A Recent Promo I shot at DVinfo.net

Hayden Hoyl · August 7th, 2011, 10:26 PM

I recently shot a promotional video/narrative piece for two friends of mine who have their own little clothing business. I ran into some difficulties during shooting but am pleased with the results. Enjoy and I'd love some constructive criticism! (Also, Vimeo won't upload my video in HD no matter what I try, does anyone have any idea why? I haven't done anything fun in compressor) Thanks!

Kevin Lewis · August 11th, 2011, 10:22 PM

As fa as not being able to upload in HD, did you actually shoot it in HD? If so, when you exported the file did you export it with the proper settings? Perhaps you inadvertantly used dvd settings?

Hayden Hoyl · August 12th, 2011, 12:30 AM

Hi Kevin,
Yes it was shot in HD, and It's uploading as expected onto other sites, I might just be having a problem with Vimeo. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Keith Dobie · August 14th, 2011, 02:43 AM

What are the specs/res of the video you're trying to upload? File format? Vimeo has some encoding suggestions. 1280x720 as a h.264 mp4 or mov works fine. 3000kbps. Once it has uplaoded Vimeo will allow viewer to watch in hd.

David Barnett · August 14th, 2011, 08:36 AM

It's cool. I like the 1970s footage style you created with it, however to be honest it seems more of a short film for you than a promo for the clothing company. Aside from the couple second graphic in the beginning the clothing company is completely forgotten. I wouldn't have noticed it had you not stated in your post it was a promo video you shot. I think the ending of the girls face is a not so good ending & you should replace it with a graphic for the clothing company.

Stylistically, I like it. Marketing wise, I don't. Also, maybe give them a :30 editing version as well to choose from, it's unlikely visitors of their website or facebook will sit thru 1:30 promo video. Again, seems a little more targeted to your benefit than theirs.

Hayden Hoyl · August 14th, 2011, 10:43 PM

David, and I agree, the final product honestly turned out to be more of a narrative/short film type piece and this was never the intention. I made a critical flaw in my time management and was planning to shoot product placement shots after the narrative elements were shot. But to my surprise one of the girls announced that she had to leave in 15 minutes when I was about half way through the shoot, I hurried to complete the rest of the shots that were crucial to piece together the simple story line and we did one take of each shot that I had planned out while battling some overheating issues and lacking time to transfer the camera between a tripod and shoulder rig, (lots of shaky shots and some shots I definitely wanted to reshoot) but the majority of the shots turned out okay. I have learned a lot from the experience and I am glad that I made the mistake while shooting with friends, (the project was basically a collaboration between one of the girls in the shoot and I, as we are still in highschool and she runs the company on the side with one of her friends). The video was looped in the background at a party that she had showcasing some of the clothes she was selling and it did well, but as far as a promo, it was unsuccessful.

Thank you for your input!, It's constructive criticism like this that really lets me get a handle on what I can improve in the learning process, I have a long ways to go!

David Barnett · August 15th, 2011, 06:54 AM

That's interesting, none of those troubles come out in the finished product. Anyway, what I was referring to can be finished off in post. Just place the graphic back at the end or before the final shot of the girls face (facial shot, ha!). Take a cue from the ending of the old Calvin Klien ads:

CK one (1995) #1 - YouTube

August 11th, 2011, 10:22 PM	#2
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	Re: A Recent Promo I shot As fa as not being able to upload in HD, did you actually shoot it in HD? If so, when you exported the file did you export it with the proper settings? Perhaps you inadvertantly used dvd settings?

August 12th, 2011, 12:30 AM	#3
Hayden Hoyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 16	Re: A Recent Promo I shot Hi Kevin, Yes it was shot in HD, and It's uploading as expected onto other sites, I might just be having a problem with Vimeo. Thanks for the suggestion though!

August 14th, 2011, 02:43 AM	#4
Keith Dobie Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada Posts: 172	Re: A Recent Promo I shot What are the specs/res of the video you're trying to upload? File format? Vimeo has some encoding suggestions. 1280x720 as a h.264 mp4 or mov works fine. 3000kbps. Once it has uplaoded Vimeo will allow viewer to watch in hd.

August 14th, 2011, 08:36 AM	#5
David Barnett Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 951	Re: A Recent Promo I shot It's cool. I like the 1970s footage style you created with it, however to be honest it seems more of a short film for you than a promo for the clothing company. Aside from the couple second graphic in the beginning the clothing company is completely forgotten. I wouldn't have noticed it had you not stated in your post it was a promo video you shot. I think the ending of the girls face is a not so good ending & you should replace it with a graphic for the clothing company. Stylistically, I like it. Marketing wise, I don't. Also, maybe give them a :30 editing version as well to choose from, it's unlikely visitors of their website or facebook will sit thru 1:30 promo video. Again, seems a little more targeted to your benefit than theirs.

August 14th, 2011, 10:43 PM	#6
Hayden Hoyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 16	Re: A Recent Promo I shot David, and I agree, the final product honestly turned out to be more of a narrative/short film type piece and this was never the intention. I made a critical flaw in my time management and was planning to shoot product placement shots after the narrative elements were shot. But to my surprise one of the girls announced that she had to leave in 15 minutes when I was about half way through the shoot, I hurried to complete the rest of the shots that were crucial to piece together the simple story line and we did one take of each shot that I had planned out while battling some overheating issues and lacking time to transfer the camera between a tripod and shoulder rig, (lots of shaky shots and some shots I definitely wanted to reshoot) but the majority of the shots turned out okay. I have learned a lot from the experience and I am glad that I made the mistake while shooting with friends, (the project was basically a collaboration between one of the girls in the shoot and I, as we are still in highschool and she runs the company on the side with one of her friends). The video was looped in the background at a party that she had showcasing some of the clothes she was selling and it did well, but as far as a promo, it was unsuccessful. Thank you for your input!, It's constructive criticism like this that really lets me get a handle on what I can improve in the learning process, I have a long ways to go!

August 7th, 2011, 10:26 PM	#1
Hayden Hoyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 16	A Recent Promo I shot BS Clothing Summer 2011 Promo on Vimeo I recently shot a promotional video/narrative piece for two friends of mine who have their own little clothing business. I ran into some difficulties during shooting but am pleased with the results. Enjoy and I'd love some constructive criticism! (Also, Vimeo won't upload my video in HD no matter what I try, does anyone have any idea why? I haven't done anything fun in compressor) Thanks!

August 15th, 2011, 06:54 AM	#7
David Barnett Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 951	Re: A Recent Promo I shot That's interesting, none of those troubles come out in the finished product. Anyway, what I was referring to can be finished off in post. Just place the graphic back at the end or before the final shot of the girls face (facial shot, ha!). Take a cue from the ending of the old Calvin Klien ads: CK one (1995) #1 - YouTube