UWOL #2: Enjoying Signs of Spring by Gordon Hoffman
 

Well this is my first attempt at mixing 4x3 footage shot with my old XL1 with 16x9 shot with a Sony HC3 handy cam. Unfortunately I only got out twice to shoot some footage for this challenge. Anyway I'm open to and would appreciate any comments or advice. Thanks.
Sorry here's the link http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...nsofspring.mov

Gordon Hoffman

Great shots and I laughed whent the goose was kind of stuck in the ice. I used to own the XL1s, loved that camera. Some shots seemed a little grainy, was that just encoding? Your entry also came out of no where, I was sure I watched them all yesterday -nice surprise!

just for the record, gordon's video didn't just appear. it was in on time, we just overlooked getting it on the website with the others, so it was time-delayed about 3-4 hours. our bad. i'm just glad gordon was paying attention and called us on it. he's still in contention for the free t-shirt!

I liked the geese footage quite a lot. Also, the feel of the snow and ice, but a sense of spring, was very well conveyed by the video. I could almost feel the warm air making everything thaw as I watched.

Ruth

More spectacular footage. Great videography.

Question is, is it on theme.

Some great vistas in here...Great opener with the sun through the clouds. Music was a good choice for the piece.

I thought more cutting was needed and the peice would have benefited from changes in focal length and levels of detail. Quite a few shots seemed very yellow too... with whites suffering the most on this.

Great work fella.

A very relaxing video, I enjoyd wathcing it.
Very beautiful scenery, it looks even a bit like where I live (the mountains).
Nice done Gordon.

Thanks Gordon for that Relaxing footage like Geir said.
It was nice and calm and recreational. :)

Hey look! Its more ducks! Oh wait, its even better, these ones are stuck in ice! lol. That was to funny....

I liked the part where the four swans(?) were bobbing their heads. It was cool.

Nice work!
~Gabriel

Gordon,

I thought you hit the theme by your opening shot looking through the field glasses. You followed it up at the end by leaving the scene. Everything in between was your enjoying the signs of Spring.

Nice footage. Some of it almost looked sepia toned though.
Maybe some shots of the reeds or grasses aroound the water could have helped break up some of the waterfowl scenes even more.

It was a little disjointed seeing blue sky and snow capped mountains then to see you in the film in overcast, misty conditions.

Gotta agree with Mat where it seemed that the waterfowl were just filmed at one focal length. SHow me more of the setting. Show me details.

Even with getting out only twice, you captured some really nice footage!

Marco - "Some shots seemed a little grainy, was that just encoding?" I suspect alot of it is from encoding (Not very high end). Some from getting everything out to 16x9. The wide shots where done on the HC3 in HDV downconverted to DV so I suspect that does not help. I'm glad it finally did come out of "no where" . Thanks.

Meryem - Thanks. I've really got my hopes up for this tee shirt eh.

Ruth - Thanks. I hope spring is really here though I enjoy all the seasons. I suspect to see a bear anytime now.

Chris - Thanks. "Question is, is it on theme." That's the neat thing about this challenge theme. I don't do wildlife video for a living. I have made some money at it but I do it because I enjoy it. This is what I do in my spare time so I consider it recreation.

Mat - Thanks I appreciate that. I do need a bigger selection of music though. Yes I have a habit of not getting the wider shots when using a long lense. I'll have to check my monitor as I thought the colour looked fairly good. Thanks again.

Geir Inge - Thanks I glad you found it relaxing. That's the way I find it when I'm in the mountains. Take care.

Gabriel - Thanks. I must admit I didn't take much time to shoot this. I was glad to see the swans where here. I suspect they will be froze in a few more times yet.

Kevin - Thanks. I was hoping the opening shot would set the theme. As I mentioned to Mat it's a bad habit of mine when using a long lense to not get the wider shots. "It was a little disjointed seeing blue sky and snow capped mountains then to see you in the film in overcast, misty conditions." Actually the weather can change that quick in this country lol! As usual I was a little short of footage. You made alot of good points thanks again.

Gordon,

Some very nice shots in this video. I really like the mountains, they look spectacular!

A bit of colour matching oddness going on here? There are some very different looks to the footage. It seems to knock the continuity of the piece a bit.

Again, nice video and I thought the music was very nice for the piece.

James Hooey

You got some great mountains there. Very nice scenery.
And the birds stuck in the ice, it was funny to watch.

Gordon:

Very enjoyable, looks like you live in a beautiful part of the world.

Thanks for the day out...that's how it made me feel, like I was along with you.

Brian

Thanks Gordon:

I loved this. It was beautiful. It played so well with the music. It was a soothing, inspiring and joyful way to spend 3 minutes by watching it.

It was simply a pleasure.

Thank You!

Cat Russell
Spike Productions

James - Using two totally different cameras don't help and I didn't tweek anything. The mountains are a big attraction to this area. Thanks.

Trond - Thanks. The first birds to show up sometimes find themselves with very little open water. The day before there was alot less ice.

Brian - I'm glad you could make it. Thanks and take care.

Cat - Thanks alot. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks again everyone until #3

Gordon Hoffman