UWOL #2- "Wreck Creation" by Ruth Happel

[Ruth Happel]

I wanted to express in this theme that we don't always take care of nature in our recreation, and turned it into a play on words- Wreck Creation.

The filming was with my new HD camera (Sony HC7) which was a learning experience in itself. Then, partly because of the quality of the footage, it was much harder to compress to a level where it looked good on playback.

When I uploaded it, eventually I did it as MPEG-1, but it appears somehow it may have been renamed as an .MOV file on the UWOL website, since on an earlier thread some people seemed to be having trouble viewing it. The problem now appears fixed:

http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challen...ckcreation.mpg

but if you have any problems seeing it, here are links to my own website with this and other versions of the file:

http://rockfowl.com/blogs/sample_web...ion-video.aspx

The challenge has again gotten me out shooting audio and video, and I am learning more as the contests progress. They have both really helped me get out and focus, and in the meantime I am also even starting to learn editing. So all in all, thanks for developing this challenge, it has certainly challenged me to explore all facets of videography.

Ruth

[Kevin Railsback]

Ruth,
First of all you win for the best use of the theme.
Wreck Creation what a clever play on the theme.

Nice to see the family involved. Black and Decker did a great job. :)

Robin looked like she enjoyed her role as Debbie.
Tell John he needs to work on his delivery. He was upstaged. :)

Nice shots of "Fluffy"

Kept me watching and conveyed a good message in a fun innovative way.

Congrats!

[Geir Inge]

Hi Ruth.
I love when you make trees/plants (uwol#1) and animals talk.
I loved your theme, it's an today and tomorrow issue.
I think you are a creative film maker.
Though I had a little difficulty, to hear what the dog said, in parts of the film, this must only be a reminder, that I must be a better listener.

Regards and thanks for sharing, Geir Inge

[James Hooey]

Ruth,

You really like to play with themes! Good imagination and nice story.

I am NOT a professional so take this advice with that in mind...:)

Audio - levels were a bit of an issue as some dialog was fine and other parts were low...a different mic perhaps and a bit more time in post to match levels?

Video - Fun shots, a few of them were a little long and similar so it might help to mix things up a bit.

All in all it was a very fun entry and I thought the message was great!

James Hooey

[Ruth Happel]

Kevin,

I'm glad you enjoyed the film. I think Robin and Decker do have more natural acting ability. I need to stretch as a director to bring out the hidden actor in John :)

Ruth

[Ruth Happel]

Geir,

Thanks for your comments. Maybe I am falling into a rut? Next challenge, either I need to move on to rocks talking (animal, vegetable, mineral) or find another way to convey my message!

Ruth

[Ruth Happel]

James,


Thanks for the comments. As for the video, I guess there were only so many ways I could imagine shooting my dog in the woods. I'll try to really push my creativity next time, think of all the angles, literally and figuratively. I was deliberately trying to vary the audio levels to indicate intensity in emotion- maybe I overthought this too much. I have noticed when using Vegas many times the audio is lower than I expect, and am having some trouble adjusting to this. But this challenge is getting me to really push myself on all levels, including the editing, so your comments are very helpful, thanks.

Ruth

[Marco Wagner]

That one had me in tears... I loved the commentary. Great imagination!

[Bruce Foreman]

Cute dog (I'm "dogless" at present...), pretty good supporting cast, too.

Good way to get the "stash the trash" message across.

I remember from some of your postings earlier you were concerned about what compression would do to the quality of your video, but it looked pretty clear and sharp to me with excellent color depth.

Your concerns were unfounded.

Bruce Foreman

[Ruth Happel]

Bruce,

Sorry to hear you're dogless- that must be hard. A dog gives you a reason for recreation, among other things, to stay on theme :)

I'm glad to hear you found the video clear enough- I spent an inordinate amount of time on that phase. But in the process I've learned a lot about video compression, which should come in handy for future challenges.

Ruth

[Gabriel Yeager]

The dog sure did stay still really good. Nice job on focusing and an interesting story.

I liked the play on words.
Its always a nice thing to be able to grow in video/audio.
Its nice to see other people starting out like I am.

~Gabriel

[Ruth Happel]

Gabriel,

I'm glad you liked the video. My dog actually didn't stay that well, just lots of it was edited out! The play on words helped me shape the video, which was good. I like to try telling a mini story with the challenge.

I'm not really just starting out. I've been doing audio and photography/video for many years. But it's new for me to be shooting in HD, which I find much more unforgiving than regular video. And also I haven't used non-linear editors before- at least certainly nothing approaching the sophistication of Vegas, my current editor of choice. I've spent most of my time in recent years on photography, and before that on audio recording, so putting the two together is something I haven't done in many years. Strangely, I think the experience focused (literally) on photography helped, in terms of thinking about composition, etc., but the audio work probably actually hurt. I did environmental albums and work for zoos/museums, with my work just focused on pure natural sounds audio. When audio is the "star", you can have a lot more dynamic range. When the nature sounds are just a bit player, I am finding, I need to work harder on normalizing and compressing sounds, to be sure the voice tracks come through.

I guess in many ways it doesn't matter if we are just starting out or have been doing this for a long time. There is always something new to learn- technology, technique, playing with new ideas. That is what keeps it both challenging and fun.


Ruth

[Gabriel Yeager]

Oh, sorry for the miss understanding! I just assumed from your post, it sounded as if you were.. But now I look back at it and see that I was wrong, I am sorry! My bad!

Thats cool, sounds like you have enjoyed what you do!

~Gabriel

[Ruth Happel]

Gabriel,

I have definitely enjoyed what I've done. I started off as an academic, studying nature, but have slowly transitioned over the years to various media trying to communicate about wildlife in broader ways. Video is my current tool, and it's been really fun. I like combining lots of different approaches (visual, natural sounds, music, etc.). But I think no matter what level we are, there is always a lot to learn. As technology improves, that brings new possibilities and challenges. And no matter how long anyone does video (or anything else), there are always new ideas, approaches, etc. So in my opinion, we are all here to learn, and there is plenty to learn no matter how long we've been at it.

[Per Johan Naesje]

Ruth, this was a good one and an important messages to the humans.
Your dog was playing it's role very well. Impressed to view it passing the camera without even looking at the DP.
I did try this out on my girlfriends dog once, it did stop every time, sniffing at me and the camcorder.
I second what others have said.

Great job and good camerawork.