Hi friends;

Well this one is ... different. Not much else to say! I was stumped with this topic and having it interesting. This was the only thing I could come up with and if it didn't work out, there was no plan B, in the shark tank I would go! I hope the "transformations" are obvious enough both in the background and foreground. It loses a bit in a small-size format since the focus is on clips that are less than full screen. Whether it's sun or snow, it's still springtime in the Colorado Rockies!

I'm excited to see what everyone else was able to come up with but I'm caught up in a few other things at the moment but hope to start reviewing soon.

Apologies this entry is in standard def... the brand new hd camera is shipped off for fixing with less than 6 minutes of filming on it! Blaaaa, so it goes.

Here's the link: http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge8/33_UC8_magichands.mov

Cat

Catherine, you keep surpricing us. I never know what to expect from you.
And I like what you produced this time too!!
Guess I have to go back to the books to read more about how to properly use AE, haha. That is impressive work you show us. Must have been quite a job to make those hands move like that?

Nice scenery you have there.
One detail: I wish the "screen in the middle" would have covered more of the screen. Now some of the video was a little hard to see. But still, very well done!!

Wow Cat,
Another surprise from you! It would seem that your creativity is endless! I have been busy downloading films tonight & watching them without even taking notice of who's films they were, & i had no idea this was yours until i recognised the farm. Seems like when i watch your films now it's like going to a place i been before, but each time, it's a different experience alltogether! Fantastic! Most people would look out into their backgarden (ok, in your case you seem to have a very large back garden!) but see the same thing day in day out. I can see you see things differently, that shows in your films!
I liked your "Magic hands" approach, but thought the coloured spinning thing was a bit too much, i would have liked to see just the hands working their magic, and maybe bringing the size of the picture up a bit more before going back into those magic hands.
Bummer about the camera though, i hope it is fixed for you for the next round.
Yet another great entry from you.

Bryce

Cat the creative !! It was certainly a interesting idea and doubled up of the tranformation theme. Technically at this viewing resolution it was difficult to see the slides and I'm sure it would be much better viewed at a higher resolution. Overall an interesting and truely 'Cat' piece...you keep uwol and intesting place for sure!

Unique! Original thinking right there.

Nice shots in there, but as has been said, the resolution limits of the challenge really hurt the video....
I think the hands could have moved all the way to the edge or even off screen and let your video expand more...

But still....Very creative stuff...

Bob T.

Dear Trond, Bryce, Mat and Bob:

You guys are being very kind in thoughts and words. I feel that this is not exemplary of the standards of UWOL and what you all have made it be. It's more of a, "out of the shark tank at least" caliber of clip.

I couldn't agree with the critiques more... each and every one. I hope some day, my creativity can come together with stunning cinematography to score a knock out contribution.

I am honored at the watch. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Cat

Cat,

What a creative work!!!!I would love to hear some specifics on how you accomplished this cool piece!!!

My only complaint is that I need to see it in high resolution so I can enlage the image to better see the footage!! Perhaps on could scale the hands down so the pictuer could be larger.

You have great creative talent, I am jealous.

I truly enjoyed your entry!!! unique!!!!

Hey Cat,
Your entries never fail to put a warm smile on my face. You know the saying that some dogs look like their owners (and vice versa)? I think we have an analogy in the UWOL world where "some films think like their creators". That must have taken some time matching all the motion points up, and it was well executed. Cat, have you ever thought about doing kid's programming? I think you could really suceed at it.

Cheers!

Rob

Hi Cat,

This was, as always from you, a fun film to watch. The magic hands were amazing- how did you do that? They worked so perfectly in their motion of shaping the footage, it was perfect timing. As others have said, it would have been nice to have the video a bit larger to see more clearly, but the whole piece worked together really well. Thanks for bringing your creative ideas to UWOL!


Ruth

Hi Dale, Rob and Ruth:

Thanks for the watch and the support! Like I mentioned before, I'm a bit insecure about this one and you guys are lifting me up, lots!

Rob, I never thought of kids programming.... the only kids I usually deal with are the 4 legged hoofed variety!

Sincerely,

Cat

Cat,

We can be our own worst critics, sometimes this should be a good thing but there are times when we should step back and see what others think.

With your entry you stepped into territory a lot of us haven't. To me the only "exemplary standards" of UWOL or any other mutually supportive venue is the standard of effort.

You did something quite unique here and it doesn't have to meet perfection standards to be highly creative and entertaining.

I liked the magic. Feel good about it, it is a very neat accomplishment.

Had lots of fun watching this one. The hands were very neat. With all these entries, I don't make my wife watch everything, but I do pick out a few that are neat for her to watch, and yours was on the list!

Cat,

Bruce said something here that I think warrants reinforcing!!!

The measure is the effort put into them, boy is not that the truth!!

Most of us are not professionals!!! measuring ourselves by professional standards is probably not the most encouraging light to look at ourselves.

I think most of us work pretty hard to turn out something reasonable.

I love this piece you produced!!

I still want to hear how you did the hand thing in particular!!!, actually the whole thing!!

I would have just shortened it up...as it is, it clocks in at 3:35, already past the limit, so off you go to the woodshed with Bruce and Dale! You folks are too experienced to be breaking the rules, a hideous punishment awaits you...

I think if you shaved a minute off, you would have a good film. I like the effect, it just erodes over time. The close-ups seem to work the best in the small frame, is that our friend Meaghan?

I like the juxtaposition of the magical with the mundane, the eggs in the nest, the rooster head, it reminds us of how magical the mundane actually is....

Meryem!

Let's talk rules! Am I wrong here? The movie lasts exactly 3 minutes, then the credits run after that. Is that not acceptable? I made certain that is how it ran. If I'm mistaken please let me know and I'll go back and review the rules. Never mind... I'll review the rules anyway!

Yes, it is our friend Meagan... my goodness, everyone is remembering my goats names! We are family by now are we not?

Since we are family, I will share are family's recent hardships... one fox, a single loan fox has systematically decimated our flock of chickens over the past 3 months. It is a traumatic and stressful time at our ranch. We have put in 9 foot fencing.... it walked through like water. t\his weekend electric fencing, live trapping go in. Two nights ago was the latest hit... 9 killed before we ran in on it. We are now down from 42 to 25 chickens (1 crippled and convalescing in my office). The chicken in this film may or may not still be alive, we had 3 which looked almost identical named Ruthie, Robin and Rose. Hope springs eternal though... we now have 16 beautiful baby chicks and 2 Chinese guard geese. Life is good.

Dale, Chris and Bruce, and Maryem:

Thanks for the kind words and support. Maryem, you too! Everyone could have come down really hard on this clip and have not. Thanks for good advice, critique and support.

Sincerely,

Cat

Another great entry from you Catherine.
I agree with those who say you should make childrens TV.
You have a great fantesy and I really think you have magic hands when it comes to making good stories in your uwol films.
Maybe the small uwol format dont make your film all justice this time.
But still, it's a good film :)

Wish you all the best.
Geir Inge

Cat, sorry to here about the fox problems. Sounds like a job for the killer duck. I grew up on a small farm and know it hurts to loose animals that way.

When are you starting AE lessons. Looks like we could all use some of your expertise.

My wife teaches fith grade and I know here students would love this one as much as I did.

By the way, your right about the credits not counting as part of the three minutes. I've used that rule myself.

Say hi to Meagan and Kill for me.

Cat,

Now that was different - and fun! Like others have said, I would like to see the middle screen at higher resolution, but the UWOL video size sorta restricts that.

Certainly looks like you had fun with After Effects. And you were lucky to get the contrasts with the snowy/not snowy views of the hills and farm there. We had the prospect of snow here, which had me rubbing my hands with glee with all sorts of ideas, but in the end it only lasted 5 minutes and didn't lie. Ah well!

And that goat at the end is just such a pleasant looking beastie. I want one!

An inspiring idea, which was no doubt quite difficult to attempt. I liked the fact that you varied the way the hands opened up the pictures. Was there no way to have the border shrink with the picture?

I agree that the close ups worked the best in this one. It's hard to shoot for 320x240 format, as everything is tiny when you finally get to watch it.


Very creative entry Cat, I enjoyed watching it.

I think it was from about the second round that I competed in that I said I love the way you do things.I think in full screen DVD quality this would be an amazing piece to watch.Every challenge you try something so unlike the time before,yet to everyone watching we all know that it could only have been your work.Keep pushing those limits Cat.

Hi Geir, Victor, Adrinn, John Dennis and Mike:

I am stunned at how gracious all have been! Thank you for the well wishes and kind words.

Hey everyone, I have thought of a fairly easy way (I think) to be able to bring things up full screen a bit more and I'm sorry it didn't occur to me before I entered this. Just for grins, I think I might rework it for that and post it for a candid review.

I appreciate you all so much.

Cat

Hi Cat (or perhaps I should say, "Neighbor")
I also really liked your piece and your creative way of presenting it. It seems that when you delve into the AE realm, a whole new world of possibility opens up. Really looking forward to seeing what's next from you!

I agree with what some of the others have mentioned - this could be great content for children's programming - not just the AE effects but kids (or some at least) love animals. I could imagine kids enjoying a weekly show which takes them on the tour of your farm, visiting the animals, watching them grow, go about their daily lives hatching eggs, bickering, and such.

Sorry to hear about the fox and your loss. We had chickens when I was a kid and I remember how devastating it was to lose one - well, I guess that's just like any other pet - they become part of the family. Hope the fox goes on his merry way.

Amelia

Hi Cat, Hands aside (and my speling is well, not the best) your short was wonderful, but the shots needed to be full screen in my (limited) opinion. It was hard to make out details, but I think the concept and footage was good.

Best regards,

Oliver

Hello Cat

Facinating film,a bit different art from your oder film.
like your unike film,nice work.



VJV.



_____________

Cat, every movie you make is a surprise. This one must have been quite an effort to make.
I agree with what have been said before, but if you are reworking it I have a few suggestions:
- the border around the inset is distracting because of the changing colors. Maybe a static border or no border at all would be better?
- Sometimes there is a jump in the hands as if you cut a too long sequence. Did you try to add a dissolve transition to attenuate the jump?

I hope the chickens will be fine now and quickly grow. That is the most important!

Well Cat - as usual you have put together another entertaining movie. (I must say the movies that have been presented this time to avoid the shark tank are quite incredible - all done on a shoe string so to speak and yet so interesting to watch.)

I am not going to re-iterate what others have already said - just that it was fun and I liked the music you selected to complement your visuals.

I am sorry to hear about the demise of so many chickens Cat - looks like things have been going a bit wrong out there at the Screaming Baby Ranch. I do hope that you will resolve the problem before any more are lost.

Look forward to seeing what you have in store for us next time round - hopefully your new camera will be repaired and ready to use by then.