11th March 2011
I got given a Sony camera to do a test shots for my FMP. I decided that I would go up to Grit fell and see what types of birds I could film because it is known for Golden Plovers, Red Grouse and Hen Harriers. When I got there at around 1 O’clock I started walking up and half way up I noticed a large bird. It was a Red Grouse. I took several different types of shots like long shot, close up and low angle so when put into final cut pro it could be edited into sequence. After taking shots of the Grouse I tried to sneak in closer to get a close up shot but the Grouse is very shy so the nearest shot I could get was a midshot.
14th March
The next day I went to Quernmore Birk Bank with the Sony camera getting some nice scenery shots of the hills and the stream that flows from the top of the hill. When I was their I came up with the idea of doing a time lapse with the trees after I saw a forest all bear with no leafs and would be a great transition from winter to spring.
18th March
This was the start of my proper filming for my FMP. I decided to go Wyreside Lake and see what I could film there on their lakes. When I got the lakes were buzzing with life and their was lots birds to film like Coots, Geese, Swans and Canada Geese. I managed to film great activity of Coots diving and eating their food, which looked great on camera.
On my way back from the lake I went through Dolphinholme and I saw two Roe Deer by the side of a forest but just as I set up my camera they jumped over the fence into the forest and I get a chance to film them.
19th March
I did some research on the internet and found a place in Bleasdale that meant to bursting with Hares and it would be a great place to watch an film Mad March Hares. I got there at 7am because Hares are most active as the sun rises. I found a field with Hares in but as set up I looked up and they had disappeared into thin air. After waiting for a few hoping they would come back their was no Hare in sight so I got up and had a walk round the field but I couldn’t see anything except a few lapwings in the distance. When I got home disappointed I didn’t want to end the day with no footage of animals so I asked my Mum to take me up to Levens park because they have lots of Black Fallow Deer up there. Walking around Levens park for 20 minutes I noticed a big group of Deer up the top of a hill so I slowly moved closer in and got some great shots of them. On the following Monday I went back to Bleasdale at an earlier time of 6am so I could set up and wait for the sun to rise an be ready for when the Hares starting chasing each other and boxing. When I woke up that morning though it was foggy outside and by the time I got to Bleasdale I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, which ended in another disappointing day of trying to film Hares. I tried again on 25th March but I was having no luck with the Hares and my hope of filming Hares, never mind mad march Hares was slowly fading and I was beginning to think that I would never get any shots.
28th March
Being a bit fed up with no footage of Hares I went up to Birk Bank because I knew I would be able Red Grouse up there to film and I was going to do the first shot of my time-lapse sequence. I got some shots of the stream as I was walking up the hill and I went up a path past a small forest. For the time-lapse sequence to work I needed to mark out the position of the tripod, write down the height of the tripod and how far I was zoomed in. I marked out the tripod with some big stones I found nearby and I picked a path that was very hard to get to so I was just hoping that no one came past and moved them.
After filming the time-lapse sequence I went up the hill, over a stone wall and found a group of Red Grouse in the long grass/bushes. I only had about 5 minutes left on my tape so I couldn’t get that much footage because I had filmed too much takes of the time-lapse because I wanted to make sure it was prefect.
31st March
I did some more research on where to find Hares and found a place round the corner from my house called Forest Hills that said on their website that they have Brown Hares on the land so I thought I would go their and check it out. I walked around the fields but only saw Rabbits. I decided to just carry on walking up this lane which lead me to a road I followed this road up the hill through some houses then on the right hand side their was field that had patches in the grass. I followed my instinct and walked through the field. I got to this hedge and looked over and there were two Hares in the grass, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I managed to get some good footage of them eating the grass but it was starting to get dark and they were starting to hide away in the grass for the night.
1st April
Excited with finding the Hares in a location right near my house so I could be able to get there much easier to film them. That night I could hardly could go to sleep and I woke up three hours before I wanted to get up but being too excited I got up, had my breakfast and got out the house at 4am. I waited in the field for the sun to rise at around 5.30 but couldn’t see anything so I walked round the edges of the fields to see if maybe they had moved to another field, nothing in sight. It felt like devaju. Not see anything I decided to head back home then I saw a Hare! In the first field sat in the long grass. I set up the camera and tripod as quick as possible and started filming. After about 10 minutes another Hare came out of a bush and started picking up the scent of the female in the long grass. I was at the other end of the field and when the Male started chasing the female I couldn’t believe my eyes when they started running right towards me. As they started getting closer and closer I put the viewing screen into the side of the Xm2 so I could view from the side but when they got right near me, I was almost in a distorted body position because I didn’t want to move and make any noise that might scare the Hares away. Just as the Hares were about 20 feet away the female turned round and boxed the male on the head. I was so happy to finally not only film Hares but to get a bit of boxing too. As the two Hares ran off into another field I followed them and another Hare came out of nowhere and started chasing the female. A few minutes later another Hare turn in and it starts frenzy. They kept on running between the four same fields so I managed to work out where they would next be. I got one really good close of the three Hares running by the hedge then the one at the back bites the one of the Hares.
2nd April
Being thrilled with the footage of Hares I filmed the day before, I went to the Crook O’Lune and film some shots of the river and the forest. I walked along the river and got some good panning shots then further on I got some more panning shots of the forest. As I walked through the forest I looked to the left and saw loads of footprints in the sand. I knew they wouldn’t be dog foot prints because in was down a steep embankment with loads bushes so it would be very difficult to get a dog down their. I walked down the embankment and on the sand were hundreds of Otter prints. I had been told a few months ago by Emma (Wildlife Trust) that their was Otters on the Crook O’lune but it was great to finally see evidence of them living here on the river. I had to go back and try and film them at some other point. After I climbed back up the embankment I walked along the path and got some focus pull from leafs to the river which I thought would be a good transition from the forest to the river then show the Otters.
6th April
I went to Forest Hills at around 7 pm to film some scenery shots and the animals on the rivers. I found a group by the forest would I go some good shots but it was getting dark so didn’t have much time to get many shots. I filmed the sunset, which looked amazing with the orange sky. The next morning at 6am I went back to film the Hares but the weather wasn’t to good so they weren’t that active but I still got a lot of close shots of them.
8th April
For the first time I tried to film Otters at the Crook O’lune. I got there at 5am with my friend Scott and I got a lovely shot of stream coming of the river and the sun set in background. As we walked to the spot were I had seen the Otter foot prints, I thought of filming otters is going to be low as many top Wildlife Cameramen have said that Otters are the hardest animal to film in Britain so I wondered if luck would be on my side. We sat on the embankment with a nice view over the sand bank, this way we weren’t too close to scare them away but still get good shots. We waited for three hours and hope was running slim and with not having any breakfast I felt it was time to go back to café to have some morning breakfast and try to film the Otters another day. Cycling back home I went down the Lancaster canal and I found a Moorhen building a nest in the side banking. The moorhen wasn’t bothered by my presence so it gave me time to get multiple shots of her building her nest. I knew I had to come back in a few weeks a see if her chicks had hatched. Two days I went back to the Crook O’lune to get some more scenery shots but because it was a very hot day their people everywhere around the river so it would be best to go to a more remote area at Birk Bank and film the last time-lapse panning shot but when I got there the trees had more flowered yet so it would be best to come back in a few more weeks. The next morning at another earlier time of 5am I went back to film some Hares. Each time I went there was like a challenge to me to see if I could get closer and closer to them. In the middle of filming some Hares and farmer came up to me on a quad bike with his two dogs and said I was trespassing on his Land but I said I thought I was on a public footpath. Next time I’m allows going to ask the Farmer if I’m allowed to go on his land because I don’t want to shouted at like that by a farmer again even though it was a incent mistake.
On a Saturday afternoon I was up in my bedroom when I looked out the window I thought I saw a Fox and cub So a few days later on the 5th May I got the Xm2 camera and sat in the back field at 6 pm waited to maybe see a glimpse of a fox. As the time I finished reading my two MTB magazines I started concentrate on the bushes at the top. As my eyes were beginning to get soar and invasion of ginger cubs ran out the bushes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was expecting to see maybe a Fox and maybe if I was lucky a cub but to see so many I was stunned. As I filmed the seven cubs playing around, my heart was beating so fast I’m surprised I could even film properly. When the vixen came out I think my heart just stopped and I was breathless. I felt so luck to have these foxes so close to me; this was a great chance to observe them and get insight into their lives. I guess the saying is true that as soon looking you will be surprised what lives near you. Over the next five days I spent trying to get closer to them. I built a camera box to put the Xm2 camera in so I could it at the top of the field and get some close up shots of the Fox and her cubs. I put it at the top of the field when I knew they would be coming out at around 7 pm everyday they would come out of the den. By the end of the week I had some what incepted by them because I could be about 20 feet away and they wouldn’t mind me being there filming them.
9th May
Being thrilled by what I had filmed so far with the foxes I had to detach myself away from them for a day so I could go in search of a kingfisher. I had been a long the Lancaster canal near Galgate I had a high chance of filming a Kingfisher. Walked the canal but didn’t see any Kingfishers. I went back to were the moorhen nest was I was delighted to see that their was a Moorhen chick. After filming the moorhen chick swimming and trying find food I set off back home and their in the water was a Grey Heron. I only got to film it for about 2 minutes until it flew off. As said by Spencer “that’s the money shot.”
16th May
As my filming drew near to the end I thought it be excellent to film the birds in my garden. I built a bird feeder table and put birdseeds on one end and the xm2 on the other. I surprised that I got so many good shots of Robins, Sparrows and many other garden birds. I didn’t realize until after a few shots that the Xm2 was in auto focus so the shots of robins were blurry and didn’t focus on it. I put it out again and put it in manual focus and got some more excellent shots.
20th May
My last weekends filming the Foxes so I decided to get some really, close up shots. I hid in a bush near the Foxes den all in camouflaged and with my camouflaged netting. They didn’t come out which was strange so I went back to have my tea and I came back out an just as I was about sit in my Hide, I saw a group of things in the distance running around by the forest a few fields away. As I got closer I realized it was the Fox and her Cubs. It was great that they gone there because it gave me more cover behind a bush to get closer to them instead of being in an open field. I filmed them behind the bush then just as I was about to sneak round the back through the forest I saw the vixen walking through the trees with the cubs. It was great to see them so close but I couldn’t help wonder if I had gone round the forest earlier I would of got a even better shot of the vixen walking through the bluebells in the forest.
24th May
My last day of filming, in the morning I went back up Birk Bank to get end shots of the time-lapse panning shot and thankful all the trees had all their leafs now. I’m also thankful that no one had moved the stones to mark the tripod so my panning shot would look great. After doing multiple takes of the panning to be on the safe side I walked over the hills to Abbeystead to film the Lapwings. When I got there, they were everywhere to be seen. After Filming them for a while some mini fights between the lapwings starting happening probably over nesting ground or to keep away from their eggs. I was amazing to see them fighting in min air.
I have learn’t a lot of the course of the production; it has given me great experience working/filming animals and many memories that will last a lifetime. I can’t wait to do it all again sometime soon.
