UWOL#8 “Of course it hurts” by Markus Nord

[Markus Nord]

Of course it hurts
by Markus Nord


Background
Well boys and girls… this time I didn’t even look at my UW housing… This time I tried to make something new for me. My town is surrounded of forests with Oak-trees. My story is not about the Oak-tree but the ground beneath it. The Oak-tree takes a long time to develop there leafs so the ground will get lots of sun in the early spring. These areas will transform from a greyish and brownish sleeping soil to a white and green blossoming explosion, and luckily me, this transformation appear too happened right during our challenge. I spend four days, spread out over our three weeks to cover the transformation from winter to spring.

Technical things…
I got a 1.5 meter (5 feet) rail that I have not been using much, but this round I truly learned how to use it. I played around with it a lot and I think that the result turned out nice. I also used three types of lenses, stock lens, wide angle lens and a 90 mm macro (Tamron) and I change a lot between them to get as many different optical views and ways to show this transformation. I also used Time-Laps to tell the time-travel that we are doing during these three weeks.

The poetry stuff…
For this one I decided not the run with a VO, neither any natural sound. This is a bit of a gambling, ‘cause many of the films on this forum that are not including VO or natural sound has got this told more then one… But what I did was to incorporate a very special poetry for many Swedes, “Of course it hurts” of Karin Boye. The beginning of this verse, the first two line is something that everyone knows…

Of course it hurts when buds burst.
Otherwise why would spring hesitate?

And with these word I’ll hope that you enjoy my film for UWOL #8…


Link:
http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...rseithurts.mov

[Rob Evans]

This really blew me away - the pace, the music, the technicality of the shots and the subjects. Love the use of macro and timelapse, and the dolly transition shot was superb!!! Great film.......

[Dale Guthormsen]

Marcus,


you definitely do not dissappoint!!!!!!

I loved the track shot!!!

the Macro work was excellent.

I did not need any voice over

The Poem tied it all together.

This is one of the best!!!

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Markus,

That was a nice and interesting video to watch!
Macro is awesome, I really like that.

Thank you for sharing!

[Bryce Comer]

Hey Markus,
Beautiful images you captured there! I loved this one of yours, the poem, the pictures & the production of it. Just one note, i understand you were using your rail thing for the first time, & the shots looked awsome, but i thought in your editing, you may have cut slightly short some of those shots. I would have liked to see you hold on to them a little longer, & just slow them down a bit before making the transition to the next shot. Oh and i loved the music too!

Bryce

[Markus Nord]

Rob Thanks for your words… The snail turned out nicely, and I liked the mix with normal speed and then speed up to 2000%.

Dale Thanks… nice that you liked the poem. I didn’t want to destroy the “inner voice” that you get when you reading a poem with a VO with my voice.

Trond Thank you… I’m glad you liked the macro…

Bryce Thank you for you words… I see what you mean with keeping the shots a bit longer, but the editing is with the music. If you take a look again you se that every cut is on a “base bump”. Till next time I will test and se if it turn out better with some longer shots.
Thanks…

[Meryem Ersoz]

I love the subtlety of the soundtrack, it works very well with the beauty of the images and the simplicity of the poem.

I always like to see the players stretching their skills. The rail seems like a nice addition to your toolbox...it almost comes across like a steadicam, the way that it hovers over the fields of flowers.

Nice work all around, image and sound and story/poem come together very organically.

You should dry off more often, Markus!

[Ruth Happel]

This was really nice to watch, a gentle flow to the film, mirroring your theme of the slow revival of spring. Your rail shots were great- I felt like I was a bee hovering over the flowers. The music also contributed to the feel of it- matching perfectly the mood of the poem.

Ruth

[Adrinn Chellton]

I liked the cool feeling of this one, the color tones fit well with the music and poem. It was subdued and felt like it captured the "hesitation" that the poem described. I liked the dolly zoom effect, it fit well where you used it. The wide angle shots up at the trees were effective too.

The shot at 1:05 seemed hand held while none of the others did, or was that just the way the movement of the plant with the tilt up made it feel?

Nice work.

[Mike Beckett]

Markus,

Very nice. I'm not sure I like Mr Snail filling up all 21 inches of widescreen monitor, but it was an incedible close up. The slime! Eeew!

I think it worked quite well without ambient sound, the music was nice and subtle.

The tracking shot was very nice, showing the same area undergoing a sublte change. The tracking just adds another dimension, and is a pleasant change from pans and zooms - it seems very relaxed.

The track/zoom combination at 1:30 was fantastic, along with the one at 2:20. It adds an unsual dimension to the shot, and I mean unusual in a good way!

I like this. I could watch it at work when I'm stressed to calm myself.

[Marj Atkins]

This is an overall stunning video Markus. I love the concept and the way you have synchronized the images, music and poem - everything works together to create a very beautiful and watchable video. What a transformation takes place in three short weeks!
Your images are outstanding - the colours, scenery beautifully framed. Very nice variety of shots.
Your credits are simple and nicely composed.

There are some small things that I feel detract from your video.
I think the slug was beautifully captured but totally out of place in a video where the focus is mainly on the changing scenery. It didn’t fit with the words of the poem either “Of course it hurts when buds burst , otherwise why would spring hesitate?” this is your key verse and yet there, sandwiched between these verses is an apparently out-of-place slimy slug in full macro on the screen. An additional wide shot showing its context would in my opinion have helped to relate it to the forest scene.

At 1:53 the light during your pan showed up spots on your lens - been there done that! :)

Nice work.

[Markus Nord]

Meryem dry of more…. No! During this filming I hade a bucket of water near by so I could stick my head down… Thanks for you words, some of the dolly/rail shots came out nicely I think.

Ruth Thank you… I’m glad that you felt like a bee… that was one of my ambitions, to make the view fell the present.

Adrinn Thanks for you words… The shot at 1:05 was not hand held, it was from the dolly, but with the macro lens on, it didn’t come out that good, but I tried to do some type of tilt/pan with the macro lens… it is really hard, every little shake will come out. The second dolly zoom came out nice, for me it really gives you a feeling over the size of the flowerbed.

Mike Thank you… Mr Snail came out nicely…
The tracking shot was hard to get… I hade to zoom in and move it around until it fitted for a dissolve. It isn’t perfect… but for trying it for the first time, it was ok I think.
Nice to have achieved a “anti-stress-video”…

Marj maybe the slug comes in the “kill your darlings” part of the editing process… but My idea of the slug was to shoot it in macro (‘cause it cool) and then speed it up to give you a time-travel feeling, booth in macro and in the wide with the time laps of the clouds. I wanted to film the flower coming up through the dead leaves but that would have taking to much time… the slug was the substitute for the flower “buds”. But I understand what you mean with that the slug seams a bit out of place. I hade some more dolly shots of the greyish forest, but they didn’t come out good…
Next time I will clean the lens… Thank you for your words.

Thanks for watching

[Catherine Russell]

Markus Nord:

You are an artist through and through. You seamlessly transition us from one scene to another with so much skill it's breathtaking. I can see Marj's point about the slug, but it was so captivating and interesting... I enjoyed the watch even if it was out of context. The poetry is beautiful and I am forever impress with all of you guys up north writing (and narrating) in a second language so very well.

Cat

[John Dennis Robertson]

Hi Markus
The great shots you have given us under water have now been matched by your work on land...One of my favorites for this round

[Geir Inge]

Hi Markus.

Some nice rail shots of spring flowers in the forrest.
Liked your choice of music to the poem (great poem).
A little bit strange to see you not making an UW film.
But I guess in uwol we have to expect the unexpected too :)
Well done Markus.

All the best.
Geir Inge