Voyager AV (final)

[Didache]

Hi all

I have been working on an AV based on the Voyager probes. A couple of versions have been posted in Critique. It is easy to play/adjust/adapt these things forever, but I think I have it about as interesting as I can make it.

You can see it at:

Voyager final on Vimeo

You need the sound turned up.

Cheers
Mike

[Skyman]

Great use of stills to tell a story.

I know this is your final version and can't believe I missed your rough cuts!

At the beginning your editing is so tight that it almost feels like an animation and the voice over works very well, but as the sequence progresses your shots start to feel static and slip back into looking like a slideshow and I am waiting for more narration that doesn't come - I think some of the text later could be better as narration (such as the information about the voyager craft) and have it heard more in the middle of the sequence. Does the software that you use allow a cross zoom or zoom transition? if so, you can match the movement of the images with the movement of the transition and this gives the illusion that your still images are actually video. It is a great way to avoid having things feel like a slideshow. Your second song choice was interesting although it did work. I was waiting to hear thus spake tharathustra (from 2001 a space odyssey fame)

Are great example of the way still images can be combined to tell a film like story.

[Didache]

Skyman - thanks for your interest and constructive comments. Well, when I say 'final', I suppose it really means 'unless I have another good idea'!

I did consider Also Sprach Zarathustra, along with some of the Planet Suite but, to be honest, I thought they were a little 'predictable'. So I tried it with a variety of stuff, including Blue Moon. In the end I thought this version of Rainbow was a more unexpected choice. The music at the beginning and over the voiceover is from Lisa Gerrard (who performed the music from the soundtrack to Gladiator). I suppose I COULD replace Rainbow with Blue Moon (which is about a minute shorter) and speed up the latter part of the sequence, which might give that portion a little more dynamism.

I did experiment with cross zooms etc in the second part but it invariably looked messy and tended to make an effect rather like 'going into warp drive' which I didn't like. Having said that, a Rotation effect seems to work better and I may incorporate some of that into the planet portion.

If I do this I will certainly let you know.

Edit: And I have .. a MUCH pacier version with lots of zoom effects for movement: http://vimeo.com/29689825


Regards
Mike