UC20_Playmate_Steve Siegel

[Steve Siegel]

Wow, Cat. You were right. This was a difficult theme. I played with a few ideas, but they all seemed trite or pedantic, and wouldn't work. So for inspiration I went back to one of my favorite old UWOL winners, Jeff Hendricks' "Touching Generations". There he treated water as a living thing. So why not do the same with light? Treat it like a person, and a lovely lady, at that.

This is my first effort with a new Sony PMW-EX3. Although I loved my Canon XLH1, I think this is a better camera. It certainly gives broader control of the image, both in lighting and frame rate. It doesn't have the comfortable feel of the XLH1, and the tapeless format is truly a pain the neck, but during UWOL 19, the old girl broke down and needed to retire.

Since people always complain that I don't pay enough attention to setting up my tight shots with wide ones, I have inserted wide pans between some clips. Please let me know if this works.

Here is a Vimeo link:

Playmate on Vimeo

[Dale Guthormsen]

Steve,

Some really nice imagery from you and your new camera!!! I loved the bird images, particular the slo mo shot of the crane dropping to its nest/perch? the low light image in the beginning at 20 just did not seem to fit (though I understand why it was put there) in so well with all the other terrific stuff!! Perhaps the newspaper could have been stonger colored.

I thought I was going to do something very similar to yours until it kind of fell apart when I could not get through the snow to my images. I think you did a fine job with the script, certainly a lot bettter than I could have so I am glad I was led a different direction!!! I think this is the best one you have submitted. I very much enjoyed it. Nice story.

thanks for taking the time and sharing.

[Mike Sims]

You had a great idea here, Steve. I really liked the contrast of the same subjects (towhee and bluebird) under different lighting. Also, the woodpeckers where you dissolve between raw footage and processed. That worked very well. It seems you have really got the hang of the new camera. I’m sure the new workflow will be second nature to you soon. You already have an impressive body of work with the Sony and soon even more! Keep up the good work. Hopefully Lady Light will continue to cooperate!

[Chris Barcellos]

Very pretty and on theme. Like this film a lot.

[Ruth Happel]

I enjoyed the compelling story behind the footage. It was fun to see the light change on the same subjects, and also the edit on the woodpeckers to enhance what you captured.

I remember Touching Generations and appreciated your riff on that theme, with light as a living thing.

The wide pans were definitely nice, too. The final sequence was especially lyrical, and gave a nice finale to a great film.

[Bill Thesken]

The magic hour. Great story and Voice Over. My favorite shot was the bird walking in the water with it's reflection on the mirror glass.

[Catherine Russell]

Steve;

Joy all around. What a delightful and artful story. What is it with you that you so often say something that just makes me bubble over with laughter. This time it was your opening with you burning the newspaper with the magnifying glass. Why do I get the impression that you gave your parents a run for their money and a few additional gray hairs when you were a kid? :)

Like others on this forum, you are really making a signature mark in your films. You create Steve Siegel films and I mean this as a sincere compliment. The artful and witty storytelling and the mastery in following birds in flight will always give you away.

I must admit the section on light playing too hard and rendering subject parts to hard, hot glare made me blush. How many times have I been done in by this very thing in my own films? More than I would ever care to admit.

Splendid work Steve,

Cat

[Geir Inge]

Hi Steve.
What a great contribution you deliver.
VO and music is making this video, together with some stunning colors and light effects.
I enjoyed every minute of it.
You are a great storyteller and I think the volume mix between VO and music is just fine.
Your pans and tilts is bringing "life" to the video. I am not so good with pans and tilts, always too shaky.
The close ups of the birds is my favorite scenes.
In my younger days me too played with the sun and magnifying glass, so your video brings back memories too.
Thank you for sharing.

[Trond Saetre]

Hello Steve,

I see yet another good video from you. I like what you produce!
A good mix between close ups and wide shots in my opinion.
Thanks for bringing a good solid story, and for teaching me something new.
Well done!

[Mat Thompson]

Hey Steve

Great production quality, nice writing and really nicely voiced. I enoyed your piece a lot and it's a worthy winner.

My only critique would be for a stronger ending/closing as this was a little weak imo.

Great stuff
Mat

[Steve Siegel]

Hi Mat,

Boy, are you on the money! When I did the ending I thought to myself "Is that the best you can do?"
I, frankly, thought the whole monologue was a bit melodramatic, so I just left it alone, not to make it worse.
Will give it more thought next time. Thanks for the critique.

Steve