Please tell me what you think?

Tom Servo

Well-known member
Was this for a news nat pak?

The music bed is way too loud. Drifting is about cars, and I can barely hear the cars. Sometimes I lose track of what your interview is saying because the music overpowers his voice.

Speaking of your interview, he was boring. Go spice him up by getting some crowd MOSs. "What's drifting? Why do you like it?"

Putting myself in the shoes of a non-motorsports-enthusiast viewer, throughout your video I never understood exactly what drifting is. Now, maybe he said it and I didn't hear him, but that's still a problem with the video.

This nat pak needed short, punchy descriptions. "Drifting? It's not about who crosses the line first. It's about who can keep their car sideways the longest and with the most style." I never got that succinct description, but instead was treated to a long rambling explanation by a guy who knows about drifting, but isn't very good on TV. Editing might have helped you there.

In any nat pak that covers a subject which is unfamiliar to people, you need to beat the viewer over the head, so to speak, with what the subject is about. What I mean by that is that if you do a nat pak tonight, you don't need a bunch of people repeating what trick-or-treating is because just about everyone knows. But in this case, you need to hammer home the idea that drifting is a sport, drifting is a sport about style, drifting is a sport where your style is judged by how long you can keep the car sideways (back this up with video of a car going sideways so people understand what that means), because most people don't really understand normal motorsports, much less a niche motorsport like drifting.

And I'd have liked a lot more nat pops of tires squealing and engines revving, and turbos spooling, etc etc.

BTW, calling it a new kind of motorsport is inaccurate. It's been around since the 70's in Japan, and since the 90's in the US.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
@ Tom - I didn't have the issue hearing the interview over the music. Granted the music was a bit too hot...maybe speakers helped.

This story ran too long for the content and visuals for me. Edit down the interview to the esssentials. Do as Servo said - get some REAL nats/ear poppers. The POV cam shots were great...and then you returned to same ole same ole. Get some crowd reax - come on, you KNOW they're waiting for near-misses and crashes.

Kinda strange that you showed chicks at the same time you're mentioning highest levels of professionalism. ???? What gives/a conflicting message to me.

Take a look at it again with fresh eyes...there are a couple of places it drags...but fun to watch.
 

wmoquete

Member
Thank so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your critiques. I will apply what I learned to make the next pkg better. Thanks
 

Latin Lens

Well-known member
Okay...with the sights and sounds that could have been gathered here along with the action this story had huge potential. Huge. Interesting topic...but there was so little thought (my opinion) to the storytell that it fell rather short on content, and the everyday viewer would be unentertained by it...sadly. I am not sure if this is/was a news pkg because of the built-in gfxs for the interviewee. Opening was slow...there was such great action that a quick montage with sound would have been the obvious choice...draw me in with sights and sounds...take me to the scene...make me feel like I was there with all that you gather...thats the true purpose of an opening...scene setup...no secondary sound? No drifters talking themselves? No fans commenting on the action? You need that stuff to sprinkle throughout to help give it more character to the main subject. With a story like this you have to work just a little harder and use all the toys available to you (like a goPro which you did) but it so seldom used that when I did it...and the sequence of shots appeared to repeat...that it lost impact...and that should have been your best stuff because of the perspective we can't see with the naked eye watching the event...turn the camera to give different looks...the pedals...the cockpit...the steering wheel...anything that could help you get the proper sequence to really jazz it up. Nice attempt...liked the music, fit perfectly...wasn't distracting on my speakers...good levels.
 
Rearrange it...

I feel the open was weak, get that go-pro video or track video on first. Cold open the cars, get people asking what the heck are they doing? Get the next interview to sit in a car or put a bunch of logos behind him. The sit-down background distracted me from the real scene. I think the editing worked in certain areas and music was good. Nat pops with music would be good. Learn the same lesson the director of Fast and the Furious; if you're shooting a story about cars - shoot the cars and work everything (one) around them. Good initiative and shots.
 
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