UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth

Paul Wood · June 1st, 2015, 01:06 PM

My original plan was to centre on the asparagus - which grows wild in abundance near our house in Spain, and is highly sought after by us locals - however, an unplanned visit to England before I had a chance to shoot brought a change of plan.
A trip to a local woodland gave rise to this ad hoc entry - a theme came together during my morning there, and here we are - planned, shot and edited in a day.
I certainly missed having tripod with me (yes, I know you can see that), but managed in the end, with my trusty NX70.

All comments/criticism welcome :)

Vishal Jadhav · June 3rd, 2015, 01:19 AM

Paul,

Nice choice of film, calmness can be felt.

I love the way you take the viewer through the country side.

Whom does the dwelling belong to ?

i did not notice the missing tripod. Guess working in super windy conditions at my end every thing shakes including me :)

Nice film over all.

cheers

Marj Atkins · June 3rd, 2015, 08:37 AM

Hi Paul
So good you managed to submit an entry this round despite the challenges you faced. I am also happy to see that you tackled aspects of woodland recycling for this topic, making for a different and unique interpretation of the theme.

I enjoyed your video - your story is simple and interesting and well narrated with some well-shot footage to support it. I think you did very well without the use of a tripod – not too many wobbly shots in there.

Your titles are spectacular and grandiose and very well done but I personally feel they were a bit over the top for your tranquil, low-key sylvan story.

The woodland dwelling you stumbled across brought back happy memories of a day during my childhood when we went as a group on an outing to a farm for a picnic. They organized a competition for the children to see who could build the best house using branches. I remember clearly that we used branches from invasive saplings/trees – not sure if that was part of their plan or not but I trust so. Most finished products ended up looking pretty much like your rustic dwelling!

Thanks for the enjoyable watch.

Trond Saetre · June 4th, 2015, 02:08 AM

Hi Paul,

I like your calm narrative style of storytelling.
The visuals really backed up the story. So all in all a great film!

Don't know what editing software you use, but Premiere Pro (and probably the others too) has a "warp stabilizer" which works pretty well with handheld footage.

Geir Inge · June 4th, 2015, 02:27 AM

Hi Paul

As a child, I played a lot on the shore, but also in the woods that lay next to my parents' home. My comrades and I had a lot of pleasure from the game and I firmly believe it has affected my enjoyment of nature and the creatures that live in it.
I am very grateful that you made this contribution to Uwol.

Nice flow and combination of music, background audio and VO.
You mention the lack of tripod.
It's unnatural that everything in nature must be static, but a certain calm in the footage is an advantage for the viewer.
Well, as I see it. Hand held shooting, can contribute more to the video than it takes away. I think this adds more life to your video.
Decomposition of organic materials, is an important part of nature's cycle.
You deliver in line with the theme and I completely agree with you. I perceive Englishmen as down to earth people.
Finally, I was genuinely happy when the deer appeared towards the end of the video.
It was the finishing touch.

Great delivered and thanks for sharing.

Paul Wood · June 4th, 2015, 01:08 PM

Thank you all for your comments.

I discovered on leaving the park that as it was holiday weekend in the UK, there was a competition (I think aimed at schools) to build your own shelter - in fact I did see another, but as we got a bit lost, wasn't able to find my way back to film it!

To answer both Marj and Trond, I use FCPX to edit, and it does have a stabiliser, but I used another trick, which was to film at 50p, and edit at 25p, meaning I could easily conform the speed (to half) of shaky footage, which I did in few of the shots - and the titles - yes, completely over the top, but I needed and excuse the use the recently released 3D titles!

I'm glad you enjoyed the film, and the subject is quite in keeping with the theme, which was also a surprise to me, as it only occurred to me when I saw the first fallen tree.

So no excuses for next round!

June 1st, 2015, 01:06 PM	#1
Paul Wood Major Player Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 485	UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth - Paul Wood My original plan was to centre on the asparagus - which grows wild in abundance near our house in Spain, and is highly sought after by us locals - however, an unplanned visit to England before I had a chance to shoot brought a change of plan. A trip to a local woodland gave rise to this ad hoc entry - a theme came together during my morning there, and here we are - planned, shot and edited in a day. I certainly missed having tripod with me (yes, I know you can see that), but managed in the end, with my trusty NX70. All comments/criticism welcome :) Back to the Earth on Vimeo Last edited by Paul Wood; June 1st, 2015 at 01:23 PM. Reason: added link

June 3rd, 2015, 01:19 AM	#2
Vishal Jadhav Major Player Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Pune, Mah , India Posts: 445	Re: UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth - Paul Wood Paul, Nice choice of film, calmness can be felt. I love the way you take the viewer through the country side. Whom does the dwelling belong to ? i did not notice the missing tripod. Guess working in super windy conditions at my end every thing shakes including me :) Nice film over all. cheers __________________ vishal jadhav www.indianwilderness.com

June 4th, 2015, 02:08 AM	#4
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth - Paul Wood Hi Paul, I like your calm narrative style of storytelling. The visuals really backed up the story. So all in all a great film! Don't know what editing software you use, but Premiere Pro (and probably the others too) has a "warp stabilizer" which works pretty well with handheld footage.

June 4th, 2015, 02:27 AM	#5
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,343	Re: UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth - Paul Wood Hi Paul As a child, I played a lot on the shore, but also in the woods that lay next to my parents' home. My comrades and I had a lot of pleasure from the game and I firmly believe it has affected my enjoyment of nature and the creatures that live in it. I am very grateful that you made this contribution to Uwol. Nice flow and combination of music, background audio and VO. You mention the lack of tripod. It's unnatural that everything in nature must be static, but a certain calm in the footage is an advantage for the viewer. Well, as I see it. Hand held shooting, can contribute more to the video than it takes away. I think this adds more life to your video. Decomposition of organic materials, is an important part of nature's cycle. You deliver in line with the theme and I completely agree with you. I perceive Englishmen as down to earth people. Finally, I was genuinely happy when the deer appeared towards the end of the video. It was the finishing touch. Great delivered and thanks for sharing. __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

June 4th, 2015, 01:08 PM	#6
Paul Wood Major Player Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 485	Re: UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth - Paul Wood Thank you all for your comments. I discovered on leaving the park that as it was holiday weekend in the UK, there was a competition (I think aimed at schools) to build your own shelter - in fact I did see another, but as we got a bit lost, wasn't able to find my way back to film it! To answer both Marj and Trond, I use FCPX to edit, and it does have a stabiliser, but I used another trick, which was to film at 50p, and edit at 25p, meaning I could easily conform the speed (to half) of shaky footage, which I did in few of the shots - and the titles - yes, completely over the top, but I needed and excuse the use the recently released 3D titles! I'm glad you enjoyed the film, and the subject is quite in keeping with the theme, which was also a surprise to me, as it only occurred to me when I saw the first fallen tree. So no excuses for next round!

June 3rd, 2015, 08:37 AM	#3
Marj Atkins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Johannesburg South Africa Posts: 768	Re: UWOL#34 - Back to the Earth - Paul Wood Hi Paul So good you managed to submit an entry this round despite the challenges you faced. I am also happy to see that you tackled aspects of woodland recycling for this topic, making for a different and unique interpretation of the theme. I enjoyed your video - your story is simple and interesting and well narrated with some well-shot footage to support it. I think you did very well without the use of a tripod – not too many wobbly shots in there. Your titles are spectacular and grandiose and very well done but I personally feel they were a bit over the top for your tranquil, low-key sylvan story. The woodland dwelling you stumbled across brought back happy memories of a day during my childhood when we went as a group on an outing to a farm for a picnic. They organized a competition for the children to see who could build the best house using branches. I remember clearly that we used branches from invasive saplings/trees – not sure if that was part of their plan or not but I trust so. Most finished products ended up looking pretty much like your rustic dwelling! Thanks for the enjoyable watch.