My First U/W Video!

[Mr.X]

I like your video. It's very cool. It's also great that you're asking for critique.

As mentioned, using CU helps vs. mostly MS. Getting the divers coming towards you vs. looking behind always is refreshing. I know that you probably didn't have a selection of models...but I would use folks with:

• matching fins
• weren't going full blast (swimming) most of the time
• weren't harassing octopuses
• weren't leaving dust trails
• had excellent buoyancy

I hope we see more of your videos. I love the turtle with the curled fins. Very cute.

 

[Empty V]

I like your video. It's very cool. It's also great that you're asking for critique.

As mentioned, using CU helps vs. mostly MS. Getting the divers coming towards you vs. looking behind always is refreshing. I know that you probably didn't have a selection of models...but I would use folks with:

• matching fins
• weren't going full blast (swimming) most of the time
• weren't harassing octopuses
• weren't leaving dust trails
• had excellent buoyancy

I hope we see more of your videos. I love the turtle with the curled fins. Very cute.

Thanks for the feedback! Like stated before all of these shots were with a wide angle adapter so getting a close up was pretty much impossible, at least for my taste. Next boat I'm going on will be a 4 dive trip so I'm going to have to take the tape out in the middle of the trip and experiment without using the W/A.

Personally I'm not into filming divers unless it's a documentary about someone actually doing something other than finning. I'm more into fish. My buddies kept asking me if I want them to film me and it's just not my thing. I think they really wanted to use the camera in all honesty . And the harassing the octo thing I could do without as well.

Thanks for the input!

Billy

 

[DocWong]

I enjoyed the video! You had some interesting shots, the shark inside the shipwreck, the turtles, fish. good timing with the shots and music! That diver with one blue fin and one yellow fin has to go though. ;-)

I enjoyed the video and footage!

 

[Phreak]

Billy,

I think this video is great...you have captured some great shots of what a diver would see in Hawaii on some charter boats...and thats true life stuff, rental gear that doesnt match...new divers kicking up some cloudy silt, etc.

Doesn't matter if the hold of the wreck needed more light - you did a GREAT job here.

Sea Turtles, White Tip Reef sharks, butterfly fish...NICE! I wish I was diving off the coast of Maui right now...ah Hawaii. I miss it!

Don't fall into some bizzare, over-analyzed trap of constantly wondering "did I get that right?" 24/7/365.

Hey- it looks good, you understand composition, you did all right. Kudos!

Whats more important is: didja have fun doing it?

 

[Empty V]

I enjoyed the video! You had some interesting shots, the shark inside the shipwreck, the turtles, fish. good timing with the shots and music! That diver with one blue fin and one yellow fin has to go though. ;-)

I enjoyed the video and footage!

Billy,

I think this video is great...you have captured some great shots of what a diver would see in Hawaii on some charter boats...and thats true life stuff, rental gear that doesnt match...new divers kicking up some cloudy silt, etc.

Doesn't matter if the hold of the wreck needed more light - you did a GREAT job here.

Sea Turtles, White Tip Reef sharks, butterfly fish...NICE! I wish I was diving off the coast of Maui right now...ah Hawaii. I miss it!

Don't fall into some bizzare, over-analyzed trap of constantly wondering "did I get that right?" 24/7/365.

Hey- it looks good, you understand composition, you did all right. Kudos!

Whats more important is: didja have fun doing it?

Thanks guys I really appreciate it. I do want to clear something up since it's been mentioned a few times. Not that this is important but the guy with the different colored fins is a good friend of mine who is an instructor on Oahu and he's not using rental gear. He has his fins setup that way so his students and tourists can recognize him easily underwater. I know it's helped me see who he was every time I've dived with him. And the shot of him blazing the trail of sand was actually something I asked him to do because I thought it would make for an interesting shot. The barrel tie-off for that Corsiar wreck was actually dragged about 300 yards and we were finning along the dragged trail of it after being misdirected by another boat. I know these things really have nothing to do with what makes a dive video "good" or "bad" I just wanted to clear the air.

And for anyone who is interested, the Corsair ran out of gas during the Pearl Harbor Bombing and settled completely in tact in that spot at about 110fsw. If anyone is interesting in seeing more of it I just found some terrible footage(not my ego talking just an atrocious dive video) of it on youtube and hey, it's only 5 1/2 minutes long! Really Bad Corsair Video

Thanks again everyone for the constructive criticism and compliments!

Billy

 

[Empty V]

it don't work

Try it now, just fixed it. In the next few day's I'll be uploading a new version re-color corrected and swapped out a few shots.

Billy

 

[PerroneFord]

Still didn't work for me...

Billy, question for you and other video guys who work in posting and CC. How "flat" do you keep your image when going out to the web? Essentially, on the vectorscope, do you constrain colors to inside the 20% ring, 40% ring, more? Less?

I find that I am generally happiest with underwater footage when the saturation is kept to 20% of less. Otherwise colors tend to bloom.

 

[Empty V]

Still didn't work for me...

Billy, question for you and other video guys who work in posting and CC. How "flat" do you keep your image when going out to the web? Essentially, on the vectorscope, do you constrain colors to inside the 20% ring, 40% ring, more? Less?

I find that I am generally happiest with underwater footage when the saturation is kept to 20% of less. Otherwise colors tend to bloom.

I CC'd this for broadcast because of the compression I used. Whenver I've done anything specifically for the web I had other people managing the compression for me. So to be honest the only thing I considered was file size, not how color transpires over the web. I guess I just figured that whatever file I put up there will be what everyone sees. I did desaturate it a little bit just so it's more realistic looking. One of the main things I'm doing on this 3rd CC pass is taking the purple out of the water so it doesn't look like it was filmed at Willy Wonka's.

I got in but had to use dive instead of Dive for the user name. Very nice video...

Sorry for the confusion, I went back and reset the permissions(new to web development and really don't know squat) and forgot to capitalize the d in dive. So everyone please use dive not Dive for a username. Again, sorry for making something that should be really easy, really annoying. I guess this is part of the growing pains of posting your first video, or maybe it's just me being a pain

Billy

 

[PerroneFord]

Most people don't put passwords on their web videos. Curse you professional types! LOL!

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

thanks that worked like the blue and yellow fins