UWOL #5 Barnyard Beat by Catherine Russell

[Ruth Happel]

Hi Cat,

I liked the raw energy of this video. It felt a lot like a music video, with music cutting to the beat of the action. Admittedly, the video stars of your film were a bit different.... but that's why it's UWOL and not MTV :)

This was fun to watch, and the effects were really great to add life to the barnyard. Great job.



Ruth

[Catherine Russell]

There you guys are! I've been looking forward to your comments and I appreciate them so very much!

Mat: Comments well taken friend. I didn't like the scary music in the transition from part 1 to part 2 either, but it was how the music clip started and I didn't think to not use it and start in a bit further in.

Now finding meaning between the two parts was actually something that didn't occur to me (can you believe it?), because there is no meaning! It's purpose was simply to lull the viewer into thinking that is was going to be a sentimental, slower piece and then throwing them for a jolt. That's it. But several of you are looking for more of a connection than that which, why wouldn't you? So I'll have to think on this one. Maybe it's not possible to keep people from reasoning out our films ;).

And thanks, if when all was said and done and you thought the viewing was fun and creative, then that's a lot to hope for!

Gordon: You've convinced me! I've got to do a follow-up global trek for uwol 2 next year ;). And finally, someone alludes to that wobbly pan... I was beginning to wonder if there was a collective decision to go really easy on me! If you see improvements in my films, that's a compliment! Thank you.

Hi Ruth: I always look forward to your comments. I think "raw energy" is how I would have hoped someone would described this clip. It was what I said in my opening comments, the challenge I set before myself this time around was to take shots of lazy end of summer days and edit them to somehow look exciting and interesting to watch. Thanks for confirming the intent of this clip!

Regards to all,

Cato

[Geir Inge]

Hi Catherine.
Well we both picked or location at a farm/barn or what ever we call it :)
Yours are great!
You have such great skills in editing and composing your various shots to a complete film. For this I admire your work very much. Also your skills with effects, though I'm not a big fan of using too much I think you're doing fine.
In this one maybe to many of those going into drawings like clips.
But it fit the music, by the way your choice of music is just fine :)
Goats are very nice animals and maybe my favorite shot is at the end where the goat is poping up, that was neat. The goats got beautiful ears and it shows well in your uwol#5 film :)
At last I have to mention you location a bit more, as I think it's fine and picturesque.

Wish you all the best.
Geir Inge

[Catherine Russell]

Hi Geir:

There is something about the Norwegians that contribute so much to the uwol experience. You have talent, picturesque locations to film, and on top of all of that, you are generous with kindness and sense of humor. Thank you for dedicating so much time to your comments.... I know you have been busy with things! You critique is fully appreciated.

All the best to you this round.... you have a winning film in the running!

Cat

[Bruce Foreman]

First off, very well done. Camera work and editing with freeze frames and solarized effect timed to the music's beat was so well done I had to watch this one several times.

You did something very different and quite challenging, you "pushed the envelope" a lot here and what you did with the music, editing and effects took an inordinate amount of skill.

So what follows is NOT to be taken as a criticism but merely something to consider.

The music and visuals in the intro worked together very smoothly and you put that together very well, too.

Then the transition to the high energy music. I don't know what the title of that "track" is in the Music Bakery library but in the Smartsound library it is titled "Samurai".

It would be fairly good scoring two Samurai facing off in individual combat, circling with precise footwork, balance, form and movement with occasional passes involving flashing swords. This track has a definite mystery like Oriental nature in the intro passages and moves into the very percussive, combative assault of the drums. That part of it is very definitely Japanese, hard driving and with a lot of tension that would accentuate the slow appearing, very stylized and precise positioning prior to actual "attack" in Japanese fencing.

I don't know what other music I would suggest and what you did was done so well and skillfully I do not want this to be taken as criticism. I may be one of very few who "see" this music as I have described above.

As a side note, I have a film I started over 44 years ago on 8mm. A short story out of Japanese legend, I never did much with it because the only audio available for that film format was magnetic stripe on the film and it was so poor I put the whole project aside.

A few years ago I had it digitized on tape and re-edited it, narrated with voice over (the actors spoke their lines in Japanese anyway) and scored it with Smartsound. I need to try this "Samurai" track to score the final sword fight and see if that works better than the track I used.

[Catherine Russell]

Bruce:

I'm taken by your comments. I see you as a no nonsense film expert that does not flatter but gives honest critique when it warrants it. I don't recall you commenting on my other films so I know this is a sincere honor. The Music Bakery Library names this track Samurai (on the CD entitled Geographical), as does Smart Sound, so you must have the same version.

Actually filming two Samurai warriors as you described is something way beyond my knowledge and understanding of the art/discipline of Japanese Samurai, but I certainly see you doing something like that. I am deeply honored to have this clip critiqued by someone who was doing film 44 years ago. I hope this music selection and clip has inspired you to rethink that film and bring it to a final product.

Thank you again for these words. I know I had to earn them, and in that I am walking away a winner.

Cat

[Dale Guthormsen]

I very much enjoyedm your barnyard beats. the music was alright by me and did not seem off.
The chicken was great and the birds did not take away from the theme.

Nicely done!!

I liked the way you edited it too.

[Bruce Foreman]

Originally Posted by Catherine Russell

Bruce:

I'm taken by your comments. I see you as a no nonsense film expert that does not flatter but gives honest critique when it warrants it.

Gosh, Cat. I didn't mean to be taken so seriously. No I'm not a film expert, kind of a late comer hobbyist to all this.

Last nights reply got deleted somehow, so I'll try again. If you re-read my comments, you should see that I feel you did some amazing things with your efforts.

I used terms like "pushed the envelope" (a flying term describing taking something to the limit) and use of "inordinate amount of skill". And I did state that my comments were NOT criticism in any way, but I did have some insight into that track of music.

I don't know, part of it may very well be my disappointment in that track when I ordered the disc it was one selection on because I had hoped from the title and the short few seconds you can preview on smartsound.com that it might have been of use in re-scoring that old 8mm film I made in Japan.

So there may be a subconscious "prejudice" on my part at work here.

But I did state in my original comments that I may very well be one of VERY FEW who might see it that way.

A good part of any insight (can't call it expertise) I have concerning that music track comes from the time I spent as a "fan" of Japanese period cinema and being aware of their use of music in films from "Rashomon", "The Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo" to more modern collaborative efforts like "The Last Sumurai".

The music scoring the older films sounds very foreign to our ears while the music in "The Last Samurai" is vastly different, but none of it is as "percussive" as that Music Bakery, SmartSound "Samurai" track.

Originally Posted by Catherine Russell

I don't recall you commenting on my other films so I know this is a sincere honor.

Any sincere honor lies in the positive comments made. I should probably have left the music thing alone except I may have also meant it to be read by others who incorrectly described it as "horror".

Originally Posted by Catherine Russell

Actually filming two Samurai warriors as you described is something way beyond my knowledge and understanding of the art/discipline of Japanese Samurai, but I certainly see you doing something like that. I am deeply honored to have this clip critiqued by someone who was doing film 44 years ago. I hope this music selection and clip has inspired you to rethink that film and bring it to a final product.

I was stationed at Yokota AB near Tokyo. This film was my first attempt at anything serious, I found a short story out of legend, a few "buddies" felt it would be a lark to try, we contacted some Japanese students who put us in touch with some from the Waseda University Drama Arts Circle.

They went for it and literally took over. Script, casting, costumes and swords rented from Toho Studios, location scouting, directing etc. I was literally "relegated" to running the camera.

8mm film "sucks green canal water" by today's standards and while it came out OK in some respects the format left no audio options until now. Image is very soft. Send me a mailing address by private email and I'll send you a copy on DVD for your amusement and comments/CRITIQUE if you would like.

As far as rescoring it, I may have better music available now and maybe even something that would work with that "Samurai" track without clashing with other sequences. If I do, I'll send you a copy of that when done so you can give me YOUR opinion.

Fair 'nuff?

Originally Posted by Catherine Russell

Thank you again for these words. I know I had to earn them, and in that I am walking away a winner.

Cat

Uh uh. You walk away a winner on the merits of what you accomplished in your entry. The truth be known you are far more likely to be judged a winner than me in this round.

Were I judging I would pick your entry over mine. Skill applied is far more evident.

Bruce

[Catherine Russell]

Hey Bruce!

Fair 'nuff.... I'll send you my mailing address in an email and I'd love to check out anything you feel like sending.

And thanks again for your words about this clip! To be honest, I don't think others were as impressed as you were... but that's the fun of it all! Different clips move different people in different ways, that's the great thing about this competition. I read it in other people's comments on other films, you can tell when someone is really moved by a particular work and it really gets the dialog going between the two. You know by experience that this type of editing was tricky, and understand the level of work it might take to pull it off. And believe me, I almost didn't. Like I said in my opening comments, this was a mess up until the end! Perhaps others who haven't done this in their films don't get a sense of what's involved. And of course the same goes with me in fully comprehending what everyone else had to do to pull off their movies. It's the fun in the sport ;-).

I certainly agree with you that this music is not horror music material!

All the best Bruce!

Cat