Raja Ampat - Ultimate Indonesia 2009 with Alex Mustard

Mike finally managed to process his diving video!

following him on twitter: http://twitter.com/chefdude

Love the shallow shot at 53 seconds in.

Steve

Good work, I like the yellow fish swimming in front of the manta´s mouth. Any idea what species?

Marcel

www.marinevideo.eu

Good work, I like the yellow fish swimming in front of the manta´s mouth. Any idea what species?

 

Marcel

www.marinevideo.eu

presumably a pilot jack? I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, though..... so just guessing...

I hope constructive criticism is allowed!?!?!?

Chef...... keep your shots, short and interesting. There's so much info out there for people who don't want their videos to be identical to every other one out there. Find it, research it and then apply it... (6 seconds and cut to CU........ 6 seconds and cut to MS...... 4 seconds and back to WA, for example)

Create a story..... with a beginning, middle and an end. Individual clips (as long as that manta shot in the middle) make people to want to look away and start talking to each other.... or to go and put the kettle on... either way you lose your viewer.

Mate, you've got to get your edit tight as well - it isn't a case of merely dragging clips to a timeline and becoming rich from it...... I use the shot of the fan 3.54 as an example.... you've got 5 seconds leading up to a lovely reveal of further reef in the background.... and we come over the fan and start to appreciate the effect of the revealing shot and WAM(!) we cut to the next clip.... it doesn't make for comfortable viewing...

Video / Film etc... has a to do with manipulating optical illusions to provide what the brain is expecting to see... angles can be changed to "fake" a shot etc...... but most importantly is that - in this case with your reveal - when the brain is expecting to see further reef being exposed in the background, it jumps when it doesn't get what it expects. Leading to an uncomfortable viewing experience for the viewer.

I think that the title is a little of an unnecessary name drop. Alex's name has ended up promoting your video, and he's hardly in it! No interview, nothing - just a rather nervous looking Alex in the dingy at the beginning.

I don't get the edit at 26 seconds.... you've gone from boat to UW back to boat. It makes no storytelling sense.

Hope you appreciate the feedback, check out the internet's wealth of info and take it in! You'll see improvements in no time if you stick to Cinema's golden rules....

Cheers, Chris