A Leap of Frog

Frogs hunt their prey with a lightning speed that is too fast to see for the human eye. This short video is composed of the high speed footage recorded with a Phantom v710 camera, which belonged to the 'Flight Artists' team of Wageningen University. Leaping frogs and flying insects were captured at 2.500 frames per second, resulting in a series of amazing HD slow motion images.

  • Hilco Jansma
    Director
  • Arjen Verschoor
    Director
  • Hilco Jansma
    Writer
  • Hilco Jansma
    Producer
  • Arjen Verschoor
    Producer
  • Hilco Jansma
    Camera
  • Arjen Verschoor
    Camera
  • Dolf Ramaker
    Camera
  • Sebastian Morawietz
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 57 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2013
  • Production Budget:
    0 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Netherlands
  • Shooting Format:
    720p RAW Phantom v710 camera
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam
    Rotterdam
    Netherlands
    October 29, 2015
    International World Premiere
    Audience award for non-professional documentary
  • Nature Talks Festival
    Ede
    Netherlands
    November 13, 2016
Director Biography - Hilco Jansma, Arjen Verschoor

Hilco Jansma (1979) earned his MSc in biology in at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. In his spare time he developed his skills for filming and editing. He volunteered in the 'Flight Artists' project at the Wageningen University and operated a Phantom highspeed camera. This resulted in spectacular footage of animals in slow motion which was handed to the film team of the Dutch natural history documentary film ‘De Nieuwe Wildernis’.

In 2014 Hilco decided to make a nature documentary on ‘Het Noorderplantsoen’ in the city of Groningen, fully in charge of the camera, script, editing and production. His goal is to show people that nature is everywhere, even on our doorstep and that urban nature can be just as fascinating as what we see in BBC documentaries on exotic places. He wants to amaze people to enhance sustainable use of our environment.

In the summer of 2015 his documentary was screened in local cinemas and the Noorderzon festival, drawing over 1500 visitors. Subsequently the film had its world premiere at the Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam 2015, at which his short video ‘A Leap of Frog’ won the audience award for non-professional documentary. Abroad 'The Noorderplantsoen' documentary was screened at Naturvision, Greenscreen and the Menigoute Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Joining the ´Flight Artists´ team at Wageningen University proved to be a fantastic experience. For three years I had the privilege to operate their Phantom v710 camera of Vision Research and capture animal behavior at extremely high frame rates. Footage of fast moving animals that is slowed down for more than over a 100 times never ceases to amaze. I edited the footage into short films to show people the amazing beauty of nature when time almost comes to a standstill.

Hilco Jansma