DV Info Net - Critique - Our first Webisode

Paddy,

After watching the first 3 episodes, I'd say you've got a lot of good stuff there. If those 3 episodes were 5 minutes in total instead of 15 minutes, it could be a very tight edit. Add some v.o. and you got a great show. Look at 'Dark Side of the Lens' thats like 6 mins total, but it probably represents 100 or more hours of surfing. The footage is spectacular, but the edit is tight. He only showed you the very best stuff. I'm certain that he had more than enough footage for a feature film, but by only showing us the best visuals... we're riveted. I've watched it 10 times... The story is his passion for surf and film. I'm not saying copy it, but model it.

Your aerials in Ep. 3 were great... I'd take a few of those and slow them down for effect - like half way through the jump - (it looks like a pretty fast shutter speed, so it should slo down fairly well). I'd also think you could do a little processing on the color and maybe add a light vignette to the frame. But whatever... And there are too many of the wide hi-angle shots of the cliff face. The Rugby match in Ep. 2 has some good stuff, but it's filler, not a story. Just a shot of England scoring a try, then CUT straight to the crowd reaction, as opposed to on camera wide, jerk pan to mates celebrating.

I haven't watched a Warren Miller flick for awhile, but I seem to recall that his VO really moved the visuals along, even in periods where they were a little lame.

Keep at it... but don't stretch footage... cut footage...