Need your opinion: My bands promo Video

[Unalaska]

A coup,e of basic thoughts:

Get a multitrack mix along with the live, add a 2nd camera (1 camera operator and 1 on a tripod).

Needs much better editing all around, text, fade in/outs.

Lighting is horrible, your band is actually really good and with the right lighting you'll see an immediate crowd response over what I saw there.

The first video we see has no one dancing, in fact it's a bit before we do see it.,as a buyer I want to see happy shiny faces on the dance floor enjoying themselves. They aren't hiring the band cuz you're pretty.

How about some narrative about the band? Someone say something about what makes you special. We want to know, don't assume your potential client knows anything about even the most basic things (3 guys in a band, we play music).

Good product, now go market it like it needs to be done right, you don't have to be cheesy, just put some excitement into it.

For my band's vid click the link in my sig

[Unalaska]

A coup,e of basic thoughts:

Get a multitrack mix along with the live, add a 2nd camera (1 camera operator and 1 on a tripod).

Needs much better editing all around, text, fade in/outs.

Lighting is horrible, your band is actually really good and with the right lighting you'll see an immediate crowd response over what I saw there.

The first video we see has no one dancing, in fact it's a bit before we do see it.,as a buyer I want to see happy shiny faces on the dance floor enjoying themselves. They aren't hiring the band cuz you're pretty.

How about some narrative about the band? Someone say something about what makes you special. We want to know, don't assume your potential client knows anything about even the most basic things (3 guys in a band, we play music).

Good product, now go market it like it needs to be done right, you don't have to be cheesy, just put some excitement into it.

For my band's vid click the link in my sig

[Vito Corleone]

 

Originally Posted by Unalaska

For my band's vid click the link in my sig

 

NIcely done. The video showcases and sells your product really nicely.

[Vito Corleone]

 

Originally Posted by Unalaska

For my band's vid click the link in my sig

 

NIcely done. The video showcases and sells your product really nicely.

[GtrGeorge!]

Ok ..I read EVERY SINGLE comment so far and have redone the video with:

1) Sweet Caroline: GONE

2) Added some reverb to the audio

3)tried to improve thew crawl (sadly, the original footage is gone..so I took a look around and found a different..slower?..crawl ..that is what I used here. I think it's an improvement..what do you think.

The entire video is now 2 minutes and 2 seconds.

Have a look and tell me if any progress has been made. GtrGeorge of Holiday Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cY1uH5EPhU

[Unalaska]

Much better. I'd say start with a new video shoot though, 2 camera, even if its just a friend being annoying with the camera. Use a 2track recorder on a stand up high in the audience (20ft back?) and blend camera audio with the original audio from the recorder. Plus it'll help in editing too.

Need dance lighting, one LED vertigo will go a loooong way to helping out. Get some color wash on stage too, and dress a tad lighter. Better shoes, no sneakers. Especially in white.

Think of the process inn 2 parts, the video shoot and the editing. I can do either well and that's why I hired out. Every now and then I'll hire a photographer to shoot stills while we pay too, makes for nice pics on the web site.

[Vito Corleone]

 

Originally Posted by Unalaska

Much better. I'd say start with a new video shoot though, 2 camera, even if its just a friend being annoying with the camera.

 

I'd suggest one camera set up for a wide-angle full band shot, and another hand-held with somebody being annoying getting various close ups of the band. Edit back and forth between these two and edit in some crowd footage and you'll easily have a really good video that showcases both the best of the band and the audience response.

Relying on a single camera shot to try and show everything at once only results in a video that is much more boring than the gig itself actually was.

Here's the way to think about it: when you're at an event, the human eye and brain is scanning around, focusing in on various things, scanning and panning, doing close ups and wide angles. Nobody just sits and stares with a single focus at a stage all night long. While a single camera shot might be able to capture everything a person SAW at a performance, it won't be able to capture the way they EXPERIENCED it. And what you want to convey with a video is what the EXPERIENCE of your show is like as much as possible.

The point of trying to use different angles and different edits is to re-create that hightened sense of excitement that existed during the performance.

[GtrGeorge!]

Thanks guys..

great ideas and very specific ones at that! I ,at times, feel a lil defensive about it...essentially its a cost versus benefit thing: the video you saw was shot for free, at a gig where we made money (it was profitable). That's really essential right now. I am building this band..and the expense of a 2 or 3 camera shoot is just not in the budget. I know very few musicians that can make profit in this day and aga. I am very fortunate that I am able to do that. So while we WILL make a high quality video...it will be a while, and the suggestions are not wasted. I want to thank everyone who took the time to watch the Vid and comment. THANK YOU..and I will come back and check to see if any newer comments are added.

GtrGeorge

[Potts]

 

Originally Posted by guido61

The point of trying to use different angles and different edits is to re-create that hightened sense of excitement that existed during the performance.

 

That's a great way of looking at it.

[jimiv]

 

Originally Posted by guido61

I'd suggest one camera set up for a wide-angle full band shot, and another hand-held with somebody being annoying getting various close ups of the band. Edit back and forth between these two and edit in some crowd footage and you'll easily have a really good video that showcases both the best of the band and the audience response.

Relying on a single camera shot to try and show everything at once only results in a video that is much more boring than the gig itself actually was.

Here's the way to think about it: when you're at an event, the human eye and brain is scanning around, focusing in on various things, scanning and panning, doing close ups and wide angles. Nobody just sits and stares with a single focus at a stage all night long. While a single camera shot might be able to capture everything a person SAW at a performance, it won't be able to capture the way they EXPERIENCED it. And what you want to convey with a video is what the EXPERIENCE of your show is like as much as possible.

The point of trying to use different angles and different edits is to re-create that hightened sense of excitement that existed during the performance.

 

We just finished shooting a new video exactly with that format. I am hopeful that it will come out better than the last one

On a side note. I specifically told everyone what the dress code was. The usual/no jeans, no shorts, no hawaiian shirts, no white tennis shoes, no capris (just kidding Potts), no ball caps, no music stands, (did I cover everything?) Anyway, the girls show up dressed to the nines. The drummer shows up in ............shorts and...............a hawaiian shirt. {censored}. The videographer is set up and we have been planning this for a month and you show up in shorts and a {censored}ing hawaiian shirt? In January? Really? Ok, so I figure I'll tell the videographer to pan only a head shot if he does a close-up of the drummer. No problem, I say nothing, and wait for the the other talent to show up...our lead guitarist/vocalist. Boom, in he walks with a light sport coat and..........and .......{censored}ing blue jeans. I give up man.

[Potts]

Originally Posted by jimiv

On a side note. I specifically told everyone what the dress code was. The usual/no jeans, no shorts, no hawaiian shirts, no white tennis shoes, no capris (just kidding Potts), no ball caps, no music stands, (did I cover everything?)

Awesome

Originally Posted by jimiv

Anyway, the girls show up dressed to the nines. The drummer shows up in ............shorts and...............a hawaiian shirt. {censored}. The videographer is set up and we have been planning this for a month and you show up in shorts and a {censored}ing hawaiian shirt? In January? Really?

First of all WTF is the matter with people? Not only did he not listen, who the {censored} thinks that Hawaiian shirts are cool? And shorts for a video shoot? Ugh!

[vablows]

I believe it is universal that all drummers feel that hawaiian shirts are "dress up clothes".....

At least no music stands were harmed in the making of the video, right?

[Vito Corleone]

 

Originally Posted by GtrGeorge!

Thanks guys..

great ideas and very specific ones at that! I ,at times, feel a lil defensive about it...essentially its a cost versus benefit thing: the video you saw was shot for free, at a gig where we made money (it was profitable). That's really essential right now. I am building this band..and the expense of a 2 or 3 camera shoot is just not in the budget. I know very few musicians that can make profit in this day and aga. I am very fortunate that I am able to do that. So while we WILL make a high quality video...it will be a while, and the suggestions are not wasted. I want to thank everyone who took the time to watch the Vid and comment. THANK YOU..and I will come back and check to see if any newer comments are added.

GtrGeorge

 

There are all sorts of ways to do pretty decent stuff on a low budget.

Here's the first video I ever did myself for an earlier version of the band I'm in now. Most of the audio was pre-recorded (we did it for a couple of hundred dollars, but you can obviously use any source you like for the audio) and to shoot the video we used a stage in a small nightclub that was empty and my wife shot it using our cheapy camcorder. We did three takes of lip-syncing to the music. One take of a "wide" full band shot, and two takes of her shooting us up close. Then we used a fourth take for some speciality close up shots of hands and faces and the like.

I also put in a couple of "full live" clips---the bits of us doing "Jessie's Girl" and "Brown Sugar" are live. Those were shot with a handheld and the audio was recorded with a Zoom X2 back at the board. Other than what we spent for the audio recording, none of this cost us anything but time. And while it is filled with all sorts of issues due to being lo-fi and amateur (and looks very, very bad in this highly-compressed version I loaded here--only version I could find on my comp today...), I still think it's a better demo than a lot of what I see going on. And it served as the basis for what I did with the JumpStart demo, which followed the same basic format except we spent a bit more money doing it (hiring a pro videographer with real equipment to do the basic shots, although there's still a lot of cheapy handheld stuff used in the edits as well. Including reusing some stuff from this video. I resued the pretty blonde girl with the blowup guitar during "Brown Sugar" on another clip years later. We got a lot of good paying gigs from this demo, and I've always said we probably owe that chick some royalties...I think that little bit of her on stage with us probably sold the band better than anything we were doing....)

Getting ready to update that video over the next few months as well. Should be fun to try to and "upgrade" things a bit further.

 

[jimiv]

 

Originally Posted by vablows

I believe it is universal that all drummers feel that hawaiian shirts are "dress up clothes".....

At least no music stands were harmed in the making of the video, right?

 

Yes, that is correct. No music stands were harmed during the filming of this video. I carefully herded them into a side room and locked the door for their own protection.

[Piano Whore]

 

Originally Posted by jimiv

Yes, that is correct. No music stands were harmed during the filming of this video. I carefully herded them into a side room and locked the door for their own protection.

 

Blessed art thou, Shepherd of the music stands!