Tales of Wonders and woes - UWOL 32

[Trond Saetre]

Ladies and gentlemen,

What goes well, what goes not so well during the production of your uwol 32 entries.
This is the place to share it all, as we always do.

And whatever happens, remember Rule 11!

[Mike Sims]

I always seem to start off with lots of ideas, most of which quickly turn out to be impractical due to time and/or budget constraints. Then I tend to get discouraged as I cast about for a workable idea. The same is true this round but I have progressed to the point where I think I may have an idea which will work. I have reached the definite “maybe” stage. It sometimes takes me two weeks to get to this point so I am doing good. I hope you are all doing good as well.
Best wishes all.

[Vishal Jadhav]

I suppose this is a nice thread to start,

Mike ,
Nice to see the thought process. good that you have at least arrived at the "maybe" stage .

I am still struggling to imagine a idea .

Guess being in Field of Finance for 19 years makes my mind a bit too logical in thinking, rather than letting the imagination loose.

Think i need to think a bit more freely .

will come back with a update soon.

all the best to all of you folks.

vishal

[Mike Sims]

Hi, Vishal- and welcome! You say you want to learn; well you have come to the right place with the right attitude. I look forward to watching your skills grow. All of ours have. Allow me to offer the same advice that was given me upon my first Challenge. If you run into a problem, please let us all know. Likely one or more of us has had the same problem and can help. Everyone wants to see you finish your film. As for the theme, sometimes the best approach is to just make the film you want to make and along the way figure out a way to tie it in to the theme. One tip I learned from Marj Adkins is to use the dictionary and look up all of the major words in the theme. Sometimes there will be a subtle secondary meaning that will help you find an angle. You mentioned bird migration. I think you could tell an interesting story about that which would tie in to this theme. Keep thinking!

[Mike Sims]

Martijn- Howdy! I’ve been meaning to ask you how you like using your new Canon 150-600mm FD lens. I have long wanted one of those and never found one available at the same time I could actually afford it! I have the 600mm FD prime and I really like it. I love the rack-and-pinion focus. I’ll bet your zoom is great. I can’t wait to hear your opinion of it and see some examples shot with it.

[Trond Saetre]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

Allow me to offer the same advice that was given me upon my first Challenge. If you run into a problem, please let us all know. Likely one or more of us has had the same problem and can help. Everyone wants to see you finish your film.

This is what uwol is all about. Improve our skills and helping each other reaching our next levels.

[Kevin Railsback]

My idea for this challenge came to me last week but drama in mylife has kept me from really thinking and working on it.

The other day I found my music for this challenge. Yeah, I'm that backwards guy that pics the music for his films before he even hits the record button for the first time.

So now I'm listening to the track over and over again until it's engrained in my brain and I know every nuance of it.

Sunday is my last day of work for the year so hopefully I can purge the drama in my life and make something decent this round.

I love, love, love the music I licensed. It's a bit repetitive but I moves me and I can see imagery that I would love to get if I can.

As usually I have small snippets of shots that I want and no clue how to tie it all together yet. That usually doesn't happen until after I start editing.

Fingers crossed I'll finish this one!

[Mick Jenner]

Hi Kevin. Its interesting how we all go about producing our films, I seem to remember you once before saying you go for the music first for inspiration. My stories normally come as a result when I am out filming, I film something totally unexpected, something that I suppose you would call the money shot and build from there. Although I have been out and filmed quite a bit I am still struggling for that magic moment/ ingredient that will inspire a good story. As regards music I have been lucky enough to have built quite a collection of royalty free music from several sources AKM, Trackline etc so I don't usually have much trouble finding something to go with my project. Luckily Trond has given us a bit extra time for this one, so plenty of time yet!!!

[Trond Saetre]

I think I have the same workflow as Mick.
Many of my videos have developed while I have been out. Who knows, maybe that happens this time too.

[Vishal Jadhav]

Interesting to know about the evolution of workflow,

Its my first time around making a video on a given theme, so i am still on the drawing board, ( its now erased so many times that it now has scratch marks :) )

Approach adopted by me is i am planning on the structure of the video how it can be for the 4 minutes, sections and shots it can have. Shots are a challenge but some of the locations i have been a few times can give me few of the shots planned and then in the field i may be able to make a few depending on how it turns out to be.
Guess thats part of the learning process and my approach will evolve as i start making these videos.

Climate wise it was supposed to be winter times with clear skies and today there is a cloud cover and its rained in the night .

Music its still far off and i was only able to record the rumbling in the skies above and that was not written on the drawing board.

over the coming week i am planning to make some of the trips to get my shots.

I am so glad of the extended time.

So over all as i see, its a interesting journey, with drawing board not firming up, nice surprises as extended time and rumbling skies.
Tomorrow morning will be out at 4 am trying to see what all from the drawing board i am able to see.

will update you folks soon.

best regards
vishal

[Trond Saetre]

Originally Posted by Vishal Jadhav

i am planning on the structure of the video how it can be for the 4 minutes...

Notice that the 4 minutes is a max limit only.

[Vishal Jadhav]

Trond,
Me not going above the 4 minutes mark , since we have 4 elements was trying to allocate a minute each and see how much of that part of the minute I achieve. (Been a finance guy for 19 years making it always a method in numbers and fractions :) )
In fact I tried to do some ground work on the interpretation of elements in Indian culture and found that we have 5 , the fifth being sky or space . Sky being my most loved one as for long as I remember always found forms in clouds .
Mythological reading makes it very interesting and giving me some ideas.

Cheers
vishal

[Andrew Hood]

So far I haven't made any solid progress. I have 2 main working ideas. One more 'old world' elements, and one more modern type view but narrowing it down to a specific one. For visuals and getting out in nature I prefer the former (though not sure how much travelling is needed to get the shots I want), the scientist in me wants the latter - but I worry it's too specific.

In the meantime I got up early last week to try and follow up my other UWOL entry from half a year ago, and get a lyrebird on film. Only saw one for a couple of seconds as it darted across the trail 10m in front of me. The trip wasn't totally unproductive though - saw more wildlife than most times I've visited, some even staying visible to the camera long enough to record them.

Morwell National Park Highlights Dec 2014 - YouTube

[Vishal Jadhav]

Hi,

Being the first time i may be asking too many questions. here is something i want to know about the normal practice.
When do you start editing ?
We have one month so as you folks have completed the previous challenges how is the time divided e.g. 3 weeks of shooting and 1 week of editing . I am very new to editing and i am not sure how much time i will take to edit this one so this advice is something i thought will help so that i don't keep shooting and then with no time left for editing.
Second option may be you edit as you shoot since all of us will be editing our stuff , is this editing on the way a good practice.

Currently i have shot some stuff in line with my idea however i think i am lacking some of my shots.
All in all its been a fun time all the way.

cheers
vishal

[Marj Atkins]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

One tip I learned from Marj Adkins is to use the dictionary and look up all of the major words in the theme. Sometimes there will be a subtle secondary meaning that will help you find an angle. You mentioned bird migration. I think you could tell an interesting story about that which would tie in to this theme. Keep thinking!

. . . actually, Mike, I usually do an internet search not a dictionary search – better results. :)

(I find that doing a some research into the theme or topic helps me to find a story or at least to make a shot list to give direction; when I understand what the topic encompasses I can then look out for things that I may perhaps not otherwise have thought to include or film. It also saves so much editing time when I film with a shot list – that is one thing I have learned. Another reason I do research is to make sure my facts are correct before submitting an educational film - which is the type of film that I like to make!)

Hi Vishal and welcome!
Timing depends on the topic and the person. Kevin spends a lot of time looking for the right music and then he films and edits according to that. I personally have learned that there is no point in shooting if I don’t have an idea.To give you an example: I hit on an idea soon after getting the theme but I was not sure I would be able to accomplish that idea in the given time. Because I was going out birding the next day I decided to shoot everything that could be used for plan B - a water theme. I was shooting aimlessly – ‘just-in-case-I need- them’ type scenes, and needless to say, the results are pretty uninspiring. I’ve gone back to my original idea but with some tweaking to make it more manageable. I haven’t shot any footage yet. I am working on the story and only when I have that sorted out will I shoot what I need. I have to admit that this is beginning to make me a little nervous because time is marching on but it does save a lot of filming time and a huge amount of editing time. Having said that, however, I still haven’t always got my timing right and I often end up submitting what is really a rough cut version. I don’t mind because I have always viewed this challenge as a place to learn and I always learn something even if I don’t manage to finish my film properly.)

To answer your question directly –ideally I like to have the story together within the first week; shoot in the second week and edit after that. It takes time to find appropriate music. I generally have too little time to spend on my films as I have quite a hectic job so I have to work quickly.

If you don’ find all the shots you need it may be necessary to adjust the story to fit. (BTW – Just a general tip: It helps to learn about animal behaviour and location when it comes to finding the shot you need for nature documentaries. Animals and birds are creatures of habit and if you are prepared to get up early and wait it out you usually get the shot. . . lots of patience involved . . . and a good deal of frustration as well as Andrew has just testified!)

I edit in PremierPro and one thing that saves me a lot of time is using the ‘source monitor’ for initial editing rather than editing footage in the time line. In the source monitor (it usually appears when you double click on the shot in the project panel) you can set in-points and out-points for the section of a clip you want to keep and then drop that section straight into the timeline from there. You can continue snipping bits out of the same clip in this way until you have everything you need from it. These edited clips can be adjusted in the timeline if necessary but the main job is done very quickly this way.

Anyway just a few ideas from me – I’m sure other players will have different and more helpful ideas.