Video for your review at DVinfo.net

David Nelson · March 1st, 2006, 09:44 PM

www.bigeyedeamedia.com/preblepreview.wmv

I'm doing a dvd for a girls basketball team. This is only 6 minutes of the beginning, just tell me how it feels and looks?

Thanks in advance

Jonathan Jones · March 2nd, 2006, 12:47 AM

I think there is definately potential here, I think it is a pretty cool idea for a project...Here are just a few thoughts that are only my opinion, but are what I would have probably added or done differently...

First of all, the very first opening audio clip seemed way too cut and too short to grasp...I think it was "team on three...1,2,3, tea.."/'cut' left me with a 'huh? what was that? sense'

I liked the effect you used for the rotating and reflecting images with the titling.

The lapel mic levels are all over the place, if I turned up my system to hear the lower ones comfortably, the music would then come in and blow me out of my seat. The music levels are good overall, and some of the mic audio is okay, but a few clips are just way too quiet.

As far as pacing and interest, I think that it seems to be very non-compelling pretty early on...just my opinion, but if you have some footage of some court action, that would really be great to interperse the introductions, since most of the shots include the same framing and background, adding some interspersed footage between character intros would help break up the 'same' shot, as well as introduce a heightened sense of energy to the feel of the video - an important part of a video piece documenting an activity based sport.

As it moves onward, I would also add some interspersed video clips of scenes such as coaching, games, practice, and general all around shots of the players, whatever would be appropriate to complement the themes of what they are talking about...themes taken from the following quoted concepts;

do your best
work hard
be a team player
face adversity
never give up

etc.

would be far more compelling if you carefully blended their talking head shots into blended audio overlay over footage that helped to demonstrate the various concepts...check just about any type of interview footage from
!E entertainment, or the History channel or other interview type television and you will see that this is a standard way of presenting conceptual interview content.

Finally, there are a couple of shots of what I assume is the coach staring off to the left of the frame.....It would be great to cut to some downcourt action to simulate whatever he is looking at because I really was left with wanting to know what was pulling his strong attention.

I hope none of this comes across as harsh criticism. I think there is definately some great potential here. With some added polish and attention to detail, you could most surely have the makings of a top notch piece of video. Please keep at it. I would love to see the results as it develops.

As a technical note: your post noted that it was supposed to be a 6 minute clip. The file I downloaded fades to black and silence at 3:48 with no additional footage. At about 4:23 there are a couple of seconds of audio, but that's it, and then the scrubber ends at 4:32 - so I just thought you might have a few stray clips floating around in the project.

I hope this helps...good luck

David Nelson · March 2nd, 2006, 02:51 PM

Your feed back is perfect! I'll do exactly what you said. It is non compelling. I've got tons of footage, I was going to be using throughout the video, I know the mic levels are all over im trying to fix that. The video was going to be 15 minutes for the banquet, but then a half hour over all. I just wanted to get feedback before going full-bore on this. Your feedback is EXACTLY the inspiration I needed.

Tell it like it is, thats the best policy. Never try to shine a turd, cause its still a turd in the end.

THANKS I'M ON MY WAY TO FIX IT.

Peter Wiley · March 2nd, 2006, 05:54 PM

Another thing to think about would be to interview the members of the team in groups -- like the first string etc. Ask them about their most challenging moment in a game, what made them happy, what made them sad, what they think of coach etc,. and let the group run with the questions -- get them talking and laughing together . . . as a team.

This would show us some the team dynamic and generate emotions that are interesting and exciting to watch -- and what they will remember most years from now.

David Nelson · March 2nd, 2006, 05:58 PM

Excellent tip!

Ive got all the video I'm going to be able to get. So next time I do this, I'll definately put Team Talk into the mix. I think it would give it a great dynamic.

I'll try to make the best of what I have now. You guys are very very generous offering such feedback. Thanks again!

Jonathan Jones · March 2nd, 2006, 06:43 PM

You're totally welcome.
-Jon

Terry Souza · March 3rd, 2006, 03:03 PM

I like the Titling with the shadows. What are you using to do this?
Also-have you heard of Digital Juice? They can really spice up your look with their animations, transitions, lower thirds etc.

David Nelson · March 3rd, 2006, 03:12 PM

The titling is a secret. It's super expensive stuff. Only people who run the best equipment know about it...

IMOVIE 6

Apple puts out some pretty kick butt stuff if you ask me. They can make snow look good to an eskimo. Imovie comes with all new equpment standard. If someone were smart, theyd buy 5 new mac minis, turn 4 of them into a folding center for rendering, add several la cie drives for storage and voila you got yourself a pretty cool editing suite.

I have a dual 2.5GHz G5 with 2GB ram and 2.5TB storage, I own the FCPSuite and I find myself using iMoive - what a dork!

Hey what ever looks good - Works.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KIND WORDS - IM STILL WORKING ON THE PROJECT.

David Nelson · March 3rd, 2006, 06:57 PM

Please let me know what you think now.

NEW: http://www.bigeyedeamedia.com/preblepreview2.wmv

OLD: http://www.bigeyedeamedia.com/preblepreview.wmv

Its under 2 minutes long

Jonathan Jones · March 3rd, 2006, 07:08 PM

Wow...yeah, so very much improved....no doubt. I think you have it under control now. Just note to double check K. Hoops during her intro. She pronounces it Hopps or Hops, but it is spelled Hoops, which might be correct, or just a basketball faux pax. Just checkin'

Anyway, I really dig the update.
-Jon

David Nelson · March 3rd, 2006, 08:14 PM

I really dig your feedback. If it wasn't for your comments, I would have presented something that wasn't as good. Again, its all in iMovie.

I'm moving to Motion in for the interviews. Might incorporate some portions in FCP for the time speed up effect.

Thanks again for the input!

Wes Coughlin · March 3rd, 2006, 09:01 PM

I did a project like this for my highschool football team about 6 months or so ago. It was a season highlight/seniors last year playing football; I divided it up into different sections. Here are two links, one showing the intro and the other showing one section of interviews. Mabye it will give you some ideas what to do or what not to do.

Intro: http://www.rapidsharing.com/31b3a47d...3fef8b50ceeb1f

Interviews: http://www.rapidsharing.com/0711317b...b5d0788f5abaa8

sorry for the "rapid share"

March 1st, 2006, 09:44 PM	#1
David Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 73	Video for your review www.bigeyedeamedia.com/preblepreview.wmv I'm doing a dvd for a girls basketball team. This is only 6 minutes of the beginning, just tell me how it feels and looks? Thanks in advance

March 2nd, 2006, 12:47 AM	#2
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	a few thoughts... I think there is definately potential here, I think it is a pretty cool idea for a project...Here are just a few thoughts that are only my opinion, but are what I would have probably added or done differently... First of all, the very first opening audio clip seemed way too cut and too short to grasp...I think it was "team on three...1,2,3, tea.."/'cut' left me with a 'huh? what was that? sense' I liked the effect you used for the rotating and reflecting images with the titling. The lapel mic levels are all over the place, if I turned up my system to hear the lower ones comfortably, the music would then come in and blow me out of my seat. The music levels are good overall, and some of the mic audio is okay, but a few clips are just way too quiet. As far as pacing and interest, I think that it seems to be very non-compelling pretty early on...just my opinion, but if you have some footage of some court action, that would really be great to interperse the introductions, since most of the shots include the same framing and background, adding some interspersed footage between character intros would help break up the 'same' shot, as well as introduce a heightened sense of energy to the feel of the video - an important part of a video piece documenting an activity based sport. As it moves onward, I would also add some interspersed video clips of scenes such as coaching, games, practice, and general all around shots of the players, whatever would be appropriate to complement the themes of what they are talking about...themes taken from the following quoted concepts; do your best work hard be a team player face adversity never give up etc. would be far more compelling if you carefully blended their talking head shots into blended audio overlay over footage that helped to demonstrate the various concepts...check just about any type of interview footage from !E entertainment, or the History channel or other interview type television and you will see that this is a standard way of presenting conceptual interview content. Finally, there are a couple of shots of what I assume is the coach staring off to the left of the frame.....It would be great to cut to some downcourt action to simulate whatever he is looking at because I really was left with wanting to know what was pulling his strong attention. I hope none of this comes across as harsh criticism. I think there is definately some great potential here. With some added polish and attention to detail, you could most surely have the makings of a top notch piece of video. Please keep at it. I would love to see the results as it develops. As a technical note: your post noted that it was supposed to be a 6 minute clip. The file I downloaded fades to black and silence at 3:48 with no additional footage. At about 4:23 there are a couple of seconds of audio, but that's it, and then the scrubber ends at 4:32 - so I just thought you might have a few stray clips floating around in the project. I hope this helps...good luck __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

March 2nd, 2006, 02:51 PM	#3
David Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 73	Thank you! Your feed back is perfect! I'll do exactly what you said. It is non compelling. I've got tons of footage, I was going to be using throughout the video, I know the mic levels are all over im trying to fix that. The video was going to be 15 minutes for the banquet, but then a half hour over all. I just wanted to get feedback before going full-bore on this. Your feedback is EXACTLY the inspiration I needed. Tell it like it is, thats the best policy. Never try to shine a turd, cause its still a turd in the end. THANKS I'M ON MY WAY TO FIX IT.

March 2nd, 2006, 06:43 PM	#6
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	You're totally welcome. -Jon __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

March 3rd, 2006, 03:03 PM	#7
Terry Souza Tourist Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: chesterton, IN Posts: 2	Nice Work I like the Titling with the shadows. What are you using to do this? Also-have you heard of Digital Juice? They can really spice up your look with their animations, transitions, lower thirds etc.

March 2nd, 2006, 05:54 PM	#4
Peter Wiley Major Player Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Lewisburg PA Posts: 752	Another thing to think about would be to interview the members of the team in groups -- like the first string etc. Ask them about their most challenging moment in a game, what made them happy, what made them sad, what they think of coach etc,. and let the group run with the questions -- get them talking and laughing together . . . as a team. This would show us some the team dynamic and generate emotions that are interesting and exciting to watch -- and what they will remember most years from now.

March 2nd, 2006, 05:58 PM	#5
David Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 73	Excellent tip! Ive got all the video I'm going to be able to get. So next time I do this, I'll definately put Team Talk into the mix. I think it would give it a great dynamic. I'll try to make the best of what I have now. You guys are very very generous offering such feedback. Thanks again!

March 3rd, 2006, 03:12 PM	#8
David Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 73	SSSShhhhhhh! The titling is a secret. It's super expensive stuff. Only people who run the best equipment know about it... IMOVIE 6 Apple puts out some pretty kick butt stuff if you ask me. They can make snow look good to an eskimo. Imovie comes with all new equpment standard. If someone were smart, theyd buy 5 new mac minis, turn 4 of them into a folding center for rendering, add several la cie drives for storage and voila you got yourself a pretty cool editing suite. I have a dual 2.5GHz G5 with 2GB ram and 2.5TB storage, I own the FCPSuite and I find myself using iMoive - what a dork! Hey what ever looks good - Works. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR KIND WORDS - IM STILL WORKING ON THE PROJECT.

March 3rd, 2006, 06:57 PM	#9
David Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 73	Its Been Updated Please let me know what you think now. NEW: http://www.bigeyedeamedia.com/preblepreview2.wmv OLD: http://www.bigeyedeamedia.com/preblepreview.wmv Its under 2 minutes long

March 3rd, 2006, 07:08 PM	#10
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	Wow...yeah, so very much improved....no doubt. I think you have it under control now. Just note to double check K. Hoops during her intro. She pronounces it Hopps or Hops, but it is spelled Hoops, which might be correct, or just a basketball faux pax. Just checkin' Anyway, I really dig the update. -Jon __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

March 3rd, 2006, 08:14 PM	#11
David Nelson Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 73	I really dig your feedback. If it wasn't for your comments, I would have presented something that wasn't as good. Again, its all in iMovie. I'm moving to Motion in for the interviews. Might incorporate some portions in FCP for the time speed up effect. Thanks again for the input!

March 3rd, 2006, 09:01 PM	#12
Wes Coughlin Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Bend, Oregon Posts: 206	I did a project like this for my highschool football team about 6 months or so ago. It was a season highlight/seniors last year playing football; I divided it up into different sections. Here are two links, one showing the intro and the other showing one section of interviews. Mabye it will give you some ideas what to do or what not to do. Intro: http://www.rapidsharing.com/31b3a47d...3fef8b50ceeb1f Interviews: http://www.rapidsharing.com/0711317b...b5d0788f5abaa8 sorry for the "rapid share" __________________ http://wildlookout.com