UWOL 18- A Wetland Portrait by Chris Barcellos

Chris Barcellos · November 24th, 2010, 12:24 PM

Cat: Ultimately, with a lot of the shots, I stuck with a portrait theme to follow the intimate detail theme. I went with static shots to give the viewer a chance to see the detail in the wetlands, rather than go with heavy panning and zooming. Each shot had some minute motion, but it wasn't obvious, and the viewer had to actually look for it in the scene. A ripple of water here, as slight movement of a reed, etc. The bird life was something that caught the moments too, so I included them. Probably a bit to disjointed for you, and in retrospect, I could have arranged the scenes a bit different.

Rich: I do have Vegas 10. But what I believe Cineform has on board adds to my editing experience. For instance, treating all the footage with film look was as easy as selecting all the footage and applying it in first light. After finding the look I liked, I applied it in ten seconds. No rerendering. ( If you do that in Magoc Bullet Film Looks, your render takes half a day.) Then it was there on all the footage when I went into Vegas. From there I did my edit. Cineform also holds up to additional color correct better that the capture codec, and that has always been the prime reason to convert to Cineform. You can get a free trial of Cineform. FirstLight comes with the NeoHD version and better, so it isn't in the cheapest version, NeoScene. Give it a look.

Finn-Erik Faale · November 26th, 2010, 07:24 AM

Chris,
I enjoyed your relaxed T2i video. The best part is the two last minutes. Choice of music and the lack of close-ups preserve the tranquillity. It is not always necessary to exploit all technical possibilities. Maybe it is a bit oversaturated, but that is just my personal sense.

Marj Atkins · November 26th, 2010, 12:03 PM

Well this was a wonderfully relaxing film to watch. I am a real sucker for the wide format and shots of landscapes with horizontal bands of colour and texture - especially saturated colour like you have!

Some really stunning views of the wetland Chris. Really enjoyed watching this.

Annie Haycock · November 29th, 2010, 06:48 AM

Hey Chris

I'm sure I've seen better flims from you, so I'll put the occasional judder down to the experimentation with your Canon. Because people have commented on my tendency to use static shots, I now notice when other people do it too. But from other comments, I get the feeling that static shots are better than panning shots from a DSLR. Some natural sounds would have been nice, but the music was relaxing. However, there were a couple of transitions near the beginning that jarred a bit, and would probably have been better if they had happened at a beat in the music instead of between beats.

Your answers about workflow are interesting, and as Mike said, perhaps we should all be expected to provide such details on our feedback threads.

Overall, a nice piece.

Mat Thompson · December 2nd, 2010, 05:47 AM

" I get the feeling that static shots are better than panning shots from a DSLR "

I'm not sure why you'd think that ? - You can put a DSLR in motion fine, just keep it fluid and make sure your output is ok!

Chris Barcellos · December 2nd, 2010, 11:00 AM

I don't have any doubt that I can put my DSLRs in moition, whether on a slider, a jib, or a dolly track. I have done it successfully in past. I considered it for this film, and I have a jib, a slider and a dolley, but then, that would make it look like everyone elses.

My apparently failed attempt to to give most of the shots a static portrait feel, with relatively little motion. The still waters were somewhat in motion, the reeds and leave bent by the winds. The late evening shots captured the stillness of the approaching evening, with just slightest movement.

It been pointed out that my camera was shakey in a couple of shots, and I agree that I should have taken better precautions with the wind. That didn't help things in this film..

November 24th, 2010, 12:24 PM	#16
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Cat: Ultimately, with a lot of the shots, I stuck with a portrait theme to follow the intimate detail theme. I went with static shots to give the viewer a chance to see the detail in the wetlands, rather than go with heavy panning and zooming. Each shot had some minute motion, but it wasn't obvious, and the viewer had to actually look for it in the scene. A ripple of water here, as slight movement of a reed, etc. The bird life was something that caught the moments too, so I included them. Probably a bit to disjointed for you, and in retrospect, I could have arranged the scenes a bit different. Rich: I do have Vegas 10. But what I believe Cineform has on board adds to my editing experience. For instance, treating all the footage with film look was as easy as selecting all the footage and applying it in first light. After finding the look I liked, I applied it in ten seconds. No rerendering. ( If you do that in Magoc Bullet Film Looks, your render takes half a day.) Then it was there on all the footage when I went into Vegas. From there I did my edit. Cineform also holds up to additional color correct better that the capture codec, and that has always been the prime reason to convert to Cineform. You can get a free trial of Cineform. FirstLight comes with the NeoHD version and better, so it isn't in the cheapest version, NeoScene. Give it a look. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

November 29th, 2010, 06:48 AM	#19
Annie Haycock Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales Posts: 734	Hey Chris I'm sure I've seen better flims from you, so I'll put the occasional judder down to the experimentation with your Canon. Because people have commented on my tendency to use static shots, I now notice when other people do it too. But from other comments, I get the feeling that static shots are better than panning shots from a DSLR. Some natural sounds would have been nice, but the music was relaxing. However, there were a couple of transitions near the beginning that jarred a bit, and would probably have been better if they had happened at a beat in the music instead of between beats. Your answers about workflow are interesting, and as Mike said, perhaps we should all be expected to provide such details on our feedback threads. Overall, a nice piece. __________________ Canon XH A1; Canon XF100; Nikon D800

December 2nd, 2010, 11:00 AM	#21
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	I don't have any doubt that I can put my DSLRs in moition, whether on a slider, a jib, or a dolly track. I have done it successfully in past. I considered it for this film, and I have a jib, a slider and a dolley, but then, that would make it look like everyone elses. My apparently failed attempt to to give most of the shots a static portrait feel, with relatively little motion. The still waters were somewhat in motion, the reeds and leave bent by the winds. The late evening shots captured the stillness of the approaching evening, with just slightest movement. It been pointed out that my camera was shakey in a couple of shots, and I agree that I should have taken better precautions with the wind. That didn't help things in this film.. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

November 26th, 2010, 07:24 AM	#17
Finn-Erik Faale Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Porsgrunn Norway Posts: 280	Chris, I enjoyed your relaxed T2i video. The best part is the two last minutes. Choice of music and the lack of close-ups preserve the tranquillity. It is not always necessary to exploit all technical possibilities. Maybe it is a bit oversaturated, but that is just my personal sense.

November 26th, 2010, 12:03 PM	#18
Marj Atkins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Johannesburg South Africa Posts: 768	Well this was a wonderfully relaxing film to watch. I am a real sucker for the wide format and shots of landscapes with horizontal bands of colour and texture - especially saturated colour like you have! Some really stunning views of the wetland Chris. Really enjoyed watching this.

December 2nd, 2010, 05:47 AM	#20
Mat Thompson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 1,397	" I get the feeling that static shots are better than panning shots from a DSLR " I'm not sure why you'd think that ? - You can put a DSLR in motion fine, just keep it fluid and make sure your output is ok!