UWOL # 9 "Seabirds" by Geir Inge

[Mike Beckett]

Geir Inge,

Now this is the moment I waited for - as I worked my way through all the entries, I couldn't wait to get to your entry.

That was fantastic. I love your commentary, your voice and your ability to tell a story. You are almost cheeky, mischievous, in your screen presence, but I mean that in a good way.

Your camerawork just keeps getting better and better. The opening shots were fantastically beautiful - and the close-ups of the birds were remarkable. I am not joking when I say that your Oystercatcher close-up is better than the BBC managed on their Springwatch series this year, and they have a much bigger budget and a much bigger production team than you.

That was quite simply perfect. Thank you!

[Oliver Pahlow]

Geir,

Your opening had the feel of some epic film. JRR Tolken was almost springing to my mind. You have captured such beautiful bird shots and your VO completed the story.

Oliver

[Adrinn Chellton]

Great shots! I enjoyed this one very much. You had a good story, I was interested through the whole film. The shot selection was first rate, and the videography matched. Good VO and mix.

Cant wait to see your next entry.

[Geir Inge]

Thank you to all of you for comments on my uwol9 video, and to you PJ for putting up a feedback tread for me. I've been out in the "wilderness" filming some more seabirds and stuff :) Didn't go to Runde today PJ because of some heavy rain set in, maybe later next week. I'll keep you informed about the puffins.

My daughter have downloaded all the uwol films for me, so now I'm going to have a ball, watching all of them in turn and of caurse give my comments.

As for now I'll try to answer some of your questions and comments.

PJ: The film is located around the islets where I did my uwol4 video and at Runde, so you can say I've been travelling a bit :)

Mat (and others): Yes, I agree on the intro comment, maybe take away one clip and make the others a bit longer. Filming the oystercatcher I placed the camera infront of the nest and let it stay for one hour. I'm using the built in mic on the HV30.

Peter: I placed the camera (my Canon HV30) on a flat wooden piece and it some how fell down a inch during the take: That's why the chick dont show very good in the end. I didn't want to desturb the bird too much, so I let it pass. By the way, the birds nest is close to a cabin, so they are used to people and no harm to the bird if you should wonder :)

Catherine: Look at the video again, dont you get it? I'm looking for Antarctica of course :) I'm shure it's down there somewhere, eh? And I needed a cutaway to the eagles :/
By the way, at this place the mist was formed and I've got it on tape but I'm saving it for my project "Wild on the shore".

Marj: Well, in the summertime there are more or less 500 species of seabirds along the norwegian coast. I'm showing just a few :)

Ron: I've been following this White-taled Eagle couple for the hole summer, and I will be back next weekend. Last summer they didn't manage to feed the young. This year they have one baby. It's a wonderful bird to watch.

Eric: About the music I was searching for some kind of flute, willow flute (norwegian flute). Something like this norwegian hymn/psalm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lxYHN2iAb0 I found this tune to late for this round of uwol.

About my VO, thats the part I always struggling with. I am so afraid of saying something wrong or something stupid as Norwegian is my main language. I'll give you an example from our former priminister ( he is also a priest), Kjell Magne Bondevik. He was visiting Spain and was invited to a church in Barcelona. After the preach, sermonize he said (in english): "Thank you for the mess". Well, in norwegian we call the preach "messe" and he, the poor thing, thought he was saying something nice to the spanish priest, hehe.
I also have to say that every clip in this video is taken without hide of any kind. I'm using the natures own rocks and trees and sneaking in on the birds. This is how they act in the wild and when i sit for 8 hours at the same place, they get used to me. During my oystercatcher filming, I spent 3 days (8 -9 hours a day) at the location.

Now I'm on to watch some videos and I will start making my comments tomorrow.
I will try not to make a mess out of it :)

[John Dennis Robertson]

Hi Geir
You know that I am a big fan of your work,you just get better and better.

[Geir Inge]

Originally Posted by Mike Beckett

... You are almost cheeky, mischievous, in your screen presence, but I mean that in a good way...

I did miss out on this one.
Don't know if I'm cheeky or mischievous, but if you say so, hehe.
When i was finishing at the location where I filmed the eagle nest I had to pick 7 ticks off of me :/ I don't like this little blood sucking creatures and I most certainly was not cheeky at all.

John Dennis: Thank you for commenting my film.

Geir Inge

[Ruth Happel]

Your films are always informative, but also fun in a unique way when you are on camera. And your VO are both relaxing and educational, a tough combination. Some nature films seem to try giving too much information, and some barely any, but you always strike the right balance.

The opening shots were stunning, and the oystercatcher was simply amazing. As it slid into view, I was hugely impressed. What a shot.

The whole piece hung together well for me, and I liked the music. The only thing I might say is have one less scene at the front, and add another of the oystercatcher or other birds. But I really liked those majestic views, so I wouldn't want to be the one to edit one out :)

Great film!


Ruth

[Trond Saetre]

Hei Geir Inge,

As always your videos are entertaining and informative.
Top notch quality as always.

Did you use a tripod out in the boat?
The footage was rock steady, and without any signs of vibration in that footage.

Well done!

[Dale Guthormsen]

Geir,

Sorry about the slow response, we have been away.

what a great little film!!! the shots were magnificant!! At the end I wanted to see the chicks! How close were you?
I loved the sea eagle!! the gliding footage was awesome!! I would have liked more of the Eyrie but that wouldn't have really fit into your video!!

Great Job My favorite of your films to date!!

[Geir Inge]

Thank you Ruth, Trond and Dale for your comments.

I promised to give my comments to all of the uwol9 videos, but I have to say sorry cause I've been to busy working. I have seen all of the videos though and I must say uwol is growing into something big and something I'm proud to be part of.

Now on to "my" seabirds.

It's a tragedy going on round the North Sea.
Many of the seabirds didn't manage to feed their young this year and left their nest and the chicks to die.
At Runde all of the Puffins left their nest and flew away because of no food in the sea at the time they need it for the young. The same with the Guillemots, the Razorbills and the Auks. Also the Black-legged Kittiwake struggles because there are too little food in the sea.

For me this is very sad.
I've spent the last 3 years filming seabirds and thereby getting to "know them" guite well. They are great indicators of Marine Ecosystems and thats what I'm trying to show in my seabird videoproject. Conservation is taken place alongside the coast to protect the seabirds and I just hope it's not too late.

[Dale Guthormsen]

Geir,

If I have learned anything over the years studying wildlife is that some years when all things seem disasterous it is quite amazing to see the bounce back. Also, most wildlife, birds in particular operate on a feast and famine type life style. There are numerous factors that cause these circumstances. I have seen a couple species that appeared to be in great trouble and then and to our great surprise in 2 years the numbers were back stronger than before. So, unless you have had a major eco disaster the odds are that it will be back to normal soon enough.

got to go,

[Geir Inge]

Originally Posted by Dale Guthormsen

Geir,

If I have learned anything over the years studying wildlife is that some years when all things seem disasterous it is quite amazing to see the bounce back. Also, most wildlife, birds in particular operate on a feast and famine type life style. There are numerous factors that cause these circumstances. I have seen a couple species that appeared to be in great trouble and then and to our great surprise in 2 years the numbers were back stronger than before. So, unless you have had a major eco disaster the odds are that it will be back to normal soon enough.

got to go,

Hi Dale.

I agreed with you on the several factors that might be causing the seabirds to not full fill their breeding season, but I'm afraid this is just a little bit more serious than a common failure in breeding. In the North Sea area ( countries like England, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland and Norway) it's been going on for round about 10 years now.
I'm not so afraid of the common gulls, as they easily find food other places. But not for seabirds like the Auks, Puffins etc. So we have to think of several things to do in conservation matters. I also think Norway has a special obligation to this matters as we have so many seabirds in our country - and our Goverment is on the case :)

As for uwol I'm ready for nr 10 :)
I'm heading North to "Lofoten", I'm leaving August 3th, so I just wonder what Meryem will give us this time.

Trond: I'm using a tripod for the boat scene. Look at the sea, it's like a mirror :)

[Grant Sherman]

Originally Posted by Geir Inge

It's a tragedy going on round the North Sea.
Many of the seabirds didn't manage to feed their young this year and left their nest and the chicks to die.
At Runde all of the Puffins left their nest and flew away because of no food in the sea at the time they need it for the young. The same with the Guillemots, the Razorbills and the Auks. Also the Black-legged Kittiwake struggles because there are too little food in the sea.

Sorry to hear about your seabirds. It's a big worry over here. Our Lundy seabirds seem to be unaffected so far - although the guillemots might be taking longer to find food for their chicks. I've still got to work through the data (I've taken about 40 hours of video of guillemot ledges this month). Our puffin numbers are slowly increasing. We may have 6 chicks this year compared to 4 last year. It would be very sad if they could find food for their chicks.

It's not just the seabirds that starve in these situations. The fish are starving as well.