Judging Review Thread

[Catherine Russell]

Hey guys:

I can't tell you how excited I am to be back with all of you here at UWOL, not behind the camera but in front of the screen! Congratulations to all of you who put up a UWOL 45 and thanks always Trond for keeping UWOL alive and well.

Now I thought we would try something new, so while we are waiting for the films, you can pile on if you want and let me know if you like this idea.

As you are used to, review and comment at will on everyone's individual thread. I think this is the best part about UWOL: giving to and getting critical feedback from fellow submitters.

While you guys are doing this, I will also be reviewing your films and writing a slightly more formal review in the three areas: creativity/originality, addressing the theme and technical achievement. I won't do this on your individual threads however. I will post all of your reviews at the same time here on this thread, when it seems you are wrapping up your own comments on the individual threads.

I thought a Judging Review Thread might be fun because it lends itself to being an open community center for further constructive dialog. I would like for my reviews to be open to the group and give you all the opportunity to agree or disagree with what I have said. As judge, I could still be swayed by your arguments before picking the winners! :). Doing all this on a single community thread feels more inclusive and less isolating to me. What do you think?

After the reviews are up on this thread and the discussions have wound down, I will post the winners on a new thread. Of course that's the most difficult part for me, because you are all winners. Shooting and editing a wildlife film is no simple task. It takes perseverance and grit.

I know you have worked hard on your entry. I will work hard in reviewing them. This is all in fun, but I take this position very seriously. I am here to celebrate your creations. I am here to champion your efforts and to reinforce the significant mark you are making on wildlife filmmaking, individually and as the UWOL group.

This is UWOL 45. That in itself is a great achievement.

Looking forward to it!

Cat

[Bob Safay]

Cat, it is so good to have you back with us. Bob

[Bryce Comer]

Agreed, sounds like fun!

[Per Johan Naesje]

Cat, endorse your suggestion
This will be fun!

[Vishal Jadhav]

It would be wonderful to see the reviews at one place, it gives a chance to understand the feedback better and also on the same ground.
I may not put a argument over the review at all, simply because we as filmmakers have a undue bias to our creation so if the perspective of the viewer/reviewer is not the same as us it may only mean that i was not efficient in conveying the idea as i intended .

This would be great

[Catherine Russell]

Splendid! I'm so glad you like this idea. Per, we go way back and it's great to connect again friend! Bob, Bryce and Vishal I am thrilled you are in this round. It really is good to be here.

While Trond is working on the hold up, I'd like to continue to get reacquainted a bit to find out more about what you think you want out of this round of UWOL. A couple of thoughts:

1. Vishal, you are a man of integrity and I like that :) But here is where the Judging Review Thread opportunity to give feedback to the judge can be a fun dialog. Knowing that we all have our biases and we each see the world through different lenses (ha! no pun intended), a discussion of what you thought you were portraying and how I received it as a viewer (biases and all) is a fantastic opening for ideas from everyone on the different ways you could achieve your intent. It also gives me the opportunity as a reviewer to see something differently. We both grow because you have broadened my perspective and the group has fed you with more tools in your toolbox the next round. Just for argument sake, let's say in your film you shook the camera to add drama and thrill to your wildlife film. Me as a reviewer may not think outside the box and I think, wow shaky camera there, bad technique. So on the review thread you can share your heart on how you think this intentional camera shake really adds to what you are trying to portray, and you give me an opportunity to see it with fresh eyes. We can all discuss new ideas on how you could achieve the same goal (drama) other than using the camera shake. We might all end up agreeing that the camera shake was the only way to infuse drama in your film. Or you might walk away with a couple of different ideas such as a color shift, like from color to black and white to add intensity without the camera shake. It's all food for thought. This is why you submit your work to UWOL, to share your achievements and to grow. Me in the judge position have every opportunity to grow too and I'd rather grow before I select winners than after. This will be fun!

2. What happened to the shark tank???? Now it is my personal opinion that UWOL has gotten a little flabby around the edges! ;-). Personally, I think if one throws their hat in the ring to submit a film and can't get one in for whatever reason, a good proper dunking is in order. It's scary swimming with the sharks, the water is cold and dark, and it just might keep one from not following through with their obligation the next time around. Submitters have a duty to this forum. UWOL is a platform to be respected at all times. I would also love to see comments on both individual threads and the Judging Review Thread from those who wanted to get something in but didn't. You are welcome to still be engaged. The sharks are scary but they don't eat you up!

3. Judging in years past had to be less personalized because of the sheer number of submitters, but this isn't the case this round so let's take advantage of that. Way back when I was taken aback when I discovered that only a handful of films out of the entire group went to the judge for final review (understandably because it was too much to ask a judge to review 26+ films), and I seem to recall once a judge picked winners without giving a reason. As I understand it, UWOL 45 has 6 films submitted which is very doable to intimately critique, discuss and celebrate what you have done!

Feedback welcome! This is your forum. Make it what you want. I am here to serve you. We are all in this together! :)

Cat

[Catherine Russell]

UWOL 45 Judging Feedback
Catherine Russell

Note to UWOL 45ers: As judge, I refrained from reading your feedback threads to maintain integrity in my own impressions of your films and not be swayed by other opinions before writing your reviews. These reviews are points open for discussion. I value your thoughts and feedback and I hope that I potentially threw out a suggestion here and there that kindled a flame for next time. Congrats to all submitters! I will consider your comments before posting the winners.

I am unable to post all reviews in one comment thread for it exceeds the word limit. Each review will thus follow separately in its own post after this.

The review posts are in the order I watched the films, nothing else.

Thank you!

Cat

[Catherine Russell]

Dance of the Starlings by Vishal Jadhav

Overall
Vishal, you have submitted an absolute delight in your film, Dance of the Starlings. You have beautifully captured the magnificent exhibition of murmuration with great technical and cinematic skill, an outstanding achievement. I am impressed that you revisited this place not twice, but four times to fully explore this phenomenon, and bring us the viewer a diverse montage to feast from and delight in. I also recognize your efforts to creatively coordinate these amazing flight patterns to music in order to round out your film. I have a few suggestions concerning this in the discussion points below. Stopping the footage at various points along the way profiles your skill as a videographer with lighting, filters and technical use of your camera. Nice Vishal! The murmuration phenomenon astounds me. You brought us a feast!

Discussion Points

Fit to Theme: Call of the Wild: Well done.

Technical Achievement: Very good.

Creative Style: Here we get into personal preferences with take or leave discussion points only.

General: I liked how you timed flight patterns with music, but too many switch ups can become distracting and sometimes confusing when there is a music change with only 6 seconds between changes, ex. at the time 1:40 min and again at 1:46 min. I suggest you consider using only two different music selections or better yet sleuth out one piece of music that has natural transitions in it and sync your footage to that. This will present the changing dynamic of flight more seamlessly for the viewer. The sporadic use of bird audio was excellently crafted and enhanced your video dramatically. How about considering incorporating voiceover instead of relying on text only next time. You can do it!

Detailed:

1. At 1 second: The abrupt image change at 1 second is a bit of a jolt for a viewer settling in to watch your video. However, this could work since it cuts with the music if you continue the pattern of cutting with the music at 3 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, (or a combination of these timings), so the viewer catches on to your image pattern that syncs to the music. But you don’t follow a pattern here and so the abrupt image change at 1 second looks like it may have been an oversight.
2. I like your font choice and color, clean and legible. Narration could also go well as a replacement for the text because it would free up the viewer to watch your fantastic footage and not have it compete with obliging a viewer to focus on reading text. This being said, your text works because it isn’t much and short and to the point.
3. At 11 sec: The Rosy Starling that weighs down the stock blade in the foreground is fun!
4. Cut footage at 24 seconds is very adept. I would not have thought to do something like that but you did and it works great!
5. At 50 sec: Personally, I wouldn’t show the 1-second zoom to the birds in flight, but just cut to the zoomed in birds of flight. The 1-second shot of the sunset before your intended target is distracting.
6. At 55 sec: Interesting transition. Did it serve your intended purpose? Let’s discuss!
7. At 1:04 min: The murmuration with the red ball sunset can’t be beat.
8. But then the murmuration footage just keeps getting more impressive!
9. At 1:23, 1:40, 1:46: These are all a bit jarring music changes though I understand your intention to creatively match flight patterns to the music. The music around 2:20 min almost sounds like a faint secondary music track is simultaneously playing?
10. At 2:36 min: If you really want to be tight with the music, the music changes at 2:36, the video changes at 2:37, make both changes at the same time. Even a 1-second adjustment can make it seem more polished.
11. At 3:29 min: Bird audio and transition is superb. The bird audio could come in simultaneously with the video footage at 3:29 not the 1-second before.

[Catherine Russell]

They Come Calling by Gordon Hoffman

Gordon, you have crafted a solid submission in They Come Calling that has all the earmarks of a good wildlife film: you introduce the scene, you weave a story, you direct the mood of what the viewer is watching while masterfully putting forward the cast of characters in your narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was “easy listening” for me, and fun to watch. You achieved here what is so difficult to achieve in wildlife filming: capturing your subjects in a way that tell their story. You made their collective story real. I could see the progression of survival difficulty from the geese having good feeding grounds in the fall, to the added difficulty in navigating crusted snow for the deer, to finding safe haven in the hay yards, first for one, then for many! This is really well done! Congratulations also on your editing of this video. I thought opening with just the call of the geese in flight, then transitioning to your narrative, then bringing in your music choice that set the tone of the entire piece, all combined to be quite gratifying and very well done. Nice achievement Gordon, I’m very happy for you!

Discussion Points

Fit to Theme: Call of the Wild: Well done: clever title name to play on the theme and tie it to the story.

Technical Achievement: Very good. Occasionally, optic shimmer distortion detracted from your footage.

Creative Style: Here we get into personal preferences with take or leave discussion points only.

General: You did a great job presenting us with a seasonal wildlife story about the wildlife thriving/surviving in your neck of the woods. It was delightful and easy to watch. For me, “easy to watch” suggests you are doing a lot of things technically right to seamlessly and naturally unfold your story while the viewer is gently carried from beginning to end. You incorporated audio well, and your music choice was effective because it enforced the notion that this was not going to be a dire survival story, but a story that reassures us that, hey, this is tough but this is normal and spring will come again and these guys no how to survive through the winter. Survival is the call of the wild. It would be nice to round it out a bit more with additional footage, even winter scenery of your area so we can feast on the panoramic beauty of Canada where you live. Panoramic shots are a nice break to the narrative and also the close focus of the subject matter and story. The shimmer in some of the footage was distracting but the overall production is exceptionally put together and a great entry for UWOL 45. Very well done!

Detailed:

1. Beautiful colors in the opening shots and nice choice of title font and color. The wind farm is really cool and unexpected.
2. 7 sec: I’m a stickler for matching audio with visual. The geese call comes in at 7 sec, the visual of the geese cuts in at 8 sec. I would have geese and audio of the geese cut in at the same time, at 8 sec.
3. Stunning geese footage, just beautiful!
4. 45 sec: You inform us that Geese can travel greater distances than other local birds to find food. It would have been informative to know how far they do travel and still remain local compared to the other local birds in the area. When stating a fact, it’s nice to have the detail to back it up.
5. 58 sec: Nice way to introduce the music, and a great choice.
6. 1:47 min: I don’t know how the word gets out either, but this is the gem of your story!
7. 2:06 min: I found the buck on the right, seen as only a headshot from your vantage was actually amusing.
8. 2:22 min: Great timing title with music, you are a man after my own heart Gordon! ☺
9. A seamless end to the end of the music. It’s the whole package.

[Catherine Russell]

Winter into the Forest by Per Johan Naesje

Per Johan, it is an absolute pleasure to watch your masterful wildlife filmmaking again. This film makes me feel like I am suspended in air, floating in time and space. I’m captivated as you build drama and suspense while drawing me deeper into your winter forest. It’s like being in a dream. It is a masterful thing to be able to instantly hook the viewer and catapult them into an alter world before the first second has fully passed to the second. This is an outstanding achievement. Your technical adeptness with camera, lens, equipment and processing elevate great footage to something surreal and magical. It’s almost laughable to think that you in real life were contending with jets flying overhead and disruptions of this nature. There was absolutely no way to discern these frustrations in your final piece. Shooting at 59.94p and slowing down audio and video to 29.97p, lenses that bring sharp foreground focus simultaneously with amazingly soft-focused colored backgrounds, stunning saturated colors to wow and mesmerize and moving panoramic shots of the forest in the beginning all combine to reveal a stunningly beautiful and wild world. Your perseverance pays off. This is your reward for long hours sitting in the cold behind blinds waiting for these glorious shots. Well done Per! What a joy and talent you are!

Discussion Points

Fit to Theme: Call of the Wild: Well done.

Technical Achievement: Extremely good.

Creative Style: Here we get into personal preferences with take or leave discussion points only.

General: As expounded on above, Per’s technical achievements bring drama and mastery, beauty and suspense to a real wildlife story. His music selection and the many tools he brings to the table combine to create a stunning drama in a Narnia-type world.

Details:

1. 2:27 min: Optionally, there could be a music shift if you were so inclined here because the music naturally is faded to almost nothing and there is a theme shift in both narration and video from dark danger to sunshine and good times. If there were to be a music shift, it would still need to be magical and mysterious but warmer and less coolly dramatic.
2. 3:40 min: I thought the ending with the diagonal upward pan from the squirrel to the trees to end your film was very elegant and well crafted. Beginnings and endings are just as important as the middle, and I believe both were well executed here.

[Catherine Russell]

Following the Call of the Wild by Bob Safay

Overall: Bob, I’ve been holding out for an entry that was well crafted, beautifully shot, comprising great content, but also educational. You delivered. Following the Call of the Wild is one of your finest, delivered in your classic Bob Safay style: speaking educational truths in that deep, smooth voiceover while delighting us with beautiful images of sanctuary wildlife. Your films are always entertaining, enlightening and peaceful. I think your style of editing, fitting words to video rather than video to words lends to a “never in a hurry” feel to your work, and it never disappoints me. Your love for wildlife and the places you visit that feed your soul, you openly hold out to your viewers, inviting us to tag along and share in the marvel of these wild places at your side. I am often surprised at how easy it is to learn from your films, for it’s never work absorbing your stated facts when lost in the spectacle of your story telling. This is outstanding and beautifully done.

Discussion Points

Fit to Theme: Call of the Wild: Well done. Nice job relating space exploration as our call of the wild to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and its call of the wild.

Technical Achievement: Very good.

Creative Style: Here we get into personal preferences with take or leave discussion points only.

General: Your films have developed a classic Bob Safay signature: educational wildlife filming crafted into a tranquil, enjoyable story. Production is expertly executed in Following the Call of the Wild introducing us to and educating us in Merritt Island and its Wildlife Refuge. You are adept at crafting your story, featuring wildlife audio to full effect, using music only at specific junctures to shift focus onto a different theme and not be afraid to include the human element if it happens to be truthfully part of the narrative. So what’s next? Educational film is your signature piece. Are you ready to take the plunge and try something completely different next time? Eh?

Details:

1. 16 sec: Nice transition, cool effect.
2. 19 – 25 sec: One possible alternative to filming out of a moving vehicle where it is nearly impossible to have stable footage is instead to introduce a cool 3-D orientation map that shows where you are in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and also where Merritt Island is in relation to Florida, along with stills of the footage you are showing here at this time.
3. 25 sec on: Now the delight begins with amazing wildlife footage that feasts the senses.
4. 52 sec: I can’t help but laugh at some of the bird calls that sound life bathtub squeaky toys ☺.
5. 2:38 min: Introducing music just for this section is well placed and effective.
6. 3:00 min: You inform us that the rocket launch was the space shuttle Endeavor you filmed in April of 2001 in your thread, but left us wondering what rocket launch it was in your film. Maybe adding text in the lower right to inform us what we are watching would be a nice compromise to feed our curiosity with facts but not bring attention to using older footage by highlighting the information in the narrative.
7. 3:30 min: Great way to tie it all together Bob weaving the sky/space medium and the call of the wild for birds and astronauts alike. Kudos and superbly done!

[Catherine Russell]

Escape by Bryce Comer

Overall: Bryce, I am impressed with many aspects of Escape both behind the scenes during production as well as behind the camera. You lost your voice, you filmed with unfamiliar equipment and still you put together a spectacular show. I am also in awe that you composed and adapted your own music for this, which was exceptionally well done and perfectly suited for conveying your peaceful solitude in nature and your relief in escaping the concrete jungle. Characteristically adept at wildlife filming, you use an arsenal of technical tools to wonderfully contrast the two worlds and make it overwhelmingly clear which is the better place to be. Escape is beautiful and entices all the senses: I could almost smell the eucalyptus! This is a remarkable accomplishment and a joy to watch.

Discussion Points

Fit to Theme: Call of the Wild: Well done.

Technical Achievement: Very good. Occasional optic shimmer distortion and soft focus detracted from your footage. Great time laps.

Creative Style: Here we get into personal preferences with take or leave discussion points only.

General: Escape expertly and creatively contrasts two worlds with vast differences. You use time laps effectively to overwhelm the viewer with the hassle and hustle of urban existence, brilliantly juxtapose this world with the nature escape and the peaceful relief it brings with beautiful wildlife footage enhanced by soothing, mystical music and also creatively join the two worlds by documenting the escape itself. Documenting the escape makes the film a well-rounded story with a means to the desired end. Nicely done!

Details:

1. Really clever intro with title, because it’s not what I was expecting in the opening of a wildlife piece: frantic time laps at a busy street corner.
2. 40 sec – 1 min: The escape is smooth, even when on rougher dirt terrain. How did you stabilize your equipment here? Nice.
3. Voiceover is good as are all audio enhancements: wildlife audio and music. However, at 1:17, 1:22, 1:33, 1:40 there are detectable audio bumps in the wildlife audio and at 1:59 the narrator moved or turned a page. All minor distractions that don’t detract but could be cleaner.
4. 1:30 min: The music is a perfect compliment to the visual and introducing it is timed well for full effect. I’m in awe of your musical talent Bryce.
5. From the introduction of the music on, we are dazzled by the Bryce wildlife footage we’ve come to know and love.
6. 2:35 min, 3:10 min: The camera shimmer distortion and softer focus are not your usual shots, which you prefaced in the introduction of your thread.
7. Another idea to consider for the ending is to wrap it up with the voiceover referring to your escape in some way to bring it full circle to the title. Or introducing a brief back and forth from the hustle of urban life to the tranquility of the wild, with the title “Escape” reintroduced. The quote “… nature’s remedy for life’s stresses” and the fade out left me a little flat somehow. What do you think? Let’s discuss!

[Catherine Russell]

Sojourn by Andrew Hood

Overall: Andrew, outstanding achievement in Sojourn for using the UWOL forum to augment your toolset and learn something new. This is the primary reason for the platform: less to show what we can do and are comfortable with and more to push our abilities and grow. I agree with what you said you appreciated in your thread intro: “I like that the movement conveys the three dimensionality of the scenes, that they have a depth…” Sojourn is all about the movement and it comes alive as a living breathing experience for the viewer. In a 4-min clip, being a “one trick pony” is not necessarily a bad thing for it can establish a flow and continuity to your objectives. So what did you learn by forcing yourself to work with limited tools? Perhaps developing mastery as a filmmaker is being able to use any single tool to its maximum capacity (and beyond) commanding it to do a variety of things for you so that ultimately in any given circumstance you are capable to create a mountain out of a molehill and inspire awe and wonder. Congratulations, your pursuits are paying off.

Discussion Points

Fit to Theme: Call of the Wild: Well done.

Technical Achievement: Very good.

Creative Style: Here we get into personal preferences with take or leave discussion points only.

General: Sojourn is a real achievement in that Andrew had the grit to try something new and expand his horizons as a filmmaker. The narrative is outstanding and lifts what could become repetitive in the visuals to a wondrous experience for the viewer. Sojourn is movement and the movement lives and breaths refreshment and delight. It takes you there and invites you to get lost in the experience. Congratulations!

Details:

1. 9 sec: Fantastic use of effect, speeding up the journey to convey the stresses of our fast-paced lives.
2. 1:06 - 1:09 min: I personally think it would be a nice change of pace to match your visuals with the narrative to cuts of lush green grass, towering trees and running streams instead of hanging on the same visual throughout from 1:01 – 1:11 min.
3. 1:15 min: Awesome capture!
4. 2:00 – 2:30 min: I can’t help but be amused at the narrative of the scientific breakouts of the benefits of nature, which is very informative, but such a surprising cut from the rest of the narrative that for me it introduces a chuckle.
5. The continual movement defines this film and no “bobbles” were apparent or distracting to me. Instead the viewer is carried along with the motion as if on a ship out at sea. A pleasurable experience for the senses.

[Bob Safay]

Cat, my friend, I want to thank you for such a detailed review of my video. Your comments and suggestions mean a lot to me. As a matter of fact, I have decided to evaluate all of the comments I received from everyone and re-edit my video incorporating these comments and then post the "New and improved" version of my video on vimeo. I welcome all comments on the re-edited version. I will post the vimeo link when completed. This will be fun! Bob

[Gordon Hoffman]

Cat. Wow thank you. I appreciate the detail you went into. I'll definetly study this. Thanks again.

Gordon