Feedback?

Be gentle I'm not selling video as a service to customers, and this was done as a way to pass my time during a period where I was laid up after gall bladder surgery.

My local Crossfit box was running two days of open gym running through the Crossfit Games 14.2 work out. I hung out both days with my 7D, a variety of lenses and a standard photo tripod, then brought the footage home to iMovie 11 and turned it into a short promo.

http://youtu.be/3wxSvD​bm1B8

I had to drop all the audio - I did use a Rode mic, but my gain on the 7D was around 3/4, which turned out to be WAY too much with the pounding music and voices shouting. Lesson learned.

I'm looking into picking up a cheap glidecam - birthday money coming up.

While the gym was happy - I've got a couple more weeks of layup, so I want to go back and try again next weekend. What can I change or do in shooting or post for the next one?

Thanks!

Only two things I would really recommend:

1.
Keep it steady! The handheld jitter is a bit to much, especially because you try to keep it still. If you would throw in some movement it wouldn't be a problem. So without a tripod or stabilized option (lens, glidecam) I would on purpose move it more and not emulate a tripod.
I think a cheap real video tripod is a good investment before a glidecam. A lot of photographers don't realize how handy a head with a leveling bowl is.

2. What I mis in your montage is close shots. 80% consists of medium to wide shots. You need cut-aways and details.... get as close as you can. It's always possible to shoot a couple of detail shots separate. Hand grabbing a bar, shifting feet and so on. That will really help you in your edit and makes the video more attractive for a viewer.

l_e_x_y_ wrote in post #16754907
Only two things I would really recommend:

1.
Keep it steady! The handheld jitter is a bit to much, especially because you try to keep it still. If you would throw in some movement it wouldn't be a problem. So without a tripod or stabilized option (lens, glidecam) I would on purpose move it more and not emulate a tripod.
I think a cheap real video tripod is a good investment before a glidecam. A lot of photographers don't realize how handy a head with a leveling bowl is.

2. What I mis in your montage is close shots. 80% consists of medium to wide shots. You need cut-aways and details.... get as close as you can. It's always possible to shoot a couple of detail shots separate. Hand grabbing a bar, shifting feet and so on. That will really help you in your edit and makes the video more attractive for a viewer.

Thank you!

Towards the end of day two, I had figured a way to use my tripod as a fake glidecam, bringing the legs out to horizontal and tucking one under my arm, and holding the other two in front of me - it was unwieldy and far from perfect, but a lot better than hand holding it - next time, I plan on starting with that - and I do have a glidecam on my wishlist, along with a video head for my tripod, but maybe I should invest in a full video tripod setup from the get go? recommendations?

And thank you for the shot advice - I was aware I needed to mix the shots up, but need to focus more on close ups - I'll shoot those separately, I think.

I think it's pretty good.

I'd agree with l-e-x-y about close ups (although I wouldn't have thought of it myself).

Warp Stabilzer in After Effects will sort out most of your jitters, I think, while giving the camera a floaty look that would suit this vid.

This is purely my personal opinion but I would have pushed a look more, I don't think yours looks bad in any way but maybe pick a music video and try and emulate the colour grade, you may as well have a good play around and see what you can come up with. This subject matter seems perfect for it to me.

Also maybe to try and edit to the music a bit more. Use the beats and the changes in tempo to drive your cuts or transitions.

StayFrosty wrote in post #16756110
I think it's pretty good.

I'd agree with l-e-x-y about close ups (although I wouldn't have thought of it myself).

Warp Stabilzer in After Effects will sort out most of your jitters, I think, while giving the camera a floaty look that would suit this vid.

This is purely my personal opinion but I would have pushed a look more, I don't think yours looks bad in any way but maybe pick a music video and try and emulate the colour grade, you may as well have a good play around and see what you can come up with. This subject matter seems perfect for it to me.

Also maybe to try and edit to the music a bit more. Use the beats and the changes in tempo to drive your cuts or transitions.

I don't know how much creativity iMovie allows outside it's prebuilt templates - I played a little with those, but if I get into this more, I'll invest in some better software - right now, if I'm dropping cash, I'm spending on a stabilizer first

This next weekend, I'll play with putting cuts to beats more - I have a track in mind already - thanks for the suggestions!

As my second shot at video - this was this weeks Crossfit Games workout (14.3).

I tried to shoot many more closeups, and my editing was done with an eye and ear to the background track. I faked a glidecam with my tripod and it's legs partially extended - I also pulled the trigger and bought a real glidecam, a used glidecam 2000 pro - that should be here in time for next weekend.

http://youtu.be/l9MJo6​8lXHM

So, feedback on this one? Where can I improve?

Thanks,

Like it! Better edit.
Only thing I would try to do is get closer to people, more emotion. And only other little tip:
always try to see you separate shots as a sequence. If I want to shoot and make a sequence that feels like a story I try to make at least to shots of the same situation. A wide shot and a medium or close. Always feels good if you can cut two shots directly after each other, For instance take a close up from a shoe if the guy jumps on the block, then back up and take a wide shot. Now it sometimes looks like a bunch of random shots combined.

Again, I like your edit and think you're improving fast.

Thank you! Thats great feedback, and I'd organically tried to start doing that in the third and fourth videos I hadn't posted here yet! The Crossfit competition I was shooting lasted five weeks (I missed week one due to surgery)

This is also where I started playing with a Glidecam - a birthday present from my ever patient wife!

Week 3 - http://youtu.be/DPeCVD​Orp3c

and Week 4 - uploaded a day or two ago - http://youtu.be/4gSWtq​UgQIw