White Spotted Sea Cucumber at DVinfo.net

Bill Thesken · April 2nd, 2012, 01:30 PM

I haven't had the time to upload the video to my Vimeo account so that I could embed it into this comment thread, here is the link instead:

I was thinking about making a comedy, but it turned into a straightforward project.
It took about 18 hours to put this together, I didn't originally plan on that scenario, but once I got into the project I found I needed more and more time lapses which take.. time. Plus the creature I decided to film lives in a semi wild setting, with waves and tides that move the camera and the box I made, sand would get on the lens without me knowing till viewing the footage, and the creature itself wouldn't crawl directly over the camera as I wanted. The great thing about these challenges is it gives you a reason to get out and film something, anything, and you have a deadline to put together a real movie that people around the world actually watch and comment on. I did learn some new tricks, I finally got my voice over to go smooth and without audio hiss, and it's always fun to devise 'contraptions'. The box I amended to film the underside of the creature is still a work in progress, I put the tin foil to reflect light upwards which was a big improvement, but then yesterday I had an idea that I could tape glow sticks onto the foil which would reflect even more light upwards. It's possible that this little challenge has nudged me towards at least a half hour program on some of the critters that inhabit a tide pool.

Ruth Happel · April 2nd, 2012, 09:22 PM

This was a very educational video. I learned a lot about sea cucumbers. You were creative both in the footage, and in how you met the challenges of obtaining it. I am glad you did time lapse footage, since it would have been hard for us to watch in real time to observe the behavior without spending several hours! You should definitely do a longer video with more of the tide pool creatures.

Ruth

Markus Nord · April 3rd, 2012, 01:13 PM

Good job Bill!
Nice to see some more UW films in the UWOL... the time lapse was good and important to. I think, to keep the audience.
It's nice to see a story about a “boring” animal like the sea cucumber.
When you move the camera in the time lapse sequence, I would suggest you to move it more, to get a different angle and do a cut in the editing. It was some jerk between the first to cuts that you could have left out. Same thing about you hand...
over all... nice one Bill!

Mike Sims · April 3rd, 2012, 09:38 PM

Hi Bill. Did you do something different with the audio this time? It sounds great. I like the way you used the time lapse to turn a creature that most would pass by as inanimate into an action hero. Your GoPro in a box is one of those good ideas that can be applied to many other critters like snails, limpets, chitons, urchins, anemones… I think you really should make a longer tide pool video!

Gordon Hoffman · April 4th, 2012, 12:08 AM

Hi Bill
The audio was the first thing that I really noticed and which I thought was really good. I can see where timelapse would have to be used for this one. The one thing I noticed and was already mentioned was the shot with your hand in it. I enjoyed watching and learning about something I never get to see and your use of some creative camera work. Well done.

Gordon

Lorinda Norton · April 4th, 2012, 02:05 AM

I must say that I laugh just thinking about what you may have been thinking when considering making this a comedy. :)

Your contraptions worked really well! Even without your later brainstorm of using glow sticks, your foil reflector solution for shooting the underside of the sea cucumber served you just fine--and was a great idea.

A highly educational film, well-researched (unless guys like you and Mike already know all this stuff off the tops of your heads), and very well produced. Go for the 30 minute program, Bill!!

Geir Inge · April 4th, 2012, 10:59 AM

Hello Bill.

Very well done, this one.
This was an informative and enlightening film. Timelapses are good.
Can I ask what you used to film the cucumbers from the bottom up?
Totally amazing to see it from underneath.
I admire your knowledge and skills in this movie. I have learned a lot.

Thank you for sharing.

All the best.
Geir Inge

Owen Dawe · April 4th, 2012, 04:10 PM

Hello Bill,

A great result in the most difficult zone on earth for a creature to live in. That is between high tide and low tide. A zone where creatures endure a life in the blinding hot sun, then a pounding by surf to finally submerged in salt water. It reminded me of my childhood by the sea. Many a weekend spent at lowtide exploring rock pools and the abundant life within.

The shot at the beginning superb when we were taken from our enviroment to that of the sea cucumber. The time lapse really bought this 2ft. per hour 'slug' alive. Well researched, well produced. The zone between high and low tide a challenge for a videographer as well. Thank you for allowing me to put my head under water getting a glimpse of that under water vacuum cleaner.

Thank you,
Owen.

Bill Thesken · April 7th, 2012, 06:59 PM

Thanks for the comments.
Markus & Gordon, I wondered if I should edit out the flash of my hand, but decided to leave it
in for 'perspective'. I may take it out for a longer version in the future.
Lorinda, I just research these animals as I go for each video. It's fun to learn, and to have a 'reason' to learn.
Mike, for the audio, it was one take, Sennheiser MD-46, XHA1, and I just turned the volume down enough till I couldn't hear any hiss and that was it. That camera has so many buttons for audio, but maybe there's hope yet for my voice overs if I can duplicate it.
Geir, here is the 'box'. I'm going to re-rig this with glow sticks and see how the footage compares.
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...2-dscn0022.jpg

Trond Saetre · April 12th, 2012, 05:41 AM

Hi Bill,

If we ever have an uwol get together like we talked about a few years ago, it should be on Hawaii! You have an amazing scenery over there. Amazing opening and closing shots!

I like that you have an underwater film. It's facinating, and especially since you use some uncommon camera angles, like from below.
Keep up your good work, and thank you for always teaching me something new.

Dale Guthormsen · April 16th, 2012, 06:03 PM

Bill,

what a nice short video!! I neveer heard of them before and now I know something new, much appreciated!!

Curiously, flips, go pro and such always seem to shoot awful bright images, did you have to reduce gamma or anything, or did the water act kind of like a filter? I really liked the footage of it climbing over the lens, some pretty amazing footage!! thank you so much for sharing.

Bill Thesken · April 17th, 2012, 11:57 PM

Dale, I had to double check the project before answering. I only did a little color correction on the time lapse footage from underneath the Sea Cucumber. All the other footage is straight from the camera. It came out really clear and nice so I left it as it was. I think with the right medium lighting that camera does fine.

April 2nd, 2012, 01:30 PM	#1
Bill Thesken Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: HI, USA Posts: 622	White Spotted Sea Cucumber I haven't had the time to upload the video to my Vimeo account so that I could embed it into this comment thread, here is the link instead: White Spotted Sea Cucumber on Vimeo I was thinking about making a comedy, but it turned into a straightforward project. It took about 18 hours to put this together, I didn't originally plan on that scenario, but once I got into the project I found I needed more and more time lapses which take.. time. Plus the creature I decided to film lives in a semi wild setting, with waves and tides that move the camera and the box I made, sand would get on the lens without me knowing till viewing the footage, and the creature itself wouldn't crawl directly over the camera as I wanted. The great thing about these challenges is it gives you a reason to get out and film something, anything, and you have a deadline to put together a real movie that people around the world actually watch and comment on. I did learn some new tricks, I finally got my voice over to go smooth and without audio hiss, and it's always fun to devise 'contraptions'. The box I amended to film the underside of the creature is still a work in progress, I put the tin foil to reflect light upwards which was a big improvement, but then yesterday I had an idea that I could tape glow sticks onto the foil which would reflect even more light upwards. It's possible that this little challenge has nudged me towards at least a half hour program on some of the critters that inhabit a tide pool.

April 2nd, 2012, 09:22 PM	#2
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber This was a very educational video. I learned a lot about sea cucumbers. You were creative both in the footage, and in how you met the challenges of obtaining it. I am glad you did time lapse footage, since it would have been hard for us to watch in real time to observe the behavior without spending several hours! You should definitely do a longer video with more of the tide pool creatures. Ruth __________________ http://rockfowl.com/

April 3rd, 2012, 01:13 PM	#3
Markus Nord Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vastervik ,Sweden Posts: 639	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Good job Bill! Nice to see some more UW films in the UWOL... the time lapse was good and important to. I think, to keep the audience. It's nice to see a story about a “boring” animal like the sea cucumber. When you move the camera in the time lapse sequence, I would suggest you to move it more, to get a different angle and do a cut in the editing. It was some jerk between the first to cuts that you could have left out. Same thing about you hand... over all... nice one Bill! __________________ www.nordproduktion.se https://vimeo.com/nordproduktion

April 3rd, 2012, 09:38 PM	#4
Mike Sims Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 880	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Hi Bill. Did you do something different with the audio this time? It sounds great. I like the way you used the time lapse to turn a creature that most would pass by as inanimate into an action hero. Your GoPro in a box is one of those good ideas that can be applied to many other critters like snails, limpets, chitons, urchins, anemones… I think you really should make a longer tide pool video!

April 4th, 2012, 12:08 AM	#5
Gordon Hoffman Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Pincher Creek, Alberta Canada Posts: 619	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Hi Bill The audio was the first thing that I really noticed and which I thought was really good. I can see where timelapse would have to be used for this one. The one thing I noticed and was already mentioned was the shot with your hand in it. I enjoyed watching and learning about something I never get to see and your use of some creative camera work. Well done. Gordon

April 4th, 2012, 02:05 AM	#6
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber I must say that I laugh just thinking about what you may have been thinking when considering making this a comedy. :) Your contraptions worked really well! Even without your later brainstorm of using glow sticks, your foil reflector solution for shooting the underside of the sea cucumber served you just fine--and was a great idea. A highly educational film, well-researched (unless guys like you and Mike already know all this stuff off the tops of your heads), and very well produced. Go for the 30 minute program, Bill!! __________________ Lorinda

April 4th, 2012, 10:59 AM	#7
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,342	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Hello Bill. Very well done, this one. This was an informative and enlightening film. Timelapses are good. Can I ask what you used to film the cucumbers from the bottom up? Totally amazing to see it from underneath. I admire your knowledge and skills in this movie. I have learned a lot. Thank you for sharing. All the best. Geir Inge __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

April 4th, 2012, 04:10 PM	#8
Owen Dawe Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Lake Tarawera, Rotorua, New Zealand Posts: 244	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Hello Bill, A great result in the most difficult zone on earth for a creature to live in. That is between high tide and low tide. A zone where creatures endure a life in the blinding hot sun, then a pounding by surf to finally submerged in salt water. It reminded me of my childhood by the sea. Many a weekend spent at lowtide exploring rock pools and the abundant life within. The shot at the beginning superb when we were taken from our enviroment to that of the sea cucumber. The time lapse really bought this 2ft. per hour 'slug' alive. Well researched, well produced. The zone between high and low tide a challenge for a videographer as well. Thank you for allowing me to put my head under water getting a glimpse of that under water vacuum cleaner. Thank you, Owen. __________________ Owen

April 7th, 2012, 06:59 PM	#9
Bill Thesken Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: HI, USA Posts: 622	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Thanks for the comments. Markus & Gordon, I wondered if I should edit out the flash of my hand, but decided to leave it in for 'perspective'. I may take it out for a longer version in the future. Lorinda, I just research these animals as I go for each video. It's fun to learn, and to have a 'reason' to learn. Mike, for the audio, it was one take, Sennheiser MD-46, XHA1, and I just turned the volume down enough till I couldn't hear any hiss and that was it. That camera has so many buttons for audio, but maybe there's hope yet for my voice overs if I can duplicate it. Geir, here is the 'box'. I'm going to re-rig this with glow sticks and see how the footage compares. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...2-dscn0022.jpg

April 12th, 2012, 05:41 AM	#10
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Hi Bill, If we ever have an uwol get together like we talked about a few years ago, it should be on Hawaii! You have an amazing scenery over there. Amazing opening and closing shots! I like that you have an underwater film. It's facinating, and especially since you use some uncommon camera angles, like from below. Keep up your good work, and thank you for always teaching me something new.

April 16th, 2012, 06:03 PM	#11
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Bill, what a nice short video!! I neveer heard of them before and now I know something new, much appreciated!! Curiously, flips, go pro and such always seem to shoot awful bright images, did you have to reduce gamma or anything, or did the water act kind of like a filter? I really liked the footage of it climbing over the lens, some pretty amazing footage!! thank you so much for sharing. __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

April 17th, 2012, 11:57 PM	#12
Bill Thesken Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: HI, USA Posts: 622	Re: White Spotted Sea Cucumber Dale, I had to double check the project before answering. I only did a little color correction on the time lapse footage from underneath the Sea Cucumber. All the other footage is straight from the camera. It came out really clear and nice so I left it as it was. I think with the right medium lighting that camera does fine.