UWOL #4 - "Water in Motion" by Steven L. Gotz

[Steven Gotz]

My UWOL #4 entry is a collection of the various fountains (and some other outdoor water in motion) around Epcot at Disney World in Florida, USA.

The water was turned off at "The Living Seas" now named "The Seas with Nemo and Friends". So that one is not included.

The music I chose to replace the music recorded with the video (Copyright issues could have been a problem) came from the new Adobe Soundbooth CS3 scores, SmartSound, and Erik Haddad who supplied the music for my UWOL #3 entry. I hope you find it almost as exciting as the original Disney music would have been. I had intended to use Handel's Water Music (Allegro Molto) but BeatSuite didn't respond to my request for sponsorship and $60 seemed a bit steep (found it elsewhere for $35 - still too much).

I had trouble fitting it all into 3 minutes, and for the first time I took advantage of the rule that allows the credits to not be counted in the 3 minute limit. This is also my first widescreen effort. I shot the other in HDV but ended up zooming in during Post to get the best part of the frame in the shot. This time I shot it wide, intending to leave it wide, even though the quality drops a touch from having more pixels in the same file size.

I exported the HDV to a Cineform MOV and then used After Effects to compress it down.

As soon as the entries are ready for download, I will be posting a larger version on my web site for you to download. I believe the subject matter deserves a larger frame. If you want a version to play on your HDTV, send me an email via my web site and I will use YouSendIt.com to provide you a 1280X720 version that can be played on a AVel Linkplayer2 or other device that can play M2T files.

I hope you enjoy it. And yes, that waterfall is really a fountain where the water flows upwards! Only at Disney!

[Steven Gotz]

The link is

http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...erinmotion.mov

I hope you enjoy it.

I exported a 960X540 Quicktime. To get it to look right I needed 167MB. So if you are interested, send me an email via my web site and I will provide you with a YouSendIt.com URL to download it. I seem to be running out of drive space on my hosting account, so I need to rearrange a few things I guess.

[Dale Guthormsen]

accidently posted here.

[Catherine Russell]

Hi Steven:

I DID enjoy this! What amazing designs and patterns water can do when manipulated! You also did a nice job with your first work in HD wide screen, I didn't notice anything off about that. Editing was done well, but I wonder if instead of cuts to each different fountain if some of them could have been smooth transitions to include different fountains in the same frame... just to mix it up. I also think that your font choice should have been the same at the beginning and at the end, my preference being the simpler font in the end. Other than that it was clean, colorful and entertaining!

Nice job on this!

Cat Russell

[Steven Gotz]

Cat,

Thank you for your comments. The fancier font is "Waltograph" and I felt compelled to use it since Walt Disney uses it in the Disney name. I planned to use it at the end, but when used in a smaller size it is not quite readable.

To be honest, the first cut of this was 5 minutes long and I had trouble cutting it down. I didn't want to leave any of the fountains out in case any Epcot afficianados would notice, and I kept shortening the transitions tp make room for the footage I had.

I could have done 3 minutes on the big fountain alone! I love Disney and Epcot in particular!

[Dale Guthormsen]

Steve,

first, I enjoyed the unique theme, that is is optimizing what is around you!! I thought the music was really well suited to the video. I also thought a couple clips were a tad long. It was refreshing and a pleasure to watch, I very much enjoyed it!!

[Catherine Russell]

Hey Steven:

Now that I understand the reasoning behind the font, I think that's pretty clever! It's been awhile since I've seen a Disney film, so that part of it got lost on me. Thanks for pointing it out!

Cat

[Kevin Railsback]

Steven,

It's amazing what can be done with water. Your film showcases allot of that.

One thing that I like is also the same thing that distracts me.

I like how each fountain or water scene has its own music to suit its personality. But they don't flow together so it's like we're watching a dozen different shorts instead of one conjoined flowing piece.

Maybe intercutting more of the natural water sounds between the musical clips would help them from being so jarring.

Nice to watch on a hot summer day!

[Steven Gotz]

Kevin,

That was the original intent, but Meryem and I discussed the problem of the background music in the area, and it is all copyrighted. So unless I substituted other water sounds, it would not have worked out. I just couldn't figure out how to mesh it together.

I originally intended to use the same music throughout - "Handel's Water Music. Allegro Molto" seemed like a good bet, but I couldn't really justify licensing it for a challenge.

After I gave it some thought, I realized that I should have dealt with it in an audio program to get it right after the original rough cut and then edited to the result.

[Steve Siegel]

Steve,
I really enjoyed your film. Amazing what is around us if we open our eyes.
Just one thing. You might consider not putting black screen between the clips. It's a bit unnerving. Looks like an editing error, even if it is intentional.

[Geir Inge]

Hi Steven.
Great fountains and play with water.
The music works fine in your video, no offend but I miss some water sound.
Nice work!

Geir Inge

[Jeff Hendricks]

So do you have special access to the Epcot Center? Were you there on a weekday when everyone else was at work? I didn’t see many people there… I have never been to Disney World, but I can imagine that the place gets very crowded.

Nice job on capturing a unique subject in your film, natures amazing qualities put to use in the hands of artists.

Jeff

[Rob Evans]

Hi Steven,
Really enjoyed this film - a lot of variety, movement and a good range of shots to hold the viewer's interest. Made me want to go on holiday there ;-) Keep it up!

Cheers,

Rob

[Steven Gotz]

The background sounds at Epcot are music and people, not much natural sound. And I couldn't allow copyrighted music in the background. The few places where it was quiet was because that part of the theme park had just opened and we quickly got our shots before everyone arrived. The Japanese garden is generally quiet where the bamboo tube shot was taken.

We have annual passes that get us in to the four main Disney parks as many times as we want (including parking), and we were there on a Thursday morning at 9AM. So while most people were going into the first few attractions, we ran off to the fountains. It can be hard to focus on moving water, so my wife put her hands where I could focus on them and then she got out of the way. Especially handy on the shots where the water jumps over the walkway.

I know that I can't easily get to where bears hunt and bath, or to a fjord. So, rather than compete, I try to take a different approach. I could tramp around the lakes locally, or drive to the beach in an hour. But there is so much happening at Disney, it has seemed like a logical choice for the last couple of challenges.

My wife tells people that moving to Disney World was my mid-life crisis. And she is not far off. I can't think of a better place to retire than somewhere that has something going on every day of the year. Besides, Disney is cheaper in the long run than a Maseratti and a blonde.

[Rob Evans]

Originally Posted by Steven Gotz

Besides, Disney is cheaper in the long run than a Maseratti and a blonde.

hahahahahahaha :-) thats the best thing I've heard all month !!!! Genius!