International professional jury sings praises of high-speed animal films made by amateurs

An international jury of professionals is highly enthusiastic about the quality and subject choices of the short films made by 460 nature-lovers, amateur photographers, artists and other interested parties over the last twelve months. The films of birds, insects and flying plant seeds were made using advanced high-speed cameras. The filmmakers were supervised by the Flight artists team from Wageningen University, part of Wageningen UR. The four-man jury of renowned professionals chose the best eight from a total of more than 2,000 films. They are all available on the website www.youtube.com/vliegwinnaars.

The best eight short films, most of which last less than 30 seconds, feature scenes including a fly making a somersault on take-off, a goose flying upside down, sparrows fighting in mid-flight and a flying bee clashing with a foraging bumblebee. Of the 2,400 entries, the jury chose three films made with the Casio EX-F1 (up to 1,200 images per second) and five using the professional high-speed Phantom camera worth 140 thousand euros, which can film 7,500 images per second in High Definition.

Sitting on the jury were Bas Haring, Professor of Public understanding of science at Leiden University, Rob van Hattum, Director of Science at the VPRO broadcasting company and Creative Director at Science Centre NEMO, David Lentink, Assistant Professor of Experimental zoology at Wageningen University and leader of the Flight Artists team, and Steve Romano, best known for his camera work at National Geographic, BBC, Discovery Channel, Hollywood Studios, and also director of photography and camera at Velocity Media Systems. He is an expert in the field of high-speed filming with equipment including the Phantom camera (http://steveromano.com/).

A selection of jury’s comments about the winning films:

Dove as angel, by Willem Hoebink and Xander van der Sar.

To jury member Steve Romano, the flight of the dove is as good as a studio recording, particularly “because it is so difficult to get a bird to fly just above the camera in the wild.” Rob van Hattum was also full of praise: “You can imagine what angel wings would look like. A fabulous achievement in which art crosses into science.”

'Whiffling' goose, Hans de Koning and Lodewijk van Eekhout, filmed from an observation hut in the Oostvaardersplassen national park.

David Lentink: “For a short while during the landing, the goose actually flies upside down while its head remains horizontal. Its neck twists 180 degrees: what is the point of this trick? For the very first time, the video shows in slow motion what whiffling exactly entails.”

Are all sparrows nice? Liset Karman and Cees Keyer

Philosopher Bas Haring notes that while watching this seemingly peaceable scene, “harsh reality unveils the ongoing struggle between these so-called sweet birds.”

Fly making a somersault, Joris Schaap and Emile van Wijk

Steve Romano: “This film reveals what the eye can’t see.”

Researcher David Lentink is equally impressed: “Do smaller insects have less control over their flight? Research into fruit flies has shown that when trying to escape, they first jump and then topple into flight before eventually gaining control. This film illustrates the same behaviour in a larger fly, the main difference being that the fly is exceptionally quick in getting the whole manoeuvre under control.”

Amazing flight skills of great tit, Remco Brand and Ansa Fiaz in the Arboretum in Wageningen.

Steve Romano sees the sensational flight technique of the great tit in this recording.

The jury gave the following entrants an honourable mention per camera:

Casio: Agnieszka Malinowska from Randwijk (Clumsy longhorn beetle), Marjolein van der Stoep from Baarn (Bee clashes with bumblebee) and Iris van der Veen from Wageningen (Bees).

Phantom: Willem Hoebbink & Xander van der Sar from Amsterdam, Joris Schaap (Wageningen) & Emile van Wijk (Enschede), Liset Karman & Cees Keyer (Andijk), Remco Brand & Ansa Fiaz (Wageningen), and Lodewijk van Eekhout (Utrecht) & Hans de Koning (Hoofddorp).

The Vliegkunstenaars team, led by David Lentink, won the 2010 Academic Year Prize. The team spent the prize money of 100,000 euros, plus the same amount donated by the Executive Board of Wageningen UR, on high-speed camera equipment. This included thirty Casio EX-F1 consumer video cameras, and a very expensive professional Phantom high-speed camera. The team devised special training programmes, including a course to teach novices and other nature-lovers how to use the cameras. This gave them an opportunity to record scenes of nature in flight, which would otherwise be almost impossible to film. The cameras were lent to groups of participants for a period of two days. Other cameras were lent to previous participants for two years to help them perfect their filming techniques. Great things are expected of them.

All the awarded short films can be seen on the website www.youtube.com/vliegwinnaars.