uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild at DVinfo.net

Bob Safay · February 2nd, 2018, 01:35 PM

This was a great challenge as I was fortunate to be able to spend time videoing at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on Merritt Island, Florida.

Camcorder was the Canon XF300 with a Sennheiser MKE 600 shotgun Microphone and edited with Vages Pro14. I videoed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, on April 19th, 2001, with a Canon XL-1. Enjoy and please send me your comments. Bob

Bryce Comer · February 3rd, 2018, 12:20 AM

Hey Bob,
What a great film. I loved the beautiful clean audio you captured. What mic is that you're using?
Some lovely shots of all those birds!! As usual you have delivered a great VO to explain what was going on in the film. I also liked the way you tied it together with the space program & the role the wildlife refuge plays in all of that.
How old is the XF300 now? It is certainly still producing some incredible images! There's not a lot i can offer that might help make your film better. Maybe the shot of the (blue?) heron at 2.08 could have been framed with a little more looking room. The only other thing, is you could probably leave out the fade to black at 2.22.
Thanks for this look into the Merritt Island wildlife refuge, i really enjoyed it!
Regards,
Bryce

Per Johan Naesje · February 3rd, 2018, 08:10 AM

Bob, you did a great job taking me to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
It looks like it is a huge, huge area with lot of wildlife, which I would love to go to one day
I liked the variation in focal length you did in the film, would like some more close up of some of the colorful birds though
VO and ambient sound was very nice. The edit was good to
The launch of the space shuttle must have been amazing to witness. Liked it a lot!

Gordon Hoffman · February 3rd, 2018, 07:42 PM

Hi Bob.
That looks like a great place for birds and you got some good shots. You do have a good voice, easy to understand. I agree with Bryce about the fade to black. Your film seemed to flow nicely and I enjoyed watching. Thanks for a look in the refuge.

Gordon

Mick Jenner · February 4th, 2018, 09:33 AM

Hi Bob,

Like all good films yours has an unexpected twist in the tail, a clever integration of fauna and the human race woven into the theme.

Overall I found it a very well produced film that move along at the right pace my only observation would be that in the middle section you went from one species to another with mainly mid to tele/close ups where a few wide's interspersed would have made the transition from bird to another less abrupt.

I enjoyed watching, thank you

Mick

Trond Saetre · February 6th, 2018, 11:40 AM

Hi Bob,

Not hard to see why you follow the call of the wildlife :)
Nice to see all the different birds.

I disagree with the critics about the fade to black at 2:22. In my opinion it works well because you change subject from the bird to the refugee itself.

Cool twist in the end with the shuttle launch!

Thanks for sharing, and well done!

Vishal Jadhav · February 6th, 2018, 11:28 PM

Hi Bob,

such a great wildlife place with so much variety loved it. Your VO is so perfect and goes perfectly with the mood of the video.

Bob Safay · February 7th, 2018, 11:03 AM

Thank you all for your comments. Bryce, I was using the Sennheiser MKE 600 shotgun microphone with a fuzzy. I bought my Canon XF300 back in 2012 and it still amazes me with the footage that it produces. It's color sampling is 4:2:2 at 50 Mbps, not bad for an old camcorder. I actually thought of upgrading to the C200 but them thought why? I used the fade to black to shift location. Maybe I should have moved it to just before the stills of the Kennedy space center, just as the music kicks in. Mick and Per, I agree that I should have changed focal length between species and possible more close-ups. In April 19th, 2001, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launce of the space shuttle Endeavour, and videoed it with my old Canon XL-1. I really enjoyed this challenge. Thank you all for taking the time to comment on my video. Bob

Andrew Hood · February 12th, 2018, 04:52 AM

Bob there is some great colors in the bird shots - 4:2:2 certainly doesn't go astray there, and the greens really pop. You also picked an interesting subject for the story and sculpted your narrative around that. A couple of shots could probably use a little more stability to bring them inline with the rest, but better having the shot than not.

You have a nice way of taking the viewer on a journey with your videos. I liked both sections of the story, and whilst I can see a parallel being drawn, they did still feel a little disconnected to me. My instinct would be to focus on one. But that's down to subjective viewing experience, and it's a great idea for tying them together. I was going to say they haven't launched a shuttle for quite a while. I'm just a touch older than STS-1 myself. But we're at the end of that era, hopefully onto the next at some stage. Thanks for sharing, I can only imagine seeing a launch would be awesome.

Bob Safay · February 12th, 2018, 07:02 AM

Here is the new version of my video. I incorporated several of the comments made to me during the comment period. Enjoy! Bob

February 2nd, 2018, 01:35 PM	#1
Bob Safay Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 1,559	uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild This was a great challenge as I was fortunate to be able to spend time videoing at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on Merritt Island, Florida. Camcorder was the Canon XF300 with a Sennheiser MKE 600 shotgun Microphone and edited with Vages Pro14. I videoed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, on April 19th, 2001, with a Canon XL-1. Enjoy and please send me your comments. Bob UWOL45 - Following the Call of the Wild - "Bob Safay" on Vimeo

February 3rd, 2018, 12:20 AM	#2
Bryce Comer Trustee Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rossland, British Columbia Posts: 1,024	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Hey Bob, What a great film. I loved the beautiful clean audio you captured. What mic is that you're using? Some lovely shots of all those birds!! As usual you have delivered a great VO to explain what was going on in the film. I also liked the way you tied it together with the space program & the role the wildlife refuge plays in all of that. How old is the XF300 now? It is certainly still producing some incredible images! There's not a lot i can offer that might help make your film better. Maybe the shot of the (blue?) heron at 2.08 could have been framed with a little more looking room. The only other thing, is you could probably leave out the fade to black at 2.22. Thanks for this look into the Merritt Island wildlife refuge, i really enjoyed it! Regards, Bryce __________________ There's never enough hours in the day!

February 3rd, 2018, 08:10 AM	#3
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Bob, you did a great job taking me to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge It looks like it is a huge, huge area with lot of wildlife, which I would love to go to one day I liked the variation in focal length you did in the film, would like some more close up of some of the colorful birds though VO and ambient sound was very nice. The edit was good to The launch of the space shuttle must have been amazing to witness. Liked it a lot! __________________ - Per Johan

February 4th, 2018, 09:33 AM	#5
Mick Jenner Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: West Sussex England Posts: 843	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Hi Bob, Like all good films yours has an unexpected twist in the tail, a clever integration of fauna and the human race woven into the theme. Overall I found it a very well produced film that move along at the right pace my only observation would be that in the middle section you went from one species to another with mainly mid to tele/close ups where a few wide's interspersed would have made the transition from bird to another less abrupt. I enjoyed watching, thank you Mick

February 6th, 2018, 11:40 AM	#6
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Hi Bob, Not hard to see why you follow the call of the wildlife :) Nice to see all the different birds. I disagree with the critics about the fade to black at 2:22. In my opinion it works well because you change subject from the bird to the refugee itself. Cool twist in the end with the shuttle launch! Thanks for sharing, and well done!

February 3rd, 2018, 07:42 PM	#4
Gordon Hoffman Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Pincher Creek, Alberta Canada Posts: 619	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Hi Bob. That looks like a great place for birds and you got some good shots. You do have a good voice, easy to understand. I agree with Bryce about the fade to black. Your film seemed to flow nicely and I enjoyed watching. Thanks for a look in the refuge. Gordon

February 6th, 2018, 11:28 PM	#7
Vishal Jadhav Major Player Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Pune, Mah , India Posts: 445	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Hi Bob, such a great wildlife place with so much variety loved it. Your VO is so perfect and goes perfectly with the mood of the video. __________________ vishal jadhav www.indianwilderness.com

February 7th, 2018, 11:03 AM	#8
Bob Safay Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 1,559	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Thank you all for your comments. Bryce, I was using the Sennheiser MKE 600 shotgun microphone with a fuzzy. I bought my Canon XF300 back in 2012 and it still amazes me with the footage that it produces. It's color sampling is 4:2:2 at 50 Mbps, not bad for an old camcorder. I actually thought of upgrading to the C200 but them thought why? I used the fade to black to shift location. Maybe I should have moved it to just before the stills of the Kennedy space center, just as the music kicks in. Mick and Per, I agree that I should have changed focal length between species and possible more close-ups. In April 19th, 2001, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launce of the space shuttle Endeavour, and videoed it with my old Canon XL-1. I really enjoyed this challenge. Thank you all for taking the time to comment on my video. Bob

February 12th, 2018, 04:52 AM	#9
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Bob there is some great colors in the bird shots - 4:2:2 certainly doesn't go astray there, and the greens really pop. You also picked an interesting subject for the story and sculpted your narrative around that. A couple of shots could probably use a little more stability to bring them inline with the rest, but better having the shot than not. You have a nice way of taking the viewer on a journey with your videos. I liked both sections of the story, and whilst I can see a parallel being drawn, they did still feel a little disconnected to me. My instinct would be to focus on one. But that's down to subjective viewing experience, and it's a great idea for tying them together. I was going to say they haven't launched a shuttle for quite a while. I'm just a touch older than STS-1 myself. But we're at the end of that era, hopefully onto the next at some stage. Thanks for sharing, I can only imagine seeing a launch would be awesome.

February 12th, 2018, 07:02 AM	#10
Bob Safay Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 1,559	Re: uwol#45-Following the Call of the Wild Here is the new version of my video. I incorporated several of the comments made to me during the comment period. Enjoy! Bob Following the Call of the Wild on Vimeo