UWOL #13 - "Order on a Giant Scale"

Mike Beckett · May 26th, 2009, 10:57 AM

What, don't you believe in giants?

My little video is about the Giant's Causeway, a unique geological wonder on the Northern Irish coastline. It consists of thousands of regular, hexagonal (and some octagonal and other-agonal) rocks, which really look like they are man-made.

That was the "order" I was trying to portray - how magnificent that nature can create something so regular and ordered.

There is a legend that it was all made by a giant, Finn MacCool, but until they find his bones I'll just not believe it.

I also aimed to contrast the order with the chaos of wildlife; last time I visited I went right along the cliffs (away from all the public) and there were thousands of sea birds on the cliffs. Not this time though; there were very few birds in the section I walked. Maybe it's not quite the right season, or they have moved away due to over-fishing by man.

My plans to revisit were scuppered by the weather, there was only one good weekend day for filming in the whole three weeks. So I had to make do with the footage I had, and try to spin something out of it.

It's quite hard to video a place like this, which can be really busy with tourists at times. I managed to get there early enough to avoid the crowds, though I did gather small huddles of men (It's always men) fascinated with what I was doing. ("He's got a furry microphone, he must be from the BBC." "Not with a hat like that." "Just look how sunburnt his arms are.")

Also, due to time pressures, I didn't get to do a lot of colour-correction or anything like that, just a few simple corrections here and there. I think I got the exposure and framing a lot better this time round, compared to my earlier wildlife efforts.

I got some bird shots that I managed to use. Some of these were shaky and had to be rescued with proDad Mercalli and VirtualDub Deshaker. They're not brilliant, but they could've been a heck of a lot worse. Birds shown are: Pied Wagtail (how exotic!), Rock Pippit, Herring Gull and Fulmar.

I had a few problems with the encoding, I'll admit I'm a Windows guy and I can't seem to get the .mov files compressed down to a perfect size and quality. This is noticeable on some of the pans and tilts, and some of the cross-fades.

UWOL download: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...giantscale.mov

WMV download (slightly better quality, I think): http://www.mikeb.org.uk/uwol/03_UC13...giantscale.wmv

Wikipedia page for the Giant's Causeway: Giant's Causeway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Both are around 45MB. I may try to encode a higher quality/slightly larger WMV later if I get the time.

So, please be gentle with me!

Chris Barcellos · May 26th, 2009, 01:42 PM

What an interesting spot... I had never seen anything like that before.. wow. Great stuff.

On my monitor, film could have had a bit more saturation, I think.

Per Johan Naesje · May 26th, 2009, 02:08 PM

Mike, a very interesting piece! As Chris, I've never seen rocks like that before.
You had some interesting sequences there too, the pull focus at 01:08 was very well done!
Very good editing phase and your narrating is very good and easy to understand.

Very well done!

Mike Beckett · May 26th, 2009, 02:41 PM

Thanks guys!

I actually worked on the saturation before I encoded... then I encoded to both WMV and MOV and the saturation went away again. The picture was much richer, and warmer before that. As an example, there was a little girl in a darak pink jacket in one of the "people" shots, and it went all washed out and white after encoding.

Unfortunately there isn't a "don't mess with my colors" tick box in the PP CS3 encoder!

Chris Barcellos · May 26th, 2009, 03:48 PM

Re: Saturation: I kind of steer a way from Window Video files these days because of that. I also had a similar problem with Vegas to Quick Time. I think Quicktime fixed something cause the .mov files now come out well. Most recently, using mp4 encoding has been more satisfying.

Dale Guthormsen · May 26th, 2009, 04:33 PM

Mike,

Really an interersting piece to watch. the area reminds me of the Post Piles in California.

Some very nice shots, First rate.

Very enjoyable and the clear naration really accented your imagery.

Great entry!!

Bob Thieda · May 26th, 2009, 04:46 PM

Mike,

Nice! I particularly like the fact that I learned something interesting.
Great subject and nice camera work.

And very nice narration. Very clear and easy to understand. Plus you sounded very comfortable with the subject.

Bob

Meryem Ersoz · May 26th, 2009, 06:37 PM

excellent, I always love learning a bit about other places. very interesting.

i liked how you used the shallow DOF to add some shot variety.

you have a nice voice.

and it's a unique take on the theme as well....

Mike Beckett · May 27th, 2009, 02:16 AM

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

Chris - I didn't try MP4. I think I will give that a go and see how it works out.

It's a bit frustrating having to use SD instead of HD for editing. I think a computer upgrade is going to happen soon!

Meryem: aw gee, you know how to make a guy blush. I was using my best telephone voice (the one I use when talking to US customers on the phone), my everyday accent probably wouldn't be as clear!

Trond Saetre · May 27th, 2009, 01:04 PM

Hi Mike,

This was entertaining to watch, and I learned something new. Thank you!
True order, that's for sure.
Nice how you play with the DOF.

Well done!

Mike Sims · May 28th, 2009, 10:27 AM

Mike,
I don’t think you’ll find Fion mac Cumhaill’s bones. I heard he’s sleeping one off in a cave beneath a pub in Dublin and that when he awakes he’ll reunite all the Irish folk in the world (what a party that will be!). I have seen the causeway before on various television programs, mostly the Scottish side, I think, with Fingol’s Cave. I think your video holds up extremely well against those commercial productions. It was a good choice for the theme. The first ten years I shot video I don’t think I ever pointed the camera at anything but a bird. Now that I shoot other stuff, I have come to appreciate what truly difficult subjects they are. By the way, that wagtail is VERY exotic in Texas! I enjoyed seeing it. You put together a nice sequence following it’s movements. Keep up the good work!

Mike Beckett · May 28th, 2009, 12:14 PM

Mike,

Thanks for the kind words! I actually found it incredibly challenging not having a thousand birds to point my camera at! That made it quite tough, but in a way I'm glad, it's not called a challenge for nothing.

The Giant legend is great, for children both young and old. I overheard a little girl asking the question of her dad: "Daddy, did the giant really wear that boot?"

Wonderful!

Finn-Erik Faale · May 30th, 2009, 03:41 AM

Mike,
You have made an interesting video.
I came recently home from a journey in Scotland.
There I observed some interesting basalt formations.
But, what you show is even more monumental and impressing.

Kevin Railsback · May 30th, 2009, 11:39 AM

Mike,

Really enjoyed your film. I think you and Marj should swap some footage. Your basalt columns and her honeycombs would compliment each other. :)

Very well told story. I enjoyed watching it and learned something new at the same time.

Well shot, well paced and solid narration. Good job on the rack focus shots.

Mike Beckett · June 1st, 2009, 02:39 AM

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I used to do the rack focus shots with the shot transition feature on my Sony, but this time I got brave and did them manually with the focus ring. The peaking feature is a great help with this, as was a new, solid, tripod.

Despite all the bad things you hear about the Sony V1 with its 1/4" CMOS chips, I managed to get some brilliant depth of field, helped by the extra screw-on ND filter.

UWOL is always a learning experience!

May 26th, 2009, 01:42 PM	#2
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	What an interesting spot... I had never seen anything like that before.. wow. Great stuff. On my monitor, film could have had a bit more saturation, I think. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 26th, 2009, 02:08 PM	#3
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Mike, a very interesting piece! As Chris, I've never seen rocks like that before. You had some interesting sequences there too, the pull focus at 01:08 was very well done! Very good editing phase and your narrating is very good and easy to understand. Very well done! __________________ - Per Johan

May 26th, 2009, 02:41 PM	#4
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Thanks guys! I actually worked on the saturation before I encoded... then I encoded to both WMV and MOV and the saturation went away again. The picture was much richer, and warmer before that. As an example, there was a little girl in a darak pink jacket in one of the "people" shots, and it went all washed out and white after encoding. Unfortunately there isn't a "don't mess with my colors" tick box in the PP CS3 encoder! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

May 26th, 2009, 03:48 PM	#5
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Re: Saturation: I kind of steer a way from Window Video files these days because of that. I also had a similar problem with Vegas to Quick Time. I think Quicktime fixed something cause the .mov files now come out well. Most recently, using mp4 encoding has been more satisfying. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 26th, 2009, 04:33 PM	#6
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Mike, Really an interersting piece to watch. the area reminds me of the Post Piles in California. Some very nice shots, First rate. Very enjoyable and the clear naration really accented your imagery. Great entry!! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

May 26th, 2009, 10:57 AM	#1
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	UWOL #13 - "Order on a Giant Scale" - Mike Beckett What, don't you believe in giants? My little video is about the Giant's Causeway, a unique geological wonder on the Northern Irish coastline. It consists of thousands of regular, hexagonal (and some octagonal and other-agonal) rocks, which really look like they are man-made. That was the "order" I was trying to portray - how magnificent that nature can create something so regular and ordered. There is a legend that it was all made by a giant, Finn MacCool, but until they find his bones I'll just not believe it. I also aimed to contrast the order with the chaos of wildlife; last time I visited I went right along the cliffs (away from all the public) and there were thousands of sea birds on the cliffs. Not this time though; there were very few birds in the section I walked. Maybe it's not quite the right season, or they have moved away due to over-fishing by man. My plans to revisit were scuppered by the weather, there was only one good weekend day for filming in the whole three weeks. So I had to make do with the footage I had, and try to spin something out of it. It's quite hard to video a place like this, which can be really busy with tourists at times. I managed to get there early enough to avoid the crowds, though I did gather small huddles of men (It's always men) fascinated with what I was doing. ("He's got a furry microphone, he must be from the BBC." "Not with a hat like that." "Just look how sunburnt his arms are.") Also, due to time pressures, I didn't get to do a lot of colour-correction or anything like that, just a few simple corrections here and there. I think I got the exposure and framing a lot better this time round, compared to my earlier wildlife efforts. I got some bird shots that I managed to use. Some of these were shaky and had to be rescued with proDad Mercalli and VirtualDub Deshaker. They're not brilliant, but they could've been a heck of a lot worse. Birds shown are: Pied Wagtail (how exotic!), Rock Pippit, Herring Gull and Fulmar. I had a few problems with the encoding, I'll admit I'm a Windows guy and I can't seem to get the .mov files compressed down to a perfect size and quality. This is noticeable on some of the pans and tilts, and some of the cross-fades. UWOL download: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...giantscale.mov WMV download (slightly better quality, I think): http://www.mikeb.org.uk/uwol/03_UC13...giantscale.wmv Wikipedia page for the Giant's Causeway: Giant's Causeway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Both are around 45MB. I may try to encode a higher quality/slightly larger WMV later if I get the time. So, please be gentle with me! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

May 26th, 2009, 04:46 PM	#7
Bob Thieda Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 541	Mike, Nice! I particularly like the fact that I learned something interesting. Great subject and nice camera work. And very nice narration. Very clear and easy to understand. Plus you sounded very comfortable with the subject. Bob __________________ Bob T.

May 26th, 2009, 06:37 PM	#8
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	excellent, I always love learning a bit about other places. very interesting. i liked how you used the shallow DOF to add some shot variety. you have a nice voice. and it's a unique take on the theme as well....

May 27th, 2009, 02:16 AM	#9
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Thanks everyone for the kind words. Chris - I didn't try MP4. I think I will give that a go and see how it works out. It's a bit frustrating having to use SD instead of HD for editing. I think a computer upgrade is going to happen soon! Meryem: aw gee, you know how to make a guy blush. I was using my best telephone voice (the one I use when talking to US customers on the phone), my everyday accent probably wouldn't be as clear! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

May 27th, 2009, 01:04 PM	#10
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Hi Mike, This was entertaining to watch, and I learned something new. Thank you! True order, that's for sure. Nice how you play with the DOF. Well done!

May 28th, 2009, 10:27 AM	#11
Mike Sims Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 880	Mike, I don’t think you’ll find Fion mac Cumhaill’s bones. I heard he’s sleeping one off in a cave beneath a pub in Dublin and that when he awakes he’ll reunite all the Irish folk in the world (what a party that will be!). I have seen the causeway before on various television programs, mostly the Scottish side, I think, with Fingol’s Cave. I think your video holds up extremely well against those commercial productions. It was a good choice for the theme. The first ten years I shot video I don’t think I ever pointed the camera at anything but a bird. Now that I shoot other stuff, I have come to appreciate what truly difficult subjects they are. By the way, that wagtail is VERY exotic in Texas! I enjoyed seeing it. You put together a nice sequence following it’s movements. Keep up the good work!

May 28th, 2009, 12:14 PM	#12
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Mike, Thanks for the kind words! I actually found it incredibly challenging not having a thousand birds to point my camera at! That made it quite tough, but in a way I'm glad, it's not called a challenge for nothing. The Giant legend is great, for children both young and old. I overheard a little girl asking the question of her dad: "Daddy, did the giant really wear that boot?" Wonderful! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube

May 30th, 2009, 03:41 AM	#13
Finn-Erik Faale Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Porsgrunn Norway Posts: 280	Mike, You have made an interesting video. I came recently home from a journey in Scotland. There I observed some interesting basalt formations. But, what you show is even more monumental and impressing.

May 30th, 2009, 11:39 AM	#14
Kevin Railsback Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Posts: 1,544	Mike, Really enjoyed your film. I think you and Marj should swap some footage. Your basalt columns and her honeycombs would compliment each other. :) Very well told story. I enjoyed watching it and learned something new at the same time. Well shot, well paced and solid narration. Good job on the rack focus shots. __________________ --==Kevin==-- http:naturephotostudios.com.com

June 1st, 2009, 02:39 AM	#15
Mike Beckett Trustee Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland Posts: 1,569	Thanks for the comments, guys. I used to do the rack focus shots with the shot transition feature on my Sony, but this time I got brave and did them manually with the focus ring. The peaking feature is a great help with this, as was a new, solid, tripod. Despite all the bad things you hear about the Sony V1 with its 1/4" CMOS chips, I managed to get some brilliant depth of field, helped by the extra screw-on ND filter. UWOL is always a learning experience! __________________ Irish Railway Videos on Youtube