Posted: Thu 15th May 4:15pm Post subject: 2008 Video Competition Hanafins Scholarships Announced
After a nice suspense building delay here they are - the winners of the Hanafins Scholarship for "Best Filmmakers" in the 2008 Vorb Video Competition.
1st and 2nd were very close with Cam Williams epic tale of bike couriering taking the top spot. Cam Williams from Wellington goes away with $2,000 worth of Canon camera gear from Hanafins Camera Chain. Simon Waterhouse from Christchurch takes $1,000 Canon gear from Hanafins and Ben Conway scores himself $500 worth of Hanafins goodies. A big thank you to Hanafins for supporting the bike filming community - make sure you visit their website to check out the latest deals: www.hanafins.co.nz
Congratulations to the winners, the finalists, and everyone who entered. A common comment by judges this year is how much the riding and filming is stepping up each year. The rider/ filmer format seems to work well so we'll be looking at running a very similar style of competition over next summer. That gives you a lot of time to plan, aye
Ambrose Weingart: Was very original idea well filmed love the roving camera feel.Lots of little focus pulls and quick camera movements that accentuate this project. Would have liked to have seen him riding and having to dodge or deal with problems more than just bike. That would have made the riding sequences more relevant.Over all well done and very original.
Caleb Smith: Good music, good story. A few to many cuts and a bit to much much shiftitng of focus (I started to get motion sickness). But the overall the filming and editing was outstanding.
Darcy Wittenburg: Well though out storyline and solid overall filming. To me this one looked like it was the most challenging to make.
Graeme Murray: Fantastic Story, then good use of camera to showcase the story, great use of focal lengths and composition, riding is good enough to keep you watching too. Love it. Awesome editing too. Best by far.
Toni Mundel: This was my favoirite because it had the full package, including a plot which is rare. It's apparent that Cam went the extra mile to create this professional looking video. Adding everything together- Great shots, crafty editing, appropriate music and a little someting extra (the plot), equals a top notch video. Very nice work.
2nd. SIMON WATERHOUSE: WINS NZ$1,000 HANAFINS SCHOLARSHIP
Ambrose Weingart: Love the intro Very nice scenic shots setting the tone. The opening riding shot is my favorite.I think if they would have waited for even better light it would have made a big difference a lot of the riding shots look like midday, you gotta get up early and stay out late to get the real nugget shots, and pretty much anytime you are in the trees you want to make sure its overcast. Waiting for light is a huge part of being a cinematographer you have to be very patient to be at the right place at the right time and it can involve days of scouting to see what the light is doing at certain times of the day.Love the tight shots of the bike parts as well. Would have liked to seen it pick up in intensity part way through it seem to drag a bit.
Caleb Smith: Great titles editing and music. But felt the filming could have been tighter on the rider.
Darcy Wittenburg: Sweet time lapses and smooth solid camera work. I put this one third because although it is creative work I would have liked to see more variety in angles for the riding.
Chris Arnison: The time-lapses at the beginning and end were amazing and really well filmed. The shallow depth of field in the intro also looked good, overall the intro was kinda long though. The slow zooms were really subtle and I liked that. The editing was very clean and didn't distract from the high quality footage, which really spoke for itself. The transition from the bright open track to the de-saturated forest was quite abrupt and it would have been nice to hear some bike sounds, even if only for a few shots.
Graeme Murray: Nice cinematory, great use of timelapses too, there are a couple of unique locations before the riding starts.
Toni Mundel: Simon has a very artistic eye and did a nice job of setting up and capturing quality shots throughout this video. The camera work, editing and music completment each other extremely well. Definitely the full package.
Ambrose Weingart: Cool idea for the intro. Worked well. Would like to have seen it shot early in the morning or late evening as there is not much depth to the shots again seems to be shot midday. Also it seems that some of the shots were on auto exposure. Should never use that feature, let the shadows remain shadows and work them into the composition to make it interesting. Also when you shoot a segment try and have the riders keep the same clothes, unless that is part of the story. You made the riding look fast and shot with better light it would be 2nd.
Chris Arnison: The intro/outro with the scrabble board was a really creative way to display the titles, and executed really cleanly too. All the dust in the shots looked really cool, its good to see you're not afraid to get your camera right into it. The shot at 0.46 is awesome and really looks like the camera is on a boom, its not easy to get such a steady shot like that with smaller handheld cameras. The riding really goes well with the music, especially the fast montage at the end. Some of the zoomed in handheld shots were a bit shaky and would definitely have benefited from a larger camera with optical stabilizing.
Darcy Wittenburg: I loved the top to bottom feel, great angles. It’s great to see the long sweeping pans as well as the detail shots and well placed static shots.
Graeme Murray: Great intro graphics, best part, I've seen a lot of wellington downhill riding on that track would be nice to see some new areas - So this video does well only because of the graphics at start.
Toni Mundel: This video was a lot of fun to watch. Ben kept a good flow thoughout the segment. Some of the long smooth shots were well done, they take a lot more time to setup properly than some people think. The motion shots accompaning the style of riding and music came together nicely.
Ambrose Weingart: You did a good job of capturing the speed in this clip. The angles and quick edits really shows him ripping.Just make sure that when you film someone for a segment you need to keep continuity. I know it can be hard if filming over a couple of months.
Sometimes I make the rider give me their clothes so they don't get lost or wrecked before i need to do a second shoot. Also you want to try and keep the light consisitant. If that means going out at 6 am every day for a week and chilling in the afternoons that is what it takes. Often I will shot at 6 am -9am or so and then go have breakfast come back build and set up shots for the evening and take a little break then let the riders ride the lines around 4pm that give you time to set up angles and check things out and then when the light is really firing between 6-8 or later you can get the best possible shots. Sometimes you have a shot in mind in the daytime but when the light changes in the evening a better shot presents its self. Often to get 2 money shots on a stunt you need to shoot morning and night as the light at differnet times allows you to shoot it best at different angles.
Darcy Wittenburg: This one really got me stoked to ride. I like the way he is trying variety if things with his angles and camera techniques. Some of the shots were a little on the shaky side but the selection of what parts of the trail were actually shot impressed me. It showed an intimate knowledge of good riding.
Graeme Murray: Makes you want to go ride and pin it.
Toni Mundel: This video was entertaining Joseph is a seriouse shredder. Again a better camcorder would have helped this video out but when that isn't possible you have to make up for it with quality filming and editing, and I think Rufus did that.
Caleb Smith: What a burglar, without the vorb compression this video would have easily looked the best, no narrative (apart from a few races on one weekend). But some sick angles and really captures the speed and vibe.
Chris Arnison: The digital overcranking was really awesome and looks so much better then footage slowed in post. The colours were all really good and consistent, and the white balance really gave the video a warm feel. Some of the shots seemed a little tight, and could have benefited from being shot a bit wider. It would have been nice if the video was longer with some shots that weren't racing, although the race footage was really impressive considering how hard it is to shoot well in that uncontrolled environment.
Ambrose Weingart: I hope your birthday is coming up. Ask your mom for a tripod. Tell her it will make you famous. Tipods are a huge part of the esranal of a filmer. "You're only as good as your tripod" as my friend Axl from New World Disorder would say. Anytime you are trying to shoot steady long shots you must have one.Also avoid zooming in camera as much as possible. Try different focal length shots together in editing or build a dolly you can make one for a couple hundred bucks. Check out www.homebuiltstabalizers.com for plans. Always try and shoot in good light as well which in the trees usually means overcast.
Also a few of the cut points seemed to be a bit dragged on...shorten up the edits to keep the viewers attention. If you must drag out the edit make sure it is relevant and not a shaky badly exposed shot. Also I like what you are trying to do with the pan up from the ground etc..but you must time it right as leaving to much deadspace before the rider comes in kills the effect. Don't be afraid to ask them to hike up and do it again untill you both get it perfect. You're working as a team and whats best for you is best for them.
Toni Mundel: Definetely a few nice shots throughout the video. Sometimes it's hard to compete with others that have better quality cameras Tim made top 5 with a cheaper camera which says a lot.
Chris Arnison: It is really good to see that you used a tripod for so many of these shots, both static and panning, it really helped keep the image steady and clear. I was very impressed with how clean and consistent the colours were for forest shots, its awesome that you picked an overcast day to shoot the video and it made all the difference, because patchy light really ruins forest shooting for me. All the long shots of the rider pushing back up the track broke up the flow of the video and some of the shots lingered too long after the rider had left the frame. A lot of the shots didn't match the music and that would be something you could work on next time, as it really adds to the overall feel of the video.
Chris Arnison: The start was quite abrupt and went on a little too long, although the time-lapse was pretty cool. Good to see some shots composed with foreground objects, which adds to the shots depth. Some really good handheld camera movements. Some of the angles and riding were a bit repetitive, more diverse angles could have made the 3 or 4 jumps seem like a lot more.
Graeme Murray: Shot in a day and edited, Great effort, good vibe from video - just guys chilling and having fun.
Caleb Smith: Some great innovative angles, the bike sounds in the audio mix are a little over-powering. But with a better camera and little more time on the editing desk this could have been a top knotch film.
Darcy Wittenburg: Great variety of angles, the shots all work well together in their sequence. Props for the bike mount shots, its very important in filming to experiment with unique angles and go beyond standing on the side of the trail with a tripod. Nice work.
GENERAL COMMENTS Caleb Smith: Overall if you are going to film on a DH track, people dont want to see barriers and tape in the film, (well I don't) filmers should take that stuff down if its in the shot (and put it back afterwards) would have liked to have seen more care basically, felt like a lot of entries were a little rushed.
Toni Mundel: A final note. I would like to say how impressed I am with everyones entries this year. The riders and video producers coming out of New Zealand is incredable, it's great to see how big the biking scene is growing there. This contest is a good way to show the world the progression of New Zealands talent. Keep up to great work everyone and I can't wait for next years contest.
Wow - stoked with 3rd place against such great competition.
Well done to Cam and Simon, your entries really were a cut above the rest.
Cheers to the judges for their time and effort too - comments are all much appreciated and taken on board. (gutted about Ambrose's continuity comment, we were onto that and then those pink gloves turned up on the third day of filming!!!)
Thanks also to Hanafins for putting up an awesome prize pool, and Tama/Vorb for running such a great competition.
Joined: May 28, 2007 Posts: 104 Location: Wellington
Posted: Thu 15th May 5:29pm Post subject:
Stoked!!! Thanks Vorb and all the Judges for their comments!! There was some mean vids so I am amped on the win..Cheers to Nathan for being a paitent guy...Hanafins also are da shizz for putting up a very mint selection..Chur and see ya next year...I am sure it will be up a few notches for sure!!
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