The Maldives in RED

[Guest echeng]

Howard and Michele Hall have posted a beautiful video compilation of RED ONE footage from the Maldives.

It's 4 minutes of pure beauty, and is definitely worth watching.

 

[vimeohd]10590790[/vimeohd]

[Mary Lynn 0]

Simply gorgeous footage.

 

It's always such an inspiration watching their work.

 

Thank you for posting, Eric!

 

ML

[jonny shaw 16]

Great... I love that first shot of the WS.

[Nick Hope 151]

Great stuff, as expected.

 

The opening shot: "Hmm... I wonder why they've left that slightly wobbly wide shot of dull reef in there.." and then "Oh! OK!!"

 

I wonder what Howard and Michelle do for lighting and white balance. Some of the reef and zebra shark shots come out quite red.

[marktol 0]

Fantastic bit of footage,

 

Thanks for sharing it!

 

Mark

[DeanB 19]

The opening shot: "Hmm... I wonder why they've left that slightly wobbly wide shot of dull reef in there.." and then "Oh! OK!!"

 

I wonder what Howard and Michelle do for lighting and white balance. Some of the reef and zebra shark shots come out quite red.

 

Not only me then... I have seen similar if not more impressive sequences in the last few months. One was while I was on a Red Sea trip by the resident video guy. The actual start as Nick mentioned put me off straight away dull colours and wobbly (Okay it was at depth and maybe a little choppy) but its the opening scene from a massive HH production I was expecting almost Avatar-esque quality.

 

Someone once told me if U2 released an 'all right' song it would still be thought of as great by their fans.

 

I think if any of the decent shooters on here had the time/gear/backing they could come up with similar if not better shots.

 

I really want to see the film at its best rez.

 

Dive safe

 

Dean(controversy)B

Edited April 1, 2010 by DeanB

[BDSC 1]

Good observations Dean!

[photovan 0]

maybe post was out of his hands?

I guess we were all expecting 'more' from RED.

[PRC 2]

Well a hell of a lot better than I could do for sure - but it would not have stood out instantly as being a great technological leap forward.

 

To be fair it must be difficult to tell with a feed over the internet - can we even asses the quality ? I don't know enough to answer - maybe one of the video guys can put me straight?

 

For instance there is quite a lot of banding in the blues right at the end - is that compression fro the net ? I dunno.

 

Given the hype I was expecting to be startled - and I wasn't.

 

Dean has made a good point earlier - also maybe the Maldives are not an ideal spot, there can be large currents and the Whale Sharks & Manta lunch there for a reason !

In many of the shots you can see the thermals - maybe some footage in those gin clear freshwater sites in Iceland or the Cenotes in Mexico would blow me away ?

 

Paul C

[DeanB 19]

As i said earlier I, like probably many others, were expecting a WOW factor, maybe its because we see so many gorgeous videos these days when HH brings out a major production and its RED!!! we expect, well, too much.

 

Although I remember seeing the Disney taster for the up and coming Oceans film with the Whale breaching and that blew me away and how many times do you see that nowadays. It just had that little bit extra.

 

I'm not trying to take anything away From The Hall team their obviously masters of their work and their back catalogue speaks for itself, however I was expecting something different. I could see where they were going with the reveal however for me it didn't quite work.

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

[Long John Silver 0]

Hearing the name of HH my expectations were high...

 

BTW I don't think we will be able to appreciate quality differences between RED and other HD cameras through Vimeo.

After all it's always a Flash movie encoded and recompressed.

 

Now I'm trying to download the MOV (288 MB sic!)

 

Update: I downloaded the original mov file and it's exactly the same as on Vimeo

Edited April 1, 2010 by Long John Silver

[Steve Douglas 16]

Keep in mind that Vimeo, while better than Youtube, still compressing things quite a bit. The clarity and focus in Howard and Michelle's footage here is spot on, and beautifully shot I think. I doubt if they meant for this to be a major production but probably just playing with the Red and edited a small little film. Any of us would kill to be in Michelle and Howard's position which they got from years of hard work and a tenacious focus on their goals. They have achieved great success and remain warm and friendly people.

Steve

Edited April 1, 2010 by steve

[DeanB 19]

Keep in mind that Vimeo, while better than Youtube, still compressing things quite a bit. The clarity and focus in Howard and Michelle's footage here is spot on, and beautifully shot I think. I doubt if they meant for this to be a major production but probably just playing with the Red and edited a small little film. Any of us would kill to be in Michelle and Howard's position which they got from years of hard work and a tenacious focus on their goals. They have achieved great success and remain warm and friendly people.

Steve

 

Cripes!!!! You after work or a Xmas card Steve I don't think anyone's dissing the Hallmeisters work in total its just when I read the all the hype I was, personally, a little disappointed in this piece itself. Sort of 'same shots better camera' kind of feeling.

 

Maybe I read it wrong is this just something they knocked together to test RED or is it going to be a proper production???

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

[Guest echeng]

I'll be this is all going into stock.

[DeanB 19]

I'll be this is all going into stock.

 

Well if that's the case ... Lovely stock footage sequences.

 

This has caused more debate than some conservation issues

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

[Steve Douglas 16]

Hey Dean,

Howard and Michelle use to come to the dive shop I owned back in the 90's( Eric used to come by there as well) and I was invited to the opening of their Isle of the Sharks which was an honor for me. I haven't seen them though since last Sept and they forgot to send me December's Xmas card. Still, they're great folk.

Steve

 

Ps. Isle of the Sharks was filmed at the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica. [edited for commercialism -moderator]

Edited April 2, 2010 by echeng

[RWBrooks 26]

How long were they there for?

[DeanB 19]

Hey Dean,

Howard and Michelle use to come to the dive shop I owned back in the 90's( Eric used to come by there as well) and I was invited to the opening of their Isle of the Sharks which was an honor for me. I haven't seen them though since last Sept and they forgot to send me December's Xmas card. Still, they're great folk.

Steve

 

Ps. Isle of the Sharks was filmed at the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica. Hint, hint for anyone who wants to join me there again in July, 2011

 

I honestly do not think people were taking shots at the Halls personally, it was peoples opinions on this release. I myself thought it was the trailer for a new massive programme/film. Now I know its just a bundle of sequences put together for stock I'm not so surprised/disappointed at some of it and YES there are some lovely sequences in there, although the opening sequence is still wobbly . Every-time someone puts up video/stills we all have an opinion and I'm sure after years of struggle and hard work to get to the top the Halls have encountered a few bad criticisms along the way and have thick skin. I myself am happy to be shot down a few times and boy have I in the past

 

Did you send them a card, maybe yours it was lost in the post

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

Edited April 2, 2010 by DeanB

[cmus 0]

I would agree with the folks who are a bit disappointed in this. Great behavior shots with the cleaner shrimps, eels, napoleon wrasse, etc., but the production lacks the quality I would expect from them. Lighting was pretty poor on a lot of the shots, and there was way too much camera shake. Having shot with Red several times, quality of footage from the Red is superb if it is handled right, but this video misses the mark in my opinion. Obviously I am holding them to high standards, but they should be held to high standards given they are considered by many folks to be among the best in the business. Very surprised with the poor lighting.

[Guest echeng]

Hey, guys. This was NOT a "production." It is essentially raw footage from the RED put together in a short video to share with their fans.

 

On a side note, they are watching this thread, and I'm worried that they will never again give us a sneak-preview glimpse of what they are coming back with on these stock trips.

 

Everyone is, of course, free to express their opinions; that is what makes this forum such a great place. But it's easy to criticize without showing us what you're putting together from a single trip. Remember that it's much harder to shoot and light a large sensor camera. This footage probably looks excellent in full HD and beyond, while the footage from a HDV camera struggles to look even decent at full resolution.

[photovan 0]

Hey, guys. This was NOT a "production." It is essentially raw footage from the RED put together in a short video to share with their fans.

 

On a side note, they are watching this thread, and I'm worried that they will never again give us a sneak-preview glimpse of what they are coming back with on these stock trips.

 

What a great privilege for us, a window into the top end of town!

 

and that's the danger of sharing what are essentially rushes I guess. Knowing the context of what was posted makes a difference... note for next time ...

Given that it's raw footage ...from RAW files ... it would be interesting to know how much post work is needed to get RED clips ready for initial viewing like this.

 

...and how Team Hall's workflow and post procedures etc have changed from the pre-RED days...

[TheRealDrew 0]

Given that it's raw footage ...from RAW files ... it would be interesting to know how much post work is needed to get RED clips ready for initial viewing like this.

 

If you would like to send me a RED Camera and housing, I will be happy to figure out the work flow on my Mac. I will even pay for my own dive trip myself

 

Personally I thought the clarity of the shots was amazing, despite being compressed for the web.

[DeanB 19]

Hey, guys. This was NOT a "production." It is essentially raw footage from the RED put together in a short video to share with their fans.

 

On a side note, they are watching this thread, and I'm worried that they will never again give us a sneak-preview glimpse of what they are coming back with on these stock trips.

 

Everyone is, of course, free to express their opinions; that is what makes this forum such a great place. But it's easy to criticize without showing us what you're putting together from a single trip. Remember that it's much harder to shoot and light a large sensor camera. This footage probably looks excellent in full HD and beyond, while the footage from a HDV camera struggles to look even decent at full resolution.

 

I really don't think any criticism will put off seasoned filmmakers such as the Halls, anyone who puts footage/stills etc online will get, whether intended for critique or not, peoples opinions. I'm sure Howard and Michelle are used to opinions and they will have opinions of others work. It wasn't a public slagging off just opinions.

 

This industry requires a thick skin for all types of things and peoples opinions should never be suppressed whether its a holiday shooters homemade production or an apex filmmakers masterpiece.

 

Dive safe

 

Dean(never showing a film from his 'lower class' camera in public again )B

[waynedocj 0]

Talk about critics!!!!! Since when did everyone become picky little experts?? I thought it was beautiful. My interpretation was that it was meant for us to sit back & watch what happens on the reef. Let the sealife tell the story in all its wonderful colors and interactions.

[DeanB 19]

Talk about critics!!!!! Since when did everyone become picky little experts??

 

Just opinions nothing wrong with that

 

I thought it was beautiful. My interpretation was that it was meant for us to sit back & watch what happens on the reef. Let the sealife tell the story in all its wonderful colors and interactions.

 

Like your opinion, your critique, your expertise ???

 

Jeez anyone would think it was a public hanging the way some of you react to this. ITS A FORUM!!!! Its nice to know that even the apex shooters have wobbly days as well. Did anyone really expect Mr Hall or anyone to be able to stay perfectly still while finning in a swell ...

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

Edited April 3, 2010 by DeanB