Here we go. Should work now...
Jeff

Looks good to me, The video footage could use some color enhancement (but basing color on a compressed WMV is not wise, so I could be mistaken).

The only other thing, is that you used a TON of logos, I'm not sure what kind of release you need to do that, but I'm quite sure that you do need releases for them.

Dave

I looked at the first post. I assume you are looking for reactions, suggestions, etc., so here are a few:

1. It seems a little too fast paced for what it is. Editing in general has gotten faster the past few years, but there is a limit. And fast edits are not always a good thing.

2. Too much zooming in the first part.

3. Building on #2, any photo move -- especially for something that is a commercial venture -- should have a purpose. This can include highlighting a given feature to which you want to call attention; conveying a sense of movement to an object that would normally be moving (e.g., a car); heightening some aspect of the picture (e.g., the height of a tall building). Movement just for the sake of movement is distracting.

4. The first montage (the only one I looked at) settles down after the opening zoom barrage and is more effective with the individual shots.

5. The audio track is basically a filler; it is just sound. Are you going to have a voiceover? If not, have you considered (I assume you are doing the music in ACID or something similar) altering the music in places in order to emphasize a certain point?

6. Text. Again, I didn't view all the segments, so perhaps you use text later on, but since this is a commercial venture, I assume there is a message and, within that message, specific points to be made. Text and voiceover both contribute to that.

7. People. All the rooms were completely empty. Reminded me of one of those old nuclear disaster pictures where only a few people survive and they wander though all these deserted buildings. It's actually a little eerie.

Hope this isn't too harsh. Wasn't meant to be.

I liked it. I liked the flow, fast and punchy, and I liked the use of transitions. The only thing that did seem out of place was the white borders around the images near the end of slide show #1. It just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the show.

"7. People. All the rooms were completely empty. Reminded me of one of those old nuclear disaster pictures where only a few people survive and they wander though all these deserted buildings. It's actually a little eerie"

Ha Ha! John, that's my favorite feedback so far. Thanks!

The second part of this video (the last link above) has a voice over and calls attention to specific things about this company and has a much more agreeable pace. I agree with you that the pacing of this montage is too fast... but I'm trying to find a balance between static and motion to draw people's attention into the booth at the tradeshow. This is not a montage I'd use for anything else and it's not meant to inform people in anyway shapre or form. I'm trying to picture what would draw people into a booth. I guess nuclear holocaust isn't it? Oh, these are the pictures I was given and there isn't any people.

I'll incorporate your suggestions and make more meaningful camera moves.

Thanks for the feedback.

Jeff

Now who thought up the "wining" phrase "Old Fashioned Principles" - I kinda prefer "Employing Traditional Craft Skills" - if that is what they meant? Interesting "positive " spin on this phrase?

I felt the video needed colour balancing to the photos . .or the other way around. OR something completely OFF the wall - rich-dynamic-black and white . . grey can be good .. maybe reflecting one of the corporate Pantones? Lots to do.

When I do montages I search for a really "engaging" element first and zoom out from that. OR zoom out into something unexpected. I also try not to clash shapes that don't have a purposeful narrative to them. Also try and "hear" the longer on the beat option. If 4 beats to the bar use alternative bars! It gives weight and moment between each still.

I have much more to say. But I'll leave it to others - other than adding that this can be an extremely demanding and rewarding creative opportunity.

Grazie

Grazie, I get what you mean about finding the most engaging element first. I think I knew that, but it's always good to get a reminder. But I'm not sure that any ONE element sticks out in some of those images, but I'll double my efforts to find it if it's there. I plan to cut about 30-40% of the weaker pictures (and logos) and re-do some of the pan&scan work on the better ones. Maybe with less pictures I'll be able to relax a little. In any case, this project (at least not the photomontage) is not ready yet, but I like getting some feedback early so I can spend my time more efficiently. As far as color (colour) correction, do you envision the entire piece as have a certain look, as in a Magic Bullet type thing, or shot by shot CC?

Dave, the client uses those logos in their printed brochures, so I'll roll the dice on this one. If it was intended for any place other than a booth in a tradeshow for 3 days I'd be more concerned. Thanks.

Alan, I was going for the "punchy" look with hopes of seducing people into watching the video. I'm not concerned with really selling the items being shown, but rather the image of the company as being "sexy." The pictures with the white borders need work. Thanks.

Oh, the video with the voice over has been revised and color corrected a bunch of times since the version I posted below. I haven't gotten a chance to post the latest and greatest, but when I'm done, I'll try to post the entire 5 minute video in order to bore everyone to tears.

Thanks for the feed back, it really does help.

Jeff

Stunning!
Breathtaking!
Two thumbs up.
And the music was wonderful.
Where did you get it.

Ha Ha. "breathtaking"?

Thanks!

The music was a mix, some from Digital Juice and one track from Hark Productions (from the Vegas Zone discount area). Digital Juice has a deal right now that gives you 10,000 sound effects, 2 full sets of music, and lots of cool wipes, lower 3rds, and background animations. For $349

Here's the links:
www.harkproductions.com/vzone/
www.digitaljuice.com

Jkrepner, nice slideshow on #1 example, will review others. I think you are on the right track for the tradeshow traffic. I would suggest addition displays so that many different stages of the show can be seem at different parts of the booth. Since asle traffic requires a fast pace show with alot of color, you need a slower pace show for inside the booth area once the "future customer" has decided to come in the booth to check it out.

Thanks Apit. I've totally redone the slideshow taking into account everyone's feedback and it is much much better. Here's the kicker..... the client doesn't care and now they want me to take all 300 pictures they have and make a slideshow (4 seconds each, 15 frame dissolve) and put it after my 5 minute video.

The final video is a tight piece designed to pack as much info and flash into each frame as to maximize each customer's time in and around the booth. They love it. But also want to add about a 10-15 minute (yes MINUTES) slideshow of completed project pictures "random, the order doesn't matter" after the video!!!!!

So, there is a 3:1 chance a random passerby will see "random pictures" over the video they (client) paid good money to have produced! WTF? I tried to explain to them that they need to keep in mind that this video is designed to grab people's interest and get them into the booth. They said they really want it to entertain and to inform the customer, not to grab their attention... which my video does, but who will stand there through 300 random pictures first! I know when I'm at a tradeshow I want to spend 15-20 minutes watching a video (unless it's NAB).

Ah, the customer is always right and I'll send them the final invoice today.

Why don't they have 2 tv's/players. One showing your quick attention getter, and the other showing the boring slides?

Actually, the request is not too surprising. Industrial marketing often revolves around understanding lots of dull features and specifications. While it is fun to have some flashy video, ultimately the customers must be able to study the details, and the fast cuts and all the fun stuff probably get in the way. If you've ever tried to get information from a web site that forces you to sit through a 30-second Flash promo that is very creative, cool, and pretty, but contains very little hard information, you'll get an appreciation of why your client is trying to get something more than just the creative video.

If the client is willing to pay, you might offer several additional options:

1. A timed slide show, with music.

2. A slide show with each photo appearing "forever" until they press the chapter advance button. I recommend using a Music Compilation for this, because each photo is encoded as a single I-frame and therefore takes up practically zero space (you can put hundreds of thousands of photos on a DVD using Music Compilation in DVD Architect).

3. A slide show with menus. You can provide navigation to each product line or group of products in order to let the salesperson quickly navigate to specific pictures while sitting with the prospect. This greatly enhances the use of the DVD, making it a sales tool. If the company has lots of salespeople, this gives you the chance to sell dozens (depending on the size of the salesforce) additional DVDs. Hopefully you can charge $$ for these dups. You could actually do dozens of different slide shows (using the Music Compilation), each in a different order. Set up a fee schedule where you charge an additional amount for each additional slide show segment.

Awesome ideas John. I'll see if they are interested in something beyond this show. They keep talking about using the video for other purposes, so perhaps that will be my ticket to talk about some additional slide show programs and/or more interactive DVDs tailored to different customer types.

Oh, no they said (almost word for word) "we want flashy... quick. boom boom boom, always moving, we like moving graphics up tempo music, just offer a tease of this... a little of that... we want them in the booth and we'll give them more details in person...."

So, I've spent the last two weeks making that sexy flashy movie for the COO of the company and then the CEO comes in and says "I love it, but I want a slow part too."

I'm actually glad. They could beat me up for days over little nit picky timing things, but making a slideshow is cake. I told them no panning, the pictures are as they give them to me, in the order they give them to me. Two of my contacts at the company agree that a long ass slideshow will dilute the video, but the dude in charge writes the checks. Either way, they've been great to work with and they took one of my first quotes, so the money is good. In the end, it's the client's video--not mine. Eh?

The morale of the story: find out who ultimately signs off on the video and spend your time making that person happy, not the person you are told is the person you need to make happy.

Cheers.

'Ah, the customer is always right and I'll send them the final invoice today.'

A rather superior and pretentious boss of mine was expounding on this exact point a number of years ago, and finally hit on the relevant point, that you expressed here.

The customer is always the customer.

Talk them into what is best, if you can, but give them what they say they want. John.

but making a slideshow is cake.

For heavens sake, don't tell THEM! Slide shows are hard -- take hours --

Well, you don't have to lie, but you sure don't have to volunteer how easy or hard something might be. We all know how easy it is to pan a still photo in Vegas. But to the customer, this is cool "Ken Burns" stuff. Even if they have never heard of that dude, they associate the effect with classy stuff.