XH-A1 Footage: Commercial/City Promo/Low Light Balloon Glow/Comments appreciated
- Thread starter timegates
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toddmcm
Carbonite Member
It's hard to get good feedback around here unless your stuff obviously shines and everybody goes "ahhhhh, pretty". SO, I'm going to give you 100% honest feedback here. I'm not a professional video guy, I'm a photographer that shoots video for fun. So take it with a grain of salt.
#1. I barely had the patience to sit through the entire thing. I'm not entirely sure of it's purpose. Is it supposed to make me want to live there, visit there? If so, loose the parking lot scene, I lost interest almost immediately. Meanwhile, the acoustic version of the Metallica song doesnt seem to match up with the footage I'm looking at. Lastly, TOO many zooms for my liking.
HOWEVER, there are some really good shots in there. Footage itself looks "good" - better control of the camera with pans and zooms would take it up a notch. Smooth it out, slow it down. Work on composition first though, get a great composition and let the tape roll.
#2. Basically the same, didn't have the patience to even watch the entire thing. Shooting through a fence in kinda lame, especially for however many minutes. Too much panning, unsteady footage.
HOWEVER, once again the footage quality itself looks good. A1 sure does a good job in low light. Had you purchased a ticket to the event and used a tripod you could have had some really good useable footage.
#3. I can tell you put a lot of work into this. Its much better than the first two and has a much more polished look to it. It reminds me of some of my very first projects, including some of the common mistakes.
Once again, footage looks good. Possibly a bit on the underexposed side, HD seems to like A LOT of light, then use the camera to control exposure. Otherwise everything starts to get a bit "flat" in terms of color AND depth. Once again, too much unstable footage. Either invest in rental gear for shoots like this, or sacrafice some resolution and stabilize in post. Titles, keep em basic, no inch worm titles that stay up for 10 seconds. Some of your cuts are too quick, barely had time to look at the single most interesting shot you had that was a still I believe of the old man, and leave time to actually READ the headlines. Overall if I was a client, I would make you redo some stuff, but like the overall direction.
Good work! Keep it up, and keep making it better! Biggest thing, stable footage.
Best Regards,
Todd
#1. I barely had the patience to sit through the entire thing. I'm not entirely sure of it's purpose. Is it supposed to make me want to live there, visit there? If so, loose the parking lot scene, I lost interest almost immediately. Meanwhile, the acoustic version of the Metallica song doesnt seem to match up with the footage I'm looking at. Lastly, TOO many zooms for my liking.
HOWEVER, there are some really good shots in there. Footage itself looks "good" - better control of the camera with pans and zooms would take it up a notch. Smooth it out, slow it down. Work on composition first though, get a great composition and let the tape roll.
#2. Basically the same, didn't have the patience to even watch the entire thing. Shooting through a fence in kinda lame, especially for however many minutes. Too much panning, unsteady footage.
HOWEVER, once again the footage quality itself looks good. A1 sure does a good job in low light. Had you purchased a ticket to the event and used a tripod you could have had some really good useable footage.
#3. I can tell you put a lot of work into this. Its much better than the first two and has a much more polished look to it. It reminds me of some of my very first projects, including some of the common mistakes.
Once again, footage looks good. Possibly a bit on the underexposed side, HD seems to like A LOT of light, then use the camera to control exposure. Otherwise everything starts to get a bit "flat" in terms of color AND depth. Once again, too much unstable footage. Either invest in rental gear for shoots like this, or sacrafice some resolution and stabilize in post. Titles, keep em basic, no inch worm titles that stay up for 10 seconds. Some of your cuts are too quick, barely had time to look at the single most interesting shot you had that was a still I believe of the old man, and leave time to actually READ the headlines. Overall if I was a client, I would make you redo some stuff, but like the overall direction.
Good work! Keep it up, and keep making it better! Biggest thing, stable footage.
Best Regards,
Todd
disjecta
Lucky Duck
Well I hope that you can take these comments in the spirit they are intended
1. Overall I would say that these pieces are flat and just plain boring.
2. Music was very generic and too slow, it dragged the pacing
3. Your shots were too long and too similar
4. The overall feel was not professional. It felt like home video.
5. The restaurant and city promos felt like they could have been more effective at 30 seconds long.
For city and restaurant promos, my opinion is that it should be more exciting. If you watch the Travel Channel or the Food Network, you will see that there are many varieties of shot compositions and subject matter. The editing is usually more choppy to convey the energy and the music is fast-paced to enhance that sense of energy. All of your pieces lacked energy and some just suffered because they were mixed in with similar shots with long cuts.
The text effects in the restaurant promo also looked amateur. 3D effects like these can look great or really bad and I'm afraid yours was the latter.
I hope you don't take offense to my comments because this is just one person's opinion. Don't be discouraged, however, more practice and experience will make this stuff second nature to you. At least you are out there shooting and that's the first step towards mastery.
Good luck,
D.
1. Overall I would say that these pieces are flat and just plain boring.
2. Music was very generic and too slow, it dragged the pacing
3. Your shots were too long and too similar
4. The overall feel was not professional. It felt like home video.
5. The restaurant and city promos felt like they could have been more effective at 30 seconds long.
For city and restaurant promos, my opinion is that it should be more exciting. If you watch the Travel Channel or the Food Network, you will see that there are many varieties of shot compositions and subject matter. The editing is usually more choppy to convey the energy and the music is fast-paced to enhance that sense of energy. All of your pieces lacked energy and some just suffered because they were mixed in with similar shots with long cuts.
The text effects in the restaurant promo also looked amateur. 3D effects like these can look great or really bad and I'm afraid yours was the latter.
I hope you don't take offense to my comments because this is just one person's opinion. Don't be discouraged, however, more practice and experience will make this stuff second nature to you. At least you are out there shooting and that's the first step towards mastery.
Good luck,
D.
dougster77
Active member
What editor (NLE - Non Linear Editor) are you using? You may have the best footage in the entire universe but if your editor (NLE) is cutting your creative abilities your viewing audience will never be able to see your footage due to poor editing...
You may try one of these programs:
Sony Vegas 7 (PC)
Premier Pro 2 (PC)
Final Cut Pro (Mac)
I prefer Vegas for ease of use however each of these programs all basically do the same thing with minor advantages and disadvantages for each...
Might try making cuts in beat with whatever music you are using... It will greatly improve the viewing pleasure...
KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid... That is the principle that NASA used to get to the moon... Same thing applies to editing and film... Limit cross fades and go with straight cuts... Limit text effects to the basics....
Just my two cents...
You may try one of these programs:
Sony Vegas 7 (PC)
Premier Pro 2 (PC)
Final Cut Pro (Mac)
I prefer Vegas for ease of use however each of these programs all basically do the same thing with minor advantages and disadvantages for each...
Might try making cuts in beat with whatever music you are using... It will greatly improve the viewing pleasure...
KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid... That is the principle that NASA used to get to the moon... Same thing applies to editing and film... Limit cross fades and go with straight cuts... Limit text effects to the basics....
Just my two cents...
To Disjecta:
Steven,
Thanks so much for your onest opinion! It means a lot coming from you. These are my first attempts on anything (video) even remotely close to professional, so obviously that shows
.
The restaurant clip is a request from a friend that will use the clip internally to loop it mixed with high res pics of their food specialties on their plasma screens, and so far he and his wife loved it. Eventually, he wants to turn it into an actual commercial-BTW the sound clip was provided by him, so I had no say into that. Of course, being in the learning phase, i'm pretty much shoot everything that comes along to sharpen my skills.
To Todd:
Apreciate you taking the time and looking at my stuff. Again, this is work in progress...right now I'm finding out what I can and cannot do as far as shot length, editing, and of course composition and steadyness. I'll try to shorten the clips to mainly steady shots, cut down on the extreme zooms, and slow down a little
Thanks again, guys...it means a lot to a newbie like me It's real onest and constructive comments like these that continue to give me inspiration to keep at it!
Tony S.
Steven,
Thanks so much for your onest opinion! It means a lot coming from you. These are my first attempts on anything (video) even remotely close to professional, so obviously that shows
.The restaurant clip is a request from a friend that will use the clip internally to loop it mixed with high res pics of their food specialties on their plasma screens, and so far he and his wife loved it. Eventually, he wants to turn it into an actual commercial-BTW the sound clip was provided by him, so I had no say into that. Of course, being in the learning phase, i'm pretty much shoot everything that comes along to sharpen my skills.
To Todd:
Apreciate you taking the time and looking at my stuff. Again, this is work in progress...right now I'm finding out what I can and cannot do as far as shot length, editing, and of course composition and steadyness. I'll try to shorten the clips to mainly steady shots, cut down on the extreme zooms, and slow down a little
Thanks again, guys...it means a lot to a newbie like me
It's real onest and constructive comments like these that continue to give me inspiration to keep at it!Tony S.
To Dougster77:
I am using Vegas 7 and Premiere Pro 2 ...with mainly Vegas for editing and rendering to DVD (DVD Architect 4). As far as editing on the beat, that is something I will attempt to do on all my future projects, mixing more straight cuts, and less disolves...unless it's supporting the actual desired effect.
Thanks again for the advice. It's much appreciated.
Tony
I am using Vegas 7 and Premiere Pro 2 ...with mainly Vegas for editing and rendering to DVD (DVD Architect 4). As far as editing on the beat, that is something I will attempt to do on all my future projects, mixing more straight cuts, and less disolves...unless it's supporting the actual desired effect.
Thanks again for the advice. It's much appreciated.
Tony
toddmcm
Carbonite Member
right on Tony, keep it up man. This isn't a biz you learn overnight. I've been shooting since the days of the VX1000 and still learn every time I shoot. (partly because the damn cameras keep getting so advanced, not to mention software)
Another small thing for you, pick up a good book on basic photography. Forget video for a minute and simply think composition and basic rules of photography. If you can create a really nice still, it USUALLY translates into really nice video/film. It's actually how I started doing video. I would take these incredible stills in Hawaii, and even though they were good, some were even great it just didn't do the place justice, so I bought a vid cam to capture the action and the sounds that went along with the beautiful images.
Good luck bro!
Another small thing for you, pick up a good book on basic photography. Forget video for a minute and simply think composition and basic rules of photography. If you can create a really nice still, it USUALLY translates into really nice video/film. It's actually how I started doing video. I would take these incredible stills in Hawaii, and even though they were good, some were even great it just didn't do the place justice, so I bought a vid cam to capture the action and the sounds that went along with the beautiful images.
Good luck bro!
To Todd:
Funny you mentioned the photography book! I have just picked up one the other day on composition and arranging your shot...Also, I have just downloaded your vids: love the light house shot, and I've been playing Thwack non stop for the past half hour or so! It's freaking amazing! Excellent use of graphics and text. After Effects? Also love the selection of music, it goes perfect with it! Is that you on one of those shiny boards, Todd? If that's so...you've got excellent surfing skills, my man!
Tony S.
Funny you mentioned the photography book! I have just picked up one the other day on composition and arranging your shot...Also, I have just downloaded your vids: love the light house shot, and I've been playing Thwack non stop for the past half hour or so! It's freaking amazing! Excellent use of graphics and text. After Effects? Also love the selection of music, it goes perfect with it! Is that you on one of those shiny boards, Todd? If that's so...you've got excellent surfing skills, my man!
Tony S.
toddmcm
Carbonite Member
LOL... the thwack video... literally just me on the beach learning the camera for a half hour or so. Figured I'd at least try to make it watchable and got a bit carried away. I'm a final cut guy, so everything is just generic templates from motion. I'm glad you liked it though. I grew up surfing at the spot in the video, it's 56th st in newport beach ca (actually graduated with the one featured guy Josh). It's a small town in many ways, just happens to be surrounded by lots of larger ones.
Few more vids posted up in the lighthouse thread as well, check em out.
Good luck with the vids! As with everything in life, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know.
Few more vids posted up in the lighthouse thread as well, check em out.
Good luck with the vids! As with everything in life, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know.
Was that apocolyptica i heard?!?!
Yea the images were a bit flat, and the editing could have been quicker. but you have good baseline images. from there you can do alot.
Yea the images were a bit flat, and the editing could have been quicker. but you have good baseline images. from there you can do alot.
To TimurCivan:
Yeah man, not a huge fan of Metallica -just some stuff...but, Apocalyptica...made "Unforgiven" sound like heaven to me
You guys are right...the soudtrack is not the best for the type of editing I've done so far...but it is a rough draft...or better yet...newbie work in progress!
I'll probably do another edit...with a different soundtrack...maybe a faster track...and make use sparringly of dissolves and use more beat synced cuts (probably the steadiest ones)...and we'll see what happens.
To Todd:
"As with everything in life, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know."
Spoken like a true wise man!
Check your other threads for some of my other replies
Tony S.
Yeah man, not a huge fan of Metallica -just some stuff...but, Apocalyptica...made "Unforgiven" sound like heaven to me
You guys are right...the soudtrack is not the best for the type of editing I've done so far...but it is a rough draft...or better yet...newbie work in progress!
I'll probably do another edit...with a different soundtrack...maybe a faster track...and make use sparringly of dissolves and use more beat synced cuts (probably the steadiest ones)...and we'll see what happens.
To Todd:
"As with everything in life, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know."
Spoken like a true wise man!
Check your other threads for some of my other replies
Tony S.