Uwol # 8 Egoli

[John Dennis Robertson]

This is a look at the changes brought about by the discovery of gold in Johannesburg EGOLI place of gold....I have been out of town for some time...will only start downloading and viewing all the video's later today...cant wait

[Trond Saetre]

Hi John,

A very nice video you produced. That is an interesting story.
I enjoyed watching it. I think you showed us very well how mankind change the nature.
Favorite shots was those of the lions. Those cats are huge!!

There was an audio "pop" or whatever we should call it at 1:26 when you said "we built great cities..." This can appear if the microphone is held too close or if at a bad/wrong angle from the mouth as we speak a few of the letters.

All in all, a great video! Well done!
Thank you for sharing.

[Paul Mailath]

Nicely done, it's interesting that some of the cuts I noticed and some I didn't - some seemed to be invisible, it may have been a turn in the story or one scene that fitted after another, I don't know.

The music was fitting and your voiceover matched in well, the only point I would make is that it might have sounded different if instead of making a statement then stopping, you made it continuous with long breaths or spaces in between (to fit the music)- if that makes sense. if I said that another way - there were stops and starts, try to make it sound continuous, while you wait for the music.

the introduction of gold mining and the cities made the theme clear and then the 'discarding' signaled the return to nature - I would have like to see something (a piece of machinary or something man made) which was overgrown completely.

I loved the white lions (Simba?) at the end

[John Dennis Robertson]

Thanks for the comments Trond and Paul.I know the VO in this baddd but I ran out of time...did the VO and had to upload because I knew I had work commitments for the next few days...I cringe when I listen to it again...

[Rob Evans]

I actually though the VO had a "vinyl crackle" sound to it that sounded strangely appropriate.....

John, I had to watch this through a couple of times, and have to say I really enjoyed it - it's quite morose, but very poignant with it. As a fan of Wilbur Smith, this film for me ties in neatly with a lot of his novels, so I felt a personal association here. Good stuff!

[Ruth Happel]

I really liked your message, though it was sad to watch, how the land has been destroyed. You have some extraordinary footage- especially the lions and the African wild dogs. Your music worked well with the theme- very poignant. I liked your VO- not obtrusive, but delivering the story. Great job, and thanks for sharing Africa.

Ruth

[Mike Beckett]

John,

Very good. You certainly have some more impressive beasts to film than I do!

There's some great hyena action in there. How close were you to them? Some of the wild game shots are a bit wobbly, but I'm not sure I could keep too steady with this sort of action going on around me.

A great story, and the voiceover worked well, I quite liked the pace of it. Quite a moving tale - and what an interesting country!

[Bob Thieda]

"I do prefer seeing Africa through my Great Grandfathers eyes."

Beautiful...that line was just perfect. The perfect ending.
Liked your work very much.

Thanks!

Bob T.

[Bryce Comer]

Hi Dennis,
What a great story, & i thought you told it very well with your voice over, & the shots you had. I liked your use of straight cuts, most were seemless, & worked very well. For me there was only one small part that i would like to make comment on, & that was the shot of the lion @ 00:21, it was only 1 sec. long. Although it looked like a great shot, i just thought it was too short. The following shot for me was much nicer in its length. Overall a really nice film, well done.

Bryce

[Meryem Ersoz]

I'd second what Bob said, I loved the closing line..

It's hard not to love a film about lions! Well, this wasn't exactly about lions, except insofar as they represent the loss of the wild in the face of modernization.

But my Western zodiac sign is Leo, haha can you tell? That's why they put me in charge! So I have always had an affinity with the beasts and hoped some of our S.A. players would show up with some images of the King (and Queen, of course)...very cool...

[Catherine Russell]

John Dennis:

You just keep getting better and better. Your footage was awesome, and the theme well developed and moving. The narration was well done and as others have commented, you certainly peg the last line. I love what you do.

Cat

[Adrinn Chellton]

This one had an interesting story. I thought some of your shots could have been held longer for more impact, but overall this was a good entry. The contrast was good from the pristine wilderness shots to the developments, rubble and junk.

Keep it up and more people will learn what is going on in your neck of the woods.

[Mat Thompson]

Hey John

Some really stunning wides up front in this piece...very nice indeed! The lion and hunting dog footage was nice but really needed a tripod. I guessing you were shooting from the back of a vehicle so this was difficult but some better stabilisation would have helped loads especially with these shots following the impressive establishers. The story was solid, well told and heart felt, maybe a little monotone.....but hey join the club ;-) !!

Nice piece
Mat

[Amelia Tanttila]

Hi John Dennis,
I really liked your piece. Your footage of such amazing wildlife makes me feel a bit ridiculous about feeling any sense of pride in my footage of squirrels and random birds!

It's amazing how much ground you covered in 3 minutes, and yet, the story remained true. Yep, you've got amazing footage, and I appreciated your dissolves between clips. It is definitely tough to keep a camera steady when you're zoomed in. I don't know if it'd be appropriate for your footage/piece, and maybe you do this or aware of it, but I've found that when you slow the footage down in editing, shakiness isn't as noticeable.

The music fit the tone perfectly; although it seemed to stop abruptly at the end of the video - perhaps fading the music out at the end would be nice?

I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of your work and more of Africa.

Amelia

[Vidar Vedaa]

Hello John


You live in a wildlife-aeria how must be fantastic.And on this big lion
you make a grait entery.And a fasinating story about the place


Nice Work!!!


VJV.


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