Per Johan- What a great idea! Perhaps at the end we should all shoot a short version of this and show what we’ve been using. I found it very helpful, but as usual, it generated even more questions from me:
1) I’ve been looking at Miller tripods lately. Is that an Arrow 25 or 40? I appreciate your “vanilla smooth” pans because mine are so “chunky chocolate”.
2) I had just decided on a ProAm crane- and there you have one! With the XL H1 do you recommend the upgrade bearing kit “for heavy cameras”?
3) The interval and exposure data for time lapse is much appreciated. Do you always use manual shutter, or sometimes shutter priority?
4) In the studio, you use a Mac I think? I don’t, but I’m interested in whether you encode for the web from the editing software or use another like Sorenson Squeeze? If so, what type of file do you render from the timeline to take into the other software?

Sorry about so many questions. I’m trying to learn so I can improve.
Thank-you!

Great stuff, Per Johan! Thanks for sharing. Like Mike, it brought questions to mind, only one of which I will ask.

The crane shot at the river in full sunlight: I was trying so hard to see around you to find out if you were using some kind of monitor or pulling my trick of shooting blind. :) Do you carry a monitor and sun shield in that backpack with you?

Per Johan,

thank you so much for sharing your techniques and gear that you use. you have a couple real nuggets in there!!!

Your work is always an inspiration for me, gives me a push to get and get more practice in.

which crane are you using?

Per, that was great, I loved it. In addition to being a great videographer and story teller, you are also a fantastic teacher. Thank you. Bob

Hi and thanks so much for all nice comments. I´m still in the mountains, so I will have no time to answer your questions before monday, when I´m back home.

Per Johan,

Thanks for sharing your techniques and knowledge.
I understand, you are heavy loaded when you go for wildlife recording.
I am envious of your XLH2. But, I do not deserve a camera like that (yet).

Finn-Erik

Great quality to your work as always and I like your presentation. Even though English is not your native tongue I think it works very well and infact adds to the nordic feel of your piece. - I am a little un-sure that some of the stuff in this phase wouldnt be lost on none or very new film makers and you may need to tie it in more with examples of what the various lens really mean in terms of image production for example. I can see this peice making a very good wildlife photography training/watching dvd.

Good stuff
Mat

Hello Per:

Even with thousands of dollars invested in equipment, you still need to be a master of the craft as you so perfectly are Per! Thanks for sharing your wisdom and techniques. I enjoyed this very much.

I have a very simple question for you. What kind of filter do you use to reduce the likelihood of ending up with a chalky white sky in panoramic shots when in actuality the sky is a deep blue.

We are fortunate to have you shooting along with us in these challenges! Thanks friend!

Cat

Hi all,
then I´m back in Oslo. Been two amazing weeks in the mountains, on top of Norway. Got all kind of weather from summer days with temperatures around 18 C to blizzards and temperatures as low as -6 C !!
Whish this could have been filmed for a uwol-challenge, maybe next time!

Thanks all for your comments to my entry. As said this was just to keep me into the challenge and I´m not sure if any of this material will be in the film. Maybe I will make a behind the scenes part in the end as Mike suggest!

@Mike -
1) the tripod system I´m using is this one: System: Arrow 55 HD 2-Stage Carbon Fibre System (1741) - Miller Camera Support
I was lucky and bought it second hand, because it´s very expensive. But it´s a amazing piece of equipment and I´m not sure if I´ve been able to get some of my nice shoots without it.
People often ask me how I get so smooth footage and when i tell them it´s all about the tripod, they hardly believe me! Even in low winter temperatures as we got alot of here in Northern Europe, the tripod function smooth.
For long hikes the biggest drawback is it´s heavy weight, I often wish I had a sherpa, carrying my gear some times :-)
2) I have the standard crane, and for H1 I believe it´s OK! 10kg (20 lbs) of counterweight is what´s needed to get smooth movements.
Note that this is a very special effects piece of equipment and I´m not using it as much. In wildlife filming you often have to carry all of your equipment to the spot and this extra piece adds extra weight. We are talking about a total of 30-35 kg (60-70 lbs) of total weight (all equipment) to get this special effect shoots. It´s impossible to carry all at once, so you have to do multiply hikes to get the gear to the spot and back again!
3) I alway set it in M-mode (manual), locking everything after adjusting the exposure. In bright light I use ND-filters for reducing light, keeping the shutter between 1/50-1/200. Aperture between f11-f16 for infinity DOF. This is what I´ve found work best for time lapse of nature, particularly clouds shoots. And ALWAYS turn off AF !!!!
4) I found Final Cut does a very good job on compression files for the final file size.
Here´s my workflow: From File - Export - Using QuickTime Conversion, click Options, Video settings - choose Compression type: H.264, Keyframes every 25 (pal-country), Compressor quality: around medium.
Set aspect ratio to 428x240.
Sound Settings to: AAC, 44.100Khz
And your´re done, this compress 3 minutes to about 20-30 Mb QT-file, ready for uploading to the uwolchallenge-server. Note, that I edit in Prores422-format

@Lorinda - I´m shooting blind! Can´t take with me much more equipment, so I don´t monitor any during crane shoots. This require some experience and trial and fails, but I always plays back and view my footage on the spot. If it don´t look good I do a retake!

@Dale - it´s a ProAm Crane, read more about it in my answer to Mike (above)

@Finn-Erik - it´s Christmas Eve soon! ;-)

@Mat - I totally agree on your comments. To be true, I´m in doubt if I´m able to finish up my LF-entry at all! The next couple of months will show. There´s been so much change in the schedule, that I´m a bit confused myself!
Anyway I don´t give it up before I fall out of the edge of the cliff!

@Cat - I believe that a PL-filter (polarizer) will help you out here! That´s what I use to get dark blue sky and good looking clouds :-)

Per:

Do you keep the polarizing filter on all the time during the day? I'd like to get one. I have two of my most scenic shots ruined because of the unintentional white sky. :-(

Cat

Per... another well done piece - this time with YOU as the wildlife !

Based on your use...some time ago I bought the same crane... It looks like you are using it on your tripod using the tripod screw, is that correct? I also made a short extension out of wood for the weight end of the tripod so I can reduce the weight needed by 1/2 due to a longer fulcrum arm. It reduces the height I can raise to, but is a definite help in carrying weight.

I took the crane with me this trip but never ended up using it. I figured it would be a red flag to park rangers that I was one of those guys needing a permit.... plus it IS heavy and i was already overloaded for a single trip... along a trail where part of which is along a cliff with about a 100 foot drop off... a great place to have been able to use a crane but too dangerous to other hikers to do so.

Thanks for sharing your information. Iit was helpful.

Chris Swanberg

ps. I am jealous of your tripod.

@Cat - it´s all depends how the light and other conditions are. And of course how you like your footage to look like. In cloudy weather, there´s often no use in using the PL-filter.
So my advice will be to try out the filter in different conditions and time of day and analyze your footage afterwards. Shoot some sequence both with and without the filter.
Also remember to try different filter positions (by turning the filter and look how the the picture change it´s amount of dark blue of the sky). Hope you understand what I mean here?

@Chris - thanks so much for your comment! I agree that operating a crane always draw much interest from people in the neighborhood! Often they ask me what TV-station I´m from and when this will be aired!
Thanks for the tip about extension, haven´t thought about this, I will try it out!

there are several ways to replace a lost or blown sky...it's very easy in Color or you can add a blue gradient in the FCP timeline, composite in some clouds, if you like, etc...

I just got in from another extended trip and read your excellent answers to my questions. Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. I guess we’re all on the downhill stretch for this project! I hope things are going well for you.

Hi Per
I have to say I really appreciate your input here on Uwol. You too, raise the bar for us with each new submission and as your work is getting better all the time there is always something new to learn from the way you do things. Even when you are working in a studio, your work is technically amazing. Thanks too for sharing your expertise so generously.

Although I have subsequently read that you may perhaps not include this piece in the final film, and that this may therefore be superfluous, one thought that did cross my mind while I was watching your video is that the equipment you discuss is too specific for a general (video-making) audience, which I assume is the audience you are aiming at, because you are describing specific products and equipment that are probably way beyond the reach of most new, young and aspiring videographers.

If you decide to go with this idea in your story (rather than as a an explanation of how the video was made at the end) then perhaps it may be better to give a general overview of video equipment and show the advantages, with examples, of having certain specialized equipment like special lenses and jibs, etc. My guess is that most people who would find this video interesting and helpful won’t have cameras with interchangeable lenses and therefore won't benefit as much as they would from a general discussion on video equipment and techniques.

In your presentation you speak well and you come across well but I feel that overall, the way you present the information in this piece is a too serious. I think most viewers would enjoy it more if it were a little less formal and a little more fun. My suggestion would be to chat to your audience while out in the field - even point out places where a specific piece of equipment could be useful and why, rather than give a formal talk on the subject in the studio.

Your story idea has a great deal of potential and knowing you, with the outstanding shots you have already - from this and other Uwol entries this year - you will put together something really special and masterful as Per usual!