h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is a trio of experiments.

First experiment: Trying to make a cartoon without being able to draw.

The catbird is cartoonised and slowed down to 1/4 speed to break down its movements. Then I put in the most cinematic music I could find to give it that epic Disney feel. Did it work?

Eat Like a Bird:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7luqojcTo4

The object of the next one is to set a mood. I found lots of clips of birds taking wing, then slowed them way down. Also a fat bumblebee. The emphasis is on their wings. Now some Renaissance Fayre music...that works...

Wings of Desire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgwZ28p-GhE

Finally, we were dying for rain yesterday. We finally got it, but the weather made us wait. So I got the fool notion of seeing if, like FWR, I could almost get electrocuted in the line of silliness. No such luck - no visible lightning at all, but lots and lots of thunder. And fussing birds. What to do to keep this from being boring?

I threw in a grackle outrage party, and found some sinister background music. None of this is speeded-up or slowed down - it's all in real time, otherwise the thunder wouldn't be heard.

Summer Thunder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjprCeQ0vQ

I know, I know: Ingmar Bergman has nothing to worry about.

Interesting to look at slowing things down to a 1/4 speed...you could see the birds lift off slowly in the 2nd video...I liked the music and mood of the thunderstorm...those trees look very northern...

(tiptoes in) I just sneaked a peek at all of these. Couldn't resist. heheh. I'm fascinated by your new approaches, the way you're experimenting, and the way you describe them here.

Gorgeous work. I won't go on here, because this is the video workshop space, and I don't have the qualification to be able to effectively comment or offer critique.

If they wind up in the Post at any time though, I'll add my greeting and comment and insight, mmm gorgeous work, hope they do.

Thanks, you two!

Yeah, Phred, I'm thinking slow for birds, faster for cloud formations.

Definitely northern trees. We've got that 'murmuring pines and hemlocks' vibe going around here.

Last night, I was watching an old episode of 'Hannibal', and I realised the reason their establishing shots were so visually interesting is that they left the camera in front of, say 'The Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane' for several minutes and then sped up the film. (Watch the bushes rustle.)

Another thunder video Superb. The music is perfect to accompany the great video - really atmospheric. Great to hear the rain as well as the thunder.

A storm is due this evening, as today is very warm so far - I shall keep my camera handy

Great! I'm looking forward to it.

Everybody talks about the weather - WE do something about it. We put it on video.

It's funny: I have a folder in my computer with folders of video files, and I labeled the ones with rainstorms with the date and 'rain'. I noticed that I had one in May and one in June - on the same day of the month. Makes me wonder.

I just watched Eat Like a Bird - it does have a bit of a 'Fantasia' vibe about it Fascinating to see the movements slowed down

Wings of Desire is also fascinating - I particularly like how the slow motion allows study of the takeoff mechanisms!

Thanks, Sasha! Yeah, isn't it fun to see the different ways they fly? Not just one way to do it.

And you almost can't get a robin to fly. They glide whenever possible, lazy things.

I've been exploring the "Video Editor" app that comes with Windows 10. I couldn't find anything to radically change the visual part of a video.

I did find a feature that will insert an object from the app library into the video. The video below is 16x speed making banana bread. It has a few foreign objects...45 second run time

https://youtu.be/zkesx9u5hdI

O-kayyyy....

It definitely puts the 'bananas' in banana bread.

Which director do you like better, David Lynch or John Waters? Asking for a friend...

Lynch or Waters? What an odd question. I've never heard of either of them. I think I liked Mulholland Drive and I think I saw Elephant Man (didn't like it)...was that with Sher?

I haven't even heard of any of the many movies made by Waters.

Is this like a survey or does your friend have some special respect for my opinion?

It was an attempt at appreciation of the influences of your evolving oeuvre. And a joke, meant kindly. Your banana film is off-the-wall in a way that would have bowled 'em over in the early '70s. It has that combination of deadpan earnest and surreal going for it...plus the alien for that je ne sais quoi...

John Waters movies used to be part of the university film club's offerings, usually during finals week - something about a 'neurotic film festival'....interspersed with ones that are now considered old classics, like 'Reefer Madness' and such. I'm not a big fan, myself, but he has his moments.

Have you heard of 'Hairspray'? Or seen the Broadway musical revival? I beg your indulgence for a quick clip that may prove inspirational - it has John Travolta filling in for Divine as the 'Hairspray' mom, and doing a duet with Christopher Walken because, oh, why not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWcLIV_e5Z8

I've heard of "Hairspray", but haven't paid attention. I liked Walken better in "The Deer Hunter"...wasn't that filmed near Hooverville?...and Travolta better in "Pulp Fiction"...

Well, that answers the question about you and surrealism. My favourite Walken film is 'Prophecy', followed by 'Ballls of Fury'.

Yes, 'The Deer Hunter' was filmed around Clairton, McKeesport, and Pittsburgh, though they went to Cleveland for the church. Dunno why: we have Russian Orthodox churches, too - one of my friends in high school went to one.

http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/d/Deer-Hunter.php

I didn't enjoy the film much: I might if I saw it again with subtitles. The cinema-verite sound defeated me (I have hearing problems).

If you look at the locations, though, you can get an idea of how you can combine film shots to make up an unreal place. I was just thinking about experimenting in that direction myself...

I sympathize with the hearing problems...I've started watching a lot of things, especially the news, with just closed-captioning...partly it's not liking what I'm hearing...

that is a very interesting link on filming locations...a devoted site...suggests the magic of film and video...I thought we might drive through that place someday...

We bless those close-caption people, don't we? Even the ones who misspell everything. Often I realise what they didn't understand, so having it to look at for reference is a help. This works in German, too. Maybe it just engages more of the brain?

I did remember the Clairton Works, because my dad took us there on a Sunday drive. He stood there enjoying the view, I stood there wishing we were anywhere but a steel mill...like, say, a lake, meadow, cornfield...

I am not engineer material.