Screaming and yelling

[David Drummond]

I'd rather hear the screaming than get seasick attempting to watch video that looks like the camera was sitting on a bowl of jello, placed in a canoe, and let loose in a Category 5 hurricane. I've shut off more videos (that I really wanted to see what was going on) just because of that one thing alone, than anything else. I can always turn the volume down. There's no fix for horrible camera work.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I'd rather hear the screaming than get seasick attempting to watch video that looks like the camera was sitting on a bowl of jello, placed in a canoe, and let loose in a Category 5 hurricane. I've shut off more videos (that I really wanted to see what was going on) just because of that one thing alone, than anything else. I can always turn the volume down. There's no fix for horrible camera work.

That's very true! Screaming is much more tolerable to me than shaky video!

 

[Dean Baron]

I'm a pretty quiet person to begin with and I usually chase alone so I generally dont yell much, but when I'm chasing with other people they add to the excitement and it rubs off on me, so I yell and say more stupid stuff than I do when I'm chasing solo.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I'm a pretty quiet person to begin with and I usually chase alone so I generally dont yell much, but when I'm chasing with other people they add to the excitement and it rubs off on me, so I yell and say more stupid stuff than I do when I'm chasing solo.

I can absolutely relate to that 100% Dean!

 

[Adam Lucio]

Theres nothing more I hate than the sound of my own voice screaming and yelling. After my first real decent shot of a tornado [6-7-08] and hearing how stupid I sound I pretty much learned to zip my lip, though every now and then I still blurt stuff out or make some amusing commentary. I think part of it is when youre with multiple people and youre more or less shouting to each other, its easier to lose composure in a group because everyones excitement sort of builds off one another. I noticed when I chase alone I am much more quiet in my videos. Even on 6-17-10 while filming the most incredible tornadoes I have ever witnessed I said very little...but when Im in the car with a group of people getting run over by a silly gustnado Im laughing and yelling and having a good ol' time.

 

[Adam Reagan]

I hold nothing back while filming, if you were to view my videos you will hear 4 letter bombs on almost if not all of them. Whatever comes out of my mouth is the least worries I have while filming which is why you will see all of my videos (if I do DVDs) have warning labels for strong language.

 

[Bob Hartig]

All my videos in the past, starting around 2005, have for the most part been crappy stuff shot with a lousy Canon camcorder. From my mistakes, though, I've learned a few principles I want to practice this year now that I've finally got a decent camera, and one of them is to open my yap less. I've always admired the quiet, conservative commentary I've witnessed on the videos of some of the lone-ranger, veteran chasers--their approach lets me experience the storm on my own terms. That's something I want to emulate.

But I agree with the comments about group dynamics. Interaction is a part of chasing with others, and it will be as intense as the reaction of the most vocal person in the group. Moreover, you can be as quiet as you please, but if the guy next to you is yelling or providing ongoing commentary, it doesn't much matter. It's part of the package, which includes different personalities, and you work with it. Besides, I'm not immune. In my video of the 2008 Hazleton, IA, wedge, I'm yelling my fool head off.

This year is likely to be a loud year due to the need to split rising gas prices among more people. Sunday's chase reminded me that I can't do much about the audio commentary when I'm filming from the vehicle. But the dynamics can change once the vehicle stops. When I'm outside, I hope to position myself far enough from others that I can capture the sounds of the storm and my surrounding environment, not my fellow chasers.

 

[Todd Renshaw]

I don't know if this comment is of value to anyone or not, but whenever my wife sees me watching videos of storm chasers yelling, it always puts a frown on her face. She's not a chaser, has little interest in the videos and says she hates how people yell when something is destroyed. (Her words, not mine.) Whenever I try to explain that nobody is cheering the destruction, that catching a tornado can be a difficult thing and that after days or months of busts, finally bagging one must be an emotional release, she just doesn't understand. I suppose this is how the non-chasing public must view these videos?

 

[Dan Robinson]

I think natural commentary/dialogue by a chaser is OK, as it is part of the story. Most tornado scenes don't offer much in the way of environmental sound other than oversaturated microphone wind noise. However, it's obvious from many of today's videos that much of the dialogue/excitement is gratuitously overdramatized and/or manufactured for effect, in imitation of what is popular these days - which for me is reason enough to turn off a video.

 

[cedwards]

I'm a pretty quiet person to begin with and I usually chase alone so I generally dont yell much, but when I'm chasing with other people they add to the excitement and it rubs off on me, so I yell and say more stupid stuff than I do when I'm chasing solo.

I am the same way. I have had my yelling moments and people now quote me on some of the stupid stuff I say. My disclaimer is "I am not responsible for what I say in the presence of a tornado"

Sometimes my reaction can be totally different between events, some even on the same day.
In this video, http://www.cloud9videos.com/show.php?Id=23 I was a bit over excited. The tornado was just developing and I hopped in the back of the durrango. There was nothing to hold onto. When he would go fast, I would start to slide out and when he would go slow, I was worried the tornado was too close. BTW, I didn't turn the volume down. The camera did that on it's own (maybe I WAS yelling too much)

On the very same day on another deployment of the Dillo-Cam, I was the calm one and the driver was yelling. http://www.cloud9videos.com/show.php?Id=121

 

[Doug Drace]

Every time I go back and listen to a video, I find myself sounding more and more like a complete moron. I, too, have a knack for stating the complete obvious over and over (e.g., that's a nice tornado), uttering very repetitive and melodramatic catch phrases (e.g., "wow," "holy s**t," etc.), or otherwise just saying things that aren't practical. I just chalk it up to the zeitgeist of chasing and edit out the worst parts from the final versions of my video.

I couldnt have said it better myself...my edit software gets a big workout when I get home...and then I always berate myself saying, "next time just let the video do the talking would ya, and you wouldnt have to spend the next 3 hours of your life editing otherwise awesome video." I do have to admit the orgasmic comparison is highly accurate from my personal point of view! I have often told people who ask me what chasing is like, that chasing when successful, is the next best thing to sex...and a good bit of the time even BETTER!

 

[Ben Holcomb]

My natural reactions come out in my videos, and for the most part I leave them in. Sure I say stupid and dumb stuff, and most people get a good laugh out of it. Anyone who has bought my DVD got to see my Bowdle footage, where I just couldn't contain myself at all.

When a person is into something as much as I am into weather and tornadoes, it really brings out a crazy reaction when I actually see them in person.

I also love riding roller coasters for the same reason I like to see tornadoes - it gives me a huge rush. Eventhough I've ridden almost 100 different coasters and some of them multiple thousands of times, I still get all excited and happy every time I step onto one.

For what it's worth, some people had EPIC footage of the massive bowdle wedge and didn't say anything, and I honestly found it very boring footage to watch. As DD said, the least they could do is tripod the dang thing if they're going to be quiet throughout it. One of the shots that comes to mind is the May 3, 1999 stovepipe going behind an oil pumpjack that is perfectly tripodded with natural audio - That is one of the best shots ever, and would be ruined by commentary.

 

[Rob H]

Plenty of stupid things come out of my mouth before we get close to the storm, and especially on the drives back home after the chase. Right next to the storm though, I'm usually very quiet unless I see something that needs to have attention drawn to it. I sounded like a blabbering idiot on my video shot at Wakita last year, and it still annoys me going back and listening to it, so I'm guessing I subconsciously focus on the storm and keep my thoughts internal. On other peoples' videos, hilariously awkward commentary can make the video more enjoyable. There are a few lines from Bullseye Bowdle that still crack me up to this day.

 

[Mike Moore]

Hey, yelling and screaming is obviously a prerequisite for landing a show on the Discovery Channel, so we might as well practice!

BACK UP!

 

[Scott Hammel]

Totally guilty on this as well. I don't scream and yell obnoxiously like I've seen on others videos but then again I don't think being obnoxious and excited is a bad thing to begin with. It definitely adds to the moment. I make the obvious commentary idiocies that a lot of others do as well. Tornado on the ground! Hahaha, I think my problem is that I know a lot of my friends and family who know absolutely nothing about weather are going to watch at some point and my commentary will somehow be of service to them. Hahaha, yeah I'm pretty sure even the least weather savvy person can tell when there's a tornado in the shot. And of course I'll still keep on doing it. I think as long as you can look back and laugh at it and say "oh god, what was I thinking?" then it's all good...I don't take myself very seriously most of the time.