Footage from the heart of the Mediterranean
 

This is a short a friend of mine made about a small village in a tiny island called Malta situated under Sicily. Something different from what is usually posted here.

Filmed using XH-A1 and Libec ls-38

For those downloading the actual .mov file from vimeo, please watch using VLC and choose the 16:9 aspect ratio.

http://www.vimeo.com/650298

I will be uploading a version without the blur soon.

Love the architecture and the colors.

I don't know about the blur around the edges. Personally it didn't do it for me. Seemed somewhat cheesy. I've always figured that the way to center a viewer's attention on something was to make sure that that "something" was interesting enough to look at and to keep in mind the rule of thirds. So blurring the edges seemed somewhat of a cheap way out. However, thats just my opinion and I'm not exactly the expert on these things. You may have felt that the blur added more to the "look" that it took away.

Overall I thought it was a good piece of work.

Russ

I think the blur makes it look more realistic - reduce the video look. It's made mainly for TV to be used as a filler.

I found the blur around the edges distracting.

great shots there peter! I have to agree with the other posters though, I didn't like the blur at all - and while i'm certainly no expert on selling footage to television I would think that the blur would make it harder to sell. Thats just my laymen's opinion though : )

Nice shots but I agree with others here that the blur is distracting. Also, the music sounds like Native American Indian chants and flutes. ????

Update
 

Blur practically eliminated.

http://www.vimeo.com/655194

I enjoyed it! Good architectural study of the area.

However, I have to agree with everyone that the vignette hurts - it distracted me many times throughout the video. It personally gave me the "someone with lots of filters!" feeling, not a filmic feeling your friend was going for.

That's my only real beef with the video! :) Overall I enjoyed it... and the use of the vignette to the blur transition at the end was very nice. The only spot where I like the use of the vignette.

C

Ditto on the vignette thing...
 

But the shots are nice. Nice color. I love the architecture. Would make a good travel video.

I have trouble picking music as well. I get to travel to great places too and have just recently started making short videos of our travels. The music can be a tough choice that makes or breaks the piece.
iTunes is a great place to start looking for appropriate music. Even the Godfather theme would have been good in this respect.

On a side note, next time you are in that area of the world, head south to Tunisia. North Africa is beautiful countryside. Unfortunately I did not have my camera when I visited there.

I liked this, but personally would have preferred no blur. Perhaps a short piece to camera by your friend (from the balcony at the very beginning of the first shot?) would have made it even better than it is, for what I assume is a first or second attempt.

I'd like to see another sample in 12 months and see the improvements that have taken place because from this clip I am sure your friend is going to do really well.

Hope I can do as well when I head off to Europe and North Africa later this year with my XH-A1 for my first go at a travel video.