A videographer from Weyburn received an honourable mention in the EXPLORESASK photo and video contest that was conducted by Tourism Saskatchewan. The top entries from the annual contest were announced yesterday.  

Lheo Untal is one of the three people behind Lheeyore Prod, a company based in Weyburn that specializes in wedding videography and photography. He submitted his entry into the contest after a day trip to the Qu’Appelle Valley, near Fort Qu’Appelle, during the summer. The video itself captures the setting sun over the crest of the valley, with the lake below, and birds silhouetted against the water and the sky. It also features a narration of the sunset. 

“I am always fond of watching sunsets all the time because I always love how they tint the sky when they’re setting, so it’s really beautiful,” Untal said during a visit to the Discover Weyburn studios. “A sunset for me also has this type of underlying message saying that sometimes, endings can be beautiful.” 

Being someone who specializes in capturing weddings, oftentimes the happiest day in the lives of those getting married, Untal likes to capture organic videos that capture the emotion of the scene. He knows that an image can often provoke powerful emotions, and he can also find himself getting caught up in a moment while shooting a video. 

“When I was shooting the sunset video, there was a little bit of a shot at the end that I just sat beside my camera – it was just sitting there beside me, and I was appreciating the sunset with my own eyes,” the videographer described.  

Being a filmmaker, Untal explained there is a lot of practice needed, and he is constantly learning as he goes. 

“I basically watch a lot of videos, and of course, getting out there and shooting, so that’s what I do,” he said of the process.  

There’s always a lot of roadblocks, or like, those challenges, whenever I shoot and edit, and that’s how I actually learn. So when you fail or you make a mistake, at least you know that next time you don’t have to do it again. 

The process of crafting a video, even one just a minute long, isn’t a quick process, especially when it is of the quality that Untal creates. While many may think that creating a video is simple thanks to social media apps like TikTok or YouTube, for Untal, there is a lot of work that goes into it, from shooting the video, ensuring the colours are perfect, and making sure the sound is on point. 

“A one-minute video, especially that one, I actually have to make it for about 24 hours or more, so it depends,” he said of the process. He always starts with the audio and notes the selection of the music itself is crucial and can sometimes take upwards of an hour. Then, there is the incorporation of the narration if needed, the natural sound of the video, and more.  

As for the visuals, that process can take a while as well. 

“I think the hardest part of video editing is colour grading, for me, so when you put colours on it,” Untal explained. “With my style, we call it raw, which is basically when you’re looking at the camera when I was shooting, it’s always just gray, so basically no colours, and then when we’re colour grading, we’re putting colours on it in post-production.” 

At the end of the process, the video itself is aimed at capturing the moment, and evoking emotion, though, and the message about the sunset was something that resonated throughout the interview. 

“We as humans, most of the time, we tend to not like endings because it’s goodbyes and everything like that, but sunset keeps that reminder, reminds us, that sunsets can sometimes be beautiful – it also gives us that little bit of hope that there’s always going to be tomorrow, that the sun will rise again.” 

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