Nightclub with A1 at DVinfo.net

Bill Grant · June 29th, 2008, 10:23 PM

Hey All,
This is a web promo for a local nightclub shot with the A1 and an FX1 (the "over the DJ booth" shot and a few others) 60i Truecolor preset 1/30 shutter and no more than 6db gain. I am not very happy with the flash conversion but the only real difference is artifacts and the blacks are crushed in the original. Can anyone help me with why? Anyway my client has seen it, the club has not. I did it for the web development company.
Bill
www.grantphotovideo.com/Tabu

Nicholas Tran · June 30th, 2008, 07:44 AM

Hey bill,

Not sure if you are looking for comments... but I do have a couple. I think that the shots are fine. Can't tell you how to adjust the quality after the flash conversion. Everything I've converted to flash seems to go that way, haven't figured out how to better it.

For a club promo, the spot lacks energy due to the lack of people. And when people were in the spot, they were moving slow and noticeably conscious of the camera(which is fine if it was obvious that they purposely played to camera). If you don't have people, or can't get people, then I understand. You could go longer on the lens to hide it, by going wide it only shows how empty the place is. So, that was my gripe.

Either way, hope it helped.

Bill Grant · June 30th, 2008, 11:40 AM

Thanks Nicholas,
Yeah, we showed up at 11:00 thinking we'd get the people rolling in and by 12:30 there was still no one around really. That was my major issue as well, but the budget on this one (way low) did not allow for me to just wait around for people. I think this will serve their purposes for now. Who knows... Thanks for the comments.
Bill

Michael Wisniewski · June 30th, 2008, 01:34 PM

Shots are fine. But in line with Nicholas' comments, the video makes the nightclub seem boring. Maybe changing the music - something slower more loungy, it might fit the "vibe" of the video better.

Bill Grant · June 30th, 2008, 02:19 PM

See,
I don't think so. I have such a hard time with this, but I don't see it the way that you guys are saying. This looks very exciting to me. Can you help me with the shots that make the place look boring? I don't see that at all. It seems like I'm doomed only to do wedding stuff because every time I stretch out beyond it people say things like this. I don't get it, and I don't know how I'm going to. There seems to be a fine line. Please help if you can.
Bill

Tom Sherwood · June 30th, 2008, 05:32 PM

Bill my two cents... The song is annoying. The video perhaps it looks boring because the people in the shots look bored (not all of them, but enough). For example the the shots of the girl dancing alone, not exciting, she seems bored. The shot of the bartender pouring the flaming drink. That is a great shot, however the guy watching looks like he has seen it a million times and is not impressed. People should be gathered around the bartender being amazed by the cool flame pouring out of bottle into the glass. You know laughing and cheering.

The camera work is fine its the "actors" that are hurting your production. Wedding videos are full of people who want to see themselves so it doesn't matter how they act cause its for them. The ad has to appeal to an audience watching strangers, so the bar is higher. Compare your ad with say an ad for Las Vegas. I bet you don't see good looking girls dancing by themselves or bored bar patrons.

Anyway thats my opinion. I'm not good at making videos just good at watchin em.

Bill Grant · June 30th, 2008, 09:07 PM

Hey Tom,
Thanks for the comments. You know it's so hard to make this kind of situation work perfectly. I was presented with a certain set of circumstances here to try and make a promo video for this club with very little budget. I couldn't hire anyone to be in it, nor did they try and help much ( mainly because I think the web design company included the video in the package) so I don't know how I should have approached it. There weren't many people there, but everyone I see in the video looks like they're having fun. You also have to remember, we're in South Carolina here. The club standards are different than the rest of the country. This is very frustrating for me because I just don't see it.
Bill

Nicholas Tran · June 30th, 2008, 10:28 PM

Yes... that is the difficult part of not having a fully controlled environment. You can only do the best with what you've got. Believe me, I KNOW how this is.

Nelson Cole · July 1st, 2008, 12:00 AM

I thought it looked fine. My suggestion would be to have used live music captured from the club, to give people a better feel of the place. It's also a little disconcerting to watch people dance to music you're not hearing.

I think it might be more effective to try to capture as much mood of the place as possible and then edit to the mood, rather than impose a mood from editing and importing music, which I got a little sense of.

Bill Grant · July 1st, 2008, 08:01 AM

Nelson,
I actually took the song from what was playing at the club. When you see the people dancing, that's what they were dancing to. You know I think I know what you guys are talking about with the girls all alone and looking bored. The girls in red under the spotlights were beer girls. They did look bored but they were supposed to I think...
Bill

June 29th, 2008, 10:23 PM	#1
Bill Grant Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Columbia,SC Posts: 806	Nightclub with A1 Hey All, This is a web promo for a local nightclub shot with the A1 and an FX1 (the "over the DJ booth" shot and a few others) 60i Truecolor preset 1/30 shutter and no more than 6db gain. I am not very happy with the flash conversion but the only real difference is artifacts and the blacks are crushed in the original. Can anyone help me with why? Anyway my client has seen it, the club has not. I did it for the web development company. Bill www.grantphotovideo.com/Tabu

June 30th, 2008, 01:34 PM	#4
Michael Wisniewski Wrangler Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Makati, Metro Manila Posts: 2,706 Images: 32	Shots are fine. But in line with Nicholas' comments, the video makes the nightclub seem boring. Maybe changing the music - something slower more loungy, it might fit the "vibe" of the video better. __________________ "Ultimately, the most extraordinary thing, in a frame, is a human being." - Martin Scorsese

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June 30th, 2008, 07:44 AM	#2
Nicholas Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 67	Hey bill, Not sure if you are looking for comments... but I do have a couple. I think that the shots are fine. Can't tell you how to adjust the quality after the flash conversion. Everything I've converted to flash seems to go that way, haven't figured out how to better it. For a club promo, the spot lacks energy due to the lack of people. And when people were in the spot, they were moving slow and noticeably conscious of the camera(which is fine if it was obvious that they purposely played to camera). If you don't have people, or can't get people, then I understand. You could go longer on the lens to hide it, by going wide it only shows how empty the place is. So, that was my gripe. Either way, hope it helped.

June 30th, 2008, 11:40 AM	#3
Bill Grant Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Columbia,SC Posts: 806	Thanks Nicholas, Yeah, we showed up at 11:00 thinking we'd get the people rolling in and by 12:30 there was still no one around really. That was my major issue as well, but the budget on this one (way low) did not allow for me to just wait around for people. I think this will serve their purposes for now. Who knows... Thanks for the comments. Bill

June 30th, 2008, 02:19 PM	#5
Bill Grant Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Columbia,SC Posts: 806	See, I don't think so. I have such a hard time with this, but I don't see it the way that you guys are saying. This looks very exciting to me. Can you help me with the shots that make the place look boring? I don't see that at all. It seems like I'm doomed only to do wedding stuff because every time I stretch out beyond it people say things like this. I don't get it, and I don't know how I'm going to. There seems to be a fine line. Please help if you can. Bill

June 30th, 2008, 05:32 PM	#6
Tom Sherwood Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 83	Bill my two cents... The song is annoying. The video perhaps it looks boring because the people in the shots look bored (not all of them, but enough). For example the the shots of the girl dancing alone, not exciting, she seems bored. The shot of the bartender pouring the flaming drink. That is a great shot, however the guy watching looks like he has seen it a million times and is not impressed. People should be gathered around the bartender being amazed by the cool flame pouring out of bottle into the glass. You know laughing and cheering. The camera work is fine its the "actors" that are hurting your production. Wedding videos are full of people who want to see themselves so it doesn't matter how they act cause its for them. The ad has to appeal to an audience watching strangers, so the bar is higher. Compare your ad with say an ad for Las Vegas. I bet you don't see good looking girls dancing by themselves or bored bar patrons. Anyway thats my opinion. I'm not good at making videos just good at watchin em.

June 30th, 2008, 09:07 PM	#7
Bill Grant Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Columbia,SC Posts: 806	Hey Tom, Thanks for the comments. You know it's so hard to make this kind of situation work perfectly. I was presented with a certain set of circumstances here to try and make a promo video for this club with very little budget. I couldn't hire anyone to be in it, nor did they try and help much ( mainly because I think the web design company included the video in the package) so I don't know how I should have approached it. There weren't many people there, but everyone I see in the video looks like they're having fun. You also have to remember, we're in South Carolina here. The club standards are different than the rest of the country. This is very frustrating for me because I just don't see it. Bill

June 30th, 2008, 10:28 PM	#8
Nicholas Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 67	Yes... that is the difficult part of not having a fully controlled environment. You can only do the best with what you've got. Believe me, I KNOW how this is.

July 1st, 2008, 12:00 AM	#9
Nelson Cole Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Skowhegan, Maine Posts: 70	I thought it looked fine. My suggestion would be to have used live music captured from the club, to give people a better feel of the place. It's also a little disconcerting to watch people dance to music you're not hearing. I think it might be more effective to try to capture as much mood of the place as possible and then edit to the mood, rather than impose a mood from editing and importing music, which I got a little sense of.

July 1st, 2008, 08:01 AM	#10
Bill Grant Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Columbia,SC Posts: 806	Nelson, I actually took the song from what was playing at the club. When you see the people dancing, that's what they were dancing to. You know I think I know what you guys are talking about with the girls all alone and looking bored. The girls in red under the spotlights were beer girls. They did look bored but they were supposed to I think... Bill