The New Look | 2005

Damn, that was Flashizzled to the nizzle. Personally, I don't like to wade through all dat to get where I wanna be. However, it does look great. Good job.
 
OMG THAT INTRO KICKED ASS!!

MD you must send me some of those sound effects....their amazing!

teach me how u made that...!!

that page design is off the hizzle ma kizzl!

awesome site!





...btw Terry...your gettin there...lool....its Dat was UBER FLIZZASH to the nizzle

Terry-grasshopper-kenobi....you are learning, my student...
 
Yes that is a very nice site, everything is nicely organized.
But for some reason I can't get any of the movies to play.
 
my overal impression was good. though the writing on your site became a weak point in my mind.

you should really tighten up EACH AND EVERY word on your site. don't say it if you don't need to. don't waste a word by saying your work is special or great, your work alone should show them that. the better you get..the few words you will ever need.

for press..okay, * i understand someday you will get something in there, but you need to cya a little better. if you really don't have much for real, get creative and get SOMETHING going. there are a ton of little rags and internet mags that could use a qoute or submission, etc.


in about us-
"it's films" check that-

you start off talking about the "company" then in p2, you switch to "I", why? if you don't have any benchmark achievements yet, try a different angle. tell us more about you. no example here but there are many artist sites where the artist shares something of self, that is more expression than explanation.

i suggest you think of a better name category other than "memory videos". while it may be what they are, the category name on its own may not be attractive to your music video clients. it could be a little to fuzzy. how about "other work?"

nice, lots of potential showing through there.
 
Mmmmmm Eye candy. You've obviously got flash design talent, but IMO you went overboard. I sent you a PM last week and never got a reply, so I'm suggesting this again, in the public forum.

Make an HTML version of your site.

Check-out most content based websites and you will see very little to NO flash. There's a reason for that. Flash looks good (you got blckhawk excited), but people will keep coming back because of content. If you visit movie websites you will see alot of flash ( http://www.serenitymovie.com ). That's because movies come and go and they need to advertise with a lot of smoke and mirrors. You don't want to be a smoke and mirrors site. You want your videos to speak for themselves. Don't let the flash of your site distract from the quality and content of your videos. IMO.

Even still most flash sites have an option for an HTML version. This helps visitors (some people don't like flashy stuff) but it also helps the website, because real HTML gives spiders more content/keywords to crawl every month. Eventually sending the site more visitors.

As is, search engines won't like your site. It's the truth. There's nothing for them to grab onto and use for keywords. Meta-tags aren't enough these days for SEO. Yes, your site will be #1 if people search for "MD Films" but that's if people already know you exist (friends and family). But let's face it, you're not Paramount or DreamWorks. Yet. :) So searching for MD Films is like someone searching for DVXuser in Google. That's a sure thing. But search for DVX100 and the results widen and dvxuser is about #11. :( If DVXuser isn't in the Top 10 then you can imagine how difficult it is to get good search engine placement.

So how do you want people to find your site? Do you want only business associates and people on forums to see it. Then what you've got will work fine. But if people search for "short videos" or "indie films" or "porn" then they will never find your beautiful site. And it is beautiful. :) But so is Jessica Alba. And that doesn't mean I can have a meaningful relationship with her. I mean, she's probably never even heard of the DVX. And I'd probably have to explain Terry Lasater's avatar to her.

You wanted an opinion so there's the straight dope. It's nice to look at, but I would want to date it. :)
pk
 
Of ourse PK is right about the crawlers not comming to your site to feed and damn that's a shame cos I like your site. Flash wins me over every time if it's done right. In todays world of super multimedia delivery, I get so tired of hearing how the site is too flashy and there should be no sound. I'm not talking about anyone on the dvx forum but some of the research I've done dictates the site you build to be just another flyer on a telephone pole...Quiet and lifeless. I'm working my site slowly this time and putting a little flash into html frames but everytime I go there myself I almost fall asleep. It seems to me that video sites should fly high with multimedia content, great audio and flashy design, get people up close and paying attention, we're not selling subcrtiptions to readers digest of studying the mating habits of female anchovies. We're about telling stories visually with movement and sound....**** the crawlers I say! But in the back of my skull, I know PK is right:)
 
Thanks for all the comments....

If you cant see the movies, they are pop-ups, your browser is blocking them.

Pooh - Its funny you talked about the text, its all being rewritten, its just hasn't been completed.

PK - I understand what your saying BUT since video playback requires high speed, I'm not really exicted about making a HTML site for dial up users, get high speed. The site is using lots of flash but overload, I dont think so. There are some really cool flash sites out there, this one is pretty basic, its not that deep.

Thanks again for you the time and support.

More to come soon

Mike D
 
I agree more or less with Pooh and PK (and having an 'Oh well; get High Speed' take may or may not be a good way to go) Flash is nice but can be overkill quick. Are you showing off a website or a portfolio; as Pooh says 'Your work should do the talking, not a the website'

That being said; some nice elements are being used:

I 'd lower the text "Welcome to MDFilms.net! etc etc etc" to be VISUALLY lower than the grey square box immediatley on the LEFT of this text

I count 14 different links. 14? Less is more could never be truer than in webdesign. I find myself hunting for the links as they are competing with each other

I like the top banner that and the sounds; very cool; but on the bottom it just seems busy.

Great start though and muc improvement

I'd also consider an option of turning off the sound. I'm not sure people dig sites that make unsolicted noise
 
MD - I have highspeed Internet. (For about 4 months.) That's why neither of my arguements mentioned speed or dial-up as an issue. My days of complaining about speed are over. :)

It's simple. "Give the viewer an option" and it will benefit you and them. Just make some REALLY nice HTML pages. You can even include ALOT of flash graphics (the headers you made are beautiful - use them). So, basically, you'd have a killer flash site (for those who want it) and a killer html site (to help you get more visitors).

Ultimately you make the films and the website you want to make. That's all that matters. But you did ask for opinions. (Honestly, I would have tried to help you even if you didn't ask. I'm just nosey that way.)

Good luck!
 
Hmm...."I'm not really exicted about making a HTML site for dial up users, get high speed"...


I don't think you're quite well know, or [famous] enough to have that opinion of yourself.
 
Look, I'm not trying to piss everyone off. I just dont feel the need to make a HTML site. For the most part, people have high speed internet. I thought it was easy enough to see were to links are located on each page, they all highlight. I dont have any problem with the advice and comments, it just seems like everyone is getting piss at me (esp John Hudson). I know your pissed off about the posting thing, that was my fault, and I'm sorry. I hope this clears anything up.

Mike D
 
MD, excellent start. I really thought the flash sequence looked professional. However, with that being said, I have to agree with what most have said regarding excessive flash. Let’s face it, your website exist to make money. You make money by attracting (and keeping) potential clients to your website. You only have a few seconds to gain their attention before they lose interest and move on to something else. There’s nothing wrong with using flash, but you have to ask yourself the hard question: Was it really necessary? Does it bring any value and substance to what you are promoting or was it included because it looked cool?

One comment you mentioned that concerns me …

“PK - I understand what your saying BUT since video playback requires high speed, I'm not really exicted about making a HTML site for dial up users, get high speed.”
Click to expand...

No offense, but that “no high speed? it sucks to be you” attitude will kill your business even before it has got off the ground. It sounds arrogant and is a complete turn off. You’re alienating a very large segment of your potential customer base. It’s all about meeting the needs of the client first (with or without high speed internet).

BTW, where is your home page?

Here are some excellent articles that may interest you.

http://www.inc.com/articles/2000/06/19975.html

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,308838,00.html

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,316156,00.html

An excerpt from the article above:

"Fatal Mistake #1: Trying to "dazzle" customers instead of trying to sell to them. A lot of new business owners want their sites to be as eye-catching as possible. They think that by including a lot of flashy graphics and nifty animation effects, they'll capture their visitors' attention. That may be true, but these special effects can also distract visitors from what you really want them to focus on: the value of your product.

Never confuse eye-candy with content. Graphics should only ever be used to support the main purpose of your site: to get people to buy what you have to sell. You may want to impress people with your technical know-how by including lots of banners and links on your site, but too much visual clutter looks unprofessional and can ruin your credibility. Anything that distracts visitors from your copy is guaranteed to lose you sales. So if a graphic doesn't directly relate to your product or service, then it shouldn't be on your site. It's just that simple.

You also don't want to chase your visitors away with long, unnecessary Flash presentations and splash pages. If your customers have to spend too much time trying to figure out how to stop your Flash presentation so they can get through to the "meat" of your site, they'll be gone, most likely never to return.

Believe it or not, studies have shown that most first-time visitors spend only 10 seconds on a site before deciding whether or not it offers any value for them. You don't want to waste these precious seconds with a pointless splash page or distracting animation."

Here are some examples of companies within the entertainment industry examples (most have little to no flash) …

http://www.pixar.com/

http://www.wetaworkshop.co.nz/

http://www.paramount.com/index.htm

http://www.lionsgatefilms.com/index_flash.php

Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
I think you should put a note on your page for all the dial-up users that says, "Get highspeed." :happy:

Alright, I'm not pissed, I like some of the elements on your page, but even with broadband things seem to run a little slow on your page. Keep in mind that the attention span of most internet people is pretty small. There are those of us on Broadband who don't want to deal with flash, and would rather zip into your site, check out your work and then make a decision. By not having html you're cutting out that segment of people. You've made that choice and it's fine, but people wouldn't be stressing that point if it weren't a big deal.

Overall I like your use of Flash. As Pooh already mentioned, your paragraphs and word choice are the weakest part of your site. I found the design to be a little dark for my tastes. I just think there's a little too much black on black on black.

This was already brought up, but try and simplify things. You have lots of links, and it's easy for the audience to get lost. Try and lead the person browsing, and make sure you're most important elements are seen first. Your "about" section located next to contact, when it should probably be up front and the first thing people see on your page. Keep on tweaking it, it's not done yet, but the basic foundation is there. Let us know when you have another draft ready.
 
everyone is getting the wrong image on using Flash... you can too provide meta tags and information in a page that can be hidden. Also Flash can be used to a certain extent of the file size and streaming. Your file size is "semi" decent for Highspeed cable, DSL your borderlining, and for dialup it'd take roughly 5 1/2 minutes to download.

I can see you have your own methods, which is okay, but do you really want to be that secluded, limiting your audience? I wouldn't, i would want anyone and their grandmother to see my stuff, do you know why? Because you <b>never</b> know whose watching.

Now you can compare your site to lets say dreamworks.com. The file size is 165k, they're site brings more information because everything is dynamiclly fetched. Now if you tried to do this with your site, i believe you could get your size down to around 300k.

I would say that your flash content is more appealing than your work. Not really a good thing. If I saw a crappy ass html driven site with excelent material, i'd be willing to give them a DP position.
 
MDfilms said:
(esp John Hudson). I know your pissed off about the posting thing, that was my fault, and I'm sorry. I hope this clears anything up.

Mike D
Click to expand...

Uh? Huh? :shocked: :huh:

I said "I like what you have and here are my suggestions" (In regards to your website).

As far as the posting thing; water way under the bridge. NOt sure why your hanging onto that? Just post stuff where you know it needs to be.

:huh: :beer: Chill brolley. It's all good Mike. :thumbsup: :beer: :cheesy:
 
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