My first documentary collaboration!

[Mazdaman323lx]

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[Gagey52]

Well done I enjoyed that immensely. Great flying and videography.
Regards

 

[Skybuyer]

There is a lot to like about this video. Beautiful countryside. Very nice.

But as you have put this in the "critique" area, I would assume you want constructive comments to help improve. This is a good film and very good "first" documentary. I think it has more potential with the footage you've already done. I have only a few suggestions. Forgive me for being critical. I offer these suggestions with the utmost respect.

1) Even with the most compelling videos the human can only deal with 3-5 minutes, and 5 minutes is pushing it unless they have a specific interest in the subject matter or it is so unique and breathtaking that they are compelled to stay with it. So, my first advice would be to isolate your most compelling shots and remove anything else that isn't breathtaking or has a specific POI relative to the narration. You have plenty of great video there. So much good video gives you an opportunity to cut it down to show only your best, most impactful stuff.

2) Can you bump the resolution to 4k? YouTube is only allows me to pull it up in 1080p. It's something I did too on my first project was assuming that 1080p was good enough

3) You have a beautiful speaking voice, have narrated the words clearly, distinctly and pleasantly. However the acoustics of the voice-over are extremely poor due to the subtle echo caused by recording in the wrong acoustic environment. The sound needs to be much deader, and if possible EQ'd a bit. What mic and recording system did you use for the voiceover. Be aware of the room acoustic and your position in the room. If you can, try to create a makeshift vocal booth. Sometimes a clothes closet with lots of sound absorbing clothes can be all you need. You don't want to be in a space with hard walls and floors with no sound dampening.

4) My last comment involves color grading. This one is personal taste, so I'm voicing my personal opinion (not like I didn't do that in my above comments ). But if I were your editor I'd bump the color saturation a bit. I think more saturation without overdoing it strikes a chord with most viewers. The scene with the boat has more saturation than most of the other scenes. Perhaps use that as a guide as to how much color the greens should have as do the blues on that water scene. JMO

I think there is a gem of a finished product hidden in your footage. I cannot tell you how many projects I've posted here initially, only to view them a day or so later and think to myself, "What did you post that for... it's ?... And then I'd go do a full reedit on the thing again and turned ? into .

I hope you find my comments helpful.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

There is a lot to like about this video. Beautiful countryside. Very nice.

But as you have put this in the "critique" area, I would assume you want constructive comments to help improve. This is a good film and very good "first" documentary. I think it has more potential with the footage you've already done. I have only a few suggestions. Forgive me for being critical. I offer these suggestions with the utmost respect.

1) Even with the most compelling videos the human can only deal with 3-5 minutes, and 5 minutes is pushing it unless they have a specific interest in the subject matter or it is so unique and breathtaking that they are compelled to stay with it. So, my first advice would be to isolate your most compelling shots and remove anything else that isn't breathtaking or has a specific POI relative to the narration. You have plenty of great video there. So much good video gives you an opportunity to cut it down to show only your best, most impactful stuff.

2) Can you bump the resolution to 4k? YouTube is only allows me to pull it up in 1080p. It's something I did too on my first project was assuming that 1080p was good enough

3) You have a beautiful speaking voice, have narrated the words clearly, distinctly and pleasantly. However the acoustics of the voice-over are extremely poor due to the subtle echo caused by recording in the wrong acoustic environment. The sound needs to be much deader, and if possible EQ'd a bit. What mic and recording system did you use for the voiceover. Be aware of the room acoustic and your position in the room. If you can, try to create a makeshift vocal booth. Sometimes a clothes closet with lots of sound absorbing clothes can be all you need. You don't want to be in a space with hard walls and floors with no sound dampening.

4) My last comment involves color grading. This one is personal taste, so I'm voicing my personal opinion (not like I didn't do that in my above comments ). But if I were your editor I'd bump the color saturation a bit. I think more saturation without overdoing it strikes a chord with most viewers. The scene with the boat has more saturation than most of the other scenes. Perhaps use that as a guide as to how much color the greens should have as do the blues on that water scene. JMO

I think there is a gem of a finished product hidden in your footage. I cannot tell you how many projects I've posted here initially, only to view them a day or so later and think to myself, "What did you post that for... it's ?... And then I'd go do a full reedit on the thing again and turned ? into .

I hope you find my comments helpful.

Thanks for your feedback .Some great pointers . Will try to implement some of those.

 

[Cymruflyer]

That bird shadow on the road shot gave away that this was a backward piece of film, though hardly anyone would notice that. Nice first attempt. As has been mentioned, if you do another narration, be sure to hang clothes all around you to avoid the echo effect you are picking up, or even surround yourself with some hanging towels and be in the middle of the wall of cloth and maybe one over your head to prevent that echo.

 

[Dale D]

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A great effort to document this village bit to this forum, most are not looking for such a long piece. Sad to say, the average viewer will not stay with even the best of videos for more than 3-4 minutes. In my Vimeo and You Tube well documented stats, my average view is about 50% of the clip and on the average, about a 30% finish rate! Yes. Only 30% actually watch to the end.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

A great effort to document this village bit to this forum, most are not looking for such a long piece. Sad to say, the average viewer will not stay with even the best of videos for more than 3-4 minutes. In my Vimeo and You Tube well documented stats, my average view is about 50% of the clip and on the average, about a 30% finish rate! Yes. Only 30% actually watch to the end.

I'm guilty of that too Dale , unless its a Topic i'm heavily invested in.
I was doing it as a favor to a work mate who lives there , and there were scenes I wanted to shorten and delete but he and the narrator wanted to leave them in , and also be long enough so he could boast his historical knowledge I reckon . Too many cooks probably . But your point is well taken . Its one of the hardest parts of this hobby Ive learned , cutting your footage down to the bare minimum to keep viewers engaged .

 

[Dale D]

I'm guilty of that too Dale , unless its a Topic i'm heavily invested in.
I was doing it as a favor to a work mate who lives there , and there were scenes I wanted to shorten and delete but he and the narrator wanted to leave them in , and also be long enough so he could boast his historical knowledge I reckon . Too many cooks probably . But your point is well taken . Its one of the hardest parts of this hobby Ive learned , cutting your footage down to the bare minimum to keep viewers engaged .

Hi Mazdaman from Cork,Ireland:

Thanks for your candor! I am often faced with the same dilemma. I take (pre-Covid) at least two big trips a year. I've been doing this my whole life. It is virtually impossible to do justice to a 2 week trip to an exotic location in a 3 minute video. So I get around this by making two versions. I make the 3-4 minute synopsis version for the web, using only the highlights of the trip, and then make my own personal record, which can often be 30 or more minutes. This is for my own memories and to send to my closest and tolerant friends and of course, my family. You can see some of the longer versions I've made on my video web site but you have to keep scrolling through where it says "download more" at the bottom. Look for(1) Rwanda,Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (gorillas!), Iceland, Greece, Puglia (Italy). See the two links below.

Dale
Miami

Dale Davis,M.D.. and also on my other site
www.daledavisphotography.smugmug.com