Jay Rodriguez
Coffee Member
The sick thing is I actually look forward to that. lol
T2i It's begun
- Thread starter marlontorres
- Start date
The sick thing is I actually look forward to that. lol
marlontorres
Well-known member
Yeah, I can't wait to see Bob's wife checking the mail in slow-mo...
My opinion on this is someone has to start somewhere. I am a beginner and do not know much, but why make rules about what someone can do and can't?
Let the novice like myself post videos and learn+ make money in the process. It's like Jay-Z in the rap game. If people are so well established ( thread starter ) then you won't worry what other people are doing.
Let the novice like myself post videos and learn+ make money in the process. It's like Jay-Z in the rap game. If people are so well established ( thread starter ) then you won't worry what other people are doing.
marlontorres
Well-known member
Okay N.E.S., help me understand, because I just don't get it. I can understand if people want to learn or make money. That's totally a legit reason to post a video. BUT... What benefit or good does it do anyone by posting say... "Bob showing his wife getting the mail"? I mean theres a difference between a novice posting a video who is legitimately attempting to make something decent and not succeeding (others will refer to this as "crappy video")... I can live with that. BUT then theres Joe Shmoe who posts a totally, pointless, waste of time video like "Bob showing his wife getting the mail". That's what annoys me.
PS. I hate loathe Magic Bullet.
I think you have very professional work and should not worry about anyone else. I like your footage and want to shoot like that one day. Art is free , if one guy wants to film someone on the toilet than so be it.
I am shocked that you even care, especially considering the work you have. Do not feel threatened just because someone has the same tool, it's more to it than that.
I never know how to draw, but someone with the same pencil is amazing.
Jay Rodriguez
Coffee Member
N.E.S. I think you're missing his point but I do like your pencil statement.
ydgmdlu
Veteran
The point is that we don't want to drown in a sea of seemingly pointless, mundane videos. Forget Bob's wife checking the mail, the real epidemic is close-ups on flowers (which have thankfully become much less frequent in recent months).
It's almost like spam. It makes the truly interesting (however amateurish or misguided) and useful stuff all the more difficult to find.
shaocaholica
Well-known member
Same goes for damn pet videos on youtube. If you're going to shoot your pet, it better be cute, in focus, lit and have no sound.
lee caropolo
Active member
Really who cares if your drowned in terrible videos. Us new guys could learn from them in what settings not to use. In future films dp's will prob try to emulate Bob shooting his wife getting the mail. cinema verite right? We should have a contest of our wives getting the mail. b&w, color, slow mo lol.
marlontorres
Well-known member
I like the SPAM analogy cuz it's more or less what it is.
I don't know how you've somehow come to the conclusion that I'm threatened. I get dozens of Spam everyday in the mail, does that mean that I'm threatened? No... It just annoys the hell out of me. That's how I feel about pointless videos of flowers and Bob's wife getting the mail. I have several subscriptions to channels on Vimeo that were once pretty cool but now, they're just full of people flower tests and look at my pets videos. Now instead of getting quality, inspiring work in my inbox feed... I get "bob and his wife checking the mail." Yay.
I don't know how you've somehow come to the conclusion that I'm threatened. I get dozens of Spam everyday in the mail, does that mean that I'm threatened? No... It just annoys the hell out of me. That's how I feel about pointless videos of flowers and Bob's wife getting the mail. I have several subscriptions to channels on Vimeo that were once pretty cool but now, they're just full of people flower tests and look at my pets videos. Now instead of getting quality, inspiring work in my inbox feed... I get "bob and his wife checking the mail." Yay.
I do ... when someone who clearly has more skills then others complains about the less skilled polluting his space, it shows a lacking of humility.
be happy in what you got :smile:
marlontorres
Well-known member
I'm not complaining about the less skilled, Steven Spielberg could put up a video of his wife going to the mailbox, and I wouldn't be any less annoyed. This topic is NOT about skill its about content.
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Last post. Anything Given can be taken. Life is short and enjoy your time here. While there are many clips that are not good they are also many that inspire me. I love video/film and someone can make flower look beautiful as it is nature and plant of life.
I hope you get frustration out of your life, you create nice war movie and should be happy. Instead of complaining tell people what they can do to make their shots more interesting.
Good bye
Chris Watson
Well-known member
But how many are actually making money off their gear on Vimeo? There might be a few but my guess is the majority of them (even the ones with good work) do this for fun so you get alot of test videos since these people don't have actual gigs to take these cams to.
As for content, I'd say the professional demo reels I've seen with drop dead gorgeous shots have the same weight as Uncle Bob getting a haircut shot with primes. It's eye candy with no content or weight and I include my own entries into the equation as well.
What I do to separate the wheat from the chaff on Vimeo is sort the group's videos by user rankings. This allows the best videos to come up on top. It might be worth a shot!
Chris W
Before the computer became common in homes the music companies threw alot of enthusiast work sent to them as rubbish, and before internet, alot of ideas/articles were trashed as rubbish by newspaper editors. That is nolonger the case rubbish or not rubbish, paid or not paid, there is enough material for everybodys need, the censuring is gone.
Many who complain here might still not the budget required for the big screen "per se" but you produce what you produce for the audience who like it.
Revolution is here, accept or not it is here for whoever wants to try his/her hand in it.
In Sweden, "testing my new camera" recently led to the arrest of a serial killer, so if that one is not content enough, then i don't know what content is.
Many who complain here might still not the budget required for the big screen "per se" but you produce what you produce for the audience who like it.
Revolution is here, accept or not it is here for whoever wants to try his/her hand in it.
In Sweden, "testing my new camera" recently led to the arrest of a serial killer, so if that one is not content enough, then i don't know what content is.
Ryan Farnes
Well-known member
Wow.
So, I can see where Torres is coming from. Before I even started to seriously getting a 7D back in November 2009, I openly commented how annoyingly predictable these DSLR videos had become. So many of them showed super shallow depth of field of whatever, mixed to music, with no stabilization. It was "artsy fartsy" to throw the subject in and out of focus.
Then and now, I'm still learning and trying to apply the concept that "content is king."
ydgmdlu
Veteran
The question is, why do people feel the need to post random, mundane footage that doesn't seem to serve any purpose at all? It shows a lack of humility to me. We're not saying, "don't shoot that stuff." We are saying, basically, that if you have nothing good to post, then don't post anything at all. Look, everyone shoots test videos, but does everyone post them? If I get a new camera, and it's not a pre-production unit, or I'm not one of the very first people to get it, then what would I contribute to the community by posting clips that are admittedly not very interesting?
I thought that the purpose of sharing videos online is to get feedback or to show people things that they've never seen, even if those things are stupid (but funny). When a person posts clips of flowers, pets, or "getting the mail," the use of bandwidth (which is the most expensive resource on the Internet) is hardly ever justified. It would be different if the person asked, "What am I doing wrong?" or "How can I improve my skills?" But instead, almost always the clips come with no substantive questions or comments. The implication is, "Look at me! I have a camera!" There's no attempt to do anything creative at all (even if the only available subjects are household items or things in one's backyard/neighborhood), and therein lies the problem.
But demo reels actually serve a purpose. The people who are sharing them are actually trying to get work with them.
When there's an ever-growing flood of the useless stuff, it makes the job of rating videos harder. People actually have to find, sift through, and watch that stuff, you know. What if everyone started having your attitude and decided to let other people decide what is junk and what isn't?
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Chris Watson
Well-known member
My pet peeve is slow motion. Wall to wall slow motion. I'd love to see more real time clips with nat sound. If your shots are solid, that's all you need to make compelling video.
Barry_Green
Moderator
But -- is that new? Come on, we've seen those exact same videos since the very first 35mm adapters came out. Three years ago or so, I remember David Jimerson begging that please, no more footage of people's cats...
Yes you are going to see more of it now, because the lower cost of the equipment means that there's an expanded base -- isn't that what everyone's been clamoring for? The "democratization" of the filmmaking experience?
What do we have here, a case of "be careful what you wish for?"
Everybody's gotta start somewhere. And yes, people taking their first shots are going to be excited and they're going to post them. If you don't like wading through the amateur footage (and there will be gobs and gobs of it) don't go searching for footage.
Just because the pricetag has been democratized, that doesn't mean the talent is any more widespread.
And frankly, it isn't just limited to test footage -- there are lots and lots of so-called "feature films" that get posted, that are just as mind-numbingly awful. Awful awful awful -- but excited folks post them and even *promote* them as much as they can.
Safest way to go is to wait for the quality stuff to bubble to the top. The cream always rises. When everyone's talking about a certain clip, go watch that one.
But I don't begrudge anyone the right to, or the enjoyment of, shooting and posting something. If they have talent, they -- well, they gotta start somewhere. If they don't have talent, they'll get bored and go away sooner or later.
Now, if you want an actual solution to the problem -- keep track of clips that are actually good, and let's start a collection of those. That way people can find - at a glance - the good stuff, and they don't have to go wading through the sea of other stuff.
I feel like if you want to put out whatever footage you want you can and in all honestly us arguing about it isnt going to stop it. If your work is good it will outshine the bad. Some of you who think your footage is oh so good and professional someone else might think is total crap just off the strength that it was shot digital and not film or that the content that you think is good they dont like. For example what if I said I cant stand World War shorts. Is that going to make you stop shooting them? It also works in reverse. What you may think is total crap someone else could like or use as a tool of what not to do on their project. Something can be taken from EVERYTHNG you see in life.