Forums > HoP Competitions & Announcements - COL videos etc > I just saw COL 2008

And it wasn't even my free copy, it were somebody elses...

If you like reading other peoples opinions read on: (Or if I know you, I'll say something about you in this, if I don't more than likely I won't.)

Firstly, again, the quality of all the videos improved DRAMATICALLY over last years. There was no really truly bad stuff this time.

Couple of things I noticed immediately:

Sage: ZOMG, if there had been a pro camera crew there it would have super super super awesome. That camera dude was okay, but with a better camera, and more angles would really have done sage's performance justice. I mean, making fire orb interesting for like 4 minutes? Who would have thought that was possible!?!? Good dancing, good job!

Clure: Why is your camera sooooo grainy! ARGH! Nice use of guitar friend. I liked the close up of his face. The black between the fan cuts was perhaps a tad too long thou... Good to see some irish waterfalls!

What's with the DVD case saying Northern Ireland for one entry and Ireland, UK for another? Northern Ireland is part of the UK, Southern Ireland / the Republic, isn't. So that's the same thing? Plus the 2nd to last entry, from the US isn't listed on the back of the case which was confusing, since I think all the rest were...

Woolsey: Look at the camera more I think. Remember flirt with the camera! Also, really nice sequences that you culd tell you had worked on, with some really nice arm movement and gracefully dance ness. Hmmmmm.

FireTribe: You're camera angle almost crossed the invisible line. Which makes the 90 degree cut disorientating. Isometric angles / 45 degrees from front on, are different enough, and show the wheel plane.

Bluecat: Too many fades, not enough 'speed' changes in the spinning on the editing I think maybe. The scenery is almost better than the watching of the spinning. Over use of the silouette and the funny hats. Good effort for juggling in winter in scotland in loads of clothes thou.

Shilly Shally: Good use of close ups. Shame it's just from a gig, would have liked to see more of your crazy personality chris, and more dance stuff from you guys, cos I know you're awesome. Two very different camera shots as well, one very orange and the other a higher shot showing the audience in front. The orange one is rather nice, but the other is not so well done. The light isn't so good in that one.

Not many stories this time around I seem to recall.

Unhurried: EXPLORATORIUM! Woohoo! errrrr, nice staff stuff, good movement as every. By the end thou, I would have like to see you hurry up. Some differences in the intesity of your movement would have been nice. There were some really beautifully graceful bits in there thou... Hmmmmmmm.

Sandy: Juggle wibbling? Oh dear. Have you taken up WoW as well? Don't you have better things to do with your time? ;P
Er yeah, nice video, liked the previous location under the M32 better, had more Contact Staff in it too. What can I say? I'm biased. I could see the influence of the india (was it india?) trip.

Noel: Er, you look a bit like a school teacher... Some geeky ass Poi in there, and some good looking backgrounds... A bit frantic with the Poi at the end thou....

Durbs: YEAH! Good effort! I bit far from the camera occassionally, and like you'd just gone out to the forest near your house with a camera and a tripod.... Swwweeeeettttt footwork, some really well integrated with the Poi movements. You're trying to be the whipcatch king huh? Is that like the milky bar kid but different? "Whip Catches are on me!" Er, yeah, really liked it. Could have done with you doing every awesome whip catch you know, in a row, with incredible transitions in a single shot... but well... that'll be next year huh?

Firegroove: Wooooooo, I was at that film shoot! gotta love lester and jade's routine and the Fire Swords... Love you guys.

Michael: Go SOX! Was this filmed before or after firedrums?

Er... yeah, nicer DVD this time too. I liked the solarised slowmo title sequences. Of course the question is: Whose silouettes are on the cover? And the real question, why is the earth pictured on the cover centered on america? here's me thinking HOP was based in NZ?

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

so, as i wait for the ultraslack members of 'Toast to respond to me, i will write here some thoughts after 2 viewings...

won't be as in depth as last year, but i will say one thing that for me definitely does 'raise the standard' - there are no sketchy videos there. each one is at least pretty good. result!

standout ones for me, in no particular order:

durbs: its a shame you never actually spin like that I'm voting for you to not be allowed to enter it as it's not representative...
seriously, its very nice, very skilled, and you done good.

mcp: much better on a second viewing. could have done with either being one shot or many, not 2. better than last years.

Nick: I wathced this, and said 'i have never had a single spin as beautiful as this'

Firetribe Duet: not ubertechy, but really, really nicely done. and the timing is utterly impeccable. much kudos.

Sandy: i really like the skillz, the style, the washed out colour... but i think the last shot shouldn't be there, and i think a lot of folks won't like the washout.

Glow with the Flow: first time i watched it i skipped on cause of preconceptions about the way the start looked...... second time i watched it and appreciated it for what it is, which is a really nice spin with great editing.

Clrrrrr and will: difficult to talk about this one cause i know both the music and the fire piece so well, and yes, i spotted the out-of-sync-ness... but i love it. and always will.

--------


I'm pleased that mine and sebs is getting a general thumbs up - makes me want to actually put in a proper COL effort next year, making sure i have tapes that work... now then. who to persuade to come for a long visit.....?

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

Bluecat, you only get points for snow if you're naked!

"They're interdimensional fractal intelligences. That's why they wear funny shoes."

Don't encourage him, COL is meant to be family fun, not mind-numbing horror.
Plus, think of the shrinkage

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

i can post the naked snow footage we have here, but i didn't think it was suitable for the yoof of today...

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

taken out of context i must seem so strange
~ ani di franco

"Don't do it naked!"

Finally got round to watching my copy the whole way through, some thoughts and feedback...

COL2008 DVD
Pros:
Better menu system, nicer intro scenes (the solarized stuff), good quality of entries
Cons:
A couple of typos, artist names missing in credits (as in actual names, not just names of video), less prop variety than last year (I thought anyway...). Also I think the order was a bit strange; contact staffer followed by another contact staffer, then 3 poi-ers - for me it emphasised any skill differences which detracted from the artsy side of some videos.

Circles in the Anomalous Zone
Pros - Settings, costume, movement.
Cons - Isolation work was a little sloppy.

Sage
Pros - Movement, as Meg said - keeping orb interesting is an impressive feat!
Cons - I don't know why, but it bugs me this was just a filmed performance. One (off centre) camera angle, no close ups, just seemed to suggest a lack of overall effort in terms of putting an entry in. Also meant some of the dacning wasn't that clear.

Unhurried
As the name suggests, slow style - though this, for me, meant the whole energy level was quite low. Nice skills and setting though

Meggy:
Obviously of silly-high tech quality, and pleasantly light-hearted with drops and cheese-poses a-plenty. Wasn't sure about the background. Modern, but a bit too plain. Don't see how you can diss my "costume"

Noel:
As others have mentioned, the backgrounds sometimes made it hard to see the staffs, but the n-space Poi was cool and it had a nice overall feel to it. Nice ice-lolly.

Nick:
Lovely spin, single-take wonderfulness. Normally I'd say it would need more camera angles/shots or different locations, but the spin and performance were good enough to keep it interesting.

Cluuuuuuuur:
Video quality issues aside, I liked the presentation of it. My only real grip would be I've seen you spin Poi a lot cleaner than that. I think i also would've zoomed in a smidge too to capture the full wiggle factor. My faveourite bit was Will's smiley strum close up.

Glow with the flow:
I really liked the presentation, though I'm sure I saw a cameraman in the background a couple of times.

FireTribe Duet:
I really liked the 2-person stuff, especially the subtle switch into 2 Poi each. Costumes didn't really work for me (I just don't like zorro masks, sorry).

Shilly Shally Fire Arts:
Meh, as with Sage's I couldn't help but feel it was a minimal effort entry - just filmed at a spin-meet. Skills and performers aside, it didn't really work for me.

Sandy:
Smile I liked the look of the video, and the skills were top-notch. I thought the ball-juggling was a little unnecessary (though good) but really liked the ground-staff work.

Goropika:
Certainly interesting, use of live drummers was novel and spinning was good.

Me
The video kind of changed from what I'd envisioned it being, the after-effects weren't really needed (aside to cover up sloppy timing), and sort your encoding quality out.
Also, note to self, after cycling to nice locations, remember to un-tuck trouser leg from sock - looks very gay.

Torch Poi:
You scare me, possibly in a good way. Couldn't work out whether it was genuine or sarcastic/playful. Interesting prop, which could be developed further.

Red on Fire:
Think this was the belly-dancing fire fans? A nice routine, though a little too dark throughout which obscured some of the dancing. Nice though

Firegroove:
Wicked location, good to see a less promo-y feel to this entry. Good skills as always, though I miss the skimpy costumes

Yuta:
Nice spinning, nice lighting, the location was a little barren, but a highly watchable video.

Erasing Rubber Arse Duo:
Pish, stop being so hard on yourself Roblet. Best locations on the DVD, some fine staff play and beautiful visuals. Maybe not the greatest tech video, as sometimes you're a little too silhoutted, but for eye-candy it's top notch.

Infinitos:
Felt very much like a promo, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Often there was just too much happening on screen to actually take any of it in - though bonus marks for quantity of fire

Apologies for those I've missed, my memory's not what it was.

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Hey beige is a lifestyle choice, not a costume.

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

Thanks Sandy and Durbin... And Durbin - you try your fancy slidey stuff in a big long skirt and uneven wet surface

Noel... hmmm. Lots I could say here about comments you made about me, and other people. But I'm not going to.

Just one thing: "I thought that the music could have been a little better"

Really?

Will is an exceptional musician and an incredible guitar player. The music used in my video was one of very few that was 'real', not just a generic track ripped off the internet.

I could rant on about this for much longer... but I'm going to stop here.

As for the hippy-vibe... I didn't see that

The Tao comment, my mum's skirt, the title (which was also the name of the track) all tied in to the meaning I was trying to get across - obviously not very well

Anyways...

Oh, and Sandy... I thought yours was great too (fantastic editing by Sy!), just very no-nonsense - and when I think of you, I see you smiling in a cheeky way

Getting to the other side

I didn't realise the thread had stopped...

And no, you're definitely not the new Meg

Getting to the other side

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

Thanks Clare, but i edited it not Sy. Although he did all the camera work for me. No mean feat for a cripple!

Yea i could have smiled more i guess, i did in some bits but they just didnt make it through to the final edit. Besides, i take my spinning very seriously dont ya know

"Don't do it naked!"

Hehe... no worries Meg... we all know you are the mother of mean...

And Sandy... wow, I thought Sy edited... good work then indeed

More smiling next time please

x

Getting to the other side

and meg? if you want me to be less cuddly, i will.

just wait til i tell you what i REALLY thought of your vidoe

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

Hey! I didn't even use the word 'pandering'.

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

cool... I never thought about it before, but "blue cat" is the name of a very fine chocolatier in brisbane cbd...

mmmm... chilli chocolate truffles...

--pogo (pat) [forever and always]

"The storm it came up strong,
and shook the trees,
and blew away our fear."

-R.E.M. "Half a World Away"

:ditto: Compliments from Meg are amazing. I've printed mine out and am going to have it made into a t-shirt

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Holistic Spinner (I hope)

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

*looks at Photo of Meg*

Bitch.

Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.
Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Water can flow, or it can Crash.
Be Water My Friend.

So when do the judges reach their decision and announce this to the world - "Winners will be announced in November"

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

taken out of context i must seem so strange
~ ani di franco