UWOL x KNRA by John Dennis Robertson

[John Dennis Robertson]

Must just say I am in such awe of all involved in the Advertising agency business.Its not too easy doing a 30 sec or one minute piece and get the message across.

I chose the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve association for a number of reasons...as a teenager I spent many Afternoons and most weekends riding my dirt bike in this area..The area was declared a nature reserve in 1984 after the land had been bought by the Johannesburg City Council in 1939.A few years later the Reserve was fenced off and all Off road vehicles were banned from the area.A section over the road from the reserve has been retained for Moto X and quad bike racing and riding,thus keeping both the tree huggers and petrol heads happy.I could could spend hours typing up everything about the reserve,but a visit to the web site About us , would do far more justice to the 800 + members than my humble words could.


Thnx to Dale for the advise on my new camera..I am on a steep learning curve on how to get the best out of it,and this challenge,plus the challenge of a new camera presented a whole new world of discovery for me...

[Marj Atkins]

That’s quite ironic - a ‘petrol head’ turned conservation champion of the very reserve he frequented in his youth! I am sure that must make Meryem really proud.

This is a neat entry in terms of construction of the PSA. I like the way you handled the images of the people walking through the reserve in slo-mo. Good camerawork with nice compositions and transitions.

Your (written) message (‘KNRA - encouraging an awareness of conservation’) is simple and clear - Neat, simple text. Images of the reserve and people walking support the message but I am not sure of the significance of the buildings and donkeys - it’s not clear if they are a problem or being conserved.

As far as my understanding of the genre is concerned I would say this is neat but a bit conservative in approach - tempo could have been a little more upbeat. Just a suggestion, but perhaps for added interest, you could have highlighted more of the activities they offer in order to encourage awareness of conservation and perhaps introduced some of the pressing issues they face such as the continual threat of human encroachment and their good work in protecting the area.

Well done on completing this entry.

[John Dennis Robertson]

Thanks for the feedback Marj,I learn so much not only from your video's but more so from your feed-back.The significance of the buildings is that not only do the KNRA try to preserve nature,but they are preserving our local history too.One of the buildings was used as a school during the week,a dance hall in the evenings and a church on sundays. The area had battles fought here during the Anglo/Boer war.A family by the name of Marais settled here,They were part of the trekker group that left the Cape with Piet Retief.The ruins and graveyard are all from the Marais family.....all this within walking distance of my home,and something I never knew untill a few months ago

[Meryem Ersoz]

This is probably one of those cross-cultural things, but for ding-a-lings like me, I need you to spell out "Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve Association" early in the piece to make the cause explicit...in the western USA, our call letters for radio stations start with the letter "K" and are usually 4-letter acronyms (like KGNU or KYGO) so I thought you were doing something for a radio station, doh!

I needed a little more context, I guess, although maybe everyone around you knows what KNRA is, and it may just be me, you never know with these international contests!

I love the opening shot, with all sorts of people coming together to enjoy the preserve, that was very effective. I liked the slow-mo donkey looking at the camera as well.

I'd probably suggest a slightly different editing trajectory, where you sort of move us in and then pull us back out of the preserve itself, so that you move from the wider angle shots, through the medium shots, to some sort of macro and then pull back out again. That way, your POV of a visitor gets a more intimate interaction with the details of the preserve and then back to a more distant observational standpoint held by the closing shot of the group. Does that make sense? Short edits are hard!

You photographed this nicely, as usual. What is the new camera and how are you liking it?

[Dale Guthormsen]

John,

I am not one to give advice in this realm.

I liked your starting with people and then morre or less closing with people.

compositions I liked: the old walls of the building (best)
the Bow of the creek
donkey close-up

I would have liked to see a couple more wild creatures


good effort!!!

[Jeff Hendricks]

Hey John,

I enjoyed the images you had...my favorites were those of the old buildings for some reason, especially the one of the long wall extending away from the camera, I kind of would have liked to have seen that one a bit longer (it gives you this really nice sense of depth) I had to pause the player just to enjoy it a bit longer.

The music was excellent.

I was not very clear on the message...perhaps a few people working on conserving the environment like planting native trees or picking up trash or something might have added to the message.

I liked watching it...it has a nice relaxing quality to it and I went back to it several times.

Good piece...

[John Dennis Robertson]

Thanks for the feedback everyone
Meryem
I battled like crazy with the editing and filming of this one.I work from 8 till five, 5 days a week and half days on Sat,leaving me with 1 and a half days shooting time.The Nature reserve always has something on,and depending what day I get there I could get a guided bird trail,tour to pre historic ruins etc...Getting the green light from them so late in the competition meant that I never had enough time to set up interviews and such.I think I understand your tips that you have given me and will be trying them in future challenges.I have just bought a Canon XM 2,and although it is rather low tech entry level cam,compared to my little pana handy cam that could fit into the palm of my hand its a big step up for me.Feed back from pro's like you mean so much to me and help me improve with every round.I had a look at my first entry for the water challenge,and compared it with my later video's.I can see a big improvement, and althoug I am still far from submitting a classy entry I am more than happy with the direction my filming and editing skills are going...Thnx to all of you UWOLER's for that.
Jeff
When you tell me that you paused the video to look at the building a bit longer,I know that I am on the right track.After editing I thought the same thing...I should have held that shot a bit longer.Thank you for your feed back as I am a big fan of your work and I learn from watching what and how you do things.

[Trond Saetre]

Hi John,

Most has been said by the others already.
I like the music very much, it fits perfectly to the video.
One thing I feel is missing, is a better/more clear message.
I didn't really understand what it was about until the text at the very end.
Jeff's idea/tips for this sounds like a good thing.

Keep up your good work!

[Geir Inge]

Hi John Dennis and congratulation on your entry.

I liked the music very much as I think it fits the scenery, also the way the people id fadeed into the film at the beginning.
Maybe you should try out narrations on this one, eh?
I also think that some background sound from the pople walking and some mumbling voices would have been great. Just as a background sound to a spoken message.
The donkey? I kinda liked it. That look (when it's turning over and looking into the camera) can be used in many ways if you like. Even as the animal behind a voice/the spoken voice/narration - that is if you had narrations on the video :)

Hope my "broken english" (spoken perfectly) is understandable.

All the best.
Geir Inge

[John Dennis Robertson]

Ah Geir Inge my friend
I always look forward to your feed-back,almost as much as I look forward to your entries.Unfortunatly I have to wait till the next challenge for one of your superb video's.I always spend a great deal of time selecting my music.I wish I was as talented as some of the people here that produce the music themselves. I could have done so much more with this if I had more time,but thats just the nature of this contest..Thanks for your words..cant wait for the next challenge

[Amelia Tanttila]

Hi John Dennis,
I don't know that I have anything new to add. I really enjoyed watching your video - the music, the people walking - LOVED the donkey - etc. I agree with others, though, that I was unclear until the end credits: ‘KNRA - encouraging an awareness of conservation’ what it was about. Even then, I sort of guessed, but wasn't sure where the buildings fit in. But, when you describe the rich history of those buildings - no wonder they're being conserved!

I suppose, though, that any ambiguity may be clarified in their website content. I could see your video as a part of a specific section in the KNRA website which gives a written narrative on this specific project, the different roles this building has served in the past, with the video taking web-viewers on a tour (as sort of eyes of the actual "tourists" in the video) of that building and its grounds.

Overall, it was fun to watch and images seem to stick with me. Seems there's definitely something special about that place. Thanks for sharing.

Amelia