UWOL-22: I'm a Little Dabchic.

[Owen Dawe]

Mention the word 'dabchick' and even locals wonder what you are talking about. They have similar characteristics to a 'coot' which is an Australian waterbird and far out number the dabchick. Dabchick numbers are in decline, they are an endangered species. This is due to a diminishing habitat, rats raiding nests and speedboats creating waves which swamp their nests. The greatest concentration of birds happens to be on my back yard. So when I heard the theme was 'little' the dabchick came to mind. Little in stature and little in numbers, it fit the bill.

So I joined a group of fun filled dabchick spotters whom I'd never met untill this shoot. It was a light hearted fun filled time right from the start. From the time we hit the side of the boat shed on departure. The landing on an island to poison rats all had to be left out due to time restraints. I shot about 45 minutes of field footage, then tried to piece it together to capture the zany approach of the dabchickers plus the mystery that goes with this tiny elusive bird.

[Mike Sims]

Hi Owen. I’m a Dabchicker, too! Well, sort of… Our Least Grebe is a close relative and is only a few millimeters larger. Several winters ago one landed on a nearby supermarket parking lot and, without water, couldn’t get back airborne. By the time I found it, it was quite feeble. It spent the next few weeks swimming and diving in my bathtub while eating a truly shocking amount of goldfish. I released it on a small local lake and was rewarded by being able to watch her nest and raise chicks.

Your video was fun to watch. Birdwatchers seem to be much the same everywhere. I saw many of my friends in yours. I like the light-hearted approach. I especially liked the way you built suspense for any that didn’t already know what a dabchick was. The shot at the end was ice cream. That was a difficult shot from a boat. Speaking of which, if I’m ever out your way I’ll definitely need to go out on the same boat. With a name like Mike Sims the operator must be quite handsome and witty -at least I heard that one of us got all that lot and it certainly wasn’t me! ;)

I hope we’ll see many more videos from N.Z. Y’all have such a lot to share. Well done!

[Ruth Happel]

I like how this video built up the suspense before seeing the dabchick. The comments by the people were entertaining and educational, and the editing was well done. I liked the pacing of people talking about the birds, and then finally seeing them. It was exciting to see a bird that is so endangered- thanks for sharing your adventure.


Ruth

[Bill Thesken]

That's great fun. I know a bunch of Kiwis and can spot 'em a mile away. I'll tell you what, that little video brought a lot of good natured getting together to the forefront. And to the adventure of looking for a Dabchic, all the better. Get a boat and some mates together and off you go. Top notch editing. Great actors. It's a classic. One of the best I've ever seen.

[Gordon Hoffman]

Hi Owen
Well I have to admit I had no idea what a "dabchick" was. As you kept streching out the suspense you started to make me wonder if there was really such a critter what ever it was. I would have liked to have seen a little more of the bird. Anyway you kept me guessing to the end, well done.

Gordon

[Lorinda Norton]

Owen Dawe, I laughed and laughed at this! Your editing made our wait to the few seconds of payoff at the end all kinds of fun. Must have been a riot being on that boat.

I never would have thought to cut and arrange the comments the way you did--you gave us a great deal of insight into the zany Kiwi mind in a very short amount of time, thanks to ingenious editing.

Your treatment of Graham completely cracked me up. I must watch this a few more times. Thank you SO MUCH for submitting this fine piece of entertainment, Owen. Oh and...welcome to UWOL!!! Hoping to see more of your work throughout the year.

Psst to Mike: Way to go, rescuing the "Texas Dabchick!" :)

[Geir Inge]

Hello Owen.

You have a great story that you build around ...? Well, something you keep a secret until the end of the film.
I like movies that have a secret, it becomes more exciting to watch.
A nice bunch of friends you have gathered. Have you written a manuscript?
They are like a splash of color in the film, they do an excellent job as actors.
The dialogue from the actors tells the story, a great way to do it, and in a very amusing and funny way too.
The song is just great :)
It's nice to make a movie like this and show that we need to preserve endangered species.
Is it your first time in UWOL?
If so, I must congratulate with an excellent contribution, hope it's not the last.
Editing, color and sound is excellent too.

All the best.
Geir Inge

[Dale Guthormsen]

Yes, this was entertaining to be certain!! I was thinking you were looking for something that did not actually exist right to the end!!

the editing was a hoot and you did a grreat job there as others mentioned!!

In the end I only wish I had some real way to get a grip on the size of them

I have some grebe footage I shot and they are always tuff to get good footage of as they are always plopping under water!!!

an awesome job and a terrific story!!

[Owen Dawe]

Living 'down under' has it's interesting side effects when involved in a project like this. Everything is topsy turvey so I nearly need two heads.

When it's day here it's night there. It's Friday here, thursday there. Autumn here, spring there. Imagine if I submitted a video on the little signs of winter. You would all scream. "Enough of winter".

Anyway! It has been a great pleasure joining you all. I'm rather pleased Lorinda sort of twisted my arm a little and actually got me to enter something. Lorinda and I have been internet friends for about eight years now. Every once in a while she would give me a prod suggesting I get my camera out and join in. Look at all the fun I've missed out on over the years.

Through the medium of tv we now see into all parts of the world. Animal Planet, Discovery, National Geographic to name a few. Twentyfour hours a day professional productions exploring all parts of the world available to us. Yet somehow these professional productions lack something. They lack the human touch. All these short videos on UWOL have a certain charm or character that professional tv has failed to capture. Thank you all for sharing your place with me.

So yes this is my first attempt at UWOL. Now the hard part. I see I'm also a judge. How do you judge a competition like this? I enjoyed this UWOL contest more than most times I've taken a camera out. I just shot it. For ten years I'd worked on tv programs both in the studio and out in the field. The end result was you would bring your footage in to have some guy go through it with a fine tooth comb. He would sit in front of his monitor, look at the exposure, framing, one third rules, focus, steadyness of shot, composition make remarks like the camera was not level, look at the horizon, what happened to the blacks, it would have been better to have shot it from a different angle. On and on it would go. The result of course coming up with a product that was commercially acceptable. However, it lacked the ingredient I refered to as the human touch. The personality of the person making the film that came through on these UWOL clips. So it's been an honour to join all of you.

Thank you all for your very kind comments. I'm pleased you enjoyed it. Yes the average 'Kiwi' is a unique sort of bloke. I enjoyed it very much taking the 'fun rule' seriously. I'm really pleased you saw the fun side of looking for dabchicks with these laid back Kiwis. I was a bit of a skeptic my self. I'd never seen a dabchick before so spent time shooting the wrong bird. It's hard to say how big they are. Probably about one third the size, or just under an adult duck. They are very elusive and shy. The only decent shot once I found out what I was looking for was the one at the end. It was shot from a moving boat, hand held camera with the 20x zoom at the tight end. I freeze framed it as the dabchick swam out of focus and into the reeds. I did return to the site a few days later, stood on the end of a jetty and got added shots. These shots didin't fit in at all as the lighting had changed.

Thank you once again for your very kind remarks. I appreciate them greatly.

Cheers from 'down under'.

[Markus Nord]

Nice owen, I wish I was on that boat with you, it looked a lot of fun. I never do much bird watching my self, but this maybe it, siting on a boat with a beer in the hand and the camera on a tripod.
About the film, I liked the interview and the build up. Maybe it was a little bit to much talking head and too little nature... maybe you could have kept the voice and and used shot of the lake, to mix it up a bit.

Cheers
Markus

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Owen, welcome to the uwol family! :)

I like the way you use your (and your crew's) humor to cheer up the film and at the same time tell your story. I had never even heard about Dabchic before now.
I wish you had included a bit more of the surrounding scenery, but that's just a detail.

Well done, and I look forward to see more of your future films.
Stay with us!

[Owen Dawe]

Thank you everybody. Really appreciate your comments. Yes! I intend to take part in the next UWOL.

[Lorinda Norton]

I finally got a chance to read post #9! Twisted yer arm, did I...well, maybe I did, just a little. :)

So glad you enjoyed the process from concept to final edit, Owen. Your entry was great entertainment for us, and we are all really looking forward to watching what you come up with next time!