View Full Version : Rule #7 Rule #7 Rule #7!!! Post 3 minute footage


Meryem Ersoz
February 18th, 2009, 10:58 PM
Howdy players....

Some of you need to check the Long Form rules again, especially Rule #7 -- the footage uploads...

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/uwol-challenge-our-newest-contest/139689-uwol-long-form-contest-rules.html

Due to the confusion, the fact that this is new, and some technical glitches on our end, I will give those of you who did not post footage until *next* Wednesday, February 25, to post your 3 minutes. Some of you seem under the impression that the first round has no footage requirement - check again!

My goal is to keep players in this contest! Not drop them. But I'm also the gatekeeper of the rules, and it is you players who hold my feet to the fire, not the other way around. If you don't have something up by that time (y'all know who you are!), I will have to start dropping you from the competition...

...keeping in mind that you don't *need* the competition to make your film, it is just more fun this way!

This is a marathon, not a sprint, so there is no advantage to late postings, in fact, I would say quite the opposite is true. But I also have to keep everyone playing by the same rules. So get out there and shoot something!

Chris Swanberg
February 18th, 2009, 11:34 PM
While I admit I was rushing here tonight to get my footage pasted together and edited and rendered to be posted by midnight (and think I would have made it in any event) I would be a fool not to take advantage of at least a portion of your kind offer Meryem and improve my offering. I'll have 3 minutes up in time to stay in! Thanks.

Chris S.

Bryce Comer
February 19th, 2009, 12:20 AM
Hi all,
Sorry to the folks that have read the rules properly, unlike myself! I only saw that Meryem had pointed it out to Annie in her thread tonight. That had me panicking of course & i'm now just rendering a sequence of footage i have that shows some of the sort of things i will see along the way of my project. I will try to get it up before midnight, i only have one question. Can i simply post it on a site like Vimeo, or so i need to also submit it to the UWOL site?
Thanks in advance,
Bryce

Markus Nord
February 19th, 2009, 01:19 AM
Ok… I’m guilty!

I didn’t upload any ”new” photos in my thread… but I linked to the two film that I have film at the location that I will film the long form at. If that is not ok, I wild drop out. Too much going on right now for me so I don’t got any time to get out to the lake…
Throw me the flag if it’s not enough.

Markus

Meryem Ersoz
February 19th, 2009, 04:31 AM
Markus, you are fine..since I also said that you can use up to 3 minutes of prior UWOL footage. It's a bit of a backdoor and not exactly what I had in mind when I made that rule, but I'll allow it...at least, I know that you have generated footage that relates directly to the topic, and I'm more than ok with jumping off this project on the back of something that you already pre-conceived in a prior Challenge - it keeps with the spirit of UWOL as an ongoing process of your personal development as a producer/cinematographer.

But in general, if you're starting out this Challenge saying, "I can't" or "I won't" to the rules in the first round, it doesn't bode well for completing the process.

As I've said many times, no one needs UWOL to make their own films. UWOL is a community and a process, and participation has its rules. The players may enjoy the occasional bellyache, but at the end of the day, they like the trains to run on time, and that's the bulk of my job.

Bryce, you can post on Vimeo as well, but we also would like it uploaded to the site. We have some ideas for evolving the long-form and having as much stuff centrally located as possible will make a difference.

Trond Saetre
February 19th, 2009, 07:17 AM
The extended deadline Meryem so kindly offered to us might save me.
Life has been so busy lately, I haven't had time to shoot any footage at all so far.
Might get a chance to shoot something this weekend... if not, I'm out of the long-form.

Bryce Comer
February 19th, 2009, 08:09 AM
Well no luck in gettting my footage up for you guys to see. For some reason i can't get this sequence to render. I will keep trying as soon as i'm home from work tonight & hopefully will have something up then. Thank you so much Meryem for the extension on this. Without it, i would be in the shark tank.
Bryce

Steve Siegel
February 19th, 2009, 06:34 PM
Is there a new portal to upload the videos? All I can find is the previous one which still has no place to enter user name or password, and doesn't seem to upload anything.

Jennie Stenhouse
February 25th, 2009, 06:13 AM
hey I got in with the nick of time just wanted to make sure it was okay that is up here

braiiins.com/UWOL


jennie

Chris Swanberg
March 4th, 2009, 02:14 AM
I may be a little premature here....if so so forgive me, but I have a premonition.

The first week in May, in my case at least, might as well be the first week in March.

The third submission is not until August, and for a lot of us Summer season does NOT start in early or even mid-May.

May I respectfully suggest a Mid June 2nd submission date?

Since this IS a first time....I think some "on the fly" flexibility may be in order... providing others agree with me?

Chris

ps. OtherS ? Or am I off base here ? I will go with the rules as decided and announced, but know that by the next date I won't have a lot more. My subject awakens on memorial day. (5/30/09)

Bryce Comer
March 4th, 2009, 07:59 PM
Hi Chris,
Well i see what you're saying & it does tend to make sense from a seasonal point of view. I would have no problem with your idea as long as everyone else agreed to the change, after all, we all entered based on the rules as they stood in the beginning, just some of us (namely me) got them wrong for the first submission!
Regards,
Bryce

Chris Swanberg
March 4th, 2009, 09:34 PM
Hi Chris,
I would have no problem with your idea as long as everyone else agreed to the change, after all, we all entered based on the rules as they stood in the beginning...
Bryce

And I don't want to sound like a whiner....I can cobble up an additional selection of stills, and probably throw in some odd archival photo here and there maybe add some VO...and stay in... it was just as I was thinking about this that the thought occurred to me that perhaps others faced the same seasonal challenges I have...but, that said, you are right. I knew what I was expected to do when I entered. I just want each time I post footage to be closer to the final product, and sadly, in early May that's just not likely for me.

Chris

Bryce Comer
March 4th, 2009, 09:51 PM
Hi Chris,
Please don't get me wrong, i'm not against your idea. Maybe a couple of weeks would be of benefit. That would certainly get us some time to shoot some footage in spring. For me it shouldn't be too much of a problem as i will be doing a lot of filming in the snow anyway so should (hopefully) have some footage to show. It will probably be a bit early for any spring time footage as my subjects will still be high up in the mountains where spring comes late. I am still refining my script too & i'm hoping to reveal more of that for the next submission.
Regards,
Bryce

Chris Swanberg
March 4th, 2009, 10:12 PM
Hi Chris,
Maybe a couple of weeks would be of benefit.


I'm greedy, I was looking for more like 4 or 5. (grin)

Chris Swanberg
March 9th, 2009, 06:10 PM
Ok... having reflected on this for the past week.... and aided by the sound of crickets in this thread <g>, I... a) apologize for making the request, and, b) shall comport myself by the rules announced prior to my entry and known by me when I entered.

I'll have something by the 2nd deadline.

sheepishly,

Chris

Meryem Ersoz
March 10th, 2009, 07:54 AM
Sorry for the crickets, Chris, I left town for a little break.

To answer your question, the deadlines aren't organized seasonally -- if you think about it, that doesn't make sense, since the seasons all over the world are so different...and some of the players live in places where there aren't any seasons at all, or very very short ones at best.

The deadlines are organized by the passage of time, in such a way that you are forced, like it or not, to stay focused on the project, in one way or another. Some of you will find these deadlines easier to meet, for others just the deadline will be a challenge. (Have a look at Bob Safay posting footage of his preparations -- he had no Galapagos footage at all but is still in the game and put up a nice short piece).

Part of being in the game is staying in touch, on a consistent basis, with the other players, and if you don't post according to the deadlines, you fall out of the loop. The advantage of the long form contest is the ongoing participation in the community -- I keep saying that -- otherwise, you can always make your own films on your own time.

So, while I understand what you're saying about your own project, you may have to get creative, like Bob and several others did. There will definitely be times when you have more footage to post, and times when you will have less footage, depending on your project. Keep in mind that the rules are talking about *minimums* -- you can always post more, if you want the feedback later.

Also, keep in mind that those who e-mail me to discuss special dispensation usually, though not always -- it depends on the nature of the request -- come away with a bit of latitude. We are here to help you make your films, not to beat you over the head with the rules. But since it is a contest, the rules keep things orderly and help it to make sense to the greatest number of participants.

I hope that this makes some sense.

Chris Swanberg
March 10th, 2009, 07:39 PM
You are of course correct, and it was me who should have thought it through before posting. I'm game, I'm in and I'm feeling a bit sheepish for even suggesting it. On with the show.

Chris Swanberg
March 13th, 2009, 12:46 AM
Ya know... Crow tastes a lot like Spotted Owl.

Meryem Ersoz
March 13th, 2009, 07:35 PM
Stop self-flagellating and go outside and shoot something, my friend. Shooting some nice crow footage is the remedy to eating it!

Chris Swanberg
March 14th, 2009, 12:45 AM
Oh Meryem, worry not, I have been busy shooting, and refining my "Ken Burns" like skills (such as they are) using other opportunities that have presented themselves. Am also (turning now to the UWOL Challenge) making the necessary and important connections with archivists (who by the way seem to be a universally wonderful lot to those interested in what they possess. For example, Dierdre Shaw in Glacier (Park Archivist) is a treasure.)

My last post was really more directed to my good friend and shooting compatriot Chris Barcellos who sent me a litle email jab.