AmericanPapist Comments
Let us know when you need other correspondents :)
Love the intro and the idea - can't wait to see more!
Only suggestion is: you need a sweet set.
Good on ya. Yeah, get a set that isn't a brick wall. Also, the first video straddles being jokey and being serious and ends up seeming like neither.
1st Video.
1. Slow Down
2. Didn't like the cutaway shots with the Timer & Rec on screen.
3. AMP News cutaway graphics & music were to fast. It was like you were speeding to get done. Cut out one story or make it 30 secs longer and slow down some.
4. Towards the end your voice & video were off timing. Your eyes seemed to jump around alot.
2nd Video
1. Much better speed.
2. Your eyes seemed to move less but still were a little distracting. I prefer you on the left side of the screen like in video 1.
3. Brick wall isn't the best background. Use some sheets until you get something better.
Overall pretty good from the 1st attempt. Id say make the videos run less than 3 minutes to ensure a larger audience. If you have a big story then use the whole 3 minutes on just one story.
Besure to include some humor like your blog does otherwise your video clips will be a bit too stuffy.
Guess nobody else is having this problem, but when I click on the video there's no sound coming through. I checked my speakers and volune and tried it on other video and the sound comes through fine ... ??
I agree with John's assessment. You could raise the volume of your voice a little, too, as it seems that you are soft spoken.
When you cut away to the timer shots, your mouth doesn't move in sync with the sound. Weird.
You look so young! (Middle-aged woman suddenly realizes that all college-age persons now look really young. Oops.)
Any particular reason that you are always shot from above?
You like to lean to your left. :)
If you could make this available on another venue besides YouTube that would be great.
I know that YouTube makes it easier however I think:
1) YouTube is begining to be unreliable as far as it's content...
2) YouTube access is blocked with some places of employment. (sometimes during lunch I like to check out videos such as these and let's say, Catholic Answers voter guide)
...I mean YouTube is fine but including another source would be great.
WCC +
Careful when you ask for comments...even though all of them are charitable I can't imaging asking the world to critique me. Good job.
I have no idea the difficulty involved or web space needed but would it be possible to run this as a video podcast? I only ask because that opens the door to iPod viewing & easier ways to save the video on a computer.
Good job thinking about new ways to evangelize.
Greetings,
Well, you have an excellent well-written blog that attracts many people that are older than what you purport to implore. However, you run the risk of losing them if they look at you for an extended time, as you look even younger than you are.
Timothy+
Timothy, hopefully people realize truth is not relativized by age. =)
Nice job.
I agree with those who suggest replacing the brick wall with a brighter background.
I assume that you're just using this as a test run, but visually there are a lot of dark browns and maroons (no, I did not say "morons," but there are quite a few of them available on the cable news-chat shows, no?) in your video, and I think brighter colors in the background would make it more visually appealing.
I wonder what you see as the purpose of your video program?
Obviously there is a lot more depth and substance to what you are posting on the blog, so I assume that your intended audience for the video is a broader one than the folks who frequent this site.
Yours is a very serious blog yet you also succeed in using your own sense of humor to make the site more entertaining.
I hope you can figure out a way to translate that into the video medium.
Best of luck with your new endeavor.
I have a unique perspective because the sound didn't work! Visually, it looks as if you are facing a firing squad against that brick wall. Cheer up, increase the lighting and colors. Nice blog!
Usually, I'd be loathe to recommend something to imitate, but I would take a look at the American Life League videos for some pointers on performance and presentation.
I think the video is a great idea. Good work. I enjoy reading your blog - even though when I get here I'm attacked by about 4 or 5 people when I ask a question.
If you want impact, if you want to be taken seriously, the program needs considerably more gravitas in subject manner and presentation- to offset your very youthful appearance, for one thing. Humor- great, but just enough to give relief from heavy doses of real information. A little irony here and there, perhaps, but you don't want people wondering if they've stumbled across the Catholic version of SNL.
Re this particular program, I was not at all clear what was happening with the chart about episcopal vacancies, what the colors meant.
Re Microsoft being atheistic because a search for images of God produces nothing, they are just as apt to be Jewish. If you look at what a search for God produces on Google images, the Microsoft approach comes off as far more respectful and actually corresponds to a Divine command.
Thanks for all you do! I wish you well in this new venture.
To answer to another suggestion if you want to upload your video to multiple sites there are many services, here a comparison:
http://nalts.wordpress.com/2007/...le-video-sites/
I would like to see both a video for every part and a video with the whole episode.
You could use annotations to insert a link for every quote you say.
I would also like to see subtitles for people that doesn't speak english, I am aware that you are an "american papist", but after all Catholic means "universal" and I am not american.
Great work.
Thanks everyone for your comments. We are working to fix some of the cinematic style and technical bugs that came up during the pilot. Just being able to film/edit/and post produce it was a huge undertaking and perhaps the largest hurdle we will have in this early process.
For those who know me and the way I attack film, you can tell everyone how much I am analytical of my work and always nitpicking at things that can be better. As Tom said, this is a work in progress/draft and we will be rolling out much more impressive and fine tuned material soon.
Thank you all once again for your comments and God bless.
-Alex
OK - solved my sound problems.
I liked the two videos - you speak clearly if perhaps a bit quickly and not much variation in tone. But these are minor problems.
When the camera switches to a closeup, there's a real washout in color - and so much brown! Are you pushing the Franciscan colors? I presume since it's a draft you're looking at the color and type of background you're fronting. Brick is not too exciting.
I like the video idea itself - gives folks who have vision problems an alternative to trying to read the sometimes washed-out color fonts in your news posts - and you're not alone - lots of other blogs are like that.
Nice clean-cut appearance. Having your hands almost-always folded doesn't bother, but maybe inventing some way to gesture naturally like you did, I think, in the 2nd video would avoid the statue-like appearance when speaking the news.
The story on the proposed papal blog - it wasn't a HE, it was a female auditor from Hong Kogn who suggested it ... I liked the bit about Chico - see, there's where your voice can vary - suggesting he keep pictures of the cat until Christmas - your voice and face can have a bit of mischief in it ...
Great stuff .... hope to see more ..
More weepy whining from Kyle. Have a kleenex, kid.
Time for change, for you? Diaper change?
Fantastic!!
Nice job Thomas and Alex. I think this is a great idea!
Very nice, guys!
All the previous comments are good, and most can be easily remedied.
I thought Thomas' voice sounded hollow or "echo-y" in the brick-lined studio, but that will change when you "soften" the set.
I thought the joke about the apple in Video 1 was funny. Thomas uses his sense of humor on his successful blog, so I was hoping it would carry over onto video, and it did.
All in all, Thomas is a very likeable guy, and with a little tweaking, I think he has a hit!
P.S. (My 17-year-old daughter says Thomas is much better looking on video than in his blog picture.)
More denial from Ath. Atheling, I understand you have trouble with reading comprehension, but what can you tell me what this statement, from Faithful Citizenship means?
"A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an Intrinsic Evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. If so, a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil."
In the middle of the sentence you'll see an IF... It doesn't take a grammatical expert to understand the meaning of the sentence.
Obviously there are Bishops in the Conference that disagree with your single issue stance or the document wouldn't have passed with that particular statement in it.
Thomas, couple of things. 1. Set improvements as the other folks have recommended. No budget? Get a green screen and use chroma key which is often built in to your software.
2. The "side view" shot of you with the "REC" blinking is weird because the TC - time code - is different every time, even within the same story - skips from +5 minutes to -15 minutes. A little weird to me as I am a video guy.
3. You need a voice over guy. I am a voice over guy. You can check out my work on youtube. Look at the channels for users growingup15, newschannel15, and newsdude1; these are web talk and news shows that I have recorded segment intros for (I can't vouch for the quality of the content for any of these). Also, I resynced myself doing the news open for WSMV-TV...you can find that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B...h?
v=BgljFIh9J8w
My price is right...I'll do it for you pro bono. Just send me scripts and I will record them and email them back to you within 24-48 hours (usually more like 6-12 hours.)
I think this has very serious potential; and will require an all-or-nothing effort from you. If you give it your all, then your product will be in high demand all over the world.
Video is the most powerful way to convey thoughts and ideas.
Some more specific comments:
1. Most of your mistakes are due to a lack of training in journalism and film. Take some classes in these two areas (especially in film), and you'll gain a perspective and insight that you won't be able to get from your comm-box.
2. I don't believe that the Holy See has had good news reporting since the 1950s. Take this effort seriously, and you'll be the next Muggeridge.
-R
Videos look great! Two thumbs up from the College Seminary at Seton Hall.
It made me laugh... as always. I can't think of any improvements that haven't already been mentioned. You did a much better job than I could've. :)
One other question [prompted by the punchline on your Microsoft story]:
Were Adam and Eve Catholic?
To be honest, I don't like it.
Somehow, writing a blog seems more professional than pretending to be a professional news anchor using poor graphics.
Sorry to be blunt. I doubt I'll be watching any more of these.
Save the fake news for The Onion.
From your blog I'd never have guessed you are so young! My nine-year old daughter thinks you're cute!
It is a good endeavor, but I enjoy the more in-depth articles on the blog to the little snippets on video. But I don't watch TV, so maybe video just isn't my thing in any case.
I like the videos! I would even recommend podcasting. Both I would welcome since I am always emailing and posting videos and podcasts!Its just great to have more than one alternative to deliver your work and it could grab a totally different audience as a result of it too.I know of gloria.tv that is a hosting site similar to youtube you can place your videos on. As always there is godtube, too. Keep up the good work! I enjoyed it and was enjoying the humor along with the interesting information! I do know the way Youtube works is if you get enough subscribers and viewers, they move you up to Director and even start paying you for making videos. (I hear they pay a pretty penny for that!) Good luck with whatever you decide to try!
Great Pat Robertson must be very pleased to have a young cohort.
So far I've only seen your "headlines" video. I would have like it if it didn't keep getting interrupted by the "AMP News" animation between each story.
Other than that, I'm happy with it.
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