First video:
I know it was a test and you were trying to be artsy, but watching sticks and leaves go in and out of focus gets real boring, real fast. Just spread those clips out into other videos rather than making one of just those shots. It was good cinematography, just super monotonous and boring.
Second video:
Really work on your follows. If you were filming with your 40mm pancake, pop on your kit lens instead and film at 18mm for follows, it'll be more forgiving if you make a mistake and it'll just look a lot better overall. Also, your stabilization needs to get better. Were you just going handheld? Holding the tripod maybe? In any case, you need a better stabilizer. I would suggest making one like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NDsEFy5Iww and use it until you can afford a proper glidecam or flycam. I had one and it works wonders. It may not look like much but it really does help. Lastly, I would shoot 720/60p if you are even considering using any slowmo in your edit. It allows more flexibility in post and a more professional look for slowmo in the finished product. The quality loss is hardly noticeable anyway.
Overall, if you practice a ton and just keep making videos, and watching videos, your editing skills as well as your filming skills will improve. Good work for just starting out though.
