Well. Kinda.
I have been experimenting with Magic Lantern on my Canon 5DmkIII – switching from photography to video.
Certainly, it’s a learning curve. Taking a photo, like taking a shot, ‘freezes’ the point in time – so you only really need to consider that moment. The video, however, requires a lot more setup and preparation – as well as stability.
Dragging around a tripod, setting it up and filming, all while trying to not spook an animal has proved a lot harder than I thought. It became either a case of stalking out spots I expected animals to come through or slowly moving my way forward and trying to set up the gear at about the speed of a glacier.
However. The footage is great. I am always endeavouring to create something that is representative of what I ‘see’ – this means clear, sharp and interestingly, if I step back and reflect on it – it is almost enhanced beyond what my eyes saw and more to where my memories of the scene are. Heightened. Certainly, my standards are high.
Still more work to do on it and keen to form some kind of narrative – more than just a series of video of animals. It seems that most ‘hunting’ videos are either really a series of kill shots, focusing on what really seems to be an only tiny moment of the whole experience or a voice over describing what is happening on screen. There is so much more to the medium. Especially if I would also like to appeal to non-hunters.
So – this project is only starting – and I expect it’s going to form into some kind of short feature – the goal, technically? Something worthy of showing on a big screen.
