okay, since brian is already hijacking the sign-up thread to regale us with his tale of woe, (e.g. "water is boring...."), i better get the storytelling thread started...

for those of you new to UWOL, this is where we share our war stories, the things that are working out, the things that aren't, our complaints about the theme (yes, brian??) or our lousy weather, the amazing stunning beautiful shot that got away, and the simple pleasure of getting out there and shooting stuff with our cameras....

have at it!

Ok, folks.
I'm in a hurry, but just to let you know.
I'm off uwoling for the 4th time :)
Two days to my secret islet (thats in writing Meryem).
Equipment?
Fishing rod, One canoe named "Red River Pig", Maps, camera and a lots of memories to catch up with :) And Per, you've been there with me earlier this year. I'll be back on friday morning.

My ferry goes in 15 min, so I'm in a hurry, jusy want to wish you all good luck and all the best for uwol#4 guys & gals.

Geir Inge

Blimey look at the boy go ! I've got to say Geir gets my vote for pure Uwol enthusiasm....go on fella :)

Put in my place twice in one day LOL. Once by the very Philosophical Kevin....I promise to never speak ill of water ever again.....honest Hahahaha

The second time by the boss....Meryem I fear you much more than I fear Kevin. But I'm sure Kevin fears you as much as I do, hell I'm sure we all do.

I do have an idea for the film but honestly for me it's a matter of finding enough open water. That's right the Lakes are still frozen over.

Brian

Brian

At least you don't have to rent a boat !

Now that's a fact Jim.

That's truly one of those the cup is half full not half empty sort of things LOL or it that the cup is twice the size it needs to be or half the size it should be...damn that always frigs me up.

The weather is coming around its raining right now with a warm breeze blowing so with any luck the ice will break up and I'll be in good shape for the challenge.

Brian

if i wasn't so tired from my regularly scheduled work and if i had been bright enough to bring a camera home from the studio, i could have shot a very interesting hail storm last night. big ones falling in my yard. hailstorms always bring the most interesting spooky skies. freaky lighting....

Oooh, sounds like fun Meryem! It is to bad you did not get it on tape... Those were so fun when I lived in Texas... My Grandma actually had her car totaled due to a hail storm....

I have yet to get anything... not even an idea... I'll probably just wing it again. :)

~Gabriel

Well, then I'm back from my uwol tour.
It's been two wonderful days, me and my canoe alone, seeking fame and glory at the uwol stage :)

I wrote a script before I left, but don't think I can use much of it, so now I just have to put some of it together that fits the topic of water and make a history that will last for 3 min.

How was it, to build a storyline?

Nr 1, The beginning, the over all look - eh?
Nr 2, The main story building up to climax - eh?
Nr 3, The great finale, sailing into the horizon as the sun touches the surface of the sea - eh?

Help me, I'm drowning ;)

Geir,

Glad to hear you had a good time.

It looks like I may have to do a little storyboarding for my film this time around.

I have an ending, but I'm not sure of the beginning or middle yet.

I know how I want it to start and end but I have to keep my fingers crossed that I can get that shot how I envision it in my head.

The middle is totally up for grabs. How I get from the beginning to the end is totally up in the air at the moment.

I found a six minute track that I think may work for the music so now I have to work on chopping it up and making it sound like it's supposed to be only three minutes in length. :)

Hey Kevin. Are you back from Cali fella ? Did you get my last email? I have a feeling we (and Meryem) are having some email speed issues. I'm getting things from Meryem a couple of days after sending and I think its the same the other way round.....thats some slwo down :-/

Went out with my cam on Saturday.Being new to this I pointed the cam at anything that looked like water....On Sunday tried to turn 3 hours of DV into 3 minutes of submit able content.Spent too much time trying to make a 3 minute video look good...Monday morning logged back on here for some more tips and tricks,Just discovered a thing called storyboarding,building the story up to a climax etc etc....oh well will use those next time.I am happy with my first attempt and had so much fun just getting out there and doing it....All I need now is direction as to how to post my video (where) when.

Well,

I came up with an idea and decided to write it out before going out to shoot. After writing the idea out, it was not feasible (I have no access to a helicopter, for example). So I'm back to revamping the idea to a doable format. Now I know why productions go over budget so often ;)

The hard part is that the temps are around 115-120 all last week including the weekend. To get any filming done, I'm going to have to get up around 530am and get done by 9am (it was 93 when i drove to work at 745 am this morning).

But, I did order a new camera that I'm hoping to use to get some really cool POV shots. This will be a fun film to make.

hi john: i'm glad to hear you cooked up an entry. most of all, i'm glad to hear you had fun doing it--major goal for UWOL!

i was out of town this weekend so i'm a little bit behind on things, but i will be sending around uploading instructions today.

I'm in a bad way as always.... Not a single clue to date... :( I pretty much have no transportation what so ever, and its extremely hot here too! Its been late 80s to 100. Thats really hot for the northwest!
So don't expect to see any walking/bike riding!

Yup... As always... When is the deadline again????
~Gabriel
PS: Lisa, I can not wait to see your entry! It sounds like alot of fun!

Mat,

Yep, I'm back but may be going back for another gig here in a week or two. Maybe soon enough to get some more footage. :)

I sent you another email this morning. Basically it said you can use whatever I have for your other project.

John,

Congrats on finishing. I just have the music track laid down as of right now.

Lisa,

I feel your pain. It's a scorcher here and the humidity is even higher. Plus the skeeters just laugh at 100% DEET!

Gabriel,

Don't fret dude. You'll think of something. Maybe I can think up some ideas that will get your mind going. I'll email you if I have any suggestions.

It's only 91 here right now but the heat index is over 100. Any water around here is the sweat dripping off my face! :)

Yeah.. I sure hope I can!
Thanks. :-)

Haha, "only."
~Gabriel

Gabriel, I know how you feel.
I thought I had an idea, shot a few minutes, and when I started editing, I realized I had a bunch of footage, but no story.
So that idea is pretty much resting in the trash.

I'm thinking about a new idea now, but not sure how it will work out when I start shooting. It involves several locations.
We'll see. It's a "long" time until deadline yet.


Oh, and for those of you who have a lot of heat, but little water... Let's trade. I'm sure you could get some of our water. In some parts of Norway, it has been heavy rain and flooding the last week.
And we need some of your heat. Here at my place, it's about 55F now.

GOOD LUCK everyone!

Good evening, or morning,

We had record setting heat last friday, ugggg!! today you needed a sweat shirt and we had some rain to boot!! I have shot four hours of video and i have four clips in the editor is all!!!!!

I spent three half days looking for one shot that I thought I could just run out and get in 15 minutes!!! I still have not got the shot!!! I almost think they are extinct!!

Oh yea, for those who recall the tripod incident, I now have a new strong set of legs under my miller head. No excuses for dale to have shakey shots now!! Well, we still have to fight the darn winds!!! I am sure you all thought I had parkenson's disease.

Can't wait to see the entries!!!

Good Morning:

The theme "water" is proving to be the most challenging of the challenges so far. I left town Friday after work and spent the long weekend (Monday was Nunavut Day) at my cabin at the lake. I took hours and hours of tape but without a firm idea it could be that all I have is hours and hours of disjointed images.....Damn this is a tough one.

Lisa you mentioned a need for some helicopter footage....hell I even took some of that but still have no idea what the heck I'm doing.

All I can hope is that during capture a story line jumps out at me.....jump you bugger jump.

Brian

PS: What's the drop dead date for upload???

B

What's the drop dead date for upload???

B

From the sign-up thread, the deadline is July 23:

Theme announcement is July 1. Contest closes July 23.

This gives you three full weekends to work on your video!

July 23, midnight anywhere in the world!

one of the coolest, unique things about the UWOL Challenge is that this means so many different things to so many different people. we're everywhere!

Calling from wireless on vacation.
That night, July 23, I'm on my way from Cobenhagen to Oslo together with my girls (my wife and our daughters) :)
I've promissed them tha Oslo will be a movie night. We're gonna see the newest Harry Potter film. Some magic ther :)
But I've uploaded my film so it's just vacation. n the eastern norway there's a flood going on, plenty of rain, so I that would have been something to this water topic.

Well, I almost lost my camera yesterday.

I was setting up on the edge of Indian Creek on the Sac Fox nature trail near my home. Everything looked stable as I set my camera and tripod on the ground and reached for my camera bag to get a couple things.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught some movement and turned to see that one of the tripod legs hadn't been pulled out all the way and the camera was tipping over right into the creek.

Luckily I managed to grab it before it hit the water.

With this theme it pays to take a moment to check your gear because it only takes a moment for your camera to go into the drink! :)

I went back to my favorite little rapids that were in my last two challenge films. It changes every time I'm there. So, I'm sure a clip or two will end up in this challenge film as well. :)

Well, I almost lost my camera yesterday.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught some movement and turned to see that one of the tripod legs hadn't been pulled out all the way and the camera was tipping over right into the creek.

Luckily I managed to grab it before it hit the water.


Kevin gives it all, just to get the perfect shots at any cost... :)
Must be an awesome location.

I'm glad you saved your camera!!!
Any "behind the scene" shots?

Kevin,

I can attest to what a 1 second dunk can do to a video camera!!! My sony was totaled off as a camera. After it dried out 6 months later I hooked it up to my computer and I run from the computer to the camera and it functions as an analog converter to a television which shows my video as I edit, great for color correcting. Oh yea, Sony would not repair it!!

Accidents happen, Murphy's law!! can't be careful enough, eh?

Trond,

Here's a shot right after I grabbed the camera from falling into the creek. :)

With most people I'd say the shadow was exaggerating your proportions but with you I think its probably accurate Kevin ;)

Lovely lighting fella....very warm :)

Yep, pinhead. That'd be about right. :)

Got one finished, but its as common as water..... dang it.. Well, maybe I'l try something different...

Just got my new XL H1 last month and packaged it up for repairs today. Can't control zoom and aperture after about 10 seconds after the camera is turned on - very frustrating!

I am now trying to make a story out of the footage I got this week and last week. Certainly had a lot of fun being out in the bush, and actually went camping with my son for the first time. So for me, the challenge has been a great success already.

Anyway, must get back to the editing software to see what I can extract. Maybe a slow motion effect could buy me a few more seconds here and there? mmm

Trond,

Here's a shot right after I grabbed the camera from falling into the creek. :)

I love the colors in that shot!
Looking forward to see your finished video.

David,

Man, that bites. I need to send my HVX in to get the battery tabs fixed but I've been holding off. Heck, you haven't even had a chance to break it in yet!

Trond,

So far my film is nothing to write home about.

lovely shot, kevin, but it just goes to show how important it is to have audio to augment images....wish we had a bit of accompanying audio. oh right, never mind, this is a family channel.

Yeah, audio would not have been a good thing with that particular shot. :)

With most people I'd say the shadow was exaggerating your proportions but with you I think its probably accurate Kevin ;)

Lovely lighting fella....very warm :)

So I go to Kevin's website, cause with that hat, he actually looks like he is from my generation. Low and behold, only picture of him there is him in a ski mask..... Hmmmmm D B. Cooper ring a bell, anyone ?

Well, that way you have to judge my work by itself and not by the weirdo behind the camera. :-)

I'm headed out to try to get some more footage. I'll see if I can grab some stills along the way.

You wanted a little more behind the scenes stuff.

Here's a little clip walking back to pick up my tripod after filming some scenes on the Cedar River.

Nothing really exciting but it gives you a chance to see what things look like on the opposite side of where I normally point my camera. :)

http://www.iowafilmmaker.com/movies/tripod.mov

I haven't looked at my tape yet, but boy it was a gorgeous day for a paddle and I might have skipped it if I hadn't had a reason to get out. I'm not positive what the camera was seeing a lot of the time because I was trying an experiment, but I saw fledgling osprey, several great blue herons, lots of terns, some painted turtles, and a goofy dog in a bright orange life jacket. Oh wait, I brought the dog.

I'm feeling really happy, which is good because if the experiment failed then I might not have anything other than a good mood to show for it.

Smile,
Kris

I have a plan, I just haven't figured out when I am going to shoot it.

"Water In Motion" will be my title. On the other hand, the plan could change if I could figure out how to capture on video the tremendous rainfall we are getting at this very moment.

I'm contrasting drought and the results of the abundant rainfall we got on the fringes of the central and northern Texas disastrous rainfall and floods.

I'm at a point where I need to follow a shot of dark threatening clouds with downpour type rain...And what are we getting?

Clear skies...Ugh!

On to plan "B".

Well, I am glad to see that I am not the only one without any footage.
I have yet to get an idea..

This is by far the most challenging part of the challenge for me. Coming up with an idea that I can do -- realistically.

~Gabriel
PS: We had a pretty nice storm here Thursday. But no footage.

Well, come to Houston, Bruce. The rain is back. That's not the water I wanted im my video.

Oh well. I'll have to rewrite the script. Oops. I haven't written the first one yet.

Water, water everywhere, but no script yet.

I got great shots of lakes and water falls in Tennessee. Now if I can just figure out a cool way to use them.

I uploaded my video on friday.With our lousy bandwidth in South Africa I had to get my brother to upload it from work, still took him about an hour. When I tried at home it would have taken me 13 + hours. I checked my video was on the FTP site on Friday night,but now its gone.Did I do something wrong? I know the file size was right,I named it correctly,was Just wondering where it went.

John,

The videos get moved to another directory once they're uploaded so Mat can get the links up and ready and not have to rush at the end.

Meryem will put up a list of films in the directory soon but rest assured, your file is safe and sound, just in another directory. :)

i will? i thought you did that, and that i just backed you up....

somebody get these people organized!

oh right, that's my job...heh.

On the weekend we had a little visitor drop by the cabin to say hello....

Brian

So I drive 4 hours down to Rocky Point Mexico on saturday to start shooting for "water". I'm thinking I'll be able to drive out toward Cholla Bay, where it is usually pretty quiet and not very populated. I DO realize, since we go there like 2 - 3 times a year, that things are growing rapidily -- but - OMG!!!

We get there and there are 10 new skyscraper hotels on the beach where once sand dunes lay. The far end where I scoped out spots to film a year ago are totally developed beach house neighborhoods "from the $199's". I was floored, and drepressed. Gentrification is eliminating "free zones", argh!!!

You can no longer drive on the beach either. After driving for over an hour looking for a spot to film, I gave up. I didn't have enough time to drive further southwest or east, I had to be back in Phoenix the same night! I got a couple shots of places I usually go to once I get there (beach, hotels, waves), but not the shots I had envisioned from previous scoutings.

It all left me with a bad taste in my mouth, here in Phoenix mountains are being carved and dotted with "homes for the rich". Places I used to hike and enjoy nature are now people's backyards, off limits to everyone but the owner. I was hoping not to see this in Rocky Point for another few years, sad....(more sad as people sit starving in an allies 600 yards from these posh hotels).

I really want to have something good for this contest, but time and circumstance seem to dictate my opportunities.

Good afternoon,

Well the countdown is on !! I have most of my shots in the timeline, a few more to get to finalize.
But, it has been frustrating as I have been having to shoot in farely heavey winds every day. That has eliminated a lot of otherwise cool shots.

I stupidly taped over some irreplacable footage, been trying to redoo it but the same conditions have not occurred the last two weeks!!

It is a lot of fun to be certain!!

Well, I have a script/shot list written, my idea planned out. My problem (the last 2 weekends in a row) is getting up in time to shoot. By 9am here it is around 95 degrees, meaning I have to get up at 5am and get done by 9 - its been well over 100 for weeks now, that's just too hot to be out in the direct sunlight.

So I set my alarm, but so far have not gotten up in time. Plus last week I got sick and my medication says "stay out of direct sunlight while taking". Jeez!

Hmm, maybe i'll just come up with a new shady idea. Not sure that this weekend is enough time to shoot and edit my original plan.