hey this is a video i did for ratatat's "ferraro 11/18," and i could really use some constructive criticism... puhleeease? quicktime

         

I think that´s not a musicvideo....It´s a short.

         

I think the same, it is not a musicvideo, not because of the video, but because of the music. Anyway. It's very romantic and maybe a bit too long - cause we dont find out much about the couple. I lost my interest in them and their problems after 2 minutes. It is not individual enough for a short. But actually I enjoyed watching it. You should try the same video with another song, maybe.

         

The straght tips, spreech.

You should slash the video, boy_afraid. I was often involved in studentprojekts like this and it was always the same problem. It´s hurts sooooo much.

         

Hey - at least you had the good sense to use quicktime. You win points there. I read this as being Ratatat so I was a little confused by the slow music, oh wait...

Also the limit of the frame (Polaroids) that was a little boring and the whole thing seems to dark. I would scrap it cause its not quite so good for the band.

Maybe just the video story outside of the enviroment you built to contain it. Try that.

         

I would cut the end with the two of them together, we get the point. and try coming up from the table scene, maybe the camera pans up and hes walking by outside the window or something and then switch to a new scene mabe he drops a poloriod... I think people are saying its to stagnent, just keep the scenes moving.

         

Constructive criticism? I'll go on a similar line with what people are saying. You have to develop the ideas and the effect together. Play with it and pull the story through that. You decided you wanted to have a motion picture in a polaroid. Ok, now where do you go from there? A few suggesstions have been made off the tops of people's heads. If you sat down for a bit and thought it out I'm sure you could come up with more. RIght now there's no reason for the polaroid thing. Imagine the video without that frame. pretty boring, no?

With music videos (or anything in life) the main goal is to take it to the next level. You have to beat your audience to it. If they get there first, then they're bored.

         

I agree with what Petulia's saying. What is the purpose of the polaroid frame? Are you trying to convey something about the nature of photographs and memory?

And a framing device is merely a framing device. Ultimately the viewer ends up watching what's within it and ignoring it as their eyes are drawn to what is updating with new visual information. So what's inside has to be consistently engaging.

Also in how you relate your story, why do you choose to show what you do? Is the guy going out his door important? Why? What is happening in that moment, either expositionally or emotionally that you want to convey? The way it's shot we don't get into the atmospherics of moment to moment living. They just happen and unfold.

You can shoot a man cleaning his apartment and make it interesting. See 'Chungking Express'. It's just how you choose to do it.

Don't be dismayed, keep on working...

         

thank you all soooo much i really appreciate all the comments. i'm a sophomore and have yet to have any real prod. classes, so im hoping i'll get pointers in school as great as the ones you all gave.

thanks again!

         

Hi Brooks,

Petulia and otaku-house have basically summed up the same constructive criticism I would give. Another point that you could improve is the edits; as many shots have just a little too much dead space (even just a few frames sometimes) at their heads and tails. Tightening this up would improve the pace of the whole thing greatly I feel :)

Sam

         

Here's constructive for you. This video is boring as hell. But so what. It takes a lot time to get all the crap and lame cliche's out of your system so keep on making stuff but as far as this piece goes? It sucks. I would go into detail why, but nothing happens in the video to even comment on. Boy walks around, boy ends up on couch with girl. If you're going to have a narrative music video, you might want to actually have some content instead of just filler. If you want to be inspired by low-budget nothing clips that are small on production value but HUGE in imagination and originality, check out Waverly Films "clips of the week" www.waverlyfilms.com these assholes make a 60 second clip every week and they have no production value, but they're some of the best "short format videos" you'll ever see. You'll get inspired, you're mind will start working (again), and you'll start making better stuff. Hooray.

         

Wildraulking, what have you made lately? Any examples to show us?

         

first thing to say, this isn't a ratatat song, it's by e*vax (www.audiodregs.com), though he is half that band. but that last comment was constructive i thought. shorter shots, more story. there's lots of good comments here, and you gotta start somewhere so keep it up!