UWOL #8 "A Matter of Focus" by Bob Thieda
 

Oh well....Grand ideas + bad weather = poor execution.

I had one day of good weather at the start of the challenge, got some shots planning on going out again latter and never did get the chance.

So I did the best I could with 18 minutes of tape.

I have a list of flaws a mile long, let's see if y'all can find them. :)

And maybe there's even a couple good things to see....

But....No shark tank for me. 2 for 2!!

Almost forgot...here is a link to the wmv version:
http://www.baatfam.com/A_Matter_of_FocusRev6.wmv

GL2 with SonyVegasPro8

Bob T.

I'm not sure when we should post comments but I jumped the gun before so I may as well be consistant..

Loved it!

I like the way you used Focus as the name and as the glue that held the piece together. You moved from the tree to the hydrant? and from that to the flowers and the narration introduced all of that. I would have liked to see a smoother timelapse on the flowers.

Then you use the tree again to take us to the other side of the house. In the backyard to go from focus on the tree to introduce the plant and then introduce the cardinal from the plant. All of these things are 'a matter of focus'.

I found the jump to the blackbirds - sudden. Maybe you could have started the narration "while above.." earlier to introduce the new view.

You then take us back through selective focus to the starting scene - all very smooth to my eye.

My comments are simply my impressions and are those of an enthusiastic amateur.

Bob,

A very nice perspective and the title was perfect!! I liked the running backwards to return to the larger picture and not seeing the little things one needs to focus on in order to see the first images of spring.

Very nicely done

Oh yea, The domestic crocus' were interesting to me. The last shot in my "rejuvenations" is of the first emerging native flowers of the northern prairies, the native crocus. Rather different.

thanks for sharing!!!

Hi Bob,

You made a very nice video with a good story!
Loved to see how the crocus opens to catch the sunshine.

Well done!

Hi Bob,
Well with just 18 minutes of footage i think you did a stella job. It's amazing how we look at the big picture sometimes, & yes, in your opening shots, spring didn't look like it had sprung, but you took us for a closer look, to see the little things, & did a great job of showing us that spring had infact started! Thanks for sharing.

Bryce

Bob

It is not easy find great images in the places we cal home. Not all of us are blessed with Norway, Colorado, wilderness. Your depiction was really well thought out, going full circle. I did find the timing and pacing was a little slow, maybe even trying to catch up.

As said previously don't be afraid to let you narration preclude your images, trim a little tighter, don't dwell but present.

The VO was outstanding and well fit to the piece.

It took me a moment to figure out what you were doing, but the transitions from manmade items to the flowers worked perfectly. I like the time lapse on the flowers. It might have been just a touch slow overall, but all in all a nice job.

This film showed the value in searching close to home, and looking for beauty in the everyday. I really like the timelapse of the crocus opening to the sun. And the storyline of the lone crocus waiting its turn gave a neat drama to the life of the flowers. Your constantly changing focus- turning from the manmade to nature, showed you see where you look, and if you really focus in, there is always something interesting to see. Thanks for sharing.

Ruth

Bob,

You got that from 18 minutes? Mine had 2.5 hours of footage to sift through, and even then I wished I'd taken more. Not to mention that your robin is better dressed than mine.

I loved the focus pulls (I'm such a sucker for them) and the timelapse of the crocuses opening worked well.

I noticed a bit of camera shake on the focus pull from the tree to the hydrant. I tried using my lanc controller, taken off the tripod for that to avoid shake. Then I remembered that Sony have given me shot transition and I could cheat!

You even managed to tug at my heartstrings with that lone crocus waiting for the sun. I'm getting soft in my old age.

It's kind of hard to see as they bounce around in the wind, but your blackbirds look more like our starlings. I always find it fascinating to see the different versions of our domestic birds all round the world.

Thanks for all the positive replies...I guess we are our own worst critic...
This is only my second UWOL and I'm very new at this hobby for an old man, so I'm very happy that many of you liked what you saw...

Paul -- You're right. I should have left the Blackbirds out, watching it again. I sure wish the Woodpeckers or the Cardinal pair that visit had been there that day.

Dale, Trond, Bryce, Ruth -- Thanks for the compliments!

Jim, Steven -- Thanks for the advice on speeding things up a bit. I tend to not edit as tight as I should.

Mike -- Yes the camera shake annoyed the heck out of me. I didn't have a LANC controller when I did that, (but I do now!). I did all the focusing with the focus ring....
And the Blackbirds my very well be Starlings. I'm no bird expert, we just always just called them Blackbirds around here.

Oh and BTW, for those that don't know. The hydrant thing is our well head. It may look like civilized suburbia, but have well water.


Bob

Ah, the one-day wonder, my favorite genre!

They are never as good as you wish they were, and never as bad as you fear!

How's that for a tombstone inscription....?

Hi Bob:

Nicely done friend. The title captures this film perfectly. Creative with the transitions, fabulous time laps of the crocuses and nice transition from beginning shot to ending shot with busy traffic to still street. This is a wondrous contribution for a single day of shooting.

I'm impressed.

Cat

Good job, Bob.

I, too, liked the way you made focus part of the focus of the story. While some may have felt the pace was slow I found it relaxing. And Oliver's music seemed very much the right touch there.

Well done! I liked the idea to film in you on yard. Interesting stuff are happening around us, but we seams to over look ‘em, nice VO too. The focus shift are nice, maybe you could have put the camera up to film the flowers… as long as the opening don’t take longer then 1 hour. Before I have put the camera on interval filming, but it some times becomes a bit jumpy, the Time-laps for this round was shot on normal mode and then speeded up to 1000-2000%.

well done Bob!

Yes, I liked this entry - the story telling approach has a really individual style to it. Liked the timelapse and use of the environment around you - it's sometimes too easy to overlook the amazing things around us on a day to day basis. Good film!