- The Journey -
The amount of work that goes on behind the scenes of a project like this is surprising to say the least. In fact I'll even amp that up a bit and suggest it's almost entertaining. Most of the challenge entrants have logged their progress, and struggles, on the UWOL forum.
Our process has been equally entertaining...
- UWOL Challenge #7 -
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Final tails of wonder and woe -
by Eric Gulbransen
I went into this thing without a clue. Just a dream. No story board, no plan, no idea. I couldn't figure how to shoot a wildlife video following a theme of "Adventure." And I thought about it a lot, too... But I went out and shot four days anyway. While on this journey I experienced many new things - some welcome and some not. No real "Story" ever occurred to me out there, but I definitely found myself in some ridiculous situations - hanging from a tree, leaned over a rocky cliff, perched inside a cave looking outward at complete madness, soaked, blinded by fog, seven miles from my truck with 60lbs of gear strapped to my back, I got lost, I got found, I got kicked out, I got invited in, I ran to, and I ran from - and those were the days I got nothing...
I've lied by my girl at night talking with her about this challenge - only to find she's been asleep half an hour already. I've lost my right to ever tell our son Matthew how much he can pay to download "just one song." (Yes, we own the rights to use the soundtrack) And I've taken many breaks from this "work" by doing anything BUT sitting.
Matthew asked me tonight, "Do you think they'll be able to tell that you timed the baby Elk getting up right along with the music?" My answer was classic, "No, probably not. But they'd be able to tell if I didn't.."
You should have been one of the vultures circling overhead during my Point Reyes journey. Beautiful place, or so I hear. I went there with the gear and asked the rangers where all the action was. They pointed to one point on the map. "The" point on the map, of Point Reyes. Guy said you can't miss. Only one problem though, "You have a lot of gear? Cause it's a bit of a hike..." "Yeah no problem" I figured. "I can still remember working out regularly." The pack was real heavy so I opted not to bring water or a sandwich (not like I packed a sandwich anyway). It's a three mile hike - TO the point. Mile marker one had me all jazzed. Mile marker two I'm a little concerned about visibility. Mile marker three I can't see thirty feet in front of me. Some bird expert passes me on his way back. "Nice tripod you got there," he says. I answered, "Thanks. You want it? Cause I came here to die apparently.." He fell down laughing. We both dropped our packs and compared our gear. Suddenly I was my wife comparing shoes with her girlfriends. So I asked the guy as I packed back up, "Am I still in California?" He told me to come again another day, "BEFORE the fog comes." "Before the fog?" I asked. "I thought fog burns off as the day goes on." Two steps from vanishing into the abyss he turns over his shoulder and says "Everywhere else on the planet, maybe, but not here.." I almost cried - once he was out of sight of course.
Two hours later I was discovered by three Vultures - talking to myself. "OK so I'm not saying I'll ever even see the truck again. So this is just for fun... But can you even imagine what it would be like to actually take this pack off? Or to drink again??"
The fog was so thick my face was soaked. Or maybe it was sweat. Or maybe it was tears. All I know is I left the house at 7am, drove five hours, hiked from here to Oregon and got home by 8pm. I ran the camera a total of five minutes..
You can bet any part of your anatomy I used that footage though. I had to. Point Reyes was where I found the Elk.
In the end, somewhat by default, I've ended up with an adventurous film. This was my goal, ultimately, but it was not achieved by plan. It was by adventure.
