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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]

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is part of a network of refuges devoted to preserving and restoring increasingly scarce habitat for migratory waterfowl and other wildlife. The refuge is comprised of 8,358 acres in Iowa and Nebraska and lies in the Missouri River Valley floodplain on a former meander of the Missouri River.

Each year, especially during the fall, spectacular flights of up to 500,000 ducks and geese mark the changing seasons along this traditional waterfowl flyway.

Once an oxbow of the Missouri River, DeSoto provides a crucial resting and feeding spot for migratory waterfowl as the flee the snow covered lands of their Arctic nesting grounds.

Filming this spectacle can be hit and miss. The drive South is fueled by Winter storms that cover their feeding grounds with snow and freeze their ponds and lakes. The largest concentration usually takes place in Fall around November and December. Flocks of 20,000 or more birds can arrive in a single day. They’ll stay at DeSoto until the Winter storms push them farther South until they reach their wintering grounds on the Gulf Coast.

As of this post, the flocks have yet to arrive.

Seeing the Possibilities

One of the questions I’m often asked is how do I capture such beautiful imagery.
It’s a hard question for me to answer. It’s not that I’m reluctant to share some secret technique ( there really isn’t one ), it’s that I really don’t know the answer.

While composition and exposure can be taught, seeing the possibilities in a scene where there may appear to be none is much harder to explain. I think a lot of it is something you’re just born with.

I’ve been a dreamer my entire life. In my world of daydreams, there are never any limitations. I can be anyone, do anything, go anywhere. I think that allows me to look at the real world in different ways than just the current reality that’s in front of me.

I my latest film, “The River”, I scouted locations for the opening sequence. I was looking for something that would have a big impact and set the tone for the rest of the film.

This was the first place I scouted, a local state park which had great access to the Cedar River.

Really not much to look at. Certainly wouldn’t put it in the film as is. But, I saw the potential.

So I began checking sunrise times and position. I also checked the weather reports every night to make sure the morning sky would be clear. Nothing worse than traveling to a location to capture the sunrise only to find clouds blocking the sun.

By seeing the possibility in the location and a little planning I wound up with this.

Certainly much more impact as an opening shot than what I had seen when scouting this location.

What People are saying about “The River”

Fantastic cinematography


You are a master at the “big cinema” feel to your films, your artistry with your camera work… you are an inspiration.


Wow! This was amazingly shot.


From beginning the end, your Film was just magic.


Quite stirring.


This film moved me!


This was a true piece of art.


In simple words, a masterpiece of work.

“The River”, my latest film, is now available for viewing here.
I’d appreciate if you have the time to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the film.
I hope you enjoy it.

“The River” Rolling Along

It’s been a lot of hard work but “The River” is done! It’s even finished a couple days before the deadline.

I had originally planned on documenting the entire process here. But, once it things started to go together, I didn’t want to spoil the impact of seeing it by giving you a lot of behind the scenes info.

So, once the film is up for viewing, I’ll post a link and then I can go into some of the details on how this film came together.

I think it’s one of the best films I’ve entered in the challenge to date.

Once you have an opportunity to see it, please post a comment and let me know what you think.

The River

A strange thing happened to me this round of the UWOL challenge, I actually was able to change my mind about the subject of my film.

Normally whenever the theme is announced for a new challenge, an initial thought will pop into my head and no matter how hard I try to think of something else, my brain locks onto that first idea I had and that’s all she wrote.

Maybe at first, the idea sounded really good but upon further reflection, I realized it might be more difficult to pull off in the three week time frame that I had originally thought.

When I first heard the theme was “Habitat” for UWOL #11, my first thought was a film on vanishing forests here in Iowa.

Every year in the Cedar Rapids area, they have what the call Parade of Homes. The public is given an opportunity to tour homes built by local contractors. Homes range in price from $150k to over a million dollars.

One of the million dollar plus homes was in the middle of a great forested area. As my wife and I were being driven up the lane in a golf cart because it was tucked back so far off the road, I was saddened by the fact that such a beautiful area was being bulldozed to make way for more million dollar homes.

Oh, there were still plenty of trees and a great pond, but the natural beauty and wildness had forever vanished with the building of this development.

So, that was what my film was going to be about.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was part of a bigger story. Something that couldn’t be told in the normal span of time we have for the challenge.

Normally my brain would be so focused on this story that I wouldn’t be able to shift gears and find another story that needed to be told.

But this time was different. This time for whatever reason, a new idea popped into my head. That idea has become the focus of my UWOL #11 film, “The River.”

Stay tuned as “The River” starts to take shape.

The UWOL Film Challenge

October 1st marked the start of the eleventh UWOL Film Challenge. The Underwater, Over Land Film Challenge or UWOL as it’s most commonly known, is and international film challenge catering to ouotdoor, nature and wildlife filmmakers.

Six times a year, filmmakers who sign up to accept the challenge are given a theme the day the challenge begins. Once the theme has been announced, filmmakers have three weeks to complete a three minute film based on that particular theme.

Past themes have included The Living Skies, Water, The Wild, Wildlife, Recreation and Adventure.

The hallmark of UWOL is the constructive critisism filmmakers get from their peers through feedback threads hosted on DVi. Even though it is a competition, entrants and non-entrants alike give positive and constructive feedback on what worked, what didn’t and why. As a result, the filmmakers expand and improve their abilities and the whole challenge improves as a result.

The theme for UWOL 11 is “Habitat ”

Follow along as I develop the idea, shoot and edit my film.