UWOL #4 The Make-up of Water

[Bill Hamell]

I started this challenge doing the "one man band" thing.
While looking for ideas I asked a friend about it he said he was busy but he would get back to me in a couple of days.
Well he did with script in hand!

This put an end to the "one man band" and I had to find talent, crew and transportation to a remote location.
The transportation can from a friend who has a sailing charter boat, he would give me Saturday morning (a week away) sail to the location 5 hours to film, sail home, talent and crew where friends and people I met from past productions.

The biggest thing I learned from this production is do not wear too many hats as all things suffer for it.
However, I am glad I did it I learned a ton about different aspects of shooting a film other than what I usually do.
From that standpoint, this film is already a success.

Hope, you enjoy, The Make-up of Water.

Bill Hamell

[Dale Guthormsen]

Bill,

Wow, to have all that help and cast too, must be nice.

You have a good story. I think you needed a better close up of the girl when she takes her shades off to make the point more poignant.

Sounds like you had fun doing it!! tossing in the sailing had to be a real perk!!

[Bill Hamell]

Dale,

Thanks for the comments, we are building quite a film community here in SE Connecticut. Everyone helping others doing their films and getting help when needed, I was actually limited in who I could bring by the sailboat.

After the fact, I was thinking I should have added some bounce to give contrast to the peaks and valleys of the makeup. Lesson learned


Here's a direct link to the film...
http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...eupofwater.mov

Bill

[Kevin Railsback]

Bill,

Cool film. Yeah, I think a little more impact with the makeup would have been nice.
I agree with Dale, on a more extreme close-up of her taking off the glasses.

I thought it was a little long with her taking of her wrap. Though I almost felt a little voyeuristic watching her. Shame on you! :)

It's amazing what you can do when you have a little bit of help.

Good job on the film!!

[Bill Hamell]

Kevin,

Closer on the close-up, I was worried the shot was too close already.
Point taken next time I'll shoot more so I have a variety of shots to choose from.

I also had the same thought of it being too long with the wrap and if I had come in over three minutes that is where I planned to cut it from. However, I also wanted to instill some of the anticipation he was feeling into the viewer so that is why I left it as is, if you were feeling like a voyeur than good for me! :-)

Thank you for viewing and commenting.


Bill

[Gabriel Yeager]

Nice job Bill!

Sounds like you had fun! Thats important!
Sounds like you also have some good friends to have. Good for you! Thats awesome!

The only thing I would say is audio, I had a little bit of trouble with it, maybe that was just my head phones though.. It just seemed a little low, thats all. I am sure it is hard to mic out on the water like that!

Keep on doing what you do!
~Gabriel

[Geir Inge]

Hi Bill.
Great story and well put together.
I want to see some more close ups though and maybe you should have short’n some of the clips. Also liked the music. Nice job.

Geir Inge

[Bill Hamell]

Gabriel, Geir,

Thank you for your comments, fun, we had a blast, even though we were rushed and had to make some sacrifices, we did have a good time and everyone wants to do it again. I achieved my first two objectives have fun and learn something and learn we did.

I appreciate the editing tips this is only the second project I have edited so criticism is very helpful.

I also appreciate the constructive criticism on my filming, as well it's how I will improve my technique.

Audio on location was something I learned about normally you would just rock the boom back and forth between the two talents and this works fine. With the wave action on one side all though the film the background audio would change when the mike was pointed toward the ocean then again when pointed away from the ocean. If I were to do this again, I would move the boomer much more than I did.

Lessons learned. :-)

Bill

[David Gemmell]

Hi Bill,
A very professional approach and intriguing story line - which I enjoyed very much.
I did struggle with the audio, particularly around 2:27 and felt the look was a bit soft in places.
You certainly are running with a high standard, with the use of scripts, actors, charter boats, etc. Boy do I envy you Bill.
Well done...

[Bill Hamell]

David,

Thank you for the praise and criticism, the audio I spoke to earlier in the thread, some of the softness is what I was looking for like when the male talent walks from the small boat to the female talent I wanted him soft and walking into focus. However! Some came from using the 14X manual lens for the first time. I learned that with this lens I can not close down to f:11 with the PL filter and get sharp focus . I need to use ND so my exposure gets down to f:5.6 and use the sweet spot of the lens. Another lesson learned.

Bill

[Jeff Hendricks]

Great story and concept...I thought that the girl was going to turn out to be a mermaid...that would have been cool too.

I think that the film could have been about 30 seconds shorter with tighter editing, a larger variety of shots and less zooming in and out (sometimes you have to watch the transitions for that last zoom to change angles that can get caught in there, I noticed that it happened in a transition near the end of the piece).Also the end could have been a little tighter with just one or two shots of the disappointed guy. I also noticed that you did not credit your actors. Sorry for being critical I just think that you have a great concept that you can do something with (perhaps other film festivals) and I would want the same feedback.

I am so glad that you put together a narrative film with a story. It was very well designed, fun to watch, had nice dialogue and the acting was good. Terrific work.

Jeff

[Meryem Ersoz]

hi bill: welcome to UWOL. that's a pretty amusing backstory, actually. it's funny how these things snowball from one person into a pack. sounds fun. looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[Bill Hamell]

Jeff,

Thank you for the in depth response, and with the exception of the credit I agree with your comments. First the exception I gave the talent first credit, so due to bandwidth problems here, I did not include them again in the ending credits.

Now everything else, let me explain. My AD is a professional director/editor with 15 years of studio experience. If you live in the US, you have seen his work. I could have asked him to put this together for me and he would have. However, I would not have learned much from that. So, off I went on my second editing experience. Hoping I would get comments such as yours.
You must have it going on in your own right because your comments are an echo of Alec's. This week Alec and I are getting together (over my special meatball burgers) to re-cut this and my education will continue. Thank you for your frank and honest comments they are much appreciated. :-)

Mermaid!!! Why did I not think of that!! DOH!
We borrowed a friends SF Make-up kit to do the cracked make-up behind the glasses. He is a veteran of Star Trek Voyager and Aliens 4 and would have built a tail for me. DOH!(again) :-)

The re-cut just might be sent to a festival or two, you never know... :-)

Bill

[Bill Hamell]

Meryem,

It is good to be here and thank you for putting in the time and effort to bring us this wonderful chance to show our stuff, I hope to do more of these.

Bill

[Per Johan Naesje]

Bill, enjoyed your film very much, second what others have said about the editing and sound.
You did well, so did your talents, nice work!