's own with any footage.
It's the person that hits that record button"
.
Again, that video was breathtaking. There is no comment that I could ever make that could possibly improve this video. Bob

Kevin, following an idea from Mick a few months back, I decided to write out all my notes on the films longhand, before reading all the other posters opinions.
Yesterday, I wrote:

Kevin:

WOW!

Kevin,
Thank you for being so open in answering my questions. Wow i have to say that all those shots of the animals are all the more impressive being that they are not done in a controlled environment! Ok, so the shots i get aren't either, but yours are truly spectacular!!
Thanks,
Bryce

The virus has lost its grip and I'm up and running again.

OK, then let's go down to business.
So good to have you back in the sadle again, Kevin.
I have missed you and your films in this forum and the way you inspire me with your craft.
Perhaps I'm pretty good in telling stories, still I know my weakness is to put together the right combination of clips.
Here's where you come in my friend and by looking at your films I have learned a lot.
I think you are the best in show, the way you edit your films.
You are a true artist in the way you frame your work.
You can see a details where others haven't bother to lift an eyebrow, If you know what I mean?
Usually I don't pick out one clip to say it's my favorite, as I want to see the hole film as one piece of art.
Still, as you mention it yourself about the tree. I pick mine to be at 2.37.
The squirrel sticking it's nose out to see what's going on, right after the howling wolf.
Why? Because it tells me something and no offend my friend, but I have to be honest with you.
As perfect as it is, I miss one thing. A voice over.
I know you have said that you don't feel comfort doing VO, still that's what I feel you must do.
I want to know how the animals cope with the snow/winter and what happens when the prairie burns.
Nice as it is, just to pull it all together a VO would have done great things with your film.
I just say: Make a call to Bob and ask him to do a film - you two is a perfect match, if you ask me.
Thank you for sharing you work and hope to see you next round.
I hope you get what I mean.

3 questions in the end:
1) at 1.39 - what's that snowy little cute thing?
2) what kind of drone do you have?
3) how did you get so near the animals (in a hide or?)?

Cheers!

Geir,

Thank you for the kind words as well as the constructive feedback! I love hearing what doesn't work for someone and I'm never offended. It helps me see from other eyes and different ways of thinking. It's how we grow!!

That little squirrel at 2:37 would take just one seed and take it to his stash, then run back and do it all over again. I watched him for like an hour. I couldn't find a good composition of him running down his trail so even though I shot it, I didn't use it.

I guess if you want to put a story to that shot, you could say that the wolf if giving the all clear that the storm has passed and you can no go back to what you were doing.:)

Sadly it seems that I do my best editing under pressure. So wish that wasn't the case.

Bob and I did join forces for the film The River. His voice took it to a whole new level for me!
I actually had a voice over for Plan B but no time to finish it and record it as I moved from Plan to Plan

Here's a snippet from the rough draft for Plan B:

"As cold weather begins to creep into much of the United States,

The painters pallet of prairie wildflowers have been replaced by varying shades of brown. The only color on the prairie is from fire that skips across the dry prairie grasses, returning nutrients back into the soil for when the prairie reawakens in the Spring.

The trees now bare, their once vibrant leaves on the forest floor providing shelter and protection from predators.

Field mice, sealed into their nests begin their long hibernation as the cold sets in.

Whitetail deer are more active as their mating season peaks."

So I think Plan B was more in line with what you were thinking.

The little critter is a fisher. It's a member of the weasel family and thus never moves. When they run into frame, if you squeak like a mouse they'll stop for just a second or two then continue doing their thing. They never stop!

The drone footage is from a DJI Phantom 3 Professional.
I've tweaked the settings so that's how it looks right out of the camera.
I locked the white balance at 5700k just to edge the shadows towards blue to give them a colder feel. That's why the footage that has sunlight looks normal but the shadows have a blue cast to them. A little white balance tweak goes a long way.

Same thing with the sunset, tweaked white balance back to 5600k to pick up the color of the sunset. Auto white balance would have tried to make all that color neutral and it would have looked like grey skies.

Here in Iowa you typically need full camo, a hide etc. If you go where animals have never been hunted and felt no pressure from human their entire lives you could hand feed them if you were dumb enough to do so.

I think five people have been gored this year by bison when they walked up to them, turned their back and tried to take a selfie. Some as close as three feet from the bison.

I'll have to look if I included a frame grab of the bull elk feeding on this thread. All kinds of commotion from people stopping to see him and he never even bothered to lift his head to see if there was any danger. Just kept on eating. If I didn't, I'll upload one tonight when I get home from work.

Kevin,
Sounds great! Will you re-edit this one & lay down a VO then? I would love to see it how you originally envisioned it!!

If I have the footage I will

No pressure Kevin,
But if you have the footage & can make it happen, it would be awesome!

Thanks for answering my questions, Kevin.
A fisher? It's related to our pine marten I guess.
I have never heared of it before, so thank you for enlighten me.
My experience is that you are always professional in your work.
And you clearly show that you care about nature's welfare.
We are fortunate to have you in this forum.
All the best my friend.

Geir,

Same family:

The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a small carnivorous mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family (commonly referred to as the weasel family) and a part of the marten genus. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American marten (Martes americana). The fisher is a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern United States. Names derived from aboriginal languages include pekan, pequam, wejack, and woolang. It is also sometimes referred to as a fisher cat, although it is not a feline.

Don't expect much from my February entry. Wildlife is hard to film here unless you have a lot of time and a hide etc.
If we have no snow then everything is brown.

Kevin, we can team up again. You finish the video, write the script, and I'll do the VO. It will be fun. Bob

Bob,
You got yourself a deal my friend! 😀

Fantastic.

This it going to be awesome!!!! Go for it guys!

Bob,
You got yourself a deal my friend! 😀

Now that's what I call a Christmas gift :)

Kevin,

Sorry I missed out on the challenge this time. Today was my first opportunity to view the entries. Once again you show your mastery of light. Totally enthralling. You say you shoot where the animals are used to humans, but come on now, they don't just come up and say "hello, take my picture". Those shots of big mammals, not taken in captivity, had to be hard to get. Amazing.

I do have one suggestion, if you are interested. In the final scene of the moon set the shaking of the foreground trees, because of time lapse, is distracting. What about a garbage matte?

Cool Steve.... what's a garbage matte? I'd like to know. I have a lot to learn about mattes.

I'll do a tutorial on it Cat and show you the results.
its easier to show you than explain it

Sweet! Thanks Kevin!

Kevin, the title was almost synonymous with Games of Thrones, and the entry lived up to the hype generated before the deadline. You have captured superb footage, it has to be some of the best produced for UWOL. Between stunning scenery and a diversity of captured animals it really stood out.

The one drawback I saw was already mentioned by Geir. In the rushed time you had editing there is a definite structure and logic to how the events unfold, but a formal narrative would have really rounded this out. The absence of a narrative can leave the theme in the background rather than being a character in the story - at least from the viewing perspective. And maybe just focusing on one part - ice or fire, it seems like there was plenty there for just the winter aspect - not that I don't like fire. The contrast between the two was interesting though. I'm assuming credits were done quickly during the edit. I think the image is fine, but with centred text moved to the left it looks a little untidy to me. Maybe play with the spatial layout a little, and you might even be able to have all 3 segments of text on the same screen but just fading them on in separate stages. It just felt like everything else was so carefully composed, but the text didn't seem to match that aesthetic. I'm having to dig to find things to improve.

If you finish Plan A, or B let us know. Great to see your work, and I'm jealous of how easy you make it look. Half the wildlife I see on shoot days is more likely to end up under a wheel than in front of the lens (must get a dash cam). But I think I need to dedicate more time to filming trips and learn the meaning of patience. And maybe getting up early... if I have to.

Hey Cat,

A garbage matte is a way to make part of your clip transparent, with part left alone. In my editing software (Premiere Pro) you pull little corner tabs around to outline what part of the scene you want to show. The rest, outside of the "fence" created by the tabs becomes transparent. So if you align two clips on the timeline, one on top of the other, the scene in the top clip inside the fence is shown, but for the areas outside of the fence, the bottom clip shows through.

So if you have a shot with timelapse, and the same shot in real-time, you can put the timelapse shot over the real-time one in the timeline. Pull the fence around the timelapse-important area (the setting moon in Kevin's piece). The time-lapse will show inside the fence, but outside the fence the real-time footage shows through, allowing the moon to set quickly, but letting the trees blow in the wind normally.

Of course you need some areas where nothing is happening between the moon and the tree to place the
garbage matte fence. No one will notice that there is a sharp boundary there, because there is no movement. You can feather the edge of the matte to make it even less visible.

Hey Railsback
Wow, some beautiful stuff in there Railsback. I like the contrasting images too.

Nice to see some yeti work again!

Mat

#railsbackforpresident