I'm looking for honest opinions here: I've now made two YouTube videos, and while I'm proud of the accomplishment in making them and enjoyed getting nearly 1000 views of the first, I have yet to get any real feedback.
My first ever YouTube video:
Aside from the technical issues -- I'm just working with a free Windows Movie Maker program here, folks! -- are these effective? Am I fooling myself? Should I get a day job? What?!
Hi Matt, generally I like them very much, but I need to look at them several times. I will return later with some constructive suggestions (maybe via e-mail, what do you think?).
ReplyDeleteAny constructive criticism, by any means, is welcome.
ReplyDeleteI just watched the Malkin one ... I'd say the most constructive thing I have to say is to maybe make it a little shorter? SMaybe there's something you can edit. Just my two cents, worth the paper it's printed on!
ReplyDelete:-)
Keep up the good work!
Beale, I'd use more of the band if I could, like in "Rise," but I have run out of pictures to work with.
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert, Matt (and that's a major understatement), but I liked both videos. I learned more about Michele M. than I'd like to know.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, that's actually a helpful comment. I was trying to give information in both videos -- "Rise" is an attempt to draw the history of anti-progressive forces in America, while "Malkin Malevolence" is about the impact of hate speech.
ReplyDeleteFeedback, as your faithful cephalopod promised. This may be an opportunity for you to pioneer a new genre, the video blog, sort of like a regular blog post but in a multi-media format.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked in the commercial film biz, there were production formalities, methods, and rituals that I followed (chronological order): Concept, Script, Storyboard, Sound Recording, Studio or Location photography, Editing and Post-Production. By now, you are probably aware of these in an intuitive way. No matter how ad hoc the short subject may seem, there is always a discipline to planning and execution … starting with script and storyboard (a thumbnail of the key scenes).
First, I agree with Southern Beale’s comment about length. About 3 to 4 minutes max seems about right depending on material available. First, you will want to edit a music/SFX track to a target length and assemble the montage (still images) to the track. Note: In traditional cell animation, the audio track (voice, music, SFX) is produced first and time-coded. The individual drawings (cells) are photographed according to the time-coded “shooting script.”
I looked at these text call-outs: Hateful, Hypocritical, Liar, Coward, and Stalker. I would change the order: Hypocrite, Liar, Stalker, Coward, (note – all nouns following parallel constructs, NOT a mix of nouns and modifiers or verbs or tense). If you wrote out a formal script (text only), these title call-outs would serve as your section headings, dividing the montage into equal parts, i.e., serving both a structural and narrative function.
(About the “Stalker” piece, I recall two incidents where she stalked children, the one you mentioned, and another where she “outed” a kid who spoke at a rally. She called the kid a “political operative”).
Visual flow: A computer screen showing thumbnails can serve as "light box" for studying and sorting still frames. A group of visuals will support various structural parts of your narrative. Within each part, where you can’t decide how to sequence them, look for geometric devices. Hypothetical examples: a moon dissolves into a beach ball. A diagonal in one photo dissolves into a diagonal in the next photo. Two wheels dissolve into a pair of eyes.
Ideas and techniques: Use a series of crops that zoom into a close-up. Example: Not one book shot but a sequence that closes in until the book title fills the frame (rotate book as you go). Example two: A sequence made from the same portrait … first full head and shoulders, next full face, next nose and mouth, next mouth close-up full frame, followed by title “Hate.” The sequence would reinforce the concept of “hate speech” and “incitement.” These examples are dramatic ways to hold viewer attention and reinforce your message at the same time.
Another idea: If you have a video frame capture device, capture a sequence of stills from any YouTube video about a second apart and re-assemble the stills into a simulated motion sequence. Example: Person looks left, center, right, back to center. Amazing what you can capture from a segment of video (like a grimace), and how you can re-sequence these for dramatic effect.
Towards the end, repeat the main visuals in a rapid “summary” montage and then do a lapse dissolve into the closing title, “Malkin Malevolence.”
Oops, a final note on transitioning grammar. A hard cut would be equivalent to a period at the end of a sentence. A soft cut or fast dissolve would be equivalent to a change of paragraph. A longer dissolve transitions to chapters; the longest dissolve transitions to closing titles. Transition to the rhythms and passage of the music; you will “feel” this intuitively.
ReplyDeleteThanks, 8pus! I've been working with some rough scripts so far, mostly just to get some expertise in the software. You're right, my transitions are way off, but I didn't see it until I'd watched them a few times. (Funny how one's creativity can blind them to the flaws.)
ReplyDeleteDo you guys think the music is right? Would I be better off using a known track, or should I maintain my defiant musical locavorism?
This may be an opportunity for you to pioneer a new genre, the video blog, sort of like a regular blog post but in a multi-media format.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we can call it Vlog for short. Your first piece is more analogous to a music video. I think the right approach for a vlog: It should be more analogous to a blog post, albeit rendered visually.
So I think the question, "Do you guys think the music is right," puts the perennial cart before the horse. The music should serve the subject, not the reverse.
Okay, this is all about the second video... let me focus on the music first. It's not exactly my style of vocals, but I thought it was a good powerful Pantera-esque riff and that one break was quite good. I can't comment on the lyrics cause I didn't catch most of them.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the video part goes, I thought it was good. I might have concentrated more of the band pix during the instrumental parts, but overall I liked it. I thought it had a good point and was real clear about putting that across.
And I want one of those Miskatonic University t shirts.
The one on Malkin is tremendous and I'm crossposting it on my FB page. (I also liked the song better.)
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought I saw the bass player playing the same bass as me :)
Michelle Malkin was a columnist here on the now-defunct Seattle Post -Intelligencer back in the late 90's if memory serves. Whenever. She was, even then, a hateful, bullying attack dog reactionary churning out a couple of fact-free screeds a week. And she was extremely unpleasant on the phone and absolutely detested being called out. From what I can surmise her husband is even worse and their union has produced a rather lucrative cottage industry. Tiny thoughts for tiny minds. She did take a real theasing when the book on the US' WWII internment of Japanese Americans. There remains a large population of internees
ReplyDeletehere in Seattle and her book was not well received.
Deservedly so. Another hate-monger cashing in. Funny thing is I used to wander down to the American Opinion
(John Birch Society) bookstore in the late 1960's, early 1970's to observe the species in it's native habitat. Very low key. Relatively sedate group of middle-aged white guys. Malkin emblemizes the mainstreaming of reactionary politics. I don't know that there are that many more of her ilk now than there were then but they certainly make a bigger racket.