DVC #6 Feedback - Ed Sloanker (An Hour In The Sun) at DVinfo.net

Hugh DiMauro · August 21st, 2006, 08:41 AM

The music blew me away. I've always loved that type of new age style music and I am drawn for some reason to any references to the sun. The entire movie works as a meditative piece for me. I can watch it over and over because the images/music evoke the beauty and happiness of nature. I wish I could describe how I feel right now. Your movie has put me in a happy, reflective, mood. Thank you, Ed. I Loved it.

Michael Fossenkemper · August 21st, 2006, 09:38 AM

Ok, the eyes freaked me out.

The music and the images went together extremely well. Once I got past the freaky eyes moving around, I realized that the sun was looking at what was going on around. I loved the shadows dancing on the sun too. Like Hugh said, it made me feel happy.

Edward Slonaker · August 21st, 2006, 09:47 AM

Hey, THANKS, y'all for the nice comments. This film literally was shot an hour in the sun. Had one camera (gotta love sturdy, Manfrotto tripods) trained on our sun god on the side of the house. The other I ran around shooting other stuff. Would've liked to have gotten more of the "wilder" life around the property, but nothing was happening. Can't get the talent to work like you want 'em to, eh?

I have to hand it to my stepson, Ryan. He's an incredibly talented musician and I love using his music in my videos.

The eyes were.....fun. Try sitting directly in front of the camera for four minutes with your eyes wide open; dogs running around you, mosquitoes buzzin' in your ear, hot, humid, yadda yadda yadda.... Yeah, you just can't buy memories like that.

Again, many thanks.

Ed.

Dennis Khaye · August 21st, 2006, 09:50 AM

Oh no, I loved the eyes. In fact I could have sworn the grin got bigger. I know mine did. Very nice job Ed. Wonderful music, beautiful shots all combined for a very nice entry.

Justin Tomchuk · August 21st, 2006, 09:50 AM

Nice concept, caught me off guard lol. The end made me smile as well.

Edward Slonaker · August 21st, 2006, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Khaye

Oh no, I loved the eyes. In fact I could have sworn the grin got bigger. I know mine did. Very nice job Ed. Wonderful music, beautiful shots all combined for a very nice entry.

Thanks, Dennis. Yeah, the grin does get bigger at the end.

Here a link to the actual .WMV if anyone wants to download it and view it separate of the web page.

http://www.elpilon.com/anhour.wmv

Lorinda Norton · August 21st, 2006, 10:20 AM

That dog rolling in the grass!!! Loved it! And I loved all the critters in the yard; for this viewer you can't go wrong with dogs and cats. :)

This was one of those "feel good" movies, and I really liked it, Ed. Generally, I don't get into those sun faces, but you used it well. Great job, as usual!

Sean McHenry · August 21st, 2006, 10:57 AM

You know... with his music and a few more props, you could almost make this into a saleable relaxation video. Just an idea. Maybe use a few garden Gnomes, that cement duck, one of those fake deer people put in their yards, Flamingos, those Owls people put on their roofs and frog shaped lawn sprinklers, etc. Do a piece through all their eyes and you have a whole community of "actors" to watch the world through. Now that could be creepy (If I did it)

I liked it as well. I didn't notice the eyes for a few moments. They blended really well. I liked the soft focus effect around the perimiter of the shots looking through the sun's eyes.

Good stuff,

Sean

Kris Holodak · August 21st, 2006, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Slonaker

Thanks, Dennis. Yeah, the grin does get bigger at the end.

Here a link to the actual .WMV if anyone wants to download it and view it separate of the web page.

http://www.elpilon.com/anhour.wmv

thanks for the download Ed. I was having trouble getting the stream to keep playing and wasn't able to see the end.

I loved the eyes once I noticed them. And the music was great. Kudos to your stepson, and to you for being smart enough to take advantage of the talent you've got in the family.

Bruce Broussard · August 21st, 2006, 11:42 AM

A very relaxing video. I liked the concept and the music, it fit really well with the video. It made me smile.

John Brickner Jr · August 21st, 2006, 12:56 PM

Those eyes were freaky! An hour in the sun sucks (not the film lol) im white as can be and I burn like no other. I was only out in the sun for a little bit and I still couldn't handle that. The dog and cat were a nice addition. At first glance the sun god looks like a chicken pot pie. Maybe im just hungry. Anyways great work!

Robert Martens · August 21st, 2006, 01:36 PM

Holy Mary, Mother of God. That was the scariest thing I've seen in some time, thanks a lot for the nightmares, Ed!

An hour "in the sun", at first I thought you meant it literally, and the plot had your body somehow getting stuck in that thing. I honestly found it hard to relax during the shots with the sun; I can't watch this without imagining the sun as the one who's singing the vocals in the music (which is, once more, superb). Those eyes darting around--at times seemingly in tune with the soundtrack--were mesmerizing, and freaked me out like you wouldn't believe.

The only suggestions I would have are to try deinterlacing (the Windows Media Encoder Deinterlace option has produced decent results for me in the past), and maybe ease up on that "tunnel vision" effect. It worked, for the most part, I just think it was a little strong.

Great, and terrifying job!

Edward Slonaker · August 21st, 2006, 07:15 PM

Thanks for all the great comments folks.

Robert, that first comment made me bust out laughing. I had to play around a bit with the track matte to even be able to SEE the eyes. I learned a lot about keeping my head still (not that I'm ever gonna do that again!).

That's for the deinterlace tip. I'll try that next time. This is my first (well, alright, second if you count the last DVC) real foray into web delivery of video. I need to learn more because Podcasting is next. :)

Yeah, I wasn't that thrilled with the radial blur, but I needed something to distinguish the video scenes of what the sun what looking at (if that even came across). Again, more learning....

Hey, John, I see you staring at me with those hungry eyes!!! Go get a sandwich or somethin'!! LOL!

Chris Barcellos · August 21st, 2006, 09:32 PM

Ed:

Download gave a better appreciation. I couldn't even play on one of my systems. Can't figure that out.

But once I got it downloaded and looked at it on a little bigger screen, I appreciated it more. I can't place my finger on it, but that sun reminds me of some character deep in my past... Maybe it will come to me.

Great job !

Jay Silver · August 21st, 2006, 10:15 PM

I'll admit I'm not much on mood pieces and prefer movies with more narrative but I still liked this one. I wasn't put off by the eyes, I was delighted and watched them closely because they both added so much life to the thing and I wanted to figure out how you did it so well. The music was a perfect match.

My only issue was that there was no sense of conclusion. The smile was well done and would have made a nice finish but it fails because I didn't know what he was smiling about. Was it about the sundial specifically or just at the end of the day with all these pleasant vignettes happening all around?

Otherwise, I thought it was a great interpretation.

-j

August 21st, 2006, 08:41 AM	#1
Hugh DiMauro Trustee Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Central Florida Posts: 1,207	DVC #6 Feedback - Ed Sloanker (An Hour In The Sun) The music blew me away. I've always loved that type of new age style music and I am drawn for some reason to any references to the sun. The entire movie works as a meditative piece for me. I can watch it over and over because the images/music evoke the beauty and happiness of nature. I wish I could describe how I feel right now. Your movie has put me in a happy, reflective, mood. Thank you, Ed. I Loved it. __________________ Interesting, if true. And interesting anyway.

August 21st, 2006, 09:38 AM	#2
Michael Fossenkemper Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NYC, weeee. Posts: 417	Ok, the eyes freaked me out. The music and the images went together extremely well. Once I got past the freaky eyes moving around, I realized that the sun was looking at what was going on around. I loved the shadows dancing on the sun too. Like Hugh said, it made me feel happy. Last edited by Michael Fossenkemper; August 21st, 2006 at 10:55 AM.

August 21st, 2006, 09:47 AM	#3
Edward Slonaker Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hell's 6 acres in S. Texas Posts: 203	S-l-o-n-a-k-e-r :) Hey, THANKS, y'all for the nice comments. This film literally was shot an hour in the sun. Had one camera (gotta love sturdy, Manfrotto tripods) trained on our sun god on the side of the house. The other I ran around shooting other stuff. Would've liked to have gotten more of the "wilder" life around the property, but nothing was happening. Can't get the talent to work like you want 'em to, eh? I have to hand it to my stepson, Ryan. He's an incredibly talented musician and I love using his music in my videos. The eyes were.....fun. Try sitting directly in front of the camera for four minutes with your eyes wide open; dogs running around you, mosquitoes buzzin' in your ear, hot, humid, yadda yadda yadda.... Yeah, you just can't buy memories like that. Again, many thanks. Ed. __________________ Edward Slonaker El Pilon Productions San Patricio, Texas www.elpilon.com

August 21st, 2006, 10:20 AM	#7
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	That dog rolling in the grass!!! Loved it! And I loved all the critters in the yard; for this viewer you can't go wrong with dogs and cats. :) This was one of those "feel good" movies, and I really liked it, Ed. Generally, I don't get into those sun faces, but you used it well. Great job, as usual! __________________ Lorinda

August 21st, 2006, 10:57 AM	#8
Sean McHenry Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Hilliard, Ohio Posts: 1,193	You know... with his music and a few more props, you could almost make this into a saleable relaxation video. Just an idea. Maybe use a few garden Gnomes, that cement duck, one of those fake deer people put in their yards, Flamingos, those Owls people put on their roofs and frog shaped lawn sprinklers, etc. Do a piece through all their eyes and you have a whole community of "actors" to watch the world through. Now that could be creepy (If I did it) I liked it as well. I didn't notice the eyes for a few moments. They blended really well. I liked the soft focus effect around the perimiter of the shots looking through the sun's eyes. Good stuff, Sean __________________ ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’m shooting on D.V.’ - my hero - David Lynch http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com

August 21st, 2006, 09:50 AM	#4
Dennis Khaye Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 255	Oh no, I loved the eyes. In fact I could have sworn the grin got bigger. I know mine did. Very nice job Ed. Wonderful music, beautiful shots all combined for a very nice entry.

August 21st, 2006, 09:50 AM	#5
Justin Tomchuk Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Montreal Posts: 164	Nice concept, caught me off guard lol. The end made me smile as well.

August 21st, 2006, 11:42 AM	#10
Bruce Broussard Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 132	A very relaxing video. I liked the concept and the music, it fit really well with the video. It made me smile.

August 21st, 2006, 12:56 PM	#11
John Brickner Jr Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tiffin, Ohio Posts: 77	Those eyes were freaky! An hour in the sun sucks (not the film lol) im white as can be and I burn like no other. I was only out in the sun for a little bit and I still couldn't handle that. The dog and cat were a nice addition. At first glance the sun god looks like a chicken pot pie. Maybe im just hungry. Anyways great work!

August 21st, 2006, 01:36 PM	#12
Robert Martens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 820	Holy Mary, Mother of God. That was the scariest thing I've seen in some time, thanks a lot for the nightmares, Ed! An hour "in the sun", at first I thought you meant it literally, and the plot had your body somehow getting stuck in that thing. I honestly found it hard to relax during the shots with the sun; I can't watch this without imagining the sun as the one who's singing the vocals in the music (which is, once more, superb). Those eyes darting around--at times seemingly in tune with the soundtrack--were mesmerizing, and freaked me out like you wouldn't believe. The only suggestions I would have are to try deinterlacing (the Windows Media Encoder Deinterlace option has produced decent results for me in the past), and maybe ease up on that "tunnel vision" effect. It worked, for the most part, I just think it was a little strong. Great, and terrifying job!

August 21st, 2006, 07:15 PM	#13
Edward Slonaker Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hell's 6 acres in S. Texas Posts: 203	Thanks for all the great comments folks. Robert, that first comment made me bust out laughing. I had to play around a bit with the track matte to even be able to SEE the eyes. I learned a lot about keeping my head still (not that I'm ever gonna do that again!). That's for the deinterlace tip. I'll try that next time. This is my first (well, alright, second if you count the last DVC) real foray into web delivery of video. I need to learn more because Podcasting is next. :) Yeah, I wasn't that thrilled with the radial blur, but I needed something to distinguish the video scenes of what the sun what looking at (if that even came across). Again, more learning.... Hey, John, I see you staring at me with those hungry eyes!!! Go get a sandwich or somethin'!! LOL! __________________ Edward Slonaker El Pilon Productions San Patricio, Texas www.elpilon.com

August 21st, 2006, 09:32 PM	#14
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Ed: Download gave a better appreciation. I couldn't even play on one of my systems. Can't figure that out. But once I got it downloaded and looked at it on a little bigger screen, I appreciated it more. I can't place my finger on it, but that sun reminds me of some character deep in my past... Maybe it will come to me. Great job ! __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

August 21st, 2006, 10:15 PM	#15
Jay Silver Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 112	I'll admit I'm not much on mood pieces and prefer movies with more narrative but I still liked this one. I wasn't put off by the eyes, I was delighted and watched them closely because they both added so much life to the thing and I wanted to figure out how you did it so well. The music was a perfect match. My only issue was that there was no sense of conclusion. The smile was well done and would have made a nice finish but it fails because I didn't know what he was smiling about. Was it about the sundial specifically or just at the end of the day with all these pleasant vignettes happening all around? Otherwise, I thought it was a great interpretation. -j