Entry 12 - UWOL #7 - "Floating Through Heaven" by Carl Middleton

Mat Thompson · February 26th, 2008, 07:49 AM

Well as far as I know this is the first steadicam uwol piece...:-) ! Nice journey and some nice footage. Things did get very contrasty at times and felt like they needed a bit more balance visually. I also found myself not really knowing why I was walking through these different environments. I guess it needed some foundation to hold things together a bit more solidly. I also found the variation in music over powering in places but i can see you were trying to change the mood with the environments.

Nice piece....keep um coming!....more steadicam too :-)

Geir Inge · February 27th, 2008, 08:25 AM

Hi Carl.
Some nice moves there with your new steadycam.
You show us some nice shots from the beach and the wood.
I'm not sure about your pick of music though. The different tunes dont fit together in this short, but that's completely my personal feeling. Another will have different oppinion about that matter, so no offend :)
I liked the flute sound after the drums in the beginning, the classic guitar in the ending somehow took me away from the adventure feeling.
But over all a good film and I'm looking forward to see more from you in the future.

All the best and thank you for sharing
Geir Inge

Eric Gulbransen · February 28th, 2008, 09:33 PM

Carl, you're killing me over here with the Steadicam shots. I just sold my glidecam because it wasn't up to the task at hand. Now I'm back to hand held and I'm horrible. Interesting case study on what's possible - if and when I ever get another slippery unit to carry this rig.

Carl Middleton · February 29th, 2008, 08:30 AM

David, I agree, but I'm not one to really pick subjects that move. We typically have scheduling conflicts ;) Work has made sure that I can't pick a subject with the ability to run, or luck will make sure I get nothing. ;) Perhaps that will be my next UWOL!

Adrinn, I know exactly what you mean. The Z1 makes for a pretty solid weight, but whichever way the wind blows.... :D

Mat, woo! That's what I was going for. :D I was pretty quick about CC. I pretty much made a preset for each environment in magic bullet, and then went back to work... if I had the opportunity I would have reedited this quite differently, and knocked the CC back a good bit. I also attacked this one with no script, quite backwards. If it had held together well I would have been surprised. =D Thanks for the honest feedback. :)

Geir, no offense taken. I am not, I repeat, NOT a music guy, and I'm not particularly good at piecing together music. I wasn't really happy with the transitions myself, I thought it was one of my weakest points. I was trying to give a completely different feel to the swamp, and to the sunset, as to the beach at the beginning. I agree though that the transitions were lacking, and the pieces weren't the smoothest together.. Thanks for the feedback! :)

Eric, dohhhh!!!! Get yourself a Merlin or an old used J R.... we can compare notes :)

-C

Ruth Happel · February 29th, 2008, 07:14 PM

I really enjoyed the feeling of flying and floating through this park. As others have said, for basically still shots, better to have the camera on a tripod. But for the movement there were times where it seemed like a macro aerial- a feeling of being almost like a bird or butterfly over these small landscapes, which I found very magical. I have a pseudo steadicam and find it very hard to get shots as smooth as yours, so I am impressed. Very fun to watch!

Ruth

Bryce Comer · March 28th, 2008, 07:34 PM

Hi Carl,
I really liked the idea of floating through the park there. Some more practice with the Steadycam will have these types of shots looking awsome. Not sure if it was my screen, but in some of the shots of the beach in the beginning the color looked a bit too saturated. The rest of the shots though were great. I also found the music you used nice, but for me each score was too short &/or the transitions between them didn't seem to work. (if that makes sense?) Can't wait to see more of your work.

Bryce

Carl Middleton · April 7th, 2008, 01:07 PM

Ruth - Thanks! Sorry I must have missed your comment before. Silly work craziness! :)

Bryce - I appreciate the feedback. The saturation thing was probably my doing - I CC'ed in about 20 minutes in PPro with MB. =D I know what you mean about the transitions, I'm not too great with audio. This was partially an experiment to see if I could join those different pieces together. =D

Thanks again for the feedback!
C

February 27th, 2008, 08:25 AM	#17
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,342	Hi Carl. Some nice moves there with your new steadycam. You show us some nice shots from the beach and the wood. I'm not sure about your pick of music though. The different tunes dont fit together in this short, but that's completely my personal feeling. Another will have different oppinion about that matter, so no offend :) I liked the flute sound after the drums in the beginning, the classic guitar in the ending somehow took me away from the adventure feeling. But over all a good film and I'm looking forward to see more from you in the future. All the best and thank you for sharing Geir Inge __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

February 29th, 2008, 08:30 AM	#19
Carl Middleton Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Fernandina Beach, FL Posts: 562	David, I agree, but I'm not one to really pick subjects that move. We typically have scheduling conflicts ;) Work has made sure that I can't pick a subject with the ability to run, or luck will make sure I get nothing. ;) Perhaps that will be my next UWOL! Adrinn, I know exactly what you mean. The Z1 makes for a pretty solid weight, but whichever way the wind blows.... :D Mat, woo! That's what I was going for. :D I was pretty quick about CC. I pretty much made a preset for each environment in magic bullet, and then went back to work... if I had the opportunity I would have reedited this quite differently, and knocked the CC back a good bit. I also attacked this one with no script, quite backwards. If it had held together well I would have been surprised. =D Thanks for the honest feedback. :) Geir, no offense taken. I am not, I repeat, NOT a music guy, and I'm not particularly good at piecing together music. I wasn't really happy with the transitions myself, I thought it was one of my weakest points. I was trying to give a completely different feel to the swamp, and to the sunset, as to the beach at the beginning. I agree though that the transitions were lacking, and the pieces weren't the smoothest together.. Thanks for the feedback! :) Eric, dohhhh!!!! Get yourself a Merlin or an old used J R.... we can compare notes :) -C __________________ Carl Middleton Whizkid Mediaworks

February 29th, 2008, 07:14 PM	#20
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	I really enjoyed the feeling of flying and floating through this park. As others have said, for basically still shots, better to have the camera on a tripod. But for the movement there were times where it seemed like a macro aerial- a feeling of being almost like a bird or butterfly over these small landscapes, which I found very magical. I have a pseudo steadicam and find it very hard to get shots as smooth as yours, so I am impressed. Very fun to watch! Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/

March 28th, 2008, 07:34 PM	#21
Bryce Comer Trustee Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rossland, British Columbia Posts: 1,024	Hi Carl, I really liked the idea of floating through the park there. Some more practice with the Steadycam will have these types of shots looking awsome. Not sure if it was my screen, but in some of the shots of the beach in the beginning the color looked a bit too saturated. The rest of the shots though were great. I also found the music you used nice, but for me each score was too short &/or the transitions between them didn't seem to work. (if that makes sense?) Can't wait to see more of your work. Bryce __________________ There's never enough hours in the day!

April 7th, 2008, 01:07 PM	#22
Carl Middleton Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Fernandina Beach, FL Posts: 562	Ruth - Thanks! Sorry I must have missed your comment before. Silly work craziness! :) Bryce - I appreciate the feedback. The saturation thing was probably my doing - I CC'ed in about 20 minutes in PPro with MB. =D I know what you mean about the transitions, I'm not too great with audio. This was partially an experiment to see if I could join those different pieces together. =D Thanks again for the feedback! C __________________ Carl Middleton Whizkid Mediaworks

February 26th, 2008, 07:49 AM	#16
Mat Thompson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 1,397	Well as far as I know this is the first steadicam uwol piece...:-) ! Nice journey and some nice footage. Things did get very contrasty at times and felt like they needed a bit more balance visually. I also found myself not really knowing why I was walking through these different environments. I guess it needed some foundation to hold things together a bit more solidly. I also found the variation in music over powering in places but i can see you were trying to change the mood with the environments. Nice piece....keep um coming!....more steadicam too :-)

February 28th, 2008, 09:33 PM	#18
Eric Gulbransen Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Palo Alto, California Posts: 520	Carl, you're killing me over here with the Steadicam shots. I just sold my glidecam because it wasn't up to the task at hand. Now I'm back to hand held and I'm horrible. Interesting case study on what's possible - if and when I ever get another slippery unit to carry this rig.

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