UWOL#1 Frozen In Time by Brian McKay

[Brian McKay]

Hello All:

I will be leaving the country on Thursday but hope to supply feedback on all films prior to my departure.

Please provide me with feedback it would be much appriciated all the help I can get....you know the deal.

Thanks Brian

[Per Johan Naesje]

Brian, I get cold just by watching this! I know how it can be out there.
The community you have filmed looked like a area of origin?

I think you manage to film the raven pretty well, it's a very shy bird. Some technical comments: your pans was a bit yerky, maybe the cold and tripodhead had some influence? I would also like some more close-ups. A good close-up of the abandoned bus for instance would have been nice!

[Ruth Happel]

I like the feeling of seeing the world from a raven's eyes. It made me feel at times as if I was flying- very immersive. Thanks for sharing!

Ruth

[Brian McKay]

Thanks Per and Ruth for the comments. Your right on the money when it comes to the pans...at -25C a fluid head isn't so fluid anymore. Thanks for the suggestion on the closeups...I'll keep that in mind for future works.

Yes the community is a very traditionsl place 95% of the population is Eskimo....a great place to live and work except for the winter months.

Ruth I'm glad you enjoyed, I had fun creating it.

Brian

[Rick A. Phillips]

Ravens are cool birds and truely masters of the air. I think you captured some of this in your entry and you really nailed cold! I actually planned on getting some Raven footage for my short, but I just never got around to driving over to the mountains where they are found in the Southern Appalachians. Great birds for flight footage. Good job.

Rick

[Bruce Foreman]

Wow!

I, also, felt the cold while watching. The iced over stark appearance of the far north has a visually riveting quality of its own and you captured that.

Featuring one lone raven added to the feeling of isolation and you really got something with a lot of impact here.

You must have been one of the ones complaining about only having a couple hours of usable daylight to work with.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching your submission.

Bruce Foreman

[Gabriel Yeager]

Nice video Brian! Nice editing, at first I did not get it, but then I realized what you were doing and it was really cool!

The pans where jerky but that has already been said. And they where still better then mine! lol.

Very cool video! Two thumbs up!
~Gabriel

[Kevin Railsback]

Brian,

I also was getting chills watching your film. I think the music helped with that feeling as well. Nice and crisp just like the cold crips air.

You got some good shots of the raven. I like the one where it's all fluffed up and the very last one where it cleans its bill and then takes off.

I think it would have been even sweeter if you could have put some slow motion flight shots in there.

Sometimes if you have a jerky pan, you can slow the footage down and that will give you a longer run of steady footage. I do that all the time when shooting out of planes. At full speed it's rough but if you slow ten seconds into 30 seconds, the ride is allot smoother. :)

I've only had my fluid head out in about -15F and I feel you pain in trying to pan at those temps!

Other than that it was a sweet film!

[Cody Lucido]

Brrrr.

I couldn't help but get a sense of loneliness from this movie. Very strong emotion almost voyeuristic. You put it together well. Was that raven lost or are they common?

I might suggest you play with the contrast of your images to heighten the color space, but that may just be the compression. Keep toasty warm.

Soon, I would like to know more about friend Raven.

[Randall Allen]

Hi Brian:

Not much I can add to what has already been said. I enjoy the cold, but what you captured so well is not cold.....that is fozen isolation. Nicely captured on film.

One thing that caught my attention as it ended, and it may have just been me. Did the music seem to end abrubtly?<sp?> I could tell from the video that it was coming to a close but the music seemed like it was cut short.

Anyway, just my opinion. Still a great video with a well thought out concept.

Thanks

Randy

[Bradley L Marlow]

Bubbbbabbbbbuubuuuuuurrrrrrr! Now that is darn cold. Can certainly relate. However, it appears that your cold situation has been that way for a much longer period of time. Whew!

Really enjoyed some of your fog shots with the Raven and the school bus. The graveyard. Quite sad on the latter. That boat almost looks desperate to see liquid water again!

Much has already been said along the same lines and thoughts. Am curious however about a few other things.

1) Tukkuuk-I gather this is an Eskimo word, is that right? Can you tell me what it means?

2) I saw a triangular shaped opject on a mountain top. Was that a communication tower?

Nice job.

PS: I use a Bogen 501 fluid head and have had great results with it even in the cold.

Best wishes~
Bradley

[Brian McKay]

Good Morning All:

Guys and Gals I truly appriciate all your comments, what a learning experience this has been. I entered for fun, had some of that but boy oh boy did I learn a ton from this experience. To those that have pointed out my errors and those that have provided suggestions a very special thank you. Only through paying attention to the experience of others will we continue to learn....believe me I'm paying attention.

I'll try to answer a few questions and respond to comments. Kevin I like your idea to correct jerky pans, I'll give it a try the next time I end up in that situation. Cody about five years ago Ravens showed up in the fall and stayed for the winter they will leave in late spring and fly south to the tree line but will return again in the late fall....I'd estimate we have about 20 to 30 birds each winter. Randall I noticed the drop out of the music as well I think it's a result of the compression, it's not there in the full blown version.
Bradley the word Tukkuuk is indeed an Eskimo word the english equilivent would be to say "LOOK" but with very serious intent. The triangular shaped object is a simple navigation aid to a passage between two of the small islands near by. One on one Island and another on a near by island so when you pass between you split the difference between them and your in the channel.

As you know it was -25C when I shot the video if I had to shoot today it would be impossible today's numbers -38F wind chill -63F or -39C with wind
-53C

Again Thanks for the comments.

Brian

[Gordon Hoffman]

Brian
It looks down right cold there and it sounds like it's down right cold there. Plus 7 C here right now. Hey the wind has let up I better head out. As mentioned some tight shot would add to it. I like the shots where the raven looks a little frosty. Where do the go for shelter and roost? Intereting place.
Gordon Hoffman

[Brian McKay]

Hello Gordon:

The raven is without question one of the smartest birds we will come up against. I've seen them do things that blow my mind, especially when they work in gangs. One of the best...I watched while a group of ravens worked together to out wit a dog. One bird occupied the dog by flying just out of his reach while two others moved his food dish outside the range of his neck chain. Then to add insult to injury the three of them ate his food while the dog looked on.

They seem to live inside our tank farm...fuel storage facility, lots of shelter from the wind and plenty of places to roost...plus its near to the local land fill dump site plenty to eat. However you will see them all over town looking to raid garbage cans and out wit dogs.

Brian

[Gordon Hoffman]

Brian They are smart a some what comical at times. They are amazing agile in flight. I've watched them flying against the wind and doing rolls
Take care.

Gordon Hoffman