UWOL50 - Snow The Colour of Cold by Gordon Hoffman

[Gordon Hoffman]

Well at least I got something done to upload! Interesting that the day Trond released the theme the weather when down hill. All I can say is it was cold. Rule "11" didn't come into play very much. As for feedback a 2 would work. I'm not a writer, should have paid more attention in school I guess, or any musical talent and for editing I struggle with it most of the time. A person should make sure it done a few days ahead of the deadline so you can take a break before watching it again to see what doesn't work.

uwol50 "snow" the colour of cold by Gordon hoffman on Vimeo

Thanks for watching.

Gordon

[Chris Hurd]

Good heavens, the *only* way my delicate self can tolerate (and actually enjoy) a snowstorm these days is by watching one on video. I think you've done an incredible job here, Gordon. I mean, I had shivers going down my spine from all of that blowing snow. What a great job of catching all those critters on camera.

I thought it was beautiful and amazing.

Which is what Canada is, I guess!

[Trond Saetre]

Hi Gordon,

A nice film you made, and I enjoyed watching it.
Looks like we had the same dull weather and colors most of the time.

Your narration is good, and you got a nice story.

There seem to be some kind of vibration in some of the sequences. I have experienced the same whenever I have tried to use the "shadow/ highlight" adjustment effect. Maybe this is causing it for you too?

Well done!

[Gordon Hoffman]

Thanks Chris. It's not to hard here to get the shots of wildlife, especial with a big lens and cold weather, but the cold is getting a little harder to take. Man the fingers where getting cold taking some these shots. Thanks again.

Gordon

[Gordon Hoffman]

Hi Trond. It does seem we have similar weather. January here was above average temperatures but the bottom fell out come February. There was a number of days with the wind chill in the -30's and 40's.
As for the "vibration" it depends on which shots. The telephoto shots it's more the atmospheric conditions as they is a fair distance away. The wide shots I'm not sure if it's the lens stabilizer and me handholding or something else going on. It's in the original footage and some was really bad.
Thanks for the feed back.

Gordon

[Paul Mailath]

I really liked the music - introspective - it's so weird to be sweating here and watching snow at the same time. I thought your piece was informative and used the topic well - and now I know why it's white.

I wondered what the shimmering effect was - it looked like heat but that couldn't be right

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Paul Mailath

it looked like heat but that couldn't be right

I believe it is heat. It's not Aussie summer heat; it's Canadian winter heat (hopefully that's not an oxymoron) (same time of year though).

I believe there is always some amount of ground radiation emanating, no matter the season or the temperature.

But, in this case it's not at the level you're probably used to seeing -- you know, the 45-degree Outback mirage, that "crikey, the eski's empty and the ute just ran outta Diesel" sort of shimmering chimera that you people take for a gentle breeze down there.

But, what the heck do I know; I've only ever been to West Texas. And that is a long walk back to town.

[Mick Jenner]

Hi Gordon,

Interesting take on the theme concentrating on snow and its one colour and explaining how it impacts on nature and fauna in particular.

Thoroughly enjoyed watching, although like Chris not sure how I would handle living there in the winter. Meet some Canadians a few years back when I was on the west coast of Mexico, in fact one of the hotels was full of Canadians. They told me they were escaping not just snow but the constant windchill which when added to the temperature regularly took it to below -50

Filming in those conditions to complete an entry, I doff my cap to you sir.

Mick

[Gordon Hoffman]

Thanks Paul. Yes and here I am freezing and you're out in your shirt sleeves :)
No I believe your first impression is right, at least that's what I call it. The air doesn't have to be that much warmer than the rest to make heat waves and considering the distance between the camera and the subject it shows up.

Gordon

[Gordon Hoffman]

Boy am I slow at typing. Anyway yes Chris with the sun shining and reflecting off the snow it should warm the air some above ground level. The biggest factor here with it looking like it does is the distance away the subject is. Big lens are nice but the farther away you are the more the issue with heat waves.

Gordon

[Gordon Hoffman]

Hi Mick. I guess the problem is I don't know any better. Born and raised here, I always liked winter but getting older and the extreme cold is getting a little harder to take. Fingers got pretty cold a few times this round.
Interesting you bring up the Canadians down south. The term "Snowbird" which applies to people from Canada and the northern US states that head south for some of the winter. It was also what I was trying to put a twist on for the last challenge but just couldn't pull it together. It was snowing, but not as cold last November. Thanks for the comments.

Gordon

[Geir Inge]

Congratulations Gordon, you deliver a great movie and I'm with you from the first second.
Nice flow on the editing rhythm, the same goes for VO and music.
The effect of the wind at first is great, and at 1.55 you have got the halo of the sun as well.
Maybe there are ice crystals that create the rainbow effect?
The winters in our respective countries are roughly the same.
The colors are somehow lost in this black and white landscape, your footage describes this well.
Fun to see the moose who is curious about the deer that passes further up the forest.
The winter with its strong cold is also a time for survival. This is well documented in the film.
Thank you for sharing.

[Gordon Hoffman]

Thanks Geir Inge. Yes it's ice crystals that creates the effect. A lot of people call them "sun dogs". There does seem to be a lot of similarities in our weather. Thanks again.

Gordon

[Phil Murray]

Wow! I really enjoyed this. The cinematography was spectacular. I found myself waiting to see what the next brilliant shot was going to be. In fact, I enjoyed it enough to hit the replay button so I could take a few notes for own knowledge of how to get better shots.

I sure am glad I didn't have to shoot in the cold like that. I was shivering just watching it!

[Bob Safay]

Very nice. I could feel the cold. Great music with just the right amount of narration. You are fortunate to live in an area with so much wildlife. I especially like the ending shots of the hawk. You must have used a really long lens to get those great nature shots. Overall a good solid entry.