Don't be a bike ninja - My video
 

Hey I just made this video I wanted to get people's feed back on it. It's not too long only two minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVzByVaS5wU

first reaction:
terrible lighting, you want your light source to be behind the camera and aimed at your face, not behind your face aimed at the camera

regardless of content a video needs to look good if anyone's going to take it seriously



that aside, the content kinda bored me, you name a few items: headlight, taillight, reflector, and say they are Good, but you don't back it up with anything.
Try putting a few well scripted shots of a car near hitting a bike ninja, then another of a car stopping and giving a friendly wave to a well lit cyclist, etc, yes its cheesy but it at least tries to make a point..
Just standing there and telling people, 'this is a headlight, you should use one to be seen' doesnt do a good job of convincing anyone of the importance of it. I'm sure most ninja's have already had that same thought and brushed it off as being low priority... maybe some real statistics or accident report photos?


bottom line: the entire video's content adds nothing more that wasnt already covered by the thread title 'don't be a bike ninja'; not particularly compelling

I thought that it was reasonably good but that it could be improved markedly with some simple modifications.

The lighting was poor. You need to use some fill light on the narrator.

The camera wobbled around. That was distracting. Try to make it more stable.

Your commentary was reasonably good. But it could be tightened up. I would suggest writing out a script and rehearsing it. Also try to avoid those natural but annoying verbal interjections like "uh & um".

Remember, people are used to seeing very professional productions on TV routinely. Even a very polished and well thought out & well executed video is almost certainly going to look amateurish by contrast.

Long video not saying very much, not that the points you make aren't important though. I'd have squeezed in a high vis vest and suggested two back lights, and a very bright front light if you ride where there are not street lights. Also would have recommended the "ankle bracelets" be worn as wrist bands instead to make your hand signals MUCH more obvious at night. And spoken faster, clearer and more succinctly to fit it into the same amount of time- maybe you should write and learn a script before you make the video?

Nice pedal powered christmas tree though!

Basil, I'd duck and dodge the super safety approach. If you start suggesting much more than a white up front and a red in back, you start getting back into the "safety isn't cool" mentality rather than the "this isn't too much of a pain in the ass" thought that gets people to actually take the $20 and slap something that will at least make them visible.

Maybe you should ask how much it sucks to keep eating gutter grates and kerbs and such. If you get these cool blinking thingies you can pretend to go vroom and be a car and then there's no more eating shrubberies.

Personally,slapping on a set of twenty dollar lighting is definitely better than no lights at night, but may tend to give one a false sense of security especially when trying to go vroom like a car. My lighting system is constantly evolving, and though investing twenty dollars in a lighting system is a step in the right direction, it shouldn't be considered the last step taken.

Ok thanks for the feedback guys. Yeah I agree the lighting was subpar. I'm not a professional video maker it was just something I decided to do on the spur of the moment. I actually ended up having to borrow my roommates camera to make it because I don't own one and don't usually make videos. If I ever make more though I'll keep what you guys said in mind. Thanks.

The video is OK overall..

I like the part about, I went to cvs and got these lights... where i work. Of course you went there, you work there.

I thought that was funny.

I think if you want to go "vroom like a car" you need your hand signals to be very visible. Car indicators are.

But yes, certainly make the point that you really must have a front and back light at night.

I liked it.

Good idea, but a little poorly executed. Everyone else has pretty well covered the bases, but here's my opinions.

1. Script yourself and stick to it. If you decide there's information that needs to be added, stop recording and rewrite your script.

2. Clean your 'studio' area. The scene when you showed the taillight annoyed me due to the clutter of wires in the background, thus taking my attention away from the item on display. Also, a 'demo-table' with a plain white background is great for showing off items.

3. Lighting. A couple of lights (try not to use incandescent bulbs) and reflectors (just get white foam-core from the hobby section at Wal-Mart) will do wonders and make your piece look much more professional. Try experimenting with it, use different materials (tinfoil 'bouncing' adds a lot of pop) until you find what works for you. Others mentioned to light from the front, but try using a combination of front lighting and backlighting your background with different colors to provide some contrast and 'pop' you out into the forefront of the video.

4. Buy a tripod and use it. Sometimes this means you'll have to record your audio separately from the video and edit it in later (which is dead simple) but it's worth it. Keep your hands out of the shots and transition scenes. For example, a shot of the taillight off then a shot of it on, back to back would have been much 'cleaner' than fumbling around with it in-hand.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head, maybe more in-depth than you want to deal with, but overall I thought it was a good first attempt and just needs some polish.