Dancing in September at DVinfo.net

Brock Burwell · September 7th, 2022, 10:02 AM

I put this little video together and released it on September 1st at the start of the fall semester. The goal was to show students, faculty and staff on campus having fun, give the campus a sense of unity and show off to prospective students that this is a fun place to be.

I started filming this back in the spring. I was nervous that once students left for summer break, when they returned for the fall semester I would be scrambling to get the footage I needed. About 1/4 of the footage is from the spring, a little bit of it is over the summer and a majority of the footage is from when students began trickling in at the beginning of August. I tried to give it as much variety as I could (slider, gimbal, drone, GoPro, tripod as well as shots high, low, in a car, moving, not moving, etc). I did a video similar to this several years ago and, when reviewing it, I was shocked by how little variety there was in my footage. So this video is me trying to be better than the 2016 version of myself.

Constructive criticism welcomed

Noa Put · September 7th, 2022, 11:57 AM

I liked it, there is enough variation in each shot and they are all well executed. I only have one remark and that is the duration, personally I would have cut it down to half it's current length as for my taste it drags on too long, the music lends itself to take a part out without having the impression something is missing. If you want to attract prospective students some of them might have a limited attention span and not watch the entire thing. Also if it would be 01:20 instead of the current 02:40 you would not loose anything in regards to the message you are trying to convey, even if you would have to take certain scenes out, it's just students having fun so it's better to just your coolest shots of a certain group just once to avoid repetition .

Allan Black · September 7th, 2022, 06:42 PM

I liked it to Brock, I think it’s long enough, that great song needs to be played right thru., and I appreciate the time and effort you put into selecting the shots and syncing the dancing.

Good promo for the University, the dancers will have passed it around their friends and teachers. You might get some work from the faculty, standby!

Cheers.

Brock Burwell · September 8th, 2022, 06:33 AM

Thanks Allan - we ended up making a vertical version of this for instagram and it quickly became our most viewed, shared and engaged with post ever on there. It also became our 2nd biggest post on Facebook. I think you were right, a lot of the people in this video shared it, their friends shared it, their family shared it, etc.

Noa - you mentioned that it could have been shorter and I think often shorter is better in these types of videos. This one ended up working at that length for whatever reason, but I appreciate the feedback! My mother-in-law just told my wife, "I normally can't make it through an entire video of his, but I couldn't stop watching this one." haha. She even shared it on her social channels, which she never does.

Noa Put · September 8th, 2022, 07:16 AM

How do you license the music? Isn't there a risk youtube/facebook/instagram will mute the audio? I never am able to use commercial music for my paid work because it would be way to expensive for the type of clients I have, instead I use audiio, artlist etc.

September 7th, 2022, 10:02 AM	#1
Brock Burwell Major Player Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 385	Dancing in September I put this little video together and released it on September 1st at the start of the fall semester. The goal was to show students, faculty and staff on campus having fun, give the campus a sense of unity and show off to prospective students that this is a fun place to be. I started filming this back in the spring. I was nervous that once students left for summer break, when they returned for the fall semester I would be scrambling to get the footage I needed. About 1/4 of the footage is from the spring, a little bit of it is over the summer and a majority of the footage is from when students began trickling in at the beginning of August. I tried to give it as much variety as I could (slider, gimbal, drone, GoPro, tripod as well as shots high, low, in a car, moving, not moving, etc). I did a video similar to this several years ago and, when reviewing it, I was shocked by how little variety there was in my footage. So this video is me trying to be better than the 2016 version of myself. Constructive criticism welcomed Dancing in September ðŸ•ºðŸ’ƒ - YouTube

September 7th, 2022, 11:57 AM	#2
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Dancing in September I liked it, there is enough variation in each shot and they are all well executed. I only have one remark and that is the duration, personally I would have cut it down to half it's current length as for my taste it drags on too long, the music lends itself to take a part out without having the impression something is missing. If you want to attract prospective students some of them might have a limited attention span and not watch the entire thing. Also if it would be 01:20 instead of the current 02:40 you would not loose anything in regards to the message you are trying to convey, even if you would have to take certain scenes out, it's just students having fun so it's better to just your coolest shots of a certain group just once to avoid repetition .

September 7th, 2022, 06:42 PM	#3
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,937	Re: Dancing in September I liked it to Brock, I think it’s long enough, that great song needs to be played right thru., and I appreciate the time and effort you put into selecting the shots and syncing the dancing. Good promo for the University, the dancers will have passed it around their friends and teachers. You might get some work from the faculty, standby! Cheers. __________________ Drink more tap water. On admission at Sydney hospitals more than 5% of day patients are de-hydrated.

September 8th, 2022, 06:33 AM	#4
Brock Burwell Major Player Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 385	Re: Dancing in September Thanks Allan - we ended up making a vertical version of this for instagram and it quickly became our most viewed, shared and engaged with post ever on there. It also became our 2nd biggest post on Facebook. I think you were right, a lot of the people in this video shared it, their friends shared it, their family shared it, etc. Noa - you mentioned that it could have been shorter and I think often shorter is better in these types of videos. This one ended up working at that length for whatever reason, but I appreciate the feedback! My mother-in-law just told my wife, "I normally can't make it through an entire video of his, but I couldn't stop watching this one." haha. She even shared it on her social channels, which she never does.

September 8th, 2022, 07:16 AM	#5
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Dancing in September How do you license the music? Isn't there a risk youtube/facebook/instagram will mute the audio? I never am able to use commercial music for my paid work because it would be way to expensive for the type of clients I have, instead I use audiio, artlist etc.