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Best Challenge Ever?

I’m in the middle of another UWOL Film Challenge. The theme for this challenge is “Renewal.”

So far I’ve shot some fantastic footage. Maybe some of my best. I find myself chomping at the bit in anticipation waiting for the next opportunity I can get out and shoot for this challenge.

The new camera is simply amazing. The quality of the footage continues to blow me away. While they may announce a new version of the camera this month, I think it’ll be hard to beat what I’m getting right now. It’s simply stunning.

This also may be the most personal challenge I’ve done for the competition. Maybe that’s why I find myself so anxious to get out and shoot for it.

The film is due on September 20th. So, certainly not a lot of time to tweak it so it’s just right.

I’m going to try and shoot the one crucial scene tomorrow. If I don’t get that shot then the whole film will fail. So, it’s really, really important that I get this shot and I get it right. I’ve been trying for over a week to try and find a way to make it a simple shot and still make it clear what is going on without looking too cliche. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if I was able to pull it off or not.

I’ll be up before sunrise tomorrow working on getting some more shots to fill the gaps in the story before I head out for the big shot of the day.

There’s nothing like being out in nature that moment just before the sun peeks over the horizon. There’s no way I can describe the feeling. It’s as close to being magical as anything can be.

I hope tomorrow is a good day! I’ll keep you posted!

It’s POC time!

There’s a project I’ve been wanting to do for over a year now. But in order to do it right I really needed another HD camera. I suppose I could have used one of my SD cameras but if I was going to do it right, I should go ahead and invest in another HD camera.

So after a lot of research and talking to people I finally bit the bullet and ordered another camera.

The thing about this camera is that it’s tiny. Tiny enough that no one would pay me much if any attention. It seems now days, that’s becoming more and more important.
The other reason I wanted a small camera is if I have to bring two complete camera systems into the field, I need something that’s not going to weigh a ton and be able to fit in the bags I currently own along with my other HD camera.

This one fits the bill on both of those.

The scary thing is that this little dynamo is capable of create better footage than my big camera. The downside is that it lacks a lot of the tools my other camera has to allow me to take some fantastic footage.

So it’s another learning curve to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Tweak a setting here, adjust a little there.

But I think it’s all going to be worth it. I feel I have the right tool to start on my project which I think is going to allow me to pursue a life of filmmaking.

Just a few more tweaks and I think I’m good to go.

All the images on this page are grabs from the new camera. Below is some footage I shot today at one of my favorite local haunts, Indian Creek Nature Center. Another Proof of Concept video to see if the camera could in fact do what I needed it to do.

So what’s this big project that required a second camera? All I can say is stay tuned, I’m working on it!

[flv:http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/phoenixblog/movies/Prairie_GH1.flv 592 331]

Film Festival Selections

I’m proud to announce that two of my films have been chosen as official selections of the 2010 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival April 9-10, 2010. Collins Road Theatres
Marion, Iowa 52402 319-377-4555

“Silent Kingdom” is a 3:10 long PSA style film calling people to action to save our environment.

What people are saying about “Silent Kingdom”:

I got to say this is a another triumph of imagery for you Kevin. I always love to see what you come up with ! In every one of the these challenges, there are those that give the rest of us new goals to work toward, and you are always on that list. Thank you for that.
Chris J. Barcellos

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin…..Have you ever shot an image that was not just flat out beautiful??
You are the king of gorgeous….seriously….
Nicely done, nice message…the text was perfect!
Bob Thieda

Wonderful imagery as always. The words short and to the point. Having watched several short environmental films on a big screen last night, I can say this beats the pants off all of them.
Annie Haycock

“The Prairie” is a 3:00 long film about the cycle of life in an Iowa tallgrass prairie.

What people are saying about “The Prairie”:

Another beautifully shot film. The editing was spot on and had a good pace to it. The insect shots were great, especially the one of the spider and droplets of water. You clearly made use of the good light.
Mihali Moore

Probably your most stunning camera work yet, Kevin…
Meryem Ersoz

It is an enjoyment to observe your film. You have a good taste for joining pictures, music and words, -a feeling of art.
Finn-Erik Faale

You really captured the magic here.
Mike Sims

Cedar Rapids Independent Filmmakers began with the first Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival in 2001. The Festival was created to provide a venue for Iowa filmmakers to screen their work for peers and general audiences. For every filmmaker whose work is admired by audiences in megaplexes across the world, thousands more lack the means to show films to the masses. The greatest reward for an independent filmmaker is to have their work shown to an captive audience. One festival entrant commented what a wonderful feeling it was to observe an audience reacting to his film and laughing when they were supposed to laugh!

The Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival was created to provide a venue for Iowa filmmakers to show their work and for the general public to view the best of the state’s filmmaking industry.

CRIFM also publishes the Iowa Film News Update, a newsletter featuring screenings, casting calls, festivals and other news of interest to Iowa film enthusiasts.

The organizationâ€™s primary goals are to encourage Iowa independent filmmakers to continue improving their craft, to provide a place to specifically showcase Iowa-connected films, present a unique cultural event to the community, and to offer networking opportunities for the purpose of building the Iowa Filmmaking Industry.

Check out the 2010 film schedule here for times.

Nature’s Noel

As I sit looking out my window this Christmas Eve, my thoughts travel many miles to a valley in Montana where a family of wolves settle in against the harsh Montana Winter. My thoughts also travel to Alaska where a wolf pack follows the faint scent of a meal that had long past.

So often at this time of year we reflect on the love of family and friends and all that is good. Yet we pause not for even a moment to reflect on the incredible beauty of nature and how little we’ve done to protect it.

In Alaska more than 1000 wolves have been killed by aerial hunting. Ran to exhaustion before they are shot from the air, the wolves have little chance to escape the bullet. Protection has been lifted on the wolves of Yellowstone as well. Hundreds have already been shot for no reason other than being a wolf.

Idaho has extended their wolf hunt into the Spring denning period when wolves are particularly vulnerable. Killing just a single pregnant female can have a huge impact on the population.

Polar bears are drowning due to lack of sea ice yet no one really seams to care about the changing climate. Why can we spend untold billions of dollars to fight a war that in the end changes nothing, yet we refuse to spend anything on our planet that is dieing.

We’re poisoning our water, we’re polluting our air. We’re overfishing our oceans, we’re destroying our rain forests. Is it even possible for us to stop?

As I watch the snow fall silently upon the frozen ground outside my window, I worry about our planets future. I hope that you and your family have a joyous holiday. I hope one day our planet and all it’s inhabitants, human, plant and animal can do the same.

Below is my Christmas gift to you. It’s the most precious gift I can give.
I hope you enjoy it.

[flv:http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/phoenixblog/movies/Noel.flv 592 331]

There’s No Place Like Home

The life of a nature and wildlife filmmaker is often a lonely one.

When I’m working on a project I’ll often head out well before sunrise and sometimes won’t be back until well after sunset. If I’m someplace like Yellowstone, this can go on day after day for weeks at a time. Usually I’m by myself. Sometimes my wife, Angi, will come along.

But even when I have someone along for company, I’m too consumed with figuring out what to shoot, how to shoot it and how it’s all going to come together. I’m in my own little world. Angi will bring a book to read since she’s learned over the years that nature filmmaking is many hours of boredom followed sometimes by a few seconds of something wonderful. Oftentimes she wouldn’t understand why I was so excited about something but was happy that I was so happy.

I’ve hiked to frozen lakes in the middle of July, waded through a canyon river where the walls were only eighteen feet apart. I’ve seen ancient ruins thousands of years old. Had bears close enough to touch, coyotes chasing a wolf,snow falling in the Utah desert.

I’ve seen and done a lot of things in the natural world pretty mush most of them I was the only witness that they ever occurred.

But I thought Hawaii would be different. I got a call about teaching at a workshop in Honolulu a while back. The way the schedule was set up, It would have been easy for Angi to come along and enjoy Waikiki Beach while I was out filming. Unfortunately, her schedule wouldn’t allow her to come along.The ironic thing is that the night before I left, her schedule cleared and she would have been able to go after all. The only problem was that now plane tickets were over $2k. So, she reluctantly accepted the fact that she was going to miss out on this opportunity.

Hawaii turned out to be everything you hear it is. I met some great people there and we had a blast filming around the island. In fact, I still keep in touch with them and hope to visit them the next time I’m in town. John Chance, one of the locals, turned me on to Loco Moko and Plate Dinners. We had a great time along with his family and another friend I met there Constantino Ferrer. We sat on Waikiki Beach at sunset and watched world class films being projected onto a 30 foot screen as part of the Hawaiian International Film Festival. There’s just something about watching a documentary film about sharks while you’re sitting on Waikiki Beach and can hear the ocean waves just feet away from you. It was truly magical!

But Angi was never far from my thoughts when I was there. I knew how disappointed she was that she couldn’t join me.

On the flight back to Iowa, I broke out the laptop and started pulling clips from the trip. Angi is a California girl and living in Iowa, she misses the ocean terribly.

As the plane touched down in Cedar Rapids, it was great to be home. I had been in paradise for two weeks but nothing was as good as walking in the front door of my house, setting down all the gear and being home.

So when she asked me how was the trip, I played her this video that I had edited on my flight home.

[flv:http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/phoenixblog/movies/Angi.flv 592 331]

Do Pictures Lie?

What do you think of this picture?

landfill1

It’s a beautiful picture isn’t it? One of those Golden Graham mornings.

How about this one?

ladfill

Not quite the same impact is it? Would it surprise you to know that both pictures are at the same location? Would it surprise you even more to know that the “mountain” in the background is actually our local landfill “Mt. Trashmore”?

We’ve all heard the pictures never lie, but they do all the time. There’s an old mission in Montana that I’ve seen in books and magazines for many years. It shows this beautiful mission seemingly in the middle of nowhere with majestic mountains rising up behind it.

So one year, I made the trip to photograph the mission. As I travelled up the highway I happened to glance over to my right and there was this building that kind of looked like the mission. I was puzzled because this building was right in a town. There were telephone lines running every which way run down buildings, junk cars. It couldn’t be the same mission could it? Well, it just so happens that if you set up at just the right angle, you can eliminate all the distractions and get the iconic shot of the mission against the mountains that you see in all the magazines.

As a photographer and now filmmaker, I’ve learned that it’s not so much how things look but how you see the possibilities within them.

Here’s a shot from a recent short I did. It’s a tranquil pond seemingly set in a Waldenesque setting.
pond1

You can feel the peace and tranquility in this quiet little spot.

In actuality, this pond is in my housing development just off a major highway, Tons of traffic on the highway, dogs barking in people’s yards. It certainly wasn’t peaceful by any means.

This is what it normally looks like whenever I drive by.
pond

Do pictures really lie? I don’t think they do. I think they can show us the possibilities that we’ve chosen not to see. They show, at least to me, that there is beauty everywhere. We just need to take the time to see it. I feel fortunate to be blessed with the ability to see beyond what’s in front of my eyes and find those possibilities that seemingly lie hidden away.

Silent Kingdom

frost

Another film for the Underwater Over Land Film Challenge.

The theme for this challenge was “Animal Kingdom.”
Unfortunately this film had to be put together in just a few hours.
Family matters kept me home for most of the time period we had to complete the film. So, on the last day I headed out and spent most of the day driving around trying to find anything to film.
I knew I didn’t have enough wildlife footage to even come close to doing a film that really addressed the theme. So, I came up with the idea of doing a film about there not being any wildlife in the “Animal Kingdom in the tenth hour.

With the film due that night, I sat down about 9:00PM and started trying to put something together. My plan was to do a voice over but as the night wore on, that grew to be less likely.

The clock struck 2AM and I was still trying to put something together to beat the deadline.

Finally I just started laying down track, hoping that it would all make some kind of sense.

Although not the film I was hoping to do, I made the deadline and hopefully it has a bit of a message.
[flv:http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/phoenixblog/movies/SilentKingdom.flv 592 331]

A New Challenge Begins

fox

The latest underwater over land film challenge has begun.

This time around, the theme is “Animal Kingdom.” Why couldn’t I have had this theme when I was in Africa? 🙂

This is a tough time for wildlife filming in Iowa. Archery deer season is currently going on. They even allow hunting inside city limits as well as many parks. So, I’m guessing I’m going to have to find a blaze orange vest to wear as every year several people get shot by being mistaken for a deer.

Most of the birds that migrate have passed trough. The rivers haven’t frozen to concentrate the eagles near open water.

Right now I’m thinking about concentrating on the “Kingdom” portion of the theme and not so much the “Animal” part.

If you have any suggestions for ideas on this theme, send them my way!

The Little Things in Life

little9
They say you get wiser the older you get. I think the same is true when it comes to cinematography as well.

I remember my first serious video camera like it was only yesterday. I couldn’t wait to unpack it, charge the batteries, stick in a tape and start capturing the natural world around me.
I don’t quite remember what was the first thing I ever pointed it at and hit the record button, but I do know I was all over the Iowa countryside filming anything and everything.

I also remember I couldn’t wait to take it to Yellowstone. I had been going there for years shooting still photographs and couldn’t wait to capture Yellowstone in motion. I wasn’t disappointed. I captured moose, elk, grizzly bears, glorious waterfalls, fantastic geysers. I was a happy camper.

And so, that’s the way it was year after year. Arches National Park to film Delicate Arch. Grand Teton’s to capture Mount Moran reflected in a still alpine lake. The Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, Yosemite all stood in front of my camera lens.

kevin_utah

One day, a few years ago, I decided to participate in a program at the Indian Creek Nature Center. It was a prairie walk. The Nature Center had been working for years to re-establish a tallgrass prairie and the effort was really paying off. Only about one percent of the native tallgrass prairie remains in Iowa having been plowed under in just a single generation. I had been to this prairie many times before and thought this trip would really be no different.

As I walked through the prairie with Education Facilitator Jan Aiels, I was looking for the big prairie prizes as I always did. The Cardinal Flower, Purple Coneflower and the other “stars” of the prairie had always been the object of my interest.

Little7

I didn’t know that in just a few moments, my view of the natural world would be cut down to size and forever changed.

We walked on the trails cut within the prairie until we came to a clearing where the center had laid logs around the perimeter for people to sit, talk and contemplate. I sat and listened as Jan talked about the vast prairies that once covered Iowa and just enjoyed being there taking in the cool early evening air as I listened.

Jan talked about the diversity of the prairie and the amazing amount of life it supported. She handed each of us a small plastic “bug box” and suggested we all fan out and try to capture something that interested us.

The moment of change was upon me.

For the first time I really had to slow down and actually “see” the prairie. I was amazed at all that I had passed by. It was easy to see that the prairie was teaming with life if you just took the time to look for it. After a few minutes we all gathered together to look at what we had each discovered. Everyone had “found” something and pretty much everyone had something that was different from what anyone else had.

I had found something that I had never seen before but learned was quite common on the prairie, a froghopper.

It was at that moment that I realized that I had passed by so many opportunities to film amazing creatures and plants. I never realized that there was an entire world right beneath me.

Little2

I began looking at things differently. I slowed down, I took the time to really get to know the areas I visited. There were so many things I would have missed had I not taken the time.

How many Monarch chrysalis had I walked past and never noticed?

Little3

Now I realize that it’s the little things in life that are important. No longer do I look ahead to see what’s bigger and better. I know that some of nature’s best are right at my feet.

little8

Africa: A Moment in Time

rhino_590

Back in January and February, I had a fantastic opportunity to travel to Africa and try out as of then an unannounced camera for Panasonic, the HPX-300.

In previous posts I’ve documented the experience but never really posted any footage.

I have a habit of editing footage together while I’m on a trip so when I get back, I have something to show my friends and family as soon as I get off the plane. Africa was no different.

We arrived home late but still broke out the laptop to show everyone some of the fantastic wildlife we encountered while we were there. My intent was to always go back and re-edit the piece since I had juts taken bits and pieces from each days shoot and put them all together. I still intend to do that, but while you’re waiting for that, I thought I’d show you the footage that I had put together when I stepped off the plane.

A big thanks to Jan from Panasonic for believing in me and letting me take this camera to Africa. Course, I guess a bunch of footage from Iowa wouldn;t have had the same “wow” factor. 🙂

I hope you enjoy the footage. You can view it by clicking here.

If you have a moment please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it as well as what else you’d like to see posted on this blog.