orientation video

P

phojorisin

Active member
First off, to the person who asked the poster of this video..."why did you post this video?" I say, if you don't have anything constructive to post, than why did you post that question?

As far as I can tell, this is a college student looking for some feedback from professionals about his work. He posted it in the "video critiques" forum and asked for people thought. So if you don't want to tell him what you thought, than just move on to the next video.

Anyway, now that I'm done with that rant. Your orientation video...

I'm not gonna beat around the bush...it looked like something any average photographer/editor could slap together in about 20 minutes total. But that's okay, because you're young and hopefully you'll get some tips from folks on this site that can help you develop your shooting.

First of all, I'll focus on your shooting. You need to use a tripod. Shaky shots just aren't acceptable at the professional level. You also need to get some better shot variety. Has anyone taught you sequencing? It's done by shooting a "sequence" of wide, medium, tight, super tight shots of the same subject or repetitive motion. Once you have shot sequences, when you edit them together in order, it will make the pacing of your video much better.

Second, audio...the only audio in the video was music. You should interview some faculty, orientation leaders, students attending, etc. This will give you sound bites that should definitely be in your story. Then, focus on natural sound. You had people playing basketball, people giving speeches, kids goofing around, etc. All this has sound that you should include in your story.

I'll wrap it up with storytelling. Every project, whether a news story or not, is meant to convey a message, a story. Once you've gotten a handle on shot composition, sequencing, capturing nat sound and interviews (do some research on lighting too, i won't go into it here, but it will help)...you need to learn how to take all that and tell your story. The music you used doesn't tell your story, and the fonts you used sort of do, but as a viewer, I don't feel like I'm there. I'm not engaged in your story. I need PEOPLE to relate to. Nat sound of all the activities helps me feel like I'm there. Personal stories of some of the students will help me relate to the experience. The list goes on.

My advice, watch a lot of the stories on this website to really get an idea of how compelling video, natural sound, etc help you FEEL the story.

Hope this helps and good luck with your career!
 
NEWSSHOOTER3

NEWSSHOOTER3

Well-known member
Good

I think your orientation video looked fine. It served its purpose and your "text" looked good. It could have been a little "zippier" or "flashier", but it was fine. I'm certainly no expert, at anything, but this is a bit out of my periphery. Hopefully, someone here with more of a production background may chime in...
 
M

msmucf

Member
I agree with phojorisin. On this one. I think its a nice basic video. That gets the job done under a time crunch. I would agree with needing a tripod. Getting interviews etc.

Here is an example of a video a buddy of mine here in orlando made for UCF. He did an awesome job shooting it and his editor did a great job cutting it, But it could give you an idea for the next one.

http://www.kpmediaservices.com/files/page1-1004-pop.html


Matt
 
J

JacobA

Well-known member
Some of the shots are pretty dark. It looks like you tried to color correct the shot of people dancing. I would've left that shot out if I couldn't get it bright enough.

Music is moving at a good pace for an orientation video, but the shots and cuts aren't keeping up with the pace of the music. I'd crank up the number of shots you are using with the video. Listen to the music by itself and start tapping your hand to the beat. Then watch your video while keeping the original beat. You should be able to see how much faster the cuts need to be.

The "For more information" line of text at the end got cut off by what appears to be an overlapping transparent box. It's probably your next line of text. Check it and wiggle it around.

All the clips of people talking at podiums would look better if they were placed on different areas of the screen. If the first person talking is on the left of the screen, looking right, make your next shot someone on the right looking left. Right now the shots are only utilizing the middle 20% of the screen. The 40% on each side is wasted.

You need to use a tripod, but a lot of your stuff appears steady and looks like you probably used one. Steady shots vs Shaky shots can both be effective at different times, depending on what kind of mood the video has. If a video is fast paced and fun, I'm totally fine with some shaky shots, as long as they aren't distracting the viewer or hurting the overall mood. That being said, if you aren't sure about steady vs. shaky...I'd go with steady to be safe. Steady video is a huge thing that can separate a video you make from somebody's home video.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top