DVC12 - Pigmenting the Woods

Jeremy Doyle · March 9th, 2008, 08:34 PM

I shot this with an HV20. I haven't really used this camera before so I was learning as I went. The biggest issue I had that I didn't notice until I captured the footage was a slight vignetting from the polarizing filter that I had on. It was a 37mm filter so I had to use a step down adapter and the vignette wasn't visible in the LCD screen. I thought about throwing a vignette on the whole thing and calling it art, but I'm already pretty deep in the "art" with this short the way it is.

Pretty much it's a commentary on what is missed with city life and the awakening process once placed in nature.

Jesse Steele · March 10th, 2008, 05:51 PM

Jeremy that was beautiful

amazing cinematography and flow to everything! Very artsy. I liked it alot.

I live in the country as well I completely understand where your coming from.

My only advice would be to end it with some even more extremely vibrant colors to contrast the beginnings black and white. something like red and green moss or even a fiery sunset.

Beautiful piece
Best of luck

Jeremy Doyle · March 11th, 2008, 08:06 AM

Yes I agree that it needs a stronger ending shot. I like the idea of a fiery sunset, that would really add punch. I'm going to have to shoot that and reedit.

The reason I ended on the last shot was the solitary tree in the field which signifies one connecting with nature. I don't think it works the way I was hoping though because I didn't make it stand out enough. Maybe a shallower depth of field would have worked better, but I don't think the camera would have been capable of that without an adapter.

I think it probably would have been stronger as well if I could have spent the whole day shooting so I could have gotten more of the early morning and early evening shadows for a more dramatic look than just the midday stuff that I shot.

Lorinda Norton · March 11th, 2008, 01:00 PM

Jeremy, you worked well with what you had at your disposal. Late winter can have its own kind of charm. I enjoyed the peacefulness of your movie and am really glad you submitted this for us.

Even though there wasn’t anything to follow, I wonder if panning across the landscape every once in a while would have looked nice. Except for the occasional fluttering of grasses, weeds and leaves it could have almost been a photo montage. Just something to consider. I loved the composition on your last shot. I also appreciated the almost imperceptible changes you made in the coloring.

Thanks so much for slowing me down for a couple minutes of quiet music and pretty images.

Jeremy Doyle · March 11th, 2008, 02:19 PM

I would have loved to pan across the landscape, but I have a crappy tripod so there is pretty much no way I could have done it well.

Robert Martens · March 11th, 2008, 02:30 PM

Oh, man, am I stupid. Until I just went back to Youtube and scrubbed through the video quickly, I didn't see that the colors get more and more saturated as you go. "Pigmenting the Woods", what am I, an idiot?

I don't think I would have gotten a sense of 'city', unfortunately, without reading your explanation here. I understand what you mean, and did feel the whole 'at one with nature' thing while watching, I just wouldn't have connected it with an escape from urban life. I also agree that footage taken later in the day may have helped, especially that last tree, which as you say kind of blends in with the background. If the sun were in a different place, some shadows might have made it pop out a bit. It still looks good, though, the way it's framed, and in such sharp detail, so it's a minor complaint, at most.

Your shallow field stuff is beautifully pulled off, you did that with no adapter? What kind of distance and aperture are we talking about here? Well chosen shots, whatever you did. I also liked the music; wouldn't have expected that from a library piece. Goes to show how little stock music experience I have, though, because it strings the shots together very well, makes it nice and cool, smooth, and easygoing, while still getting a sprinkle of punch and drama toward the end.

Jeremy Doyle · March 11th, 2008, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Martens

Your shallow field stuff is beautifully pulled off, you did that with no adapter? What kind of distance and aperture are we talking about here?

Mostly aperture of 5.6 believe it or not. Lots of full zoom from about 5 feet away. My favorite shot is the second from last. It's pretty lost in the youtube version, but I actually get a pretty good focal roll down the line of grass. You can see a little shake in the shot because of how you pull focus on the hv20 and my crappy tripod, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much depth I was able to get. I also think the heat coming off the snow is gorgeous. It can only be seen in a couple of the shots however. And not very good on the web versions. But when I was watching it back on a plasma screen I was really astonished by it.

Hugh DiMauro · March 12th, 2008, 10:31 PM

Beautiful music. Beautiful images. The gradual vibrance and color saturation was timed and built nicely. I actually went into a slight meditative state while watching. Movies don't usually do that to me.

Except yours. Thank you for this peaceful, calming beautiful movie.

Bruce Broussard · March 13th, 2008, 05:12 AM

I loved the concept on this one. You really pulled it off well. I concur on the comments of the cinematography and music. I worked together well. It actually made me feel peaceful (at least for two minutes). Thanks for a great piece.

Joseph Tran · March 13th, 2008, 11:52 AM

Great piece, Jeremy! You frame your shots very well. It's amazing -- I could never see what you see with your nature shots. Have you been doing this long?

Love your depth of field shots too. I'd also like to see a rack focus shot somewhere in there at some point, or maybe a slow panning shot? It would give some variety between shots, and maybe give the audience a wider look within a close-up picture... to see both the forest as well as the trees, my mentor would say.

A very enjoyable piece. I'd love to see more. Cheers.

Dick Mays · March 15th, 2008, 05:59 AM

Very beautiful. You should enter the UWOL challenge. I like this more than some previous UWOL winners.

Josh Chesarek · March 15th, 2008, 05:36 PM

Man, head for UWOL you have a gift! I really enjoyed the look of this film and how well it flowed. It was extremely relaxing and very beautiful.

March 9th, 2008, 08:34 PM	#1
Jeremy Doyle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 287	DVC12 - Pigmenting the Woods - Jeremy Doyle I shot this with an HV20. I haven't really used this camera before so I was learning as I went. The biggest issue I had that I didn't notice until I captured the footage was a slight vignetting from the polarizing filter that I had on. It was a 37mm filter so I had to use a step down adapter and the vignette wasn't visible in the LCD screen. I thought about throwing a vignette on the whole thing and calling it art, but I'm already pretty deep in the "art" with this short the way it is. Pretty much it's a commentary on what is missed with city life and the awakening process once placed in nature.

March 10th, 2008, 05:51 PM	#2
Jesse Steele Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Irvine CA Posts: 98	Jeremy that was beautiful amazing cinematography and flow to everything! Very artsy. I liked it alot. I live in the country as well I completely understand where your coming from. My only advice would be to end it with some even more extremely vibrant colors to contrast the beginnings black and white. something like red and green moss or even a fiery sunset. Beautiful piece Best of luck __________________ I like movies.....

March 11th, 2008, 01:00 PM	#4
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Jeremy, you worked well with what you had at your disposal. Late winter can have its own kind of charm. I enjoyed the peacefulness of your movie and am really glad you submitted this for us. Even though there wasn’t anything to follow, I wonder if panning across the landscape every once in a while would have looked nice. Except for the occasional fluttering of grasses, weeds and leaves it could have almost been a photo montage. Just something to consider. I loved the composition on your last shot. I also appreciated the almost imperceptible changes you made in the coloring. Thanks so much for slowing me down for a couple minutes of quiet music and pretty images. __________________ Lorinda

March 12th, 2008, 10:31 PM	#8
Hugh DiMauro Trustee Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Central Florida Posts: 1,205	Beautiful music. Beautiful images. The gradual vibrance and color saturation was timed and built nicely. I actually went into a slight meditative state while watching. Movies don't usually do that to me. Except yours. Thank you for this peaceful, calming beautiful movie. __________________ Interesting, if true. And interesting anyway.

March 11th, 2008, 08:06 AM	#3
Jeremy Doyle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 287	Yes I agree that it needs a stronger ending shot. I like the idea of a fiery sunset, that would really add punch. I'm going to have to shoot that and reedit. The reason I ended on the last shot was the solitary tree in the field which signifies one connecting with nature. I don't think it works the way I was hoping though because I didn't make it stand out enough. Maybe a shallower depth of field would have worked better, but I don't think the camera would have been capable of that without an adapter. I think it probably would have been stronger as well if I could have spent the whole day shooting so I could have gotten more of the early morning and early evening shadows for a more dramatic look than just the midday stuff that I shot.

March 11th, 2008, 02:19 PM	#5
Jeremy Doyle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 287	I would have loved to pan across the landscape, but I have a crappy tripod so there is pretty much no way I could have done it well.

March 11th, 2008, 02:30 PM	#6
Robert Martens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 820	Oh, man, am I stupid. Until I just went back to Youtube and scrubbed through the video quickly, I didn't see that the colors get more and more saturated as you go. "Pigmenting the Woods", what am I, an idiot? I don't think I would have gotten a sense of 'city', unfortunately, without reading your explanation here. I understand what you mean, and did feel the whole 'at one with nature' thing while watching, I just wouldn't have connected it with an escape from urban life. I also agree that footage taken later in the day may have helped, especially that last tree, which as you say kind of blends in with the background. If the sun were in a different place, some shadows might have made it pop out a bit. It still looks good, though, the way it's framed, and in such sharp detail, so it's a minor complaint, at most. Your shallow field stuff is beautifully pulled off, you did that with no adapter? What kind of distance and aperture are we talking about here? Well chosen shots, whatever you did. I also liked the music; wouldn't have expected that from a library piece. Goes to show how little stock music experience I have, though, because it strings the shots together very well, makes it nice and cool, smooth, and easygoing, while still getting a sprinkle of punch and drama toward the end.

March 13th, 2008, 05:12 AM	#9
Bruce Broussard Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 132	I loved the concept on this one. You really pulled it off well. I concur on the comments of the cinematography and music. I worked together well. It actually made me feel peaceful (at least for two minutes). Thanks for a great piece.

March 13th, 2008, 11:52 AM	#10
Joseph Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 177	Great piece, Jeremy! You frame your shots very well. It's amazing -- I could never see what you see with your nature shots. Have you been doing this long? Love your depth of field shots too. I'd also like to see a rack focus shot somewhere in there at some point, or maybe a slow panning shot? It would give some variety between shots, and maybe give the audience a wider look within a close-up picture... to see both the forest as well as the trees, my mentor would say. A very enjoyable piece. I'd love to see more. Cheers.

March 15th, 2008, 05:59 AM	#11
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	Very beautiful. You should enter the UWOL challenge. I like this more than some previous UWOL winners.

March 15th, 2008, 05:36 PM	#12
Josh Chesarek Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 978	Man, head for UWOL you have a gift! I really enjoyed the look of this film and how well it flowed. It was extremely relaxing and very beautiful.