UWOL #3 "Lucid" by Andrew Hood at DVinfo.net

Andrew Hood · May 22nd, 2007, 08:13 PM

well the compatile film that was submitted can be seen at: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen..._UC3_lucid.mov

but a smaller, better (medium) quality WMV (10MB) can be found at: http://tailored-video.com/films/vids/AH_Lucid_(mq).wmv
a higher quality WMV (~42MB) is at: http://tailored-video.com/films/vids/AH_Lucid_(mq).wmv

Didn't end up travelling far for this one. Was planning on using a cave for the end, but time constraints stopped the 5 hour round trip.
Saw a kangaroo (Or wallaby, didn't get close enough to tell) the first day of shooting, and on the third there was a lyrebird and 2 wedgetail eagles, but we didn't get any on camera. It rained or drizzled every day, but the overcast conditions helped for surreal lighting.
Good to just get out and do something, even if it was only loosly scripted. Definitely up for more, hopefully we'll get snow soon - whether it gets used for filming or not.

Bruce Ellingwood · May 22nd, 2007, 08:21 PM

That was very cool. Loved the concept and the colors being pushed around for the surreal effect. Very nice.

Chris Barcellos · May 22nd, 2007, 08:31 PM

Andrew.. Spooky feel. The .mov version was sure poorer in quality than the .wmv version. Cool film, in my opinion, with a lot of suspense.

Geir Inge · May 22nd, 2007, 11:04 PM

A very exciting and spooky film you've made, Andrew.
Cool, playing with the colours. I wish I could see the monster though, but I gues we have to leave something up to our imagination as well :)
Nice work and good luck in uwol#3.

Andrew Hood · May 23rd, 2007, 01:45 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys. I noticed there weren't a lot of dialogue based entries with UWOL2 (Not that mine has dialogue either, unless you count the whispers, but you need the sound turned up lots for those). It's hard to shoot great scenery and have a character driven story. I'm still downloading all the other films, so I'm yet to see what natural wonders await. Looking forward to watching them though.

Trond Saetre · May 23rd, 2007, 02:32 AM

That was a great concept Andrew!
I really like how you play with the colors and the sound.
Well done.

Mat Thompson · May 23rd, 2007, 05:45 AM

Great stuff,Interesting concept, nice to see some variety come to uwol. Not sure about the 'pixelating' effect and I think the monster sounds at the end were a little over done....maybe less would have been more there.

Nice stuff :)

Meryem Ersoz · May 23rd, 2007, 06:22 AM

i try to resist commenting on the films while the judging is in progress, but you really got at the essence of the theme--that thing where we want to go straight into the teeth of "the wild" --the contradictory nature of it....beautiful, threatening, a little spooky, compelling...

Ruth Happel · May 23rd, 2007, 09:52 AM

I like the way the film builds suspense in such a short time. The way you played with the colors was also neat, and enhanced the atmosphere. The ending was a classic, like a 1970s horror tv show. Enjoyed watching this one a lot.

Catherine Russell · May 23rd, 2007, 01:07 PM

Excellent job here. To make this a spooky thriller you could do nothing better. I thought this was really cool and special effects were stunning. It was great fun. I hope your film subject survives for UWOL4.

Cat

Per Johan Naesje · May 23rd, 2007, 11:55 PM

Andrew,
to me a new "angle" to show wildlifestuff! Liked it very much though the ending was predictable.

Gabriel Yeager · May 24th, 2007, 12:18 AM

Wow, you guys are really getting creative this time around!

The color stuff was rather cool. And how you showed him(you) going to the place in the dream was cool.

That tree was huge!

Cool stuff. Keep up the good work!
~Gabriel

Andrew Hood · May 24th, 2007, 09:35 AM

Mat; I think you're referring to the bad compression when you say 'pixelation'. I tried a bunch of settings, and with Sorenson 3 it's the best I could get for the file size. Maybe there's something I'm missing in the settings, though any format that's compatible with older systems tends to be less efficient for size. I probably need a more mac (cross platform) compatible, decent quality version.

Catherine Russell · May 24th, 2007, 10:30 AM

Hi Andrew:

As far as compression, if you haven't tried the software package Sorenson Squeeze and can afford $500 it is a MUST investment. Last challenge I had the same trouble, painstaking work trying to get the compression size acceptable and degrading all the hard work going into the film. Ken Diewert told me about the Sorenson Squeeze package and it changed everything! You can buy it as a download and is very easy to use. It is amazing. This challenge, my movie was set to all the highest standards and it squeezed it to 38 mb. I am now on a mission to tell everyone about this! Hope this helps! Your movie was fantastic and this compression software will make it that much better.

Cat

Dale Guthormsen · May 24th, 2007, 08:25 PM

Andrew,

What a creative story. It is my top four of the group!!!! Extremely well done!!
the wind noise was perfect for suspense.
the end was the best. Well the breathing hole's end is just as good, both very similar.

Thank you ever so much for making it!!!

May 22nd, 2007, 08:13 PM	#1
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	UWOL #3 "Lucid" by Andrew Hood well the compatile film that was submitted can be seen at: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen..._UC3_lucid.mov but a smaller, better (medium) quality WMV (10MB) can be found at: http://tailored-video.com/films/vids/AH_Lucid_(mq).wmv a higher quality WMV (~42MB) is at: http://tailored-video.com/films/vids/AH_Lucid_(mq).wmv Didn't end up travelling far for this one. Was planning on using a cave for the end, but time constraints stopped the 5 hour round trip. Saw a kangaroo (Or wallaby, didn't get close enough to tell) the first day of shooting, and on the third there was a lyrebird and 2 wedgetail eagles, but we didn't get any on camera. It rained or drizzled every day, but the overcast conditions helped for surreal lighting. Good to just get out and do something, even if it was only loosly scripted. Definitely up for more, hopefully we'll get snow soon - whether it gets used for filming or not. Last edited by Andrew Hood; May 23rd, 2007 at 01:31 AM.

May 22nd, 2007, 11:04 PM	#4
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,342	A very exciting and spooky film you've made, Andrew. Cool, playing with the colours. I wish I could see the monster though, but I gues we have to leave something up to our imagination as well :) Nice work and good luck in uwol#3. __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

May 23rd, 2007, 11:55 PM	#11
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Andrew, to me a new "angle" to show wildlifestuff! Liked it very much though the ending was predictable. __________________ - Per Johan

May 24th, 2007, 12:18 AM	#12
Gabriel Yeager Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, NorthWest USA Posts: 788	Wow, you guys are really getting creative this time around! The color stuff was rather cool. And how you showed him(you) going to the place in the dream was cool. That tree was huge! Cool stuff. Keep up the good work! ~Gabriel __________________ Gabriel Photography

May 24th, 2007, 10:30 AM	#14
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Hi Andrew: As far as compression, if you haven't tried the software package Sorenson Squeeze and can afford $500 it is a MUST investment. Last challenge I had the same trouble, painstaking work trying to get the compression size acceptable and degrading all the hard work going into the film. Ken Diewert told me about the Sorenson Squeeze package and it changed everything! You can buy it as a download and is very easy to use. It is amazing. This challenge, my movie was set to all the highest standards and it squeezed it to 38 mb. I am now on a mission to tell everyone about this! Hope this helps! Your movie was fantastic and this compression software will make it that much better. Cat Last edited by Catherine Russell; May 25th, 2007 at 08:33 AM.

May 22nd, 2007, 08:21 PM	#2
Bruce Ellingwood Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Corona, Calif. Posts: 47	That was very cool. Loved the concept and the colors being pushed around for the surreal effect. Very nice.

May 22nd, 2007, 08:31 PM	#3
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Andrew.. Spooky feel. The .mov version was sure poorer in quality than the .wmv version. Cool film, in my opinion, with a lot of suspense. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 23rd, 2007, 01:45 AM	#5
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	Thanks for the feedback guys. I noticed there weren't a lot of dialogue based entries with UWOL2 (Not that mine has dialogue either, unless you count the whispers, but you need the sound turned up lots for those). It's hard to shoot great scenery and have a character driven story. I'm still downloading all the other films, so I'm yet to see what natural wonders await. Looking forward to watching them though.

May 23rd, 2007, 02:32 AM	#6
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	That was a great concept Andrew! I really like how you play with the colors and the sound. Well done.

May 23rd, 2007, 05:45 AM	#7
Mat Thompson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 1,397	Great stuff,Interesting concept, nice to see some variety come to uwol. Not sure about the 'pixelating' effect and I think the monster sounds at the end were a little over done....maybe less would have been more there. Nice stuff :)

May 23rd, 2007, 06:22 AM	#8
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	i try to resist commenting on the films while the judging is in progress, but you really got at the essence of the theme--that thing where we want to go straight into the teeth of "the wild" --the contradictory nature of it....beautiful, threatening, a little spooky, compelling...

May 23rd, 2007, 09:52 AM	#9
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	I like the way the film builds suspense in such a short time. The way you played with the colors was also neat, and enhanced the atmosphere. The ending was a classic, like a 1970s horror tv show. Enjoyed watching this one a lot.

May 23rd, 2007, 01:07 PM	#10
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Excellent job here. To make this a spooky thriller you could do nothing better. I thought this was really cool and special effects were stunning. It was great fun. I hope your film subject survives for UWOL4. Cat

May 24th, 2007, 09:35 AM	#13
Andrew Hood Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Latrobe Valley, Vic Posts: 320	Mat; I think you're referring to the bad compression when you say 'pixelation'. I tried a bunch of settings, and with Sorenson 3 it's the best I could get for the file size. Maybe there's something I'm missing in the settings, though any format that's compatible with older systems tends to be less efficient for size. I probably need a more mac (cross platform) compatible, decent quality version.

May 24th, 2007, 08:25 PM	#15
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Andrew, What a creative story. It is my top four of the group!!!! Extremely well done!! the wind noise was perfect for suspense. the end was the best. Well the breathing hole's end is just as good, both very similar. Thank you ever so much for making it!!! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen