UWOL58 - "Gifts of the Jungle: Life in the Rainforest"

[Phil Murray]

This was the most fun I've had in a long time -- until it came time to add narration! I waited far too late and came up sorely disappointed in the final product. I think it was clear that I needed more narration and there were some places where better sound production was necessary, but this was a first time adding anything so it was a good learning experience for me.

The best part of producing these films is the fun as my friends probably got tired of hearing from me every time I went out to film for a few days! The jungle is where I am most at home and many hours spent walking slowly through the rainforest was the most enjoyable time I've had in a long, long time -- especially as we are finally finding our way out of a very bad time during the pandemic down here in Peru.

I'm not sure if I was able to capture the theme as well as I'd have liked, but I think you can get a small idea of all the gifts that jungle gives to me every times I am able to visit. As I constantly tell my friends, the best part of my life now is being able to share this amazing world in which I now live.

UWOL58 "Gifts of the Jungle: Life in the Rainforest" by Phil Murray on Vimeo

[Bob Safay]

Well Phil, I can see why you had so much fun filming this. It sure bought back some great memories. As for your own critique about the narration, I think you had just enough. Your words set the stage and the video did the rest. Good color and camera movement. Their is just so much to see and film in the bush. Great job videoing in all that rain. Bob

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Phil,

Nice film a good story and cool locations. Hard to film in the rain, but you did very well. Love the crisp colors!

Might be because I used my phone to watch, but both the soundtrack and your voice over appeared a bit hot and distorted. Might be an idea to lower the volume a little.

I agree with Bob. The narration was just fine.
Well done!

[Geir Inge]

Hi Phil.
You deliver a good movie from the depths of the rainforest. We usually associate rainforests with southern parts of the world, but believe it or not, we also have rainforests in Norway.
Norwegian rainforest is defined as forest areas where there is at least 1200 millimeters of precipitation a year, at the same time as there is at least 200 days of measurable precipitation.
These are conditions that we find in several places along the coast in southern and central Norway. Most famous are perhaps the coastal forest areas in Trøndelag and parts of Nordland, where we find rainforests that are dominated by spruce. This type of habitat is called boreal (= northern) rainforest.
Of course, it can not be compared to "your" rainforest, in terms of species diversity, but thought I would mention it for fun.
The sound in your movie is a bit jarring, maybe too loud when you made sound recordings?
I use VO-meter and adjust the recording volume if it shows red (too high).
You have a nice collection of clips from the rainforest and a variety of both flora and fauna, which you weave together into a great story.
Just the right amount of information to absorb on such a short film.
The bird standing in the river at 1.04 looks like it's hunting? At 3.11 there are two birds, I did not see both at first, but then one moves his head suddenly and I became aware that there were two.
You really made me experience the jungle with your movie, Phil.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
All the best and stay safe.

Geir Inge

[Phil Murray]

Thank you all for your comments. As always, the best part of this is learning by watching others' films and learning from the comment of other on my work.

Bob -- It is SO much fun filming in the jungle. I have an Edelkrone slider that I'd like to use more to get even more movement, but even thought it's small, the extra weight is a pain to carry when I hike for several hours into the rainforest. I need to make myself use it more as the subtle movement can make a big difference.

Trond -- the colors were straight out of the camera. I often add a slight saturation to make the jungle look more colorful, but I made the decision this time to leave it exactly as it was filmed. (Interestingly, I was back in the same area last weekend and the colors are starting to fade and the flowers are mostly gone as even in the rainforest there's a dry season. This year it has been drier than usual, too.) You're right -- the voiceover was really hot! I didn't notice it so much on my bad laptop speakers, but it was shockingly bad when I heard it through the TV last night. That's one more thing to improve on in the future!

Geir -- I agree completely. The voiceover sound was really bad and should have been something corrected easily, but I made the mistake of waiting until the last day to do it and didn't spend enough time doing a final listen and edit. The bird standing in the river was a Tiger Heron and, yes, he was looking for food. I filmed him for about 5 minutes and he never moved. I'd hoped to film him catching a fish, but there really aren't many fish in the river and so it could have taken a very long time. I know that area very well and have never seen one of those there so I was lucky to be able to film him.