UWOL #2: "Recreational Thanks" by Gabriel Yeager
 

First off, I just wanted to say thankyou all for being so encouraging and a big influence.

A note: The audio in this film is really bad at times. So keep your hand near the audio adjuster. Sorry about that...

Direct to video link: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...onalthanks.mov

My gear was an Elura 100, SunPak 7500 tripod, and my sister - Sami, as a camera OP in the first three clips.

Music done by Overlooked Identity.

my idea was to show the ipod in the begging and you could see the track name, but it did not work out the way I planned it. So please bare with me on that one.

There is a few mess-ups in the film that you might notice. I will not point them out, I will wait to see if you can. :-)

Any comments are welcome, so please leave them!
I will get around to seeing and commeting on all of your films, but right now I am sick, so it might be awhile before I get to them, sorry about that...

Thanks for watching!
~Gabriel

Gabriel,

Nice video! With a great deal of handheld camerawork in it it feel almost more real than several of the others. It was a interesting view of what you like to do for recreation and it reminds me of 20 years ago when I used to go out and take billions of photos.

I didn't notice any fubars so to speak so you fooled me. oops, well the spelling I noticed but no matter.

Congratulations on a nice video through all your tribulations.

James Hooey

Actually the audio is pretty good for built in mic. I had no problem with it and at my age hearing gets a bit dicey.

That Canon Elura 100 is one sharp performer for you. Even if you get something better I would keep it as long as it works. Your video was sharper and clearer with better color than one would expect from something in it's class.

OK...Your video shows you have come a long way from the first one you submitted. You appear to have more confidence and you put more of a side of yourself into this one that I hope the others can see as well as I do. You and I were both about to give up on making a submission this time (I just kept quiet about the lack of being able to pull something together), but I am very glad to see you plunged in and did what you did.

I think you've "outclassed" me on this one I hope you feel good about what you've accomplished.

Yeah, I spotted the "boo-boos" but I'm not going to point them out here, one gave me a chuckle, and the other two are so minor...

I will give you a tip or two because I think you will pick them up and run the next race with them. Editing: Leave no "dead", static time unless it serves a purpose. Continue similar action from one clip to the next so the pace and the motion flows.

And save "thanks" for the message posting. The only thanks you need to put in your credits should be those to specific individuals, organizations, or businesses that need to be credited as contributing something to your project.

I understand where you're coming from but you've made a place for yourself here on your own merits, by your attitude, persistence and your dream.

Congratulations on a video project very well done and on the very real progress you have made.

Bruce Foreman

Gabriel:

And you weren't going to submit something ? Nice job, man !! Keep rolling them out cause every film is leaps and bounds ahead of the last one..

Gabriel,
I must say you have developed very well from uwol-1. This was very interesting to watch.
A few minor things to note: in the opening scene you forgot to remove your tripod. In the bicycle scenes you could have shortend the scenes, there was too much delay before the bicycle appeared. Also the text when you where sitting, starting at 2:20 was way to fast for me to read.

The picture quality of the film was good. The story was interesting. You used tripod on the right places, though you could have done some panning in some of the bicycle scenes.

Keep up your good work Gabriel!

Gabriel,

You have to feel good about yourself for sticking with it and completing this challenge. I honestly thought it was creative and well done and I did enjoy watching this. Looking forward to more from you...including your entry in DVC#8. Good job.

Rick

Gabriel,

I am impressed! Steady shooting, nice work in post, and the music melds nicely through the production.

Congratulations, on not only finishing, but on finishing a very solid piece of work. This business is all about progression, and learning more about ourselves and our tools as we go along.

This video was way better than the first you submitted. It looks like you are really growing in your video and editing skills. I enjoyed the feeling of sharing a day in the park with you. As others have said, maybe tighten the edits or shooting a bit with some of the scenes, like with the bicycle. But overall I really enjoyed it.

Ruth

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I will take it all in and put it to use in my next films'. :)

Yes, I am aware of the "dead air" in the bike scenes. I just was running out of time and to tell you the truth, I never watched the whole thing through until I uploaded it. So sorry about that, I will be sure to not make that mistake in future films.

Sorry about the text, I did not realize that there was a miss spell. The only thing that I found was when it said "Challenge" It looked like "cnellenge", but that was due to the bad background and compression. Outside of that, I am bad at spelling anyways so sorry for the inconvenience, lol.

edit: And Per, I know that the text was to fast. I wanted it to stay longer but Imovie did not let me make it longer. Numb free program, lol. Sorry about that. You could always pause it??

Thanks again to you all, and I promise you I will get around to commenting/veiwing all of your films. Right now, I am not feeling to good, so sorry for the delay.

Thank-you Bruce, I very much love my camera. It may not have all of the freedom of a Gl2 (or any other camera with full manual) but at a three inches, I love my camera. In my backpack in those scenes, I had my "camera bag" (a playstation bag from 2001') in there the hole time. :-)

Have a nice day everyone!
~Gabriel

I liked you personal pov on this one. You took the veiwer with you on your journey of discovery and you made some nice points at the end of it. Your imaging was generally good with some interesting ideas.

You seem to dwell too long in certain shots and not make enough of others. If a shot has said what it needs to say then get on with telling the story, dont dwell if there isn't a reason....hope this helps. The text at the end was difficult to read at this resolution but I did like the your idea of using it.

Nice work :)

Thanks Mat. I realize that now... I will do a remake of it. Hey, it could be called "Recreating Recreational Thanks", its a two for one! lol.

I will be sure to edit those scenes better, and maybe add some new ones that I did not have time to do... We shall see!

~Gabriel
PS: I will start to watch everyones films before the end of the hour...

Gabriel,

What the heck were you worried about? You made a fine film!

I liked how in the end we got to see the photos that you were taking earlier in the film.

Go back and watch your first film and see how you've grown as a filmmaker.

It's already been touched on the dead air scenes.

If you improve as much in UWOL3 as you did from UWOL1 to UWOL2, you're gonna be a dangerous filmmaker. :)

And you sir, are an inspiration to the rest of us with your drive, commitment and passion. Keep it up!

Gab, great job, you learned to look and began to see. A very fine job. Bob

Gabriel
Like everyone else has said the first thing I noticed about this video was the progress you have made. At your age you still have alot of time to perfect you style. Well done.

Thanks guys! I am very much looking forward to the next challenge!

Kevin, I think you just made it into my Sticky Notes!
- "If you improve as much in UWOL3 as you did from UWOL1 to UWOL2, you're gonna be a dangerous filmmaker. :)"

Thank-you Kevin, for the suggestion to look at "My First Time Recording". I did, and it was a shock from time to time.... O_o

I am also looking forward to the DVC 8 also... Prepare to see some more of me in-front of the camera! lol.

~Gabriel