Critique my video recording and editing? (band play through, guitars and bass axe fx)

[theo]

As the title suggests, this is my first real foray into recording and editing video, I'd love some feedback on things I can improve on and things I should continue doing, I'm a total newb at this:



if you happen to dig the tunes you can find us at www.facebook.com/hollowworldband

 

[LucasLeCompte]

Love the ormsby's, i have a hype GTR on the way! I like the guitar tones!

Your intro is WAYYYY to long. 30 seconds of intro will make people leave the video. Make it 10 seconds max. I like the banners in the background.

Also NEVER use footage of the camera zooming up. Cut it to when the camera is still.

Gave you guys a youtube sub also!! Nice job overall!

 

[theo]

Thanks Lucas, I'll take all of that on board for the next clip

I've got a GTR coming too, can't wait

 

[levipeto]

good work. 40 sec intro is too long. it's long for the first time already and I would not want to see it every time I click on your videos

 

[fret]

Staring at the fret board with no expression on your face? Doesn't make for a interesting video... You also need some more light on your subject... if your lens goes down an F stop or two then do that. Otherwise some video lighting helps a lot. You can get cheap colour LED parcans on ebay which have auto "cycle through all the colours" modes as well as DMX connections if you want to control the colour and intensity.

Ormsby master race!!!

 

[theo]

Hey fret! I actually filmed this with two external lights, they still aren't enough, gonna have to get more.

I can't remember what I shot this at, was 2.6 or 2.4 I thiiiink although I'm not certain now.

I'm not familiar with that sx! give me a look at the front!!

 

[fret]

Hey fret! I actually filmed this with two external lights, they still aren't enough, gonna have to get more.

I can't remember what I shot this at, was 2.6 or 2.4 I thiiiink although I'm not certain now.

That's fairly wide already... it should look brighter... maybe a little added brightness/contrast in post?

I'm not familiar with that sx! give me a look at the front!!

This is the front I think. Not a fan of that headstock or the single coil but I love the dark neck timbre and the sunburst colours.

 

[chris]

Also NEVER use footage of the camera zooming up. Cut it to when the camera is still.

i agree with the zooming - it looked like a mistake most of the time. some of it worked, but that's because it seemed to land specifically on something.

you can definitely use a moving camera, but it should never go back and forth, and the action needs to be smooth, or purposefully jittery. some of this looked like "i don't know where to put the camera. personally, i wouldn't use any moving camera shots in something like this, but just well placed stationary shots.

camera movement is used to suggest action or motion. so you either want to cut to the camera moving and then cut away while it's still moving, or cut to the camera being still and cut away while it's still. if you cut to a moving camera and then it stops moving, the "stop" usually signifies something very important, but that's more for story telling, not a music video like this.

for camera work, you're successful when no one notices the camera if all we think about is "why is the camera moving!?" then it's too much.

as for the lighting, most of it seemed to be on the background and not the players. not sure what you were going for, but it's all about contrasting light and dark elements to make the subject stand out. a usual problem is that the subjects are very close to the background, so the light has to basically fill everything to look right. the close up guitar shots had much better exposure because the subject (guitar neck) was far from the background creating the depth and separation, which also lets the background fall a bit darker than the subject.

what camera are you using? you should have been able to increase the Gain or ISO a bit more so there's more light, in addition to opening the aperture. the shutter speed also seemed very "normal" like 30 or even 60 fps. many people are using 24fps for a more "film" look, smoother and not as "video camera" looking.

i also agree with the comments on the intro - i would have had the song fade in after 2 seconds and have no more than about 8 seconds of text at the start. today is all about "GET TO THE POINT!" in video

good job, and kudos for asking for critiques! it's the only way to get better

 

[Brownmatthall]

the intro definitely dragged on, but otherwise im digging it a lot. If i had to change something i would say focus more on the playing rather than the guitars and different angles, If im watching a play through i want to see whats being played and how it is as well and as such that should always be the focal point. that being said the guitars are REALLY sick haha

 

[theo]

as for the lighting, most of it seemed to be on the background and not the players. not sure what you were going for, but it's all about contrasting light and dark elements to make the subject stand out. a usual problem is that the subjects are very close to the background, so the light has to basically fill everything to look right. the close up guitar shots had much better exposure because the subject (guitar neck) was far from the background creating the depth and separation, which also lets the background fall a bit darker than the subject.

what camera are you using? you should have been able to increase the Gain or ISO a bit more so there's more light, in addition to opening the aperture. the shutter speed also seemed very "normal" like 30 or even 60 fps. many people are using 24fps for a more "film" look, smoother and not as "video camera" looking.

Hey Chris thanks for such in depth feedback, It really is helpful! In regards to your questions,

The room was too small in reality, next time I'll find somewhere bigger to use, we just could get far enough away from the backdrops before the side walls were in shot.

I filmed with my eos 550d and the 18-55mm kit lens, iso was at 800 from memory, I'm honestly not sure what the shutter speed was, I'm not even sure how to adjust that at this point, I really am a noob at film.

As for post production, I haven't done a single thing to the footage aside from transitions. Once again, something I don't know how to do yet -_-


I got a new Ormsby last week so I'll have to film some footage of that in use too now

 

[chris]

Hey Chris thanks for such in depth feedback, It really is helpful! In regards to your questions,

The room was too small in reality, next time I'll find somewhere bigger to use, we just could get far enough away from the backdrops before the side walls were in shot.

I filmed with my eos 550d and the 18-55mm kit lens, iso was at 800 from memory, I'm honestly not sure what the shutter speed was, I'm not even sure how to adjust that at this point, I really am a noob at film.

As for post production, I haven't done a single thing to the footage aside from transitions. Once again, something I don't know how to do yet -_-

cool man! overall it was great quality! just the camera movement choices really stood out, which can be easily adjusted.

in general, the closer the light source to the subject, the stronger it is, but the harsher and more "spotlight" it is. as you move the light farther back, it gets less harsh and fills the room more, but you need to crank up the power.

again, it looked good, but we're analyzing it now, so these aren't disses at all

 

[theo]

Lighting was two cheap softboxes I got off ebay, I think I need a third for front on as well as the two at the sides.

Definitely not taking it as a diss! Constructive criticism is the best way to learn