UWOL #8: Spring Takes Wing by Ruth Happel

Vidar Vedaa · April 23rd, 2008, 12:35 PM

Hi Ruth.

Yes you layde make a greait round.You have some incredebel
film here.The clip was unbelivebal,I shoud have seen how you
made this clip.

Geait Work

VJV.

______________

Mike Beckett · April 23rd, 2008, 01:31 PM

Ruth,

Another good film, I'm certainly enjoying a good evening's viewing here.

I really liked the slow-mo-snow at the start, particularly with the depth of field to the shot, it worked really well.

The underwater shots of the otter were fantastic. I know you "cheated" a bit by going to an aquarium, but it looks great and I wouldn't know it was in a relatively domestic environment if you hadn't told us.

The bee is both beautiful and slightly scary! And I wish my swan shots had turned out nearly as good as your chap drinking the icy water, mine all ended up on the cutting room floor. They're just fantastic when they take off and land - unfortunately I was too late when I realised that about 10 of them landed en masse behind my back and weren't about to give a repeat performance.

Very relaxing to watch, I do like the slow motion.

Dale Guthormsen · April 23rd, 2008, 07:25 PM

Ruth,

I missed something somewhere, Just what camera did you use for the slo mo???

Ruth Happel · April 23rd, 2008, 08:30 PM

Hi Dale,

The camera I used was the Casio EX-F1. It is a new camera that seems a hybrid between still and video imaging. It has the ability to shoot HD video, at up to 1920 by 1080. But since I already have a video camera, I haven't used that much. The function I have used the most so far is the high speed movies- allowing for anything from 30 to 1200 frames per second. At 300fps, it is about the same as SD video. At 600fps, which is my favorite setting, it is closer to the output size of UWOL challenges. The camera also shoots at 60fps, still images, which I am just starting to play with as a way to import a series of high quality motion stacks into a video editing program. Certainly lots to explore, and a new paradigm for imaging technology, which I believe will be developing more in the coming years. It is an amazing tool for seeing the world in a different way, it certainly "transformed" my view of nature for this challenge. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Ruth

Meryem Ersoz · April 23rd, 2008, 08:34 PM

Wow.

Or, as Mat would say, I'm gobsmacked.

The framing of that swan shot, with the 600 fps, blew me away. It is the loveliest image that I have seen in this Challenge (and this round is rife with lovely images...). The ice melting...the shot of the otter's paw...

This just beautiful. And the way it came together--great musical selection, nice juxtaposition of shots, and the simplicity of the narration--all complemented each other perfectly.

I agree that the black bar detracted slightly, but the overall feel of the world coming into new life really carried the day. The overall effect is one of a meditation on the wonder and the marvel of a new beginning, a new season. Just lovely. Thanks.

Bruce Foreman · April 24th, 2008, 12:29 AM

Well, Ruth,

You stepped out of your paradigm, thought (and worked) outside of the box, and accomplished a work of absolute stunning beauty. I had to give you a pass on the black box for the text even before I read enough to understand what caused it.

So this is not a critique but a suggestion and if you find it has merit, fine.

Knowing what the frame limitations on the 600fps will be, on projects where you plan to use that, compose the rest within that same framing. Then in post you can crop the rest to match (knowing that you composed with nothing intended to show in that area you are cropping out).

What you are left with is a kind of "super" widescreen that comes close to the look of 2.35:1 (Ben Hur comes to mind), you know the format that even "letterboxes" on your 16:9 display on your TV.

You knocked the ball right out of the park on this one.

Ruth Happel · April 24th, 2008, 12:28 PM

Thanks for the comments.

Meryem, I 'm not sure what gobsmacked means, but I'm glad you like it. The swan was amazing to me- I was going to close with that, but decided the swan flying away was more appropriate to the title.

Bruce- Thanks for your suggestion. I had thought of editing the HD footage to be the same size as the slow motion, but decided that I preferred the slightly larger size and resolution available in this UWOL format. And the contrast in size seemed a good way to put in text- from the feedback, apparently not the best way to carry the narrative. I like your idea of the super widescreen, and will experiment with that in future films- I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Ruth

Geir Inge · April 25th, 2008, 03:29 AM

Hi Ruth.

Sorry for being late with my comments, but I'm at a national youth congres, and right now we have our lunch break. I will comment yours and one more today and the rest I will do on Sunday. Then I will be back home.

What a great film you deliver this time.
Can't put a finger on one thing I dont like with it.
Well, I can mention one thing then; I miss Robin :)
Your ways with sound are magic and that clip of ice melting was great.
Your new toy must also be great I guess.
In this little format (uwol format) the black bar was a bit destracting, but in a bigger format we wouldnt notice it.

Thank you very much for sharing.

All the best
Geir Inge

Ruth Happel · April 25th, 2008, 07:12 PM

Hi Geir,

Thanks for the comments- I appreciate you taking time out of what sounds like a very hectic schedule. I hope you're having a great time at the youth congress.

Hopefully Robin will be back for a future UWOL film, though as time goes on, she seems to be getting busier with her own projects. She has just started writing a book, which is taking most of her free time now.

I enjoyed playing with the natural sounds- it was fun putting sounds to nature after the fact. The butterfly was the most obvious one stretching creative license to the limit. I used the wingbeats of a young fishing eagle for that- toned down to what I imagined was butterfly size :)

The melting ice was surprisingly hard to get. Every time I set up to film a patch of melting ice/snow, the sun would hit it before it had fully melted, or a shadow would pass through it from a bird or other animal nearby. So finally I managed to get about 20 or 30 minutes of clean video for one small patch, and sped that up numerous times in post for the time lapse effect. I thought that would be our last snow- it was shot early in the challenge, but of course we had a beautiful snow the day after I submitted my film- late for here- still not quite the spring promised in my video.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

Ruth

Markus Nord · April 26th, 2008, 09:33 AM

Hi Ruth

Your slow mo shots are absolutely gorgeous. I love the butterfly taking of… supercool. Some shots don’t seams to fit together, and the colour seams a bit of in between different part. The individual shots are perfect… With some more work on the story (and with robin :) ) I think this shot can fit in a very nice film.

John Dennis Robertson · April 28th, 2008, 06:43 AM

Good quality entry Ruth.Everyone has already mentioned the great slow motion shots.That new 600 fps camera must be fun to play with. However someone still has to operate the thing,and you did a great job of doing just that.I knew this was a top 3 video from the first time I watched it.

Oliver Pahlow · April 28th, 2008, 07:29 PM

Ruth,

This is the second time I looked at your film. Yes the slow motion shots are fantastic, but the sound. I'm a sound and music guy and I have to say the sound was incredible. Even the slow motion sound. Wow. It realy enhanced the shots (and I'm no expert, but I liked it alot).

All the best,

Oliver

Ruth Happel · April 28th, 2008, 09:09 PM

Thanks for the comments. Markus, glad you liked the butterfly. That took a lot of patience- I waited over half an hour for it to take off. John, glad you liked the slow motion. It is tricky shooting, and I still have a lot to learn, but for just a few weeks with the camera now, I am getting the hang of it. I really like the way it opens up a new world.

Oliver- Comments on sound coming from you are greatly appreciated! I listened to your music via the post you made here on dvinfo a couple months ago and am really impressed- don't be surprised if some of it ends up in my next UWOL entry :) My background is in sound recording, so I approach a video thinking as much about the sound as the images. Since the slow motion footage doesn't record sound, and I was on vacation when I shot this so had no external audio recorder, I relied heavily on post production for the sound in this, more than usual. I layered wind for the early sections of snowy mountains, added more layers of water for the river as the snow melted (figuratively for the sake of my narrative) and then got playful with some of the animals toward the end- especially the butterfly. That was a recording of a juvenile fish eagle, slightly altered to what I hope sounded more lepidopteran! Thanks for your comments. If you want to see one of my videos that is extremely sound driven- here is a link-
http://rockfowl.com/archive/2008/01/...oza-video.aspx

Ruth

Marj Atkins · April 29th, 2008, 12:41 PM

No no Ruth, you got it wrong. Lepidopteran sound is far more musical with all those scales on their wings! :D
Oh yes - please can I have your Painted Lady butterfly for my movie - it would really finish it off beautifully. What a picture! What a movie! I have watched it so many times now, absolutely moved by the beauty of the visuals and sound. I can see we are all going to be watching this space - can see a future of beautiful movies coming our way and can’t wait to watch them!

April 23rd, 2008, 01:31 PM	#17
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Ruth, Another good film, I'm certainly enjoying a good evening's viewing here. I really liked the slow-mo-snow at the start, particularly with the depth of field to the shot, it worked really well. The underwater shots of the otter were fantastic. I know you "cheated" a bit by going to an aquarium, but it looks great and I wouldn't know it was in a relatively domestic environment if you hadn't told us. The bee is both beautiful and slightly scary! And I wish my swan shots had turned out nearly as good as your chap drinking the icy water, mine all ended up on the cutting room floor. They're just fantastic when they take off and land - unfortunately I was too late when I realised that about 10 of them landed en masse behind my back and weren't about to give a repeat performance. Very relaxing to watch, I do like the slow motion. __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

April 23rd, 2008, 07:25 PM	#18
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Ruth, I missed something somewhere, Just what camera did you use for the slo mo??? __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

April 23rd, 2008, 08:30 PM	#19
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	Hi Dale, The camera I used was the Casio EX-F1. It is a new camera that seems a hybrid between still and video imaging. It has the ability to shoot HD video, at up to 1920 by 1080. But since I already have a video camera, I haven't used that much. The function I have used the most so far is the high speed movies- allowing for anything from 30 to 1200 frames per second. At 300fps, it is about the same as SD video. At 600fps, which is my favorite setting, it is closer to the output size of UWOL challenges. The camera also shoots at 60fps, still images, which I am just starting to play with as a way to import a series of high quality motion stacks into a video editing program. Certainly lots to explore, and a new paradigm for imaging technology, which I believe will be developing more in the coming years. It is an amazing tool for seeing the world in a different way, it certainly "transformed" my view of nature for this challenge. Let me know if you have any other questions. Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/

April 24th, 2008, 12:28 PM	#22
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	Thanks for the comments. Meryem, I 'm not sure what gobsmacked means, but I'm glad you like it. The swan was amazing to me- I was going to close with that, but decided the swan flying away was more appropriate to the title. Bruce- Thanks for your suggestion. I had thought of editing the HD footage to be the same size as the slow motion, but decided that I preferred the slightly larger size and resolution available in this UWOL format. And the contrast in size seemed a good way to put in text- from the feedback, apparently not the best way to carry the narrative. I like your idea of the super widescreen, and will experiment with that in future films- I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/

April 25th, 2008, 03:29 AM	#23
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,343	Hi Ruth. Sorry for being late with my comments, but I'm at a national youth congres, and right now we have our lunch break. I will comment yours and one more today and the rest I will do on Sunday. Then I will be back home. What a great film you deliver this time. Can't put a finger on one thing I dont like with it. Well, I can mention one thing then; I miss Robin :) Your ways with sound are magic and that clip of ice melting was great. Your new toy must also be great I guess. In this little format (uwol format) the black bar was a bit destracting, but in a bigger format we wouldnt notice it. Thank you very much for sharing. All the best Geir Inge __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

April 23rd, 2008, 12:35 PM	#16
Vidar Vedaa Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: bergen norway Posts: 235	Hi Ruth. Yes you layde make a greait round.You have some incredebel film here.The clip was unbelivebal,I shoud have seen how you made this clip. Geait Work VJV. ______________

April 23rd, 2008, 08:34 PM	#20
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	Wow. Or, as Mat would say, I'm gobsmacked. The framing of that swan shot, with the 600 fps, blew me away. It is the loveliest image that I have seen in this Challenge (and this round is rife with lovely images...). The ice melting...the shot of the otter's paw... This just beautiful. And the way it came together--great musical selection, nice juxtaposition of shots, and the simplicity of the narration--all complemented each other perfectly. I agree that the black bar detracted slightly, but the overall feel of the world coming into new life really carried the day. The overall effect is one of a meditation on the wonder and the marvel of a new beginning, a new season. Just lovely. Thanks.

April 24th, 2008, 12:29 AM	#21
Bruce Foreman Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Angelo Texas Posts: 1,518	Well, Ruth, You stepped out of your paradigm, thought (and worked) outside of the box, and accomplished a work of absolute stunning beauty. I had to give you a pass on the black box for the text even before I read enough to understand what caused it. So this is not a critique but a suggestion and if you find it has merit, fine. Knowing what the frame limitations on the 600fps will be, on projects where you plan to use that, compose the rest within that same framing. Then in post you can crop the rest to match (knowing that you composed with nothing intended to show in that area you are cropping out). What you are left with is a kind of "super" widescreen that comes close to the look of 2.35:1 (Ben Hur comes to mind), you know the format that even "letterboxes" on your 16:9 display on your TV. You knocked the ball right out of the park on this one.

April 25th, 2008, 07:12 PM	#24
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	Hi Geir, Thanks for the comments- I appreciate you taking time out of what sounds like a very hectic schedule. I hope you're having a great time at the youth congress. Hopefully Robin will be back for a future UWOL film, though as time goes on, she seems to be getting busier with her own projects. She has just started writing a book, which is taking most of her free time now. I enjoyed playing with the natural sounds- it was fun putting sounds to nature after the fact. The butterfly was the most obvious one stretching creative license to the limit. I used the wingbeats of a young fishing eagle for that- toned down to what I imagined was butterfly size :) The melting ice was surprisingly hard to get. Every time I set up to film a patch of melting ice/snow, the sun would hit it before it had fully melted, or a shadow would pass through it from a bird or other animal nearby. So finally I managed to get about 20 or 30 minutes of clean video for one small patch, and sped that up numerous times in post for the time lapse effect. I thought that would be our last snow- it was shot early in the challenge, but of course we had a beautiful snow the day after I submitted my film- late for here- still not quite the spring promised in my video. Thanks again for taking the time to comment. Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/ Last edited by Ruth Happel; April 25th, 2008 at 07:14 PM. Reason: typo

April 26th, 2008, 09:33 AM	#25
Markus Nord Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vastervik ,Sweden Posts: 639	Hi Ruth Your slow mo shots are absolutely gorgeous. I love the butterfly taking of… supercool. Some shots don’t seams to fit together, and the colour seams a bit of in between different part. The individual shots are perfect… With some more work on the story (and with robin :) ) I think this shot can fit in a very nice film. __________________ www.nordproduktion.se https://vimeo.com/nordproduktion

April 28th, 2008, 06:43 AM	#26
John Dennis Robertson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Johanesburg South Africa Posts: 217	Good quality entry Ruth.Everyone has already mentioned the great slow motion shots.That new 600 fps camera must be fun to play with. However someone still has to operate the thing,and you did a great job of doing just that.I knew this was a top 3 video from the first time I watched it.

April 28th, 2008, 07:29 PM	#27
Oliver Pahlow Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Woodridge Illinois Posts: 237	Ruth, This is the second time I looked at your film. Yes the slow motion shots are fantastic, but the sound. I'm a sound and music guy and I have to say the sound was incredible. Even the slow motion sound. Wow. It realy enhanced the shots (and I'm no expert, but I liked it alot). All the best, Oliver

April 28th, 2008, 09:09 PM	#28
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	Thanks for the comments. Markus, glad you liked the butterfly. That took a lot of patience- I waited over half an hour for it to take off. John, glad you liked the slow motion. It is tricky shooting, and I still have a lot to learn, but for just a few weeks with the camera now, I am getting the hang of it. I really like the way it opens up a new world. Oliver- Comments on sound coming from you are greatly appreciated! I listened to your music via the post you made here on dvinfo a couple months ago and am really impressed- don't be surprised if some of it ends up in my next UWOL entry :) My background is in sound recording, so I approach a video thinking as much about the sound as the images. Since the slow motion footage doesn't record sound, and I was on vacation when I shot this so had no external audio recorder, I relied heavily on post production for the sound in this, more than usual. I layered wind for the early sections of snowy mountains, added more layers of water for the river as the snow melted (figuratively for the sake of my narrative) and then got playful with some of the animals toward the end- especially the butterfly. That was a recording of a juvenile fish eagle, slightly altered to what I hope sounded more lepidopteran! Thanks for your comments. If you want to see one of my videos that is extremely sound driven- here is a link- http://rockfowl.com/archive/2008/01/...oza-video.aspx Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/

April 29th, 2008, 12:41 PM	#29
Marj Atkins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Johannesburg South Africa Posts: 768	No no Ruth, you got it wrong. Lepidopteran sound is far more musical with all those scales on their wings! :D Oh yes - please can I have your Painted Lady butterfly for my movie - it would really finish it off beautifully. What a picture! What a movie! I have watched it so many times now, absolutely moved by the beauty of the visuals and sound. I can see we are all going to be watching this space - can see a future of beautiful movies coming our way and can’t wait to watch them!