UWOL#8 Thermodynamics by Bob Safay at DVinfo.net

Bob Safay · April 21st, 2008, 06:39 PM

I must say that from the moment we recieved the theme for the challange #8 "Transformation" my wife looked at me and said...Thermodynamics, go video the solor panals at the park. Now, as it may not be as exciting as some, or, as beautiful as others, what can I say...except...... GO GREEN. Enjoy. Bob

Bryce Comer · April 23rd, 2008, 07:17 AM

Hey Bob,
What an interesting subject. Here were we all running around in the bush looking for transformations in the form of plants or animals, & you pull this one out. Great job! I found it really interesting. I loved the way you put it all together from the solar panels to the toaster, & everything in between. Your file is only 29mb, i would try to up the quality next time on the audio just to take out that tinny sound to it a bit. Otherwise, great.

Bryce

Dale Guthormsen · April 23rd, 2008, 12:01 PM

Bob,

the title intrigued me. My hardest university class ever was thremodynamics (as an engineering class). So I opened it up and enjoyed the different concept!!!

Definitely holds to the theme!!

I really liked the end, says it all.

Good job!!

Oh yea, I had to look close at the ipod writing, thought you might have had your credits in there!!

Bob Thieda · April 23rd, 2008, 01:00 PM

Very nice.....Not what I would expect from a UWOL film, but it works well with the theme...
Nice images....

I don't know why, but I laughed when the toast popped up on the beat of the music....

Bob T.

Trond Saetre · April 23rd, 2008, 04:23 PM

Hi Bob,

This was an interesting approach to the theme. And you did very well.
I like the story you deliver.

As Bryce mentioned, I would have tried to only compress enough to get below the 60MB limit to minimize any artifacts with compression.
The sound quality took a slightly hit, but the image quality was superb.
Seems like we both used the same audio codec, which caused me the same problems as you.
Today I tried re-encoding my video, using mp3 audio instead, and got much better quality.

Well done!
Keep up the good work.

Meryem Ersoz · April 23rd, 2008, 07:01 PM

I like "EnviroVision"....that's a good name! We need a whole channel with that name, featuring UWOL films...

I've always been fascinated by the geometry of power plants and the other ubiquitous power technologies (cell towers, windmills...) and the way they integrate into the natural world, so this was right down my alley...Interesting to see how it moves from the sun into the people world. Good trajectory for the story.

I wasn't as nuts about the ending musical selection--a little too much like an introduction to a sports show, maybe something a little more understated would have fit the overall feel of the piece.

Ruth Happel · April 24th, 2008, 12:00 PM

My late father studied thermodynamics, so I was interested right away from your title. You covered an important topic in a compelling way. Great use of a wide variety of shots to cover the whole story. I liked the music when you showed the power plant, a sort of frenetic feel as if energy is being produced. Thanks for making a great video on going green.

Ruth

Mike Beckett · April 26th, 2008, 01:42 PM

Bob,

That was great. The opening shot of the sun really helped set the scene of the rest of the video. The tree at 0:39 was a nice touch, it illustrated the whole "green" theme in a single shot: "We're doing this for mother nature, people!"

Must've been hard to deal with the exposure out in the harsh sunlight, but I think you got it spot on.

Kent Frost · April 26th, 2008, 03:26 PM

I don't see a link to anything??

How do I see this video?

Mat Thompson · April 26th, 2008, 04:02 PM

Hey Bob

Nice use of the topic and a well turned out piece. Your audio sounded like it suffered a lot in compression so maybe something to think about for next time. I really liked your piece, the music the build up the science the explanation and the shot order....until 1.40. For me the closing music and sequence just didn't do it for me the way the first part did...but this is a subjective opinion and not really based on anything specific although the music did come across a little cheesy to me.

Anyway, nice premise and good use of theme.....cool piece !
Mat

Adrinn Chellton · April 27th, 2008, 03:27 PM

Good idea, this one dawned on me during the concept phase as well. Nice job with this, most of the shots worked well, the one pan/tilt along the wire was wobbly though. Vo was good, maybe a bit over-compressed. I enjoyed watching it.

Good take on the theme and power lines can be a sort of "wildlife".

Catherine Russell · April 28th, 2008, 11:14 AM

Hi Bob:

Go Green indeed! Well done, and super take on the theme! Quite eclectic choices of music and I had to smile when the toast popped up so timely and so dramatically to the music.

Well done and enjoyed the watch.

Cat

Marj Atkins · April 29th, 2008, 07:37 AM

It is always fascinating to me to see how differently the theme can be interpreted and worked by the different entrants, and this one has to be one of the most interesting in terms of choice of subject.
Your story is very simple and to the point. You allow the pictures to do the talking and I think you get the message across very well. Your VO is clear and easy to understand.
I can see a clear division in the structure of your video through content and changes in music - with an intro describing the nature of energy, the middle dealing with the passage of electricity from the power station to the house and finally the end showing the benefits of this. I think your movie would have benefitted if the music had been slightly more subtle in change rather than dramatic. Not sure if the black interval between the middle and end was intended or not but I found it a little distracting. Perhaps the clips of the solar panel could have been shortened in length.
You had some very nice images of electricity poles and lines, although one thing I noticed is that most of your images are centred in the screen. (Visually this is not the best place for a focal point (or a strong line or shape) as it tends to cut the area into two equal parts and symmetry, simply by virtue of its nature, tends to be less interesting. Slightly off-centre, horizontally and vertically, is usually visually more pleasing.) Nevertheless I liked all those shots.

... and Kent ... go to the film vault at www.uwolchallenge.com

John Dennis Robertson · April 29th, 2008, 07:42 AM

Well thats a whole other approach to this theme.Great opening shot and carried through out the video...I enjoyed this one

Geir Inge · May 3rd, 2008, 05:35 AM

Hi Bob.

I think this was a great video and I think you have the right timing, as we all around the globe, discuss environmental issues these days.
In our mountain cabin we use this kind of energy and I think it's great.
Your film show how the sunlight is transformed into electric energy.

Where I live they are thinking of putting up some windmills, but that's another story.
Love your green film Bob.

All the best.
Geir Inge

April 21st, 2008, 06:39 PM	#1
Bob Safay Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 1,558	UWOL#8 Thermodynamics by Bob Safay I must say that from the moment we recieved the theme for the challange #8 "Transformation" my wife looked at me and said...Thermodynamics, go video the solor panals at the park. Now, as it may not be as exciting as some, or, as beautiful as others, what can I say...except...... GO GREEN. Enjoy. Bob Last edited by Bob Safay; April 22nd, 2008 at 03:45 AM.

April 23rd, 2008, 07:17 AM	#2
Bryce Comer Trustee Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rossland, British Columbia Posts: 1,024	Hey Bob, What an interesting subject. Here were we all running around in the bush looking for transformations in the form of plants or animals, & you pull this one out. Great job! I found it really interesting. I loved the way you put it all together from the solar panels to the toaster, & everything in between. Your file is only 29mb, i would try to up the quality next time on the audio just to take out that tinny sound to it a bit. Otherwise, great. Bryce __________________ There's never enough hours in the day!

April 23rd, 2008, 12:01 PM	#3
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Bob, the title intrigued me. My hardest university class ever was thremodynamics (as an engineering class). So I opened it up and enjoyed the different concept!!! Definitely holds to the theme!! I really liked the end, says it all. Good job!! Oh yea, I had to look close at the ipod writing, thought you might have had your credits in there!! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

April 23rd, 2008, 01:00 PM	#4
Bob Thieda Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 541	Very nice.....Not what I would expect from a UWOL film, but it works well with the theme... Nice images.... I don't know why, but I laughed when the toast popped up on the beat of the music.... Bob T. __________________ Bob T.

April 23rd, 2008, 04:23 PM	#5
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Hi Bob, This was an interesting approach to the theme. And you did very well. I like the story you deliver. As Bryce mentioned, I would have tried to only compress enough to get below the 60MB limit to minimize any artifacts with compression. The sound quality took a slightly hit, but the image quality was superb. Seems like we both used the same audio codec, which caused me the same problems as you. Today I tried re-encoding my video, using mp3 audio instead, and got much better quality. Well done! Keep up the good work. Last edited by Trond Saetre; April 23rd, 2008 at 04:28 PM. Reason: added info about audio codec

April 23rd, 2008, 07:01 PM	#6
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	I like "EnviroVision"....that's a good name! We need a whole channel with that name, featuring UWOL films... I've always been fascinated by the geometry of power plants and the other ubiquitous power technologies (cell towers, windmills...) and the way they integrate into the natural world, so this was right down my alley...Interesting to see how it moves from the sun into the people world. Good trajectory for the story. I wasn't as nuts about the ending musical selection--a little too much like an introduction to a sports show, maybe something a little more understated would have fit the overall feel of the piece.

April 24th, 2008, 12:00 PM	#7
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	My late father studied thermodynamics, so I was interested right away from your title. You covered an important topic in a compelling way. Great use of a wide variety of shots to cover the whole story. I liked the music when you showed the power plant, a sort of frenetic feel as if energy is being produced. Thanks for making a great video on going green. Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/

April 26th, 2008, 01:42 PM	#8
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Bob, That was great. The opening shot of the sun really helped set the scene of the rest of the video. The tree at 0:39 was a nice touch, it illustrated the whole "green" theme in a single shot: "We're doing this for mother nature, people!" Must've been hard to deal with the exposure out in the harsh sunlight, but I think you got it spot on. __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

April 26th, 2008, 03:26 PM	#9
Kent Frost Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Springfield, Missouri Posts: 117	I don't see a link to anything?? How do I see this video? __________________ "Your world is all these elements; of light and sound, of taste, smell, and touch. Woven together in many dimensions on the fabulous loom of your brain. Your brain; the most complicated thing in the world, which you yourself grew...without even thinking about it."

April 26th, 2008, 04:02 PM	#10
Mat Thompson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 1,397	Hey Bob Nice use of the topic and a well turned out piece. Your audio sounded like it suffered a lot in compression so maybe something to think about for next time. I really liked your piece, the music the build up the science the explanation and the shot order....until 1.40. For me the closing music and sequence just didn't do it for me the way the first part did...but this is a subjective opinion and not really based on anything specific although the music did come across a little cheesy to me. Anyway, nice premise and good use of theme.....cool piece ! Mat

April 27th, 2008, 03:27 PM	#11
Adrinn Chellton Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Carlsbad, CA Posts: 195	Good idea, this one dawned on me during the concept phase as well. Nice job with this, most of the shots worked well, the one pan/tilt along the wire was wobbly though. Vo was good, maybe a bit over-compressed. I enjoyed watching it. Good take on the theme and power lines can be a sort of "wildlife".

April 28th, 2008, 11:14 AM	#12
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Hi Bob: Go Green indeed! Well done, and super take on the theme! Quite eclectic choices of music and I had to smile when the toast popped up so timely and so dramatically to the music. Well done and enjoyed the watch. Cat

April 29th, 2008, 07:37 AM	#13
Marj Atkins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Johannesburg South Africa Posts: 768	It is always fascinating to me to see how differently the theme can be interpreted and worked by the different entrants, and this one has to be one of the most interesting in terms of choice of subject. Your story is very simple and to the point. You allow the pictures to do the talking and I think you get the message across very well. Your VO is clear and easy to understand. I can see a clear division in the structure of your video through content and changes in music - with an intro describing the nature of energy, the middle dealing with the passage of electricity from the power station to the house and finally the end showing the benefits of this. I think your movie would have benefitted if the music had been slightly more subtle in change rather than dramatic. Not sure if the black interval between the middle and end was intended or not but I found it a little distracting. Perhaps the clips of the solar panel could have been shortened in length. You had some very nice images of electricity poles and lines, although one thing I noticed is that most of your images are centred in the screen. (Visually this is not the best place for a focal point (or a strong line or shape) as it tends to cut the area into two equal parts and symmetry, simply by virtue of its nature, tends to be less interesting. Slightly off-centre, horizontally and vertically, is usually visually more pleasing.) Nevertheless I liked all those shots. ... and Kent ... go to the film vault at www.uwolchallenge.com Last edited by Marj Atkins; April 30th, 2008 at 12:02 AM.

April 29th, 2008, 07:42 AM	#14
John Dennis Robertson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Johanesburg South Africa Posts: 217	Well thats a whole other approach to this theme.Great opening shot and carried through out the video...I enjoyed this one

May 3rd, 2008, 05:35 AM	#15
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,343	Hi Bob. I think this was a great video and I think you have the right timing, as we all around the globe, discuss environmental issues these days. In our mountain cabin we use this kind of energy and I think it's great. Your film show how the sunlight is transformed into electric energy. Where I live they are thinking of putting up some windmills, but that's another story. Love your green film Bob. All the best. Geir Inge __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm