UWOL#9 "Deer Watch" by Bruce Foreman

[Bruce Foreman]

This one kind of illustrates the encroachment of civilation on the wild environment. This particular area is inside the city limits and literally one side of the street is nice residential and the other, wilderness (almost).

A few years ago it was not unusual to see part of a herd of deer standing in the middle of the field watching joggers and families walking go by, now they are a bit more timid. Yet I saw one man near some of them scooping grain out of a bucket for them while being watched intently by deer only about 30 feet away.

This is also the area where 3 mountain lions charged out of the brush to take down a deer in front of several folks out for a walk.

Nothing fancy about the way this film was done, Canon HF100 on a tripod with zoom out to full 12x with lightweight Hama hood on lens and Hoodman 2x magnifying hood on the LCD fold out screen. Stay alert but make no sudden moves, footage of me was used mainly for "cutaways" to avoid too many "jump cuts".

The young bucks "sparring" was an unexpected bonus, and I felt kind of sorry for the small one that looked like he was really getting "picked on".

Link to vimeo for hi def version:
http://www.vimeo.com/1151175

[Rob Evans]

Wow Bruce, they're quite feisty fellas! Great footage there, I know how hard it can be getting the shots you want with a 12X zoom but I felt you did a great job. Really liked the cutaways of you behind the camera, added a nice extra element we don't often see and broke up the visuals nicely. A good story well told...

[Dale Guthormsen]

Bruce,

Some very nice footage of the youngs bucks sparring off a bit, this fall you should go back for the rut!!!!

I really liked it and I thought the music was a nice match. I liked all the voice over (you always seem to do a great job in that area, I like your accent!)

with the amount of wind you had you had very nice steady shots. The one pan seemed a tad digitized because you had to go so quickly to keep up with the deer.

Are thouse coues shite tails?

thanks for sharing!!! good stuff!!

[Catherine Russell]

Hey Bruce:

Nice clip and well put together. Like Rob mentioned, I liked the cutaways to you... it was a nice way to mix up the action. You could almost feet the breeze in your face while you watched!

Dale's last sentence was a bit amusing... am I missing something or did he mean "are those does white tails?" Perhaps a case of the fat finger on the key board?

Thanks Bruce, I always have fun with your films.

Cat

[David Gemmell]

Hi Bruce,

First of all, I really enjoyed the approach you took with your entry, ie taking the viewer along with you to show the deers home in relation to the homes, you as the camera man getting prepared, etc. This worked really well I thought. I also think you have a wonderful voice for narration and enjoyed having the background to the situation, which helps make the subject material that bit more interesting.

It would have been nice to mix up the deer shots a bit, with some close ups however, I assume you may not have been able to get much closer? It would be wonderful to somehow get really close to capture the action - which proably applies to 99% of animal films I guess. You captured some great shots of the deer!

Another excellent entry Bruce, well done.

[Paul Mailath]

terrific - a complete story, I really liked it.

In the intro there was a green pickup that seemed to disappear rather quickly (it just took my attention - I don't know why).

I liked the cutaways to you at the camera although a couple seemed to be very similar (I guess that's understandable given the circumstances).

every time I watch an entry I think (I wish I'd thought of that) and this one's no exception - nicely done.

[Trond Saetre]

Bruce, you always have such great stories.
A bit more close ups would have added a little to your film, but with only 12x zoom, I know that can be hard. (I find my 20x zoom way too little once in a while too)

As others have commented too, I also liked the cutaways of you.

Well done, Bruce!
Keep up your good work.

[Bob Thieda]

Nice Bruce...I like the fact it is was more than just the deer, it is the story of you going after the shoot.

Like others said, a shame you couldn't get closer or get a different angle, but we take what nature gives us.

I always like the videos where we get to see the videographer at work.

Ya know...I'm really starting to get to know your corner of the world.

Bob

[Peter Damerell]

Love the film Bruce.

Deer can be really challenging subjects and to capture the fighting behaviour that you did was brilliant and really nice to see. I liked the backing music too, fitted the piece nicely

Good job.

Pete

[Markus Nord]

Nice job Bruce… Deer’s are cool! Nice with the cutaways one yourself.

[Brian McKay]

Truly enjoyed this one Bruce....I absolutely love your voice overs excellent. As mentioned a few tight shots would have been nice but I do understand how skiddish deer can be.

Very enjoyable

Brian

[Vidar Vedaa]

Hello Bruce

You have here a exselent film, and allot of lovly deer.Wery nice to see you cut in
to the film. And werry special to see the yong stag faiting.

Nice Film


VJV.


________________

[Mike Beckett]

Bruce,

Very enjoyable. I liked the way the story flowed along with you taking the journey to the scrub land, that worked well. And, as others have said, you do a fantastic voiceover.

Great footage of the deer fighting. What I wouldn't give to live across the road from that place!

I think I noticed a couple of jump cuts and the music jumped a couple of times too (though maybe it was meant to?). I, too, feel the pain of having a relatively low power zoom lens and being too far away from thew wildlife. And the wind made the job that much harder.

I think we have Geir Inge to thank for the idea of getting ourselves in front of the camera, and more and more of us seem to be doing this now. Your cutaways showing yourself at the camera and driving worked really well. I had toyed with that idea as well, but my suction mount broke and there was nowhere to prop the camera, so the world was spared seeing my ugly mug driving along!

[Lorinda Norton]

Nice job, Bruce. I’ve not seen that much footage of deer sparring before and found it really interesting. The light sure looked different at that time of day—it almost looked like you added some!

Not knowing them by sight all that well I couldn’t tell if those were white-tailed or mule deer. In Idaho we’ve got only mule deer, but I’ve read that both are found in Texas. Regardless, they sure are pretty little animals.

[John Dennis Robertson]

I always enjoy your video,s...You always have a story to tel,not just pretty pictures..very entertaining as always Bruce