Tales of wonders and woe - UWOL #21

[Geir Inge]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

I know that feeling, Geir Inge. Sometimes I can tell the story I want in three minutes, but only by rushing to get it all in and ruining the timing. I often wish for another minute or two so I can work on the pace. I think Marj has said this as well. I hope it works out for you. I’d like to see your footage from Crete! .

Thank you for supporting comments :)
First I must "tailor" my manuscript, then I must consider what scenes I want from Crete.
Right now I think I will use some underwater clips and some more "spacious" clips.
Not so much to see from the island itself, or creatures - some fish maybe.
The challenge lies in linking the clips from Crete, to the clips from Norway, without extending the limit of 3 minutes and to make a sensible story out of it.
But I'm working on it :)

[Marj Atkins]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

Hi Simon. The UWOL deadline is a real bear. It’s the one thing I most wished would change.

I do agree with you - three weeks is a horrible rush especially for working folk. Trying to put something together that is hopefully worthwhile watching takes time. I really hope a month to complete our films will become the norm rather than the exception . . . now if only I had known this at sign-up time . . :)

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

I know that feeling, Geir Inge. Sometimes I can tell the story I want in three minutes, but only by rushing to get it all in and ruining the timing. I often wish for another minute or two so I can work on the pace. I think Marj has said this as well. . . .

Funnily enough, while I had a major headache squeezing my latest entry, I don't believe the films should be longer than three minutes - most folk here find it difficult enough to fill three minutes, never mind five.

I always spend a good deal of time cutting out stuff, so five minutes won't help the likes of me. Sometimes it needs a radical re-arrangement of clips to shorten what is being said while at other times I just have to simplify my thoughts to make it more concise. Sometimes it requires a mangle - like changing three-syllable words to single syllable words (e.g "difficult" to "hard" ) to get it to fit!! All part of the learning curve I guess.

Originally Posted by Trond Saetre

I was out shooting a bit yesterday. Oh I wish I knew the magic trick to have the birds cooperate instead of flying away as soon as they spot me and the camera. (They were not afraid when I was fishing from my boat earlier in the day).
Maybe the extended deadline will come in handy this time...

Trond - Ideally you need some sort of hide, then you can move about without causing any disturbance. Even a hide needs to be set up slowly and carefully and eased into place.Preferably it should be set up outside of the area and moved in. It takes a while for the birds to get used to it. Your tripod should also be set up and the camera attached to it out of sight and long before you get anywhere near them particularly if you don't use a hide. Birds seem to be sensitive to noise as well as movement.

[Geir Inge]

Yesterday I went to Kvamsoy island for some more shooting.
I thought I had enough, but was in need for some new "ottershots".
And I was lucky to get some close ups, never been so close to a otter before, that is with my camera rolling.
Who did say the otter is not a fish? At least they have some delicious fish and crab for lunch ;)
But relax the otter is not the main issue in my video this time.
How's everyone doing?
I'm waiting in anticipation to see what you all will bring to "surface" this round.
I have also ordered a new extender to my XlH1, anyone out tried it?
Canon 1,6 Extender TIL XL-1 / XL-H1.

[Simon Wood]

Wow. This is tough - I'm glad there was an extension!

Is anyone here gunning for a full-house (all four classes)? I'm going to try and do it, but I've only managed to shoot one class so far. I'm really going to have to get in gear this week; I have a couple of interviews lined up, along with some field shoots close by. One of them is going to be really problematic though....

It's going to be tight!

[Steve Siegel]

Geir,

I used the Canon 1.6 extender. It really is a good piece of equipment. It gave a sharper image than any other extender I tried on the system.

[Geir Inge]

Originally Posted by Steve Siegel

Geir,

I used the Canon 1.6 extender. It really is a good piece of equipment. It gave a sharper image than any other extender I tried on the system.

Thank you for respond on the extender.
I've allready order it, but I'm not sure I'll get within the timelimit of this round though.
By the way; do you know if the ZR-2000 zoom/focus remotecontrol will work together with the extender?

I'm still in the edit process when it comes to my video for this round.
Maybe I'll take another trip to Kvamsoy island to do a underwater scene, but the water is running cold these days, so far north, so I have to think about it once or twice, before I jump to conclusion :)

[Trond Saetre]

Originally Posted by Marj Atkins

Trond - Ideally you need some sort of hide, then you can move about without causing any disturbance. Even a hide needs to be set up slowly and carefully and eased into place.Preferably it should be set up outside of the area and moved in. It takes a while for the birds to get used to it. Your tripod should also be set up and the camera attached to it out of sight and long before you get anywhere near them particularly if you don't use a hide. Birds seem to be sensitive to noise as well as movement.

Thanks Marj,
I was able to get a few usable shots from about 200 meters away yesterday.
Still working on how to improve my skills of filming birds in flight. Think I might need some advise from our master Dale there. But practice makes master. :)

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good evening,

I have about 30 seconds of usable video, that means about two 6 second cuts, ug. I may have to rethink my theme.

Tronde, Shooting birds in action takes a lot of practice!! I have been doing it over a decade and I still do not get it right as often as I would like!! Practice, practice, practice. and then now and then you will get amazing footage!!!

After 20 formal uwol's and 2 fun shoots, I may swim this round if I do not change my theme.


As I typed this I had an epiphany, linking birds, flying, sailing, and kiting, HUM, may have to go with that.

I hope others are having an easier time than I have had this round!!!!!!

[Mike Sims]

I’m having a bit of a tough time this round too. As of today, though, I think I’ll have enough to finish something- it just won’t be much to be proud of. I’m feeling pretty foolish for choosing to feature an aquatic creature during an epic drought. The high temperatures aren’t just uncomfortable for me, they are really limiting the behaviour I can record. I’m also dealing poorly with my anemia and the attendant bad attitude (which you have no doubt noticed).

[Simon Wood]

I have filmed and edited 50% of what I need so far. I've tried to feature all four classes in the theme (at 3 minutes this works out at 45 seconds per class). All four creatures are linked through a common thread, as told by 4 different people. The last 2 interviews are this week followed by the last 2 location shoots.

The problem I am having is that I am filming way too much footage. For example, last week I filmed a snake expert who rescues snakes from houses and farms (they are usually killed when seen; he has convinced people to call him instead so he can catch them). I filmed over an hour of footage of him searching for a snake, catching it, and then talking to the family about it. The end result: 4 jump cuts (at 2 seconds each) for the final cut!

Just to reconfirm; final run time is 3 minutes PLUS credits allowed extra time?

[Trond Saetre]

Dale,
Thanks for the tips. Practice will hopefully make master. :)
Found it actually "less difficult" to film some of them handheld than with tripod.

Simon,
Yes, you are right. Credits are allowed in addition to the 3 minute limit.

[Mike Sims]

OK, I have a rough edit and things aren’t as bad as I feared. I don’t have any really outstanding shots, but what I have should work. The “story” has a bit of everything- a little action, loss and recovery, nudity, and even more salamanders…

Simon- It’s a lot more comfortable to have too much footage than not quite enough! I also will show all four classes (and mention the missing fifth) though not quite in the systematic fashion you seem to be doing. I’m looking forward to seeing your video.

Dale- C’mon, Dale. We’ve seen you pull off some miracles under conditions that would have been impossible for me! You can do this. I hope your new idea works out for you.

Trond- I’m glad you got the shot you needed. Besides practice it is also good technique. This is how it was explained to me by John Bax (who was a Master, I am not). Start with your feet well apart. Brace the camera to your shoulder. Point the toe of your front foot in the direction you want the shot to end. Keep your back foot at ninety degrees to the front foot. As you pivot at the hip, shift your weight from the back foot to the front foot. Practice, practice, practice.

Geir Inge- Have you decided to take the plunge? (Into the cold water, not into the Shark Tank!)

I hope everyone we haven’t heard from yet is doing well. I still hope to see a round where everyone that signs up finishes!

[Geir Inge]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

- - - Geir Inge- Have you decided to take the plunge? (Into the cold water, not into the Shark Tank!) - - -
I hope everyone we haven’t heard from yet is doing well. I still hope to see a round where everyone that signs up finishes!

Well, I've just come home from a short visit to Kvamsoy island.
I was propper dressed for the occasion, as you all can see :)
Warm and nice with my 7 mm thick wet suit.
Now I'm browsing through the tape to see if there's something I can use for uwol 21.
I have changed manuscript a little bit along the way, so I've tried to listen to what you said Marj,
about shorten down a bit ;)
Here's a photo taken by my brother (cell phone picture).

[Simon Wood]

OK. It's done!

I finished the edit this afternoon: 3 minutes on the dot (excluding credits). I wanted to try and get it finished in time for the original deadline (as practice for future competitions).

I'll use the extra time to do some fine tuning to the edit, and to rework the score to match the visuals a bit better. I might try and get a couple of extra pick up shots too if I have time.

The main hurdle for me is getting it off the damn computer with decent compression. Does anyone know what the guidelines are this time around (I guess we can just go with the Sorenson specs from previous competitions)?

Not sure if I'm entirely happy with the end result however...

[Lorinda Norton]

Way to go, Simon! Compression guidelines have not be determined yet. We'll try to get a decision soon. Because you have the time perhaps you could go with the old UWOL guidelines on one version, then try one using the Vimeo guidelines or something similar and compare.
Compression guidelines on Vimeo