UWOL#3 "Wild on the shore" by Geir Inge B. Brekke

[Geir Inge]

Thanks, all of you, for all your kind words and advices, I appreciate it a lot :)

What I'm most dissatisfied with in my own film, is the ending.
I had plans for some narration about the birds in the end, and wanted to shoot this in the field, lying on the cliff in front of the puffins. But as I've told before, too much people came looking at me, believing I was some kind of an english film maker :) I put a lot of effort in planning this in front of making this film, by studying different birds, research at Runde, talking to old people who knew about the birds, etc.
My seccond idea was to make some voiceover at home, and so I did, using a greenscreen, as I intended to put some of scenary in behind. Then I got a call from work that I've been chosen to be a host for a youth conferance for "Mid-Norway" 15 - 17 june. Thats a great challenge too, you see. So I had just the nights left for working with my, "The Wild", and the time didn't fit the deadline. I did some small changes though, just before schedule ran out. I put the kayaks in the cave, but I had to slow it down by 50%, because it's shot from the sea, onboard Aquila.
Though I have plans for this film, it'll have to wait a bit, my first priority is working for the youth in our county.

To Bruce Forman: You're welcome to use my film in your club, and I'm flattered that you ask me. Thanks.

To Meryem: I think you've given me some of your stomach flew, but I reckon it'll pass in a few days :)

[Rob Evans]

I really enjoyed this film.

Great mix of stunning landscape shots, human interaction and the puffins!!!
One of my aims in life is to see them in the wild - missed them in the hebrides by a few days some years ago and also failed to make a spot on Lundy at the weekend. Maybe i need to head north ;-)

Thanks for sharing this,truly inspiring stuff!!!!

Rob

[Tom Schumann]

hi geir,

you had me with your appearance in front of the camera, and like others wrote before, you could have used that oncreen presence more often, just because your narration is very entertaining. great images, stunning landscapes, really makes me wanna go there one day. great film. good luck.

[Dale Guthormsen]

Geir,

Being a bird person myself, I loved the birds and the rugged scenery was awesome. something you will note that I do not have much here in the northern Prairies!!! so it is a great pleasure to see such nice footage!!

great Job.

[Gabriel Yeager]

Really nice Geir! I very much enjoy the personal approach.

I really enjoyed this film alot! The footage of the puffins make you want to just reach into your screen and grab one! It looked so sharp and full of color!

I actually liked the footage from the boat... It gave you the feeling as if I were there with you on your adventure..

Thank you so much for sharing this film! It was absolutely amazing!

Best wishes!
~Gabriel

[Geir Inge]

I overlooked these ones, so to...

Grant Sherman: Thanks for feedback, and if you can get something out of looking at my film, it's an honour for me, but please don't be jealous, you got Lundy :)

Rob Evans: Thanks for feedback and you're welcome to Runde, at any time :) If you want to see the puffin, the best time of year is now, or in these months, april - august. I tried to film the puffins on the nest, but it was a bit too early.

Dale Guthormsen: Thanks for kind words and I must say I envy you the prairies. The most fantastic in this competition is the different sceneries we'll able to see, from different parts of the world. It's just great and for two days now, I've been lying sick in bed just watching some great uwol-movies, but now I'm back on my feet :)

Gabriel Yeager: Thank you for feedback. Well, I wasn't sure how to put this film together, at first, even though I had a script. It was really too much, in the beginning. The rough country on Runde is something you just have to see for your self. There is something going on all the time, all around you, it's a pulsating and hectic world of birds. So at first I just stood there - watching.
Couldn't get the finger on the trigger, so to speak. After 3 days of filming I couldn't deside what to put in my 3 min, so I came up with the idea of just using the clips plain and raw as they where filmed and just as the life on Runde is. The scenes from the boat is a bit shaky, but it's just as it was, but I didn't get seasick, lucky me :) I wish I could use some more scenes from the cave, "The green Grotto", though, but thats life. You win some and you lose some.

[Grant Sherman]

I've got Lundy but you got more in 3 days than I did in 3 weeks :)

[Brian McKay]

Geir:

That's it, I've decided that when I grow up I want to be just like you LOL.

Bloody amazing absolutely bloody amazing every last second of it your film tops my list of the best of the best.

Brian

[Geir Inge]

Brian, what can I say, just that I feel very humble and thank you very much.

[Jeff Hendricks]

Felt like I was watching something on Discovery, you make a great host. Beautiful shots and very rich filmmaking.

My favorite shot was that of the bird that seemed to be shaking its head violently; interesting to see the different bird beahviors. It is the behaviors of animals that I respond to most because at times wild animals seem to be so human, you captured that very well for me.

Good work,

Jeff

[Geir Inge]

Thank you so much, Jeff, thats very nice of you to say.
Well, in the winter, when they are far out in the open sea, the bills and their feet are almost grey colour, and they are also a slight more darken in the cheek. In the spring when they come to land, their beaks and feet are turning this beautiful orange colur, as you see in my film, and they also increases in size of beak as it matures (i think this is the right word?).
The colour and size of the beak is a ( well my english isn't that good, so excuse me if I'm using the wrong words) sign/badge for it's "quality" helping them chosing partners. I think the movement you refer to, is a way of, both showing off and as a signal, "here I am" and, "this is my place".
When their gaping with their beak it's also a way of showing aggressivity, the wider the beak, more upset is the bird. They also communicates in the way they walk, and stamp their feet, it's where I got the idea for my music, "The Puffin Dance". Keeping a low profile the say, "I mean no harm, just passing through". Often used when they cross eachothers territory.
The puffins only visit land to breed, from march/april to mid/late august, rest of the year they live far out in the open sea, in all kinds of weather, so it's a very tough bird, indeed.

As I've told earlier, it was my intention with a slight different ending, my time didn't fit the uwol deadline, ( I had to work a bit in my real job) so I chosen to put in a clip of the brown skua instead, as a roar to the wild :) The skua is a very rare bird, not so many of them, and it was shot from the hip, so to speak, on my way home late one of the 3 days I was on Runde.
I hope this was in a understandable english :)

[Gordon Hoffman]

Geir Inge
I hope your feeling better. I must say this was a very nice video. I've liked all of yours but this is the best so far. I've never been to the ocean so I enjoy these kind of videos. Well done.
Take care.

Gordon Hoffman

[Geir Inge]

I'm doing fine, thank you Gordon.
Those uwol-films sure work as a great medicine :)
It's "Pentecost/Whitsun" holiday in Norway ( i'm not sure of the english word) so I hope to get some sea otter on tape this weekend. Per Johan phoned me yesterday evening, and was going to Dovre filming muskox.
OK, thanks again.

Just a PS.
You have to take a trip to the ocean, it will be a memory for life.

[Geir Inge]

Hi Tom.
Thanks for comments and tip.
I did some more narrations in the field, as I've told before.
But maybe I'll show some of my clips that didn't reach uwol, but it'll have to wait until next week.
When I was on Runde filming I met a guy from Germany, Frank, a photographer.
There are many from Germany visiting Runde and Norway each year, so if you have a chance going there, give me a call, and I'll show you around. It's a beautiful place.
This weekend I'm another island, trying to film some sea otter, but the weather isn't on my cameras side, it's raining. I'm borrowing a friends computer at the moment to write this.

[Andrew Hood]

Wow Geir, this has some awesome shots. A good sequence of composed clips, really showing off the landscape. And also the subjects, the birds.
You also did a good job with the intro, and on camera.