Square Dance in Germany

Wow Ulla. Nice work.

Sehr gut! Danke schon! Aber ein bisschen lange.

Well, that exhausts my uni german!

Surreal - square dancing in the land of saurkraut and oompa-bands! Editing could be a little tighter but the content is good not too mention eclectically surreal.

Check out my <a href=" http://www.current.tv/watch/70143572">japanese biwa player</a>

Weird. I thought I already voted on this. I'm losing what little mind I have left!

yeah, it would have been nice if I could have stayed longer - because they also dance on McDonalds parking spaces, train station platforms, street parades, in the zoo, in restaurant and in silly costumes on carneval.

Hi ulla.I like your Happy vlog.Keep it ON.We need happy news

Great video Ulla.

cool pod and well produced, I liked it
GREENLIGHT

please check out my pod " a window to my world" about my life with an inborn genetic disorder

Nice work and great footage, I really like square dancing. Green Light.
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If you have time could you check out my VC2 ad for L'Oreal, its called "Old to Young" please give me suggestions on making it better and please give it a GL. Thanks.

Ulla, I like this. I am not sure it is ready for TV but very close. Maybe I need to give it time and come back and watch again.

Nice shots compelling story. GL

I will GL if you change the color of subtitles. Loved the pod actually, great for first time. Germans have an interesting way of explaining things.

yeah, agree the colour of subtitles is not very good. I needed to use a colour which would work both on light and dark background, and only red and yellow fitted that requirement. And red collided with a dress or something, so had to choose yellow, as it is rarely used.
Ideally I would have wanted to use black on grey, but only had a simple editing program.
Will try during the next attempt about Recycling in Germany and if there would be an extensive re-edit.
Also had a bit of a prob lem with voice-over and music and the transitions.

Ulla, thanks for visiting our Solar pod. Did you see the one we made about Electric Vehicles?> <a href=" http://www.current.tv/watch/36518995">link</...

It is interesting you say that European audiences would like more in depth explanation.

We are looking forward to your pod about Recycling in Germany!

oh... i forget to answer your question about getting our solar pod on TV. We are just sorting out the technical needs and leagal documents to be signed for them to put it on TV. I have not had much time to do those things but hope to get that info to them soon.

yesterday night i was thinking that if it would be picked for tv, I would like to make following changes:
1. include a proper map of Germany and Europe to show location
2. show some footage of the little city with some sightseeing points,
3. include more pics of fun and weird Square Dance actions, such like dancing in Russia, with costumes at the carneval, at beer and historical festivals,
4. include friendship ring and song at the end
5. professionalise the subtitles
6. better voive-over with slightly more background information about Square Dance, Down Syndrome and the Russian-German
7. more footage from the locations where they dance

I LOVE this piece...it just made me smile all the way thru...it made me think of things like square dancing in second grade...it WAS fun...GL ulla

A unique topic and some great personalities. GL'd

Feel free to stop by & comment on my work any time.

I like to contra dance so this is fun to watch. Check out my new film <a href=" http://www.current.tv/watch/73997402">Momma, I'm Scared</a>. It doesn't have dancing but does take a fascinating look at the market.

Thank you for sharing... I greenlit this on the merit of the updates you said you would wish to make... I might also include making the the subtitles legible... if you could add an outline to your text, it would keep the text from bleeding into the video... Otherwise, the video is neat. Greenlight, Ulla. Please, take just a moment to return your review on my own <a href=" http://www.current.tv/watch/60193451">CAN ART</a> video. I would personally love your consent for TV.

1.could have been a great parody of the german culture as we all like it.
2. hopefully, the 7 points you mention will contribute to this
3. for an example of legible subtitles please have a look at our film "sorbonne off limits
4. viel gluck

I love the honest y of your comments... Thank you for leaving a comment on my page. Much of what you say is very practical. Nevertheless, thank you for giving my project a good review... I think you may have forgotten to Greenlight it, however... Please take the opportunity to *click* the Greenlight button. I want your vote to count, Ulla. Thank you... I hope to hear from you soon. 8')

Who knew, square dancing in Germany. That is so cool, what a fresh and intersting look at German culture. Greenlight!
Also I'd love it if you could check out a video of mine about my experience dealing with my mom having cancer. <a href=" http://currenttv.com/watch/73367832?list=newVidsByProdu... THANKS!

Excellent topic, that as an American, I would not associate with German culture. You covered a spectrum of ages and personality types too.

My only suggestions would be to change the color of the subtitles, as they were sometimes hard to read, or the translations didn't always make grammatical sense. Also, I would recommend turning down the volume of the music and increasing the voice over near the end so as to better hear what you are saying.

But I loved the square dancing at the end! I would love to see more of that! A few small adjustments, and this topic is ready for TV.

That's fun. Mine isn't, but it's good anyway.

<ahref= "<a href=" http://current.tv/watch/35647424.htm">link</...">link</a>

Can you make some of the changes that you mentioned in post #15 and upload again? I would love to see some more pics of fun and weird Square Dance actions and subtitles that I can read.

I used yellow subtitles too! <a href=" http://www.current.tv/watch/79412712">link to Alms Giving</a>

German square dancers! That's a new one on me. Thanks. This was fun. I love that the singing is in English. This is a cool piece.

Nice work.

If you liked my project give me the GL.

Thanks

Hi Ulla,

Thanks for posting - I know you were keen for some feedback so here it is! I have to say that although the topic has potential, the way you have covered it could be technically and editorially more sophisticated for a Current audience. The job of Current is to entertain and inform but I must say I lost interest after a while as there was very little narrative and it was technically difficult to understand what was going on. As a German speaker I could understand what was being said but for non-English speakers this would have been a bit of a push. I also thought it would have been interesting to see some of the dancers at home and their lives in order to contextualize the importance of square dancing to them - its always advisable to 'show' rather than 'tell' the audience the points you make so Andrea's interview might have been better conducted elsewhere so that we get to know her as a character more intimately.

Everyone here has left good constructive technical advice but I would go even further and ask yourself what is it about Andrea and her square dancing that you are trying to tell your audience? What is the question you posit and are you answering it? The best films have great access, great characters and/or great stories - what you have here is definitely the beginning of some of these elements and I think more extensive shooting in more locations would make this a richer viewing experience...

I hope you consider working on this film some more as you obviously care about the subject matter and you've had quite a number of positive comments and suggestions from the community. Good job!

Hi Lina,

thanks for your feedback, it is very helpful. You are right, technically it isn't that good, I am working on finding a solution to that. The next pod about the hamster is much better.
Editorially I got a bit lost I guess because I made the video for my parents more than for Current, as you have noticed.
You are right, I have lost a bit of a focus of what I wanted to tell whom, I think I wanted to make it a little video suitable for my parents, the Square Dance Club's website, for English and German speakers and then at the end for Andrea's mum.
The problem is that I only had one evening to film and I stupidly forgot to switch the microphone on as well.
I might do another version, but have so many more projects on at the moment, I won't be able to redo it until the end of September.
Maybe the topic should really be focussing only on Andrea and her Down Syndrome and how Square Dance helps her in her life rather than mixing it all together.

Hi Ulla,

It's an interesting topic. As suggested more elements to the story. Perhaps some history of square dancing. Interviews with the dancers at home (as suggested) looking at the part square dancing plays in their lives would also be good.

Worst technical thing IMO was use of the yellow subs :(

Certainly good for a first pod though.

Initially the sound comes out too poorly for broadcast..

The subtitles would benefit from being given a contrasting background, and anti-aliased fonts.

A dougal on your mike during the indoor interviews would be very good too.

I've offered help as a collaborator on the Edinburgh collaboration thread, btw. [I'm gordon.r.love@gmail.com, if you are interested]

Who knows? Maybe I'll see you at the Current TV seminar or pitching sessions at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

the web-site just ate my long post about the narrative aspects of the vid. gah!

Email me, and I'll re-type it.