I'm contrasting drought and the results of the abundant rainfall we got on the fringes of the central and northern Texas disastrous rainfall and floods.

I'm at a point where I need to follow a shot of dark threatening clouds with downpour type rain...And what are we getting?

Clear skies...Ugh!

On to plan "B".

Well, I am glad to see that I am not the only one without any footage.
I have yet to get an idea..

This is by far the most challenging part of the challenge for me. Coming up with an idea that I can do -- realistically.

~Gabriel
PS: We had a pretty nice storm here Thursday. But no footage.

Well, come to Houston, Bruce. The rain is back. That's not the water I wanted im my video.

Oh well. I'll have to rewrite the script. Oops. I haven't written the first one yet.

Water, water everywhere, but no script yet.

I got great shots of lakes and water falls in Tennessee. Now if I can just figure out a cool way to use them.

My entry?
 

I uploaded my video on friday.With our lousy bandwidth in South Africa I had to get my brother to upload it from work, still took him about an hour. When I tried at home it would have taken me 13 + hours. I checked my video was on the FTP site on Friday night,but now its gone.Did I do something wrong? I know the file size was right,I named it correctly,was Just wondering where it went.

John,

The videos get moved to another directory once they're uploaded so Mat can get the links up and ready and not have to rush at the end.

Meryem will put up a list of films in the directory soon but rest assured, your file is safe and sound, just in another directory. :)

i will? i thought you did that, and that i just backed you up....

somebody get these people organized!

oh right, that's my job...heh.

Visitor
 

On the weekend we had a little visitor drop by the cabin to say hello....

Brian

Development kills...
 

So I drive 4 hours down to Rocky Point Mexico on saturday to start shooting for "water". I'm thinking I'll be able to drive out toward Cholla Bay, where it is usually pretty quiet and not very populated. I DO realize, since we go there like 2 - 3 times a year, that things are growing rapidily -- but - OMG!!!

We get there and there are 10 new skyscraper hotels on the beach where once sand dunes lay. The far end where I scoped out spots to film a year ago are totally developed beach house neighborhoods "from the $199's". I was floored, and drepressed. Gentrification is eliminating "free zones", argh!!!

You can no longer drive on the beach either. After driving for over an hour looking for a spot to film, I gave up. I didn't have enough time to drive further southwest or east, I had to be back in Phoenix the same night! I got a couple shots of places I usually go to once I get there (beach, hotels, waves), but not the shots I had envisioned from previous scoutings.

It all left me with a bad taste in my mouth, here in Phoenix mountains are being carved and dotted with "homes for the rich". Places I used to hike and enjoy nature are now people's backyards, off limits to everyone but the owner. I was hoping not to see this in Rocky Point for another few years, sad....(more sad as people sit starving in an allies 600 yards from these posh hotels).

I really want to have something good for this contest, but time and circumstance seem to dictate my opportunities.

Good afternoon,

Well the countdown is on !! I have most of my shots in the timeline, a few more to get to finalize.
But, it has been frustrating as I have been having to shoot in farely heavey winds every day. That has eliminated a lot of otherwise cool shots.

I stupidly taped over some irreplacable footage, been trying to redoo it but the same conditions have not occurred the last two weeks!!

It is a lot of fun to be certain!!

Well, I have a script/shot list written, my idea planned out. My problem (the last 2 weekends in a row) is getting up in time to shoot. By 9am here it is around 95 degrees, meaning I have to get up at 5am and get done by 9 - its been well over 100 for weeks now, that's just too hot to be out in the direct sunlight.

So I set my alarm, but so far have not gotten up in time. Plus last week I got sick and my medication says "stay out of direct sunlight while taking". Jeez!

Hmm, maybe i'll just come up with a new shady idea. Not sure that this weekend is enough time to shoot and edit my original plan.

Well, it was my job Meryem but you did it last time so I figured you were running with it. :)

I'm still just sitting here without any footage.. This one has really turned on me. I thought water would be a fun one, but not in my case. Sounds like I am not the only one also.

Arg. One more year, one more year, one more year... Its not working like it does in the movies! lol.

~Gabriel

I am still sitting here with a plan. I just wonder if I am going to have any time to shoot it.

Gabriel,
I have uploaded my video however, it doesn't cover the material I really wanted to film - which was "Reflections" (I had some technical difficulties). Given your dilema, perhaps a movie which captures the beauty you will find reflected in water. I have been amazed at the shots that are around.

Just a suggestion.

David
That's really interesting as my first plan was "Reflections" also. But I've been so busy this month (nothing to do with a video camera though) and now it is so smokey here that it's onto plan B.

Gordon Hoffman

Hi Gordon,
Sorry to hear about the smokey conditions, as it would have been nice to have seen what you came up with. I hope plan B works out for you.

David
The sad part is the weather earlier this month was favourable to do reflections. Usaully the wind in this country makes the water to rough for nice shots.

Gordon Hoffman

Well I'm now well off the mark....about 75% shot I'd say. Today its all going down on the timeline and we'll see if my story fits together.

Oh and I'm sure uwol is Meryems way of trying to kill me....after uc3 I thought this one would be physically easier at least! - Over the weekend my shoot left me with over 50 insect bites, and on yesterdays shoot I slipped down a mud bank and found myself next to a bee hive who then of course decided to sting me on the hand. (ouch)

All the clips are on the time line, along with a piece of music. So it's now down to the tweaking. Then the miserable task of getting it under 60 Megs.

Mat remind me never to travel on the land with you...man your an accident looking for a place to happen LOL. I have no bee stings but on Saturday the mosquitoes were out of this world. So bad in fact that in one of the shots I'v used you can see them buzzing around.

Gabriel...come on man you can do it. You pulled off the last three, don't drop the ball now. I know this is a tough one, actually I'd say the toughest to date but it's out there just go find it.

Good luck to everyone especially those still chasing down the shots.

Brian

Finally I have my entry for UC4 done.

For the first time I actually started off by making a storyboard. Well, by that I mean I wrote down things I wanted to include and a basic story.
That story only lasted until I started to film. The story changed (mostly due to the fact I couldn't find what I wanted to film, haha)

But in the end, I'm pretty happy with what I got. Even if I just "winged it" and ended up making the story in my head as I was shooting. Got some good help by the weather this last weekend.
A winner? Probably not, but I had a great time making it, and that is more than good enough for me.

Well, i've just called it a wrap!

I really struggled with this, not so much the locations or the filming, but a meaningful thread which is still eluding me. Think it's gonna be a long session on the edit suite tonight!!!!!

Good luck all.

Rob

A bit more to do
 

Rob, plenty of nice water in Berks my videoing has been on the river Loddon and St Patrick’s stream between the rain I will be doing a bit more on them Thursday and then edit on Friday.

Ahh, the loddon's a beautiful little river - used to fish parts of it as a kid ;-)

One of my first thoughts was "dammit, why can't it stop raining!" but then i thought about the theme, and realised it wasn't such a bad thing after all!!!

I wonder what would happen if two "UWOLer's" came face to face in the field - some kind of spagetti western style shoot-out? Now there's an idea for a film ;-) haha

Underwater.
 

I am finich whid my first uwol,and it`s not so much to rite aboat,but when I
lock around for underwater photo, I discoverd a new world.
I think her in Norway is only sand and stone underwater.
That was realy!!!! rong, think i have got a new hobby underwater photo.
Realy fasinating.

Thanks guys for the suggestions/help. And thank you Brian for the encouragement. And trust me, I have no means of dropping out! Thats the last thing I want to do! Its just so troubling for me to get anywhere to shoot. I guess there is a creek that runs thru my back yard... But I might end up like Mat if I try that.

Sorry to hear that, Mat! I think you are onto something when you said that you think Meryem is trying to kill you! lol. I hope you get well soon!

Its raining today... How strange is this!? It was in the mid 80's yesterday! Gosh, this weather is just way out there this month...

~Gabriel

Go on, get in there Gabriel.....suffer for your art ;-) !!!

Ok then a teaser frame from my piece http://www.3dvisions.co.uk/temp/fall...bow_teaser.jpg

I fold! :-) Damn you Mat! :)

Nice scenery and colors, Mat!

Haha, I'll give it a shot!

Wow, that is beautiful!
That reminds me of about three weeks ago when I was standing at a waterfalls base. It was so awesome... If only the challenge started before that!

Good luck everyone!
~Gabriel

Hi all!
Well I write this from a hotel room in Turku, Finland waiting for my ferry back home to Norway via Sweden.
It have been very exiting days, the last couple of weeks. Together with some friends of mine, we have been in the big wilderness of North-East Finland near the Russian border.
This trip was planned well before the uwol-challenge even started so I have not shoot specifically for uwol4 as much as I wanted.

So what have I got so far? Not much for the uwol4 I'm afraid. I have basically filmed wild species like wolves, bears and wolverines (whish this could have been the uwol3-challenge-the wild!)

Friday morning I'm back home, have to go through my footage to view if I can use any of the footage from this trip, if not I will have a real busy weekend to get finish the film!

I'm happy the time limit is 23. world wide, give me some extra hours past monday 23. at my place :-)

Looking forward to entries!
 

I am truly looking forward to all of the entries! It has gotten quite exciting that this contest has grown so fast. Best of luck to ALL!!

Per,
Just keep in mind that wolves, bears and wolverines are 98+% water!! Thanks for the update. I am sure we were all wondering where you had disappeared to! ;-D

Mat,
Looks gorgeous! Cannot wait!

I'm stuck
 

I was so energetic at first. Loved the theme, loved the excuse to get out on the water. Tried a little experiment that didn't ultimately hurt the camera. Then I got home and started cutting it all together and frankly my footage bores me. I'm wondering if music can salvage it. But I've got company flying into town tonight so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about it. If I can't make it better I'll probably just make it shorter, but I'm determined not to hit the wall of shame on my first go at this contest.

Smile,
Kris

I'm there with you, Kris. I shot some footage from my famous park. Nothing.. Its all horrible.. Completely boring.. I don't really know what to do anymore... I just feel trapped here... I am afraid that I most likely will not get one in for this one. :(

I wish you all luck! And don't give up Kris! You can make it work! Even if that means pulling in an all night'er or two.

~Gabriel

Good sentiment Kris...I'm sure when you've polished everything and added some music it'll make all the difference!

Oi Gabriel....come on fella. You still have time left to turn something round, it would be a shame to drop out of the line up....you're a regular :-) !....even if its just to stay in the running for your t-shirt !


I've still got holes I'm needing to fill (about 85%). I may nip out in a while but I'll be shooting Saturday too....hey hows that for last minute :)

Arrrgh!

Looks like were gonna get a massive amount of rain tomorrow!! (like 80mm or something in a few hours!)

Can I enter two films? ;-)

hehe

I just returned from shooting my challenge footage. I have not captured it yet, but this time I think I will also post the High Definition version of my entry on my web site. Maybe only 1280X720. Perhaps using Flash.

Both of my other entries were shot with the 320X240 final output in mind. This time I will put out a widescreen version and will just use the HD version scaled down.

I think I got what I went after. "Water in Motion". Nothing natural about any of it. All man made motion. Too many of you live near really cool natural water spots. So I went artificial. I could have headed up to Siver Springs instead, but I chose a different route. You'll see. Assuming it all comes out OK.

gabriel, i'm re-naming this thread "Tales of Wonder and Lame-o Excuses" in your honor...

okay, so this weekend, i'm managing a crew of 16 to shoot a triathlon, i'm editing an infomercial for a fire-fighting product, and i'm raising a 6 year old. oh, and i'm going to post my UWOL footage...it won't be brilliant but it will be wet!

how in the world does a 16-year-old lack time?? ludicrous! time is still your friend! now get out there, shoot something and make it something good.

there is no such thing as boring video, there are only boring editors.

Meryem,
You said to 16 year old Gabriel, "time is still your friend". If you made that up yourself, get it patented. I have never seen it put that way, but, boy, for anyone over age XX it says it all.

Haha, thanks Mat.. I would hate to drop (ha, like water) out. its just so hard to make something happen...

Haha, thats a good one.

Sounds like you got your hands full.

Hmm.... Thats a good point, thanks for the tip... Maybe I'll try again...

Haha, heres the thing: I got all the free time on my hands. Its summer, I am home-schooled, I don't have much in the way for friends, and I don't have a job (really really want one though). The internet is pretty much life right now. But heres the catch, I can't drive. My parents are both extremely busy, and none of my sibs' drive either. So I am limited to walking. I am not making up excuses, or trying to get attention or anything like that. Its just a really hard time that I am going thru right now. I am stuck..
I can practically see a lake from my house, but its sick. Who knows what goes in it. You can't even see a foot down into it. And in order to get anywhere to the point you can see it good enough, you have to drive. Or bike really hard for a long time. I don't have that kind of endurance anymore...
Its not a good time for me... But I will head back out to my little park a few blocks from here, and try to get some stuff, and just play around with editing until the deadline.. Probably wont have a story, but I might learn a thing or two in the editing process.
Oh great, I just thought of something... I have to make the music myself. The guy who has done my last ones is out of town. Wont be back until Saturday. Bummer.

Like I said, please do not take this as one of those "the kid just wants attention" things. Its by no means like that!
Thank you for understanding.
~Gabriel

Oh, now you're really challenging me. Time to make a little magic.

Smile,
Kris