Critique My 2 Minute Cycling Trailer...

[acearchie]

Hi there,

This has been created for a trip from John O' Groats to Lands End by two of my friends in the summer.

Any thoughts would be helpful as this isn't the complete finished version!

Cheers.

Link To Video (Bare in mind it has just uploaded and YouTube is still processing the quality!)

 

[craigsharp]

First off... the changing of focus during the slow song at first needs to be slooowwwww... that's all that i have seen so far as my internet connection sucks... also, maybe a steadier hand... the movement of the flowers and such is a good idea, but should only be from the wind and not both wind and shaky hand...

 

[gødspeed]

I thought it was good. The only two major complaints I had were the shakyness of some of the handheld shots and the color correction -- greens were undersaturated in all of your deep focus shots.

 

[ntrigue]

You'll want to use a tripod for the introduction and slow the transitions.

I'd also only show determination not the hand-free riding.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Overall I thought it was good but there were a few things I would change.

1. The slow opening goes on too long, IMO and needs more compelling shots and a wider variety of shots. It only takes a couple shots of nature to convey that we are in or traveling through the countryside. I'd chop it in half (so down to 15 seconds or so) and put in a couple shots of the riders getting ready (maybe extreme close ups so that we see that people are 'gearing up' but we don't know for what) and see how that feels.

2. I like the super-imposed map but I think highlighting the route would help.

3. Some of the quick cuts seemed too quick, but that could just be a short coming of YouTube's compression.

4. I would name the charity it is for and put in some b-roll of the charity and/or of the two riders doing work for the charity.

5. As humorous as the guy failing to unclip his feet is I don't think it fits the serious vibe the rest of the trailer has.


Lethal

 

[chrismacguy]

Overall I thought it was good but there were a few things I would change.

1. The slow opening goes on too long, IMO and needs more compelling shots and a wider variety of shots. It only takes a couple shots of nature to convey that we are in or traveling through the countryside. I'd chop it in half (so down to 15 seconds or so) and put in a couple shots of the riders getting ready (maybe extreme close ups so that we see that people are 'gearing up' but we don't know for what) and see how that feels.

2. I like the super-imposed map but I think highlighting the route would help.

3. Some of the quick cuts seemed too quick, but that could just be a short coming of YouTube's compression.

4. I would name the charity it is for and put in some b-roll of the charity and/or of the two riders doing work for the charity.

5. As humorous as the guy failing to unclip his feet is I don't think it fits the serious vibe the rest of the trailer has.


Lethal

I agree with Lethal on all but 3 - since I didnt really see that as an issue, Id definitely take a look at the rest of his points though, as they jibe with what I saw

 

[acearchie]

Thanks for all the pointers so far.

First off with the fast cuts, they seem to work really well in final cut at 30fps but I am wonderin if Youtube converts it to 25/24 fps or something that it doens't quite flow as freely.

I agree about the shakiness of the clips. This was really my first time shooting VDSLR (certainly from a moving vehicle) and I didn't have any budget for steadicam or rig.

If anything the colour grading has added saturation to the greens.

I don't know what it is (maybe the settings in the camera) but the colour that came from the camera was really poor.

The only reason that I put the last clip of the failure to unclip was to put in a sense of fun to the video as the film is going to have a humourous side to it as we are a group of guys who have just finished school and may do a bit of messing about during the trip.

Highlighting the route is a good idea and something I may do when I have time. I wanted to have an animated arrow going along the map however, I haven't quite figured out how to do that in After Effects yet.

Thanks for pointing out the hands free riding. Didn't quite notice it in there so I will try to change that clip.

The length of the beginning was really set by the song and I really almost want the audience to get bored so the next fast paced minute should keep them engaged!

Thanks again for all the positive criticism, I'm glad that you enjoyed it!