UWOL#11 ”Thousand Brothers” by Markus Nord

[Markus Nord]

Title: Thousand Brothers
By: Markus Nord


Background
Well, well, well… I started this challenge with an idea and a plan where I wanted to film. The only thing that I kept with was the location. My new plan and idea took shape after my first stop at this lake. At first I was suppose to track down a lake trout, but it wasn’t a lake trout, it was a rainbow trout and they are not native in Sweden…

But I really liked this lake… its so mysteries. And when I sat of for a new dive I discovered the ”Thousand Brothers” – The Perch, Perca fluviatilis.

Problems
For this challenge I hade a few problems with getting enough time to do the filming. The last week was really busy at work, but I got a day of in the end of the week so I could get to my location and do the last bits and pieces. As always I struggle with the problem being in front of the camera and at the same time try to operate it… I got all this good Ideas how I would like the shots to look like, but when I need to shot my self, I can’t do the tilts, pans or dolly shot… it’s a bit frustrating.

About the film
Well, this is a try to tell a story with not give it away in the beginning. I tried to build up an expectation for the viewer and not just get to the point. The other thing that I tried for this one was to give it more of and “we are there” feeling, not just from a viewing perspective. When I wrote the VO I hade an idea about telling the story the way I experienced my swim in the lake. Lets se if a succeeded with my idea

Link: Thousand Brothers

[Catherine Russell]

Hey Markus:

Nice to see you up and ready to go! I'm waiting for the films to be posted on the UWOL site before watching your entry, but your post makes your entry sound really intriguing! I'm excited to see it, and I will watch it with an eye for what your goals are for this film.

All the best!

Cat

[Catherine Russell]

Markus:

That fly-in to sky pan-out in the intro was totally awesome. It gave me vertigo, but none the less I had to watch that a few times. WAY COOL. You achieved your objectives of both feeling like we are there and building suspense very well. You have a mastery of camera-work that I have seen with few others. You are very talented! I also liked the web-cam split screen at the very beginning.

Very well done Markus! You are a master at what you do!

Cat

[Meryem Ersoz]

Great job - I think this is one of your best. I think what distinguishes this piece is that you are getting the pacing of telling a story down. You let your story unfold in a good rhythm. I like the way you move your viewer from the interior of the car, with the promise of a mysterious destination, to the exterior of the car pulling up at the destination. Great shooting, you had some very nice lighting in this environment.

The opening effect turned out well - I like seeing how the players are integrating effects into their work.

My only criticism -- seems like your audio inside the car was a little distorted. Is that a recording issue, or a compression issue?

A very enjoyable and educational trip....

[Rob Evans]

Hey Markus,
I used to go fishing for Perch a lot when I was a kid, I think the largest on I caught was over a kilo in weight - they are such amazing predatory fish, I used to spend hours just watching them in clear water - just as you have captured so well here. I loved the build up to the trip, and then the way the UW shots were introduced gradually, with the "haunted" feel coming accross so well. Great stuff man, your films really encourage me to go and experience underwater life - someday i will!!!!

Cheers,

Rob

[Dale Guthormsen]

Marcus,

This was your best uwol tv production to date.

You led us through intrigue and you did not disappoint as usual!!

The audio in the car was a bit of a problem for whatever reason it occured, and I know we often do not have the time to put it in an audio program for refining. Often even the extra work doesn't actually do the job and we are stuck using something of lesser quality than we like!!!!

Thanks for sharing, another awesome entry.

[Mihali Moore]

Marcus,

This was a well crafted film. Very professionally edited with good graphics. The underwater shots were really nice and I think you managed to convey you feeling in the water well. I liked the way you had shots of yourself as if you were being followed on your experience.

Nice work.

[Trond Saetre]

Hei Markus,

Yet another uwol web-tv from you. :) I was expecting that, and I enjoyed watching it.
As Meryem already said, your storytelling skills are really improving, and you did very well with this video. The intro was awesome.
I noticed some problems with the audio quality when inside your car.

Thank you for sharing.

[Markus Nord]

Hello my friends.

First some general answers, followed of some personal ones.

About the audio problems in the car… That was a recording problem that accrued, because of the setup. That would have looked fun if I hade the headphones on me during recording. I didn’t so I did not notes the problem until I sat down in for editing, and then it was too late to fix it.

Cat – Thanks Cat, I got some help with the fly-in and the dude made a nice job. Nice that you thought that I did achieve my objectives… I just hope that I soon can get some one else in front of the camera so I could start concentrate on just shooting.

Meryem – Thank you Meryem, that’s some warming words. Nice that you liked the build up and car scenes… They were not really wildlife, but I think it was a good build up.
Thank you Meryem for this challenge, I learn a lot every time.

Rob – Rob… you are always welcome here and I’ll bring you on a trip to the under water world (or I come to you…). Perch are a common fish, every one knows about it… but few have experience them in there real environmental. Cheers Rob

Dale – Cheers Dale, as I answered above… The problem was during recording and I didn’t know about it until editing time and then it was too late.

Mihali – Thanks Mihali, I love wildlife show with a person that travel around, it’s just a pain in the *** to shot you self al the time, hope I can get hold of someone that I can put in front of the camera…

Trond – Hej Trond, glad that you enjoy the WebTV… nice that I’m improving with my storytelling , that’s one of the best thing with this challenge, that you can test new ideas and improve.

Thank you all from viewing and letting me know you feelings about my film, without you voice and constructive words this challenge would not be this good.


Cheers from Sweden
Markus

[Catherine Russell]

Hi Markus:

It's the best part of UWOL.... I've watched and reviewed all the films with comments. Now is the weekend night where I and family can sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy our favorite ones again... just for the wonderful pleasure of someone else's expertise and creativity...

And upon watching your film again it occurred to me... how do you get your underwater shots so rock solid without a tripod that we use on land?

Just curious.

Cat

[Markus Nord]

Hi Cat

Actually it’s a combination between practice, practice, practice and practice. The shots close to the bottom is shot on a small tripod that I build. The tripod got flexible legs (like the Gorilla pod) and is about 25 cm long. But all the shots in mid water are just handheld.
Sometimes I use stabilization program but most of the time it’s just straight out from the camera, of cause with some colour correction.


Markus

[Ron Chant]

Markus,
I really liked the open shots, and the dropping in from space;

In the first part of the VO I did pickup a lot of wind noise from the shots in the car.
the rest of the sound was A1.

Great shots of the two different types of lake, the first showing the green water plants
and nice shots of the shoals of small perch, anglers over here called them the sergeants of the river,
then a contrast of the other murky lake almost dead and acid like, with the fallen pines trees with the silt build up over them.

[Finn-Erik Faale]

Hei Markus,

You have a very good film, clearly within the defined subject.
The story and sequences are well compound. All scenes are clear and sharp both over and under water. Your film has good continuity. I think your film is one of the best.

Finn-Erik

[Kevin Railsback]

Markus,

Really enjoying these series of yours. They are well shot and informative.

Fantastic underwater shots.

Glad you didn't run over your camera in the opening scenes. :)

You take us to a part of the world that few get to see.

Keep it up, each film gets better and better!

[Jeff Hendricks]

Markus,

I was cold watching you dive and held my breath at times thinking I was underwater. There was something about your filming technique that was very real and made me feel like I was there swimming around underwater with you...you have developed quite a strong sense of story in you film and I really enjoyed it.

I loved seeing you drop into the water and the splash sound that accompanied added immensely to the effect.

Wonderful rich colors and intriguing content, outstanding film!

Jeff

P.S. have you seen "Burn After Reading"? It has the same intro to the film...zooming into the earth from space. Very cool...