Tony Davies-Patrick
September 30th, 2010, 01:28 AM
It was an honour to be asked to judge this, the last of the UWOL competitions to be run by its founder, Meryem, before the reins are handed over to the capable hands of Catherine Russell.
Meryem has been steady at the helm of UWOL since its inception over 3-years ago, and I'm sure there are many who will be sad to see her go. Without her drive and enthusiasm UWOL would never have existed and I'm sure that Cat will grab the bull by the horns to steer the competition to even higher levels over future months and competitions.
On that last remark I'd like to dwell just a little, because it is 'higher levels' in which we all hope to reach; to strive to achieve our goals through the Yin & Yang of life so that we might eventually turn our dreams into reality. But often that dream we all hope to wake into is not about the final result, but the journey itself.
This is where competitions such as this, and the amazing library of information amongst the pages of Dvinfo.net forums, provide a platform of teaching and learning of almost every aspect of video filming and cinematography.
And now to the final results...
WINNER:
FAITH by Kevin Railsback.
RUNNER UP:
THE BLINK OF AN EYE by Bill Thesken
2nd RUNNER UP:
MORE THAN A MONUMENT by Mike Sims
Congratulations go to all three top places, and especially to the final winner, Kevin Railsback.
Notes and critical analysis on the final placings:
Faith
The very first video footage that I watched was “Faith” by Kevin Railsback. I watched this through to the end and although not totally enthralled by it, it did have some redeeming qualities. It lacked the 'wow' factor that I look for in a film, as I was hoping for more impact at both visual and emotional levels. I moved on to the next download on the list, and in all honesty it had less 'wow' factor than the first. I went on to the next, and the next, and quickly came to realise that possibly “Faith” needed to be re-evaluated.
I watched each of the entries for a second time and soon came to realise that in quality alone it stood head and shoulders above the competition.
The opening sequence was based in a church and although this initially threw me as it is not normally thought of as an Underwater & Overland subject, the title of the video 'Faith' certainly pointed in that direction. The video quality was good, as was the sound quality. Narrative sound quality and tonal ranges were also good, only bettered in this sphere by the voice-over in 'The Blink of an Eye'.
The clips during the opening sequences were nicely executed but I would have liked to have seen more varied angles or some camera movement via smooth side glides or maybe a steadicam shot walking through the church doors and along the isles. The light streaming through the windows during the fade to outdoor footage was well executed and lifted the interest levels. I still felt however, that the section filmed within the church went on for far too long and by cutting this time by half would have made it more powerful and helped to maintain interest.
The second half of the video mainly concentrated on nature subjects and I felt that these clips were the stronger part of the video. Again, like in the church scenes, I'd like to have seen more variety than static subjects such as flowers and plants and really needed some wildlife subjects to lift it a little.
Sound is probably the most neglected aspect of filming. There was a nice sound level between main narrative and background music. The only sound element that was missing were the natural sounds of nature. Just a low level of bird song, moving water, wind in the leaves, animal calls etc., would have added atmosphere - This was something that I feel all the entries lacked.
The music track was well chosen, but more emphasis needed to be taken in matching rising and falling scales of the music to actual scenes within the film.
The closing sequence provided atmosphere as the main solo character of the movie walked into the sunset; yes, a bit cliché maybe, but still a nice way to finish. The only thing I didn't like was that the framing of the sun was far too low in the left hand frame. It would have been better to position the setting sun higher in the frame so that the walking silhouette did not disappear from shot into the lower left corner. The eye naturally reads stories from left to right and more visual impact would have been offered if he had entered from the left of frame and disappeared out of one of the right quadrants. I'd also have liked to have seen short telephoto clips of the sun itself much larger in the frame to add weight to the wide angle clips.
Probably the overriding aspect of Faith was that it showed that Kevin had placed a great deal of thought and effort into his short project. He had not simply found a string of favourite clips and strung them haphazardly together. He chose a storyline and stuck to it.
The subject of faith is a strong one and can be interpreted in a kaleidoscope of different ways so not easy to fulfil in a short video sequence. Kevin chose to lead us through his own personal path, and in that I think he succeeded in many ways. Yes, the video could have been improved in some parts, but the simple fact is that it achieved to reach the goal set out by Kevin – to show us the sudden realisation of his own true 'faith' viewed not through a belief in a god or religion, but in the power and wonder of nature – a subject which binds us all together.
The Blink Of An Eye
This was visually the most dramatic and powerful of all the entries, and in that sense alone it should have been the winner of this contest.
I was not keen on the choice of opening music. Ride Of The Valkyries has a powerful Star-Wars or Apocalypse feeling and pace, but I feel that it is so famous and overpowering used as a background to Bill's work that it detracted too much from the viewers experience. A lesser known or softer paced theme music would better match the storyline.
The Blink Of An Eye has a stunning choice of landscapes and subject matter backed by a nice toned and changeable narrative which was more interesting to listen to compared to the level pace of Kevin's voice; although Bills voice sounded a little too tinny so would have benefited from a higher quality microphone with more base.
What this film fell down on was on several levels. First was the actual video quality. Some of the clips were either very soft and washed out, such as in the Grand Canyon, and other clips were overly sharpened and filled with jagged edges and artefacts. Some of this may have been attributed to poor editing software or over-compression during download, but I think the use of low quality lenses or added wide-converter glass were also at fault.
The time-lapse footage added impact to the visual message and there was a good swing from fast-pace driving to slow moving clouds that kept the interest levels high, and I liked the change from car bonnet to surf board.
Up until the 2-minute mark my interest levels were still high, but this is where it began to slide. All narrative stopped and we are then left with a blurry, washed out underwater sequence that was locked down on one subject for far too long while still left listening to the overly loud Valkyries. Suddenly we are dragged out of the water to view some horses at a fence and drowned again to watch the same UW scene. The horse clip was completely out of place and if it were used it needed to be at an entirely different section of the video.
It seemed more like the editor had chosen footage from his archive in an attempt to fit the length of the music track, rather than the storyline, but ran out of viable clips and frustratingly just dropped anything in place and lengthened the UW sequence.
The actual varied subject matter and powerful first 2-minutes of footage was in my view the best of all the entries, and if it had ended at this point the movie would have possibly taken top honours.
More Than A Monument
“More Than a Monument” carried a very strong message and the opening few seconds of 'shock' tactics worked well.
It is always difficult to make a moving video from a series of still photographs without it turning into a home-grown slide show. Unfortunately this film felt just like that and rarely lifted it to a more visually interesting level. Mike tried to up the tempo and interest by including a selection of clips taken of varied wildlife, but the fact that everything seemed to be taken inside a zoo environment failed to lift it from an 'amateur' level. Captive animals in parks and zoos can sometimes provide strong and exciting imagery, but needs to be filmed with a variety of lenses and/or camera angles and at varied times of day to heighten the interest factor.
Video quality was not high throughout the footage. This was of course not helped by the need to film static photos and old prints, but with care and a good choice of lighting and technique old photographs can be given a new breath of life, and I feel that is one place where 'More Than A Monument' needed an added lift.
One way of maintaining interest for the audience is to add good narrative. The big problem was that it seemed as if Mike was reading straight from a book and the complete narrative was spoken throughout in the same monotonous tone. There was a mine of information provided in a few short minutes, but in many ways it was system overload with clips and photos snapped in and out too fast. A slower pace of clips with some fades, a touch of dramatic music plus natural background sounds, and better post editing techniques would have greatly enhanced the film.
Final notes
It would have been easy for me to judge the UWOL 17 videos and wrap everyone in cotton wool by simply congratulating everyone on their marvellous efforts and how wonderful each video viewed was. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and like all things in life, each and everything we view is through our own eyes and different eyes viewing the same scene often draw completely opposite conclusions.
The main aspects which help a judge to truly offer a fair ruling and constructive criticism is through previous experience, and I hope that my experience has leant a guiding hand to help me make the best judgements to find a final and worthy winner in this contest.
Meryem has been steady at the helm of UWOL since its inception over 3-years ago, and I'm sure there are many who will be sad to see her go. Without her drive and enthusiasm UWOL would never have existed and I'm sure that Cat will grab the bull by the horns to steer the competition to even higher levels over future months and competitions.
On that last remark I'd like to dwell just a little, because it is 'higher levels' in which we all hope to reach; to strive to achieve our goals through the Yin & Yang of life so that we might eventually turn our dreams into reality. But often that dream we all hope to wake into is not about the final result, but the journey itself.
This is where competitions such as this, and the amazing library of information amongst the pages of Dvinfo.net forums, provide a platform of teaching and learning of almost every aspect of video filming and cinematography.
And now to the final results...
WINNER:
FAITH by Kevin Railsback.
RUNNER UP:
THE BLINK OF AN EYE by Bill Thesken
2nd RUNNER UP:
MORE THAN A MONUMENT by Mike Sims
Congratulations go to all three top places, and especially to the final winner, Kevin Railsback.
Notes and critical analysis on the final placings:
Faith
The very first video footage that I watched was “Faith” by Kevin Railsback. I watched this through to the end and although not totally enthralled by it, it did have some redeeming qualities. It lacked the 'wow' factor that I look for in a film, as I was hoping for more impact at both visual and emotional levels. I moved on to the next download on the list, and in all honesty it had less 'wow' factor than the first. I went on to the next, and the next, and quickly came to realise that possibly “Faith” needed to be re-evaluated.
I watched each of the entries for a second time and soon came to realise that in quality alone it stood head and shoulders above the competition.
The opening sequence was based in a church and although this initially threw me as it is not normally thought of as an Underwater & Overland subject, the title of the video 'Faith' certainly pointed in that direction. The video quality was good, as was the sound quality. Narrative sound quality and tonal ranges were also good, only bettered in this sphere by the voice-over in 'The Blink of an Eye'.
The clips during the opening sequences were nicely executed but I would have liked to have seen more varied angles or some camera movement via smooth side glides or maybe a steadicam shot walking through the church doors and along the isles. The light streaming through the windows during the fade to outdoor footage was well executed and lifted the interest levels. I still felt however, that the section filmed within the church went on for far too long and by cutting this time by half would have made it more powerful and helped to maintain interest.
The second half of the video mainly concentrated on nature subjects and I felt that these clips were the stronger part of the video. Again, like in the church scenes, I'd like to have seen more variety than static subjects such as flowers and plants and really needed some wildlife subjects to lift it a little.
Sound is probably the most neglected aspect of filming. There was a nice sound level between main narrative and background music. The only sound element that was missing were the natural sounds of nature. Just a low level of bird song, moving water, wind in the leaves, animal calls etc., would have added atmosphere - This was something that I feel all the entries lacked.
The music track was well chosen, but more emphasis needed to be taken in matching rising and falling scales of the music to actual scenes within the film.
The closing sequence provided atmosphere as the main solo character of the movie walked into the sunset; yes, a bit cliché maybe, but still a nice way to finish. The only thing I didn't like was that the framing of the sun was far too low in the left hand frame. It would have been better to position the setting sun higher in the frame so that the walking silhouette did not disappear from shot into the lower left corner. The eye naturally reads stories from left to right and more visual impact would have been offered if he had entered from the left of frame and disappeared out of one of the right quadrants. I'd also have liked to have seen short telephoto clips of the sun itself much larger in the frame to add weight to the wide angle clips.
Probably the overriding aspect of Faith was that it showed that Kevin had placed a great deal of thought and effort into his short project. He had not simply found a string of favourite clips and strung them haphazardly together. He chose a storyline and stuck to it.
The subject of faith is a strong one and can be interpreted in a kaleidoscope of different ways so not easy to fulfil in a short video sequence. Kevin chose to lead us through his own personal path, and in that I think he succeeded in many ways. Yes, the video could have been improved in some parts, but the simple fact is that it achieved to reach the goal set out by Kevin – to show us the sudden realisation of his own true 'faith' viewed not through a belief in a god or religion, but in the power and wonder of nature – a subject which binds us all together.
The Blink Of An Eye
This was visually the most dramatic and powerful of all the entries, and in that sense alone it should have been the winner of this contest.
I was not keen on the choice of opening music. Ride Of The Valkyries has a powerful Star-Wars or Apocalypse feeling and pace, but I feel that it is so famous and overpowering used as a background to Bill's work that it detracted too much from the viewers experience. A lesser known or softer paced theme music would better match the storyline.
The Blink Of An Eye has a stunning choice of landscapes and subject matter backed by a nice toned and changeable narrative which was more interesting to listen to compared to the level pace of Kevin's voice; although Bills voice sounded a little too tinny so would have benefited from a higher quality microphone with more base.
What this film fell down on was on several levels. First was the actual video quality. Some of the clips were either very soft and washed out, such as in the Grand Canyon, and other clips were overly sharpened and filled with jagged edges and artefacts. Some of this may have been attributed to poor editing software or over-compression during download, but I think the use of low quality lenses or added wide-converter glass were also at fault.
The time-lapse footage added impact to the visual message and there was a good swing from fast-pace driving to slow moving clouds that kept the interest levels high, and I liked the change from car bonnet to surf board.
Up until the 2-minute mark my interest levels were still high, but this is where it began to slide. All narrative stopped and we are then left with a blurry, washed out underwater sequence that was locked down on one subject for far too long while still left listening to the overly loud Valkyries. Suddenly we are dragged out of the water to view some horses at a fence and drowned again to watch the same UW scene. The horse clip was completely out of place and if it were used it needed to be at an entirely different section of the video.
It seemed more like the editor had chosen footage from his archive in an attempt to fit the length of the music track, rather than the storyline, but ran out of viable clips and frustratingly just dropped anything in place and lengthened the UW sequence.
The actual varied subject matter and powerful first 2-minutes of footage was in my view the best of all the entries, and if it had ended at this point the movie would have possibly taken top honours.
More Than A Monument
“More Than a Monument” carried a very strong message and the opening few seconds of 'shock' tactics worked well.
It is always difficult to make a moving video from a series of still photographs without it turning into a home-grown slide show. Unfortunately this film felt just like that and rarely lifted it to a more visually interesting level. Mike tried to up the tempo and interest by including a selection of clips taken of varied wildlife, but the fact that everything seemed to be taken inside a zoo environment failed to lift it from an 'amateur' level. Captive animals in parks and zoos can sometimes provide strong and exciting imagery, but needs to be filmed with a variety of lenses and/or camera angles and at varied times of day to heighten the interest factor.
Video quality was not high throughout the footage. This was of course not helped by the need to film static photos and old prints, but with care and a good choice of lighting and technique old photographs can be given a new breath of life, and I feel that is one place where 'More Than A Monument' needed an added lift.
One way of maintaining interest for the audience is to add good narrative. The big problem was that it seemed as if Mike was reading straight from a book and the complete narrative was spoken throughout in the same monotonous tone. There was a mine of information provided in a few short minutes, but in many ways it was system overload with clips and photos snapped in and out too fast. A slower pace of clips with some fades, a touch of dramatic music plus natural background sounds, and better post editing techniques would have greatly enhanced the film.
Final notes
It would have been easy for me to judge the UWOL 17 videos and wrap everyone in cotton wool by simply congratulating everyone on their marvellous efforts and how wonderful each video viewed was. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and like all things in life, each and everything we view is through our own eyes and different eyes viewing the same scene often draw completely opposite conclusions.
The main aspects which help a judge to truly offer a fair ruling and constructive criticism is through previous experience, and I hope that my experience has leant a guiding hand to help me make the best judgements to find a final and worthy winner in this contest.