UWOL #11 : “ The Red Breast”... By Ron Chant. at DVinfo.net

Ron Chant · October 23rd, 2008, 02:14 AM

After too many Shark tank dives, I’d better get going on an uwol short.
I shot this short video at my local Natural History Society
wildlife reserve.
In April I began making a film about the reserve for the NHS.

My first idea for the challenge was to do a story on a pair of Kingfishers that live around the reserve lake,
but after five consecutive days I had only shot three minutes of video of them and much of that had leaves obscuring them.

While I sat waiting for the Kingfishers to arrive, and hopefully feed in the shallows of the scrape,
a Robin was singing his little heart out in front of me, so now the theme slowly changed from the King of fishers to the little brave heart,
Robin Redbreast.

Dale Guthormsen · October 23rd, 2008, 10:20 AM

Ron,

some very nice images in your video. the information on your robin is quite interesting. Our North american robin is quite a different bird actually (there is one on a dead choke cherry in my video for a comparison).

I thought it was a tad slow actually getting to the Red breast, I think you are over the half mark. Perhaps cutting in a glimmer or two earlier on to wet the appetite and then finally laying it all down in the later half. Just a thought. Very enjoyable as it was.

I loved the kigfisher shot, appears as if you were hidding behind the branch!!

The red breast in the end was a tad soft, perhaps a compression issue. focus on constant moving birds is always a huge challenge!!! I have a huge appreciation for those who undertake the job!!!

Very fine first entry!!!

Meryem Ersoz · October 23rd, 2008, 11:06 AM

That's funny, I kept looking for the robin, until I realized how different your robins are from ours. Doh! UWOL always has this way of getting me out of my own head and my own tiny little patch on the Earth, whether I like it or not!

Your robins are much more colorful than ours. Now I suddenly understand why the old poetry calls them Robin Red-breast. Ours are orange, not red, and that always puzzled me. Ding ding, another dim bulb goes off in my brain!

I think I would have switched the order of your VO, with the poem coming after the info...as it is, the poetic opening sets us up for one expectation, and then the scientific voice shifts us to another type of film. Although the opening shot is a beauty, and I can see why you would want the poetic accompaniment ( a little too red by the end of it, I would say, pull back on the red a hair--that may be a compression thing, though, compression has a way of distorting colors at times...). Still, I think the trajectory of science to poetry, rather than poetry to science, is a little less jarring.

I'm always happy to hear that the UWOL adventurers are out there, stomping around with their cameras and having fun. Will we be able to see what you're shooting for the nature preserve?

Dale, this isn't Ron's first round, he's a veteran...I'm sending you back to the website to review the players' names!

Catherine Russell · October 23rd, 2008, 12:25 PM

Hey Ron:

Nice to see you back in with the swing of things! Filming was awesome and as Mereym said, your Robins are so different than ours... they are very pretty and beautiful to watch! The VO for some reason on my systems hardly registered (I hate it when something like that happens!!!) and thus I was distracted from the lovely footage to try to decipher what was being said.

Over all, well done friend and welcome back to UWOL land!

Cat

Mihali Moore · October 24th, 2008, 09:15 AM

Ron

I too had some trouble with the audio. It was very quiet.

The images of the Red Breast were very nice. A couple were a tad soft, but the light on them was lovely. I did feel it was a film of 2 parts. The first being the poem and shots of other birds (nice Kingfisher swallowing a fish), the second being about the Robin itself. Perhaps interspersing the footage and connecting all with the VO would have evened it out a bit more?

Well done.

Markus Nord · October 24th, 2008, 02:32 PM

Ron

Maybe it was a bit too long before Mr. Red Breast appeared in the frame. I liked the freeze frame with the twist, they worked well. If I could give you and suggestion… don’t use the zoom in or out if you don’t what to “tell” something with it, or if it gives the shot some more emotion. If not, cut before or start after. The fourth shot (with the sun light) was really good. Perfect exposure with a nice lighted breast!
Well done and a nice story.

Markus

Chris Barcellos · October 24th, 2008, 07:53 PM

Nice job Ron. I like the backyard safari feel to the film. Was a bit long get to the point at the beginning.

Trond Saetre · October 25th, 2008, 02:52 AM

Hi Ron,

Most have been said by the others already, so I'll just say that I really like what you made here. Stunning images.

Like some of the others, I also had trouble with the low sound level of your VO.
You might want to bump that up a bit.

Thank you for sharing!

Alan Craig · October 25th, 2008, 03:28 AM

Hi ron how do you get to see your robin I can not see the link.
regards alan

Finn-Erik Faale · October 26th, 2008, 01:55 PM

You have made a fine film about the redbreast. The same birds we have in Norway.
It is delightful to only hear the birds singing after all the films with different kinds of music.

Trond Saetre · October 26th, 2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Craig

Hi ron how do you get to see your robin I can not see the link.
regards alan

Alan, you can download all the UWOL 11 videos here:
UWOL X FIlms
They will soon be available under "The film vault" on the UWOL website.

Alan Craig · October 27th, 2008, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trond Saetre

Alan, you can download all the UWOL 11 videos here:
UWOL X FIlms
They will soon be available under "The film vault" on the UWOL website.

Trond thank you for your help much appreciated.

My best regards Alan

Kevin Railsback · October 28th, 2008, 09:52 PM

Ron,

Loved the dreamy opening shot.

Had some great imagery. Loved the simple movement in some of them.
Thought you had some great natural audio as well.

I had to crank the audio up quite a ways to hear your VO but that's not a real biggie.

Great job, really enjoyed it.

Jeff Hendricks · October 28th, 2008, 11:37 PM

I too liked the opening of the film...I enjoyed the opening shot where it went from animated to realism and the poem was a nice touch. I thought the robin/red breast portion was very easy to watch and I learned a thing or two as well.

The film felt as if it had 2 acts and ended a bit abruptly. The first act was that of the poem and such the second act was the meat of the film with the red breast and then it ended...no resolution no third act. Perhaps another poem at the end to book end it? Just a thought...

Anyway nice piece overall.

Jeff

October 23rd, 2008, 10:20 AM	#2
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Ron, some very nice images in your video. the information on your robin is quite interesting. Our North american robin is quite a different bird actually (there is one on a dead choke cherry in my video for a comparison). I thought it was a tad slow actually getting to the Red breast, I think you are over the half mark. Perhaps cutting in a glimmer or two earlier on to wet the appetite and then finally laying it all down in the later half. Just a thought. Very enjoyable as it was. I loved the kigfisher shot, appears as if you were hidding behind the branch!! The red breast in the end was a tad soft, perhaps a compression issue. focus on constant moving birds is always a huge challenge!!! I have a huge appreciation for those who undertake the job!!! Very fine first entry!!! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

October 24th, 2008, 02:32 PM	#6
Markus Nord Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vastervik ,Sweden Posts: 639	Ron Maybe it was a bit too long before Mr. Red Breast appeared in the frame. I liked the freeze frame with the twist, they worked well. If I could give you and suggestion… don’t use the zoom in or out if you don’t what to “tell” something with it, or if it gives the shot some more emotion. If not, cut before or start after. The fourth shot (with the sun light) was really good. Perfect exposure with a nice lighted breast! Well done and a nice story. Markus __________________ www.nordproduktion.se https://vimeo.com/nordproduktion

October 24th, 2008, 07:53 PM	#7
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Nice job Ron. I like the backyard safari feel to the film. Was a bit long get to the point at the beginning. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

October 28th, 2008, 09:52 PM	#13
Kevin Railsback Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Posts: 1,544	Ron, Loved the dreamy opening shot. Had some great imagery. Loved the simple movement in some of them. Thought you had some great natural audio as well. I had to crank the audio up quite a ways to hear your VO but that's not a real biggie. Great job, really enjoyed it. __________________ --==Kevin==-- http:naturephotostudios.com.com

October 28th, 2008, 11:37 PM	#14
Jeff Hendricks Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: The Carson Valley, Nevada Posts: 248	I too liked the opening of the film...I enjoyed the opening shot where it went from animated to realism and the poem was a nice touch. I thought the robin/red breast portion was very easy to watch and I learned a thing or two as well. The film felt as if it had 2 acts and ended a bit abruptly. The first act was that of the poem and such the second act was the meat of the film with the red breast and then it ended...no resolution no third act. Perhaps another poem at the end to book end it? Just a thought... Anyway nice piece overall. Jeff __________________ www.tahoestarr.com

October 23rd, 2008, 02:14 AM	#1
Ron Chant Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: West-London - England Posts: 125	UWOL #11 : “ The Red Breast”... By Ron Chant. After too many Shark tank dives, I’d better get going on an uwol short. I shot this short video at my local Natural History Society wildlife reserve. In April I began making a film about the reserve for the NHS. My first idea for the challenge was to do a story on a pair of Kingfishers that live around the reserve lake, but after five consecutive days I had only shot three minutes of video of them and much of that had leaves obscuring them. While I sat waiting for the Kingfishers to arrive, and hopefully feed in the shallows of the scrape, a Robin was singing his little heart out in front of me, so now the theme slowly changed from the King of fishers to the little brave heart, Robin Redbreast. __________________ <')))>{

October 23rd, 2008, 11:06 AM	#3
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	That's funny, I kept looking for the robin, until I realized how different your robins are from ours. Doh! UWOL always has this way of getting me out of my own head and my own tiny little patch on the Earth, whether I like it or not! Your robins are much more colorful than ours. Now I suddenly understand why the old poetry calls them Robin Red-breast. Ours are orange, not red, and that always puzzled me. Ding ding, another dim bulb goes off in my brain! I think I would have switched the order of your VO, with the poem coming after the info...as it is, the poetic opening sets us up for one expectation, and then the scientific voice shifts us to another type of film. Although the opening shot is a beauty, and I can see why you would want the poetic accompaniment ( a little too red by the end of it, I would say, pull back on the red a hair--that may be a compression thing, though, compression has a way of distorting colors at times...). Still, I think the trajectory of science to poetry, rather than poetry to science, is a little less jarring. I'm always happy to hear that the UWOL adventurers are out there, stomping around with their cameras and having fun. Will we be able to see what you're shooting for the nature preserve? Dale, this isn't Ron's first round, he's a veteran...I'm sending you back to the website to review the players' names!

October 23rd, 2008, 12:25 PM	#4
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Hey Ron: Nice to see you back in with the swing of things! Filming was awesome and as Mereym said, your Robins are so different than ours... they are very pretty and beautiful to watch! The VO for some reason on my systems hardly registered (I hate it when something like that happens!!!) and thus I was distracted from the lovely footage to try to decipher what was being said. Over all, well done friend and welcome back to UWOL land! Cat

October 24th, 2008, 09:15 AM	#5
Mihali Moore Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bristol Posts: 92	Ron I too had some trouble with the audio. It was very quiet. The images of the Red Breast were very nice. A couple were a tad soft, but the light on them was lovely. I did feel it was a film of 2 parts. The first being the poem and shots of other birds (nice Kingfisher swallowing a fish), the second being about the Robin itself. Perhaps interspersing the footage and connecting all with the VO would have evened it out a bit more? Well done.

October 25th, 2008, 02:52 AM	#8
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Hi Ron, Most have been said by the others already, so I'll just say that I really like what you made here. Stunning images. Like some of the others, I also had trouble with the low sound level of your VO. You might want to bump that up a bit. Thank you for sharing!

October 25th, 2008, 03:28 AM	#9
Alan Craig Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Warrington England Posts: 143	Hi ron how do you get to see your robin I can not see the link. regards alan

October 26th, 2008, 01:55 PM	#10
Finn-Erik Faale Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Porsgrunn Norway Posts: 280	You have made a fine film about the redbreast. The same birds we have in Norway. It is delightful to only hear the birds singing after all the films with different kinds of music.