UWOL #6: "Nightscapes" by Chris Barcellos
 

Stuck close to home on this one. Search lights from neighboring new tract home subdivision, everything else shot at night in front or back yard.

Cameras were FX1 and HV20

Lighting from yard lights, or on camera lights.

Composed music in Acid Music Studio from Sony loops.

i found macro was a good way to go with this theme as well because the light didn't have to be too far from the object. i'd say there's almost too much light on these shots, though, it's so even and thorough and clean that i can't tell that they are night shots! i would suggest using that black of night to create some unique effects instead of fighting it with artificial lights. still, i love seeing the macro world in this way, where you can see the veins in the leaves and the ants look like our peers. i'm amazed you found any bugs at all at night--it was too cold here at night, they had battened down the hatches by 4 pm. not a bug in sight.

how is the HV20 versus the FX-1 for macro work? that's a great little camera, i can't tell the difference between the footages. it would be nice to have a camera that small to do macro stuff with, if it resolves the images from a close range. would love your feedback, since you've used them both...

i always admire people who create their own original music. i would love to do that, i have a music background, but even putting together the simplest bed, seems to take me forever!

Chris:

I don't know which impresses me more.... your filming talent or your personal music creations! Great use of lighting and very strategic to go micro in this difficult challenge.... Your garden is alive with shapes and patterns in this film. A delightful perspective looking at plants in this way when veins and stems are brought out in deeper greens with the back-lighting. Well done.

Cat

Nice piece Chris. I loved the music. Footage wise I think from 1:05 onward it was way stronger. At 1:05 the leaf shot was lovely, you could have taken me around that leaf for a minute and kept my interest. Loved the ant shots too although the last shot sat for too long and they didn't really seem to fit with the rest of your piece and left me unsure of the premise. I think you could have made waaay more of the macro leaf stuff, I'm really quite taken by that and its given me some inspiration....so thanks for that :-) !

Hey guys, a little preoccupied tonight--- going into surgery early tomorrow morning, so I will reply and comment on other films during recovery period. For now, thanks for watching, and thanks for the films to help me during the recovery period....

Chris I can't comment on your film yet...not even downloaded but couldn't let you go to surgery without wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery

Brian

good luck and best wishes to you, chris, your UWOL friends will be pulling for you, from our various corners of the world...

Chris nice film enjoyed it very much the macro on the leaf was awesome. I have to say that it was a bit too well lit....I know.... it was night Brian what did you expect. I loved the ants up here we don't have them no matter what the season.

I'm going back to this one and take another look.

Brian

Chris,

First let me say good luck tomorrow!

Your film was really wonderful in exploring the small world beneath our feet. I liked the way the camera moved in so close, almost like an ant itself- sort of a strange concept of the ants filming themselves, almost- ant cam.

The shot where you tilted down on a leaf to show the opening between two leaves and a larger vista beyond was really great- so much depth, I felt as if I was there, seeing a mysterious, hidden world.

As others have said, macro was a good way to go for this challenge. I enjoyed the different views of leaves and ants. The music was really great, too. I have played with making music for these videos myself, but during the crunch of the challenges haven't yet managed to really work on it. One of these challenges. Your music work is inspiring to me.

Once again, good luck tomorrow with surgery.


Ruth

Yes - All the very best to you for tomorrow Chris.

Loved the start with the spot lights, just like they do for the opening of a new movie - Fantastic.

You used light very effectively in your entry - with lovely back lit shots of the plants. Also used very nice panning and tilting techniques, which combined very nicely with your music selection.

The plant at 2:00 - 2:20 really worked well.

As always, another nice entry.

Chris, your garden is a lovely place. You did very well in this macro sphere. As others has said some sequence was maybe to light (regarding the night theme). Overall a nice piece!

Chris, great job. When I first started watching it I thought, ok, so what? Then it just sort of took over in my mind. I loved the shots of the elephant ears backlit. And the ferns were beautiful. But man, the music was beautiful. However, as Mat stated, I think the ants were a little overdone. Bob

Chris,
Well done with your film, i thought the footage you had was great. I really liked the ants. Infact i would have liked to see more of what "wildlife" you have in your garden. The shots of the plants while nice, to me could have had a bit more of an artistic impression. Maybe some silhoettes or something would have added a bit more interest for me.

Bryce

Hi Chris.
Some great music to your short, loved it very much.
Great macro stuff and maybe I'll give it a try myself :)
I'm not sure about the ants, suddenly your film went into brown/grey colours a big contrast to all that green and the flowers, but thats just a personal taste, I guess.

Well done - all the best.
Geir Inge

Hi Chris, I hope you are recovering well from the surgery.
You made an interesting video. I enjoyed watching it.
Love the macro stuff.
As Geir Inge also mentioned, I'm not sure if the section about the ants really fits in with the rest of the video since everything else is mostly about leaves, but still I loved the ants part too.

All in all, you gave me a great time. Thank you!