Hey!

This is the first time I've attempted to put together a coherent video to sum up an event, and I think it's turned out pretty well so I would like to share. The overwhelming feeling I had walking away from the event was a warm dreamy glow so I hope the music reflects that.

If you have an eye for videography, I'd love some feedback on how to do this sort of stuff better as It was a lot of fun to film and make

Cheers

Andy

SkaPunk

United States471 Posts

December 01 2011 20:25 GMT

Looks sexy

ronpaul012

United States769 Posts

December 01 2011 20:27 GMT

Wow, that view of the finals made it look so much larger than dreamhack's camera's did. Must have been insane!

blae000

Norway1640 Posts

December 01 2011 20:27 GMT

Sweet jesus that was so awesome! :D Great quality and all!! Aaah nerd chills.. ^__^ And I was there to see it live :D:D Thanks alot!

tnud

Sweden2233 Posts

December 01 2011 20:32 GMT

I enjoyed it!
Especially the final scene, god that was nice

ChuCky.Ca

Canada2497 Posts

December 01 2011 20:33 GMT

very awesome

randomsaint

42 Posts

December 01 2011 20:34 GMT

This was pretty cool but I personally feel like those random uses of "fish eye" or whatever is a horrible choice.

YuuVee

United Kingdom8 Posts

December 01 2011 20:34 GMT

The shots of Hero on the stage at the very end are some of the best I've seen so far... Good job!

archonOOid

1983 Posts

December 01 2011 20:39 GMT

cool video, a sort of personal summary of your experience at the event.

blae000

Norway1640 Posts

December 01 2011 21:02 GMT

#10

Yeah, I feel like this needs spotlight so everyone can see that amazing shot a hero on the stage at the end! SO amazing!

legatus legionis

Netherlands559 Posts

December 01 2011 21:03 GMT

#11

That was amazing man. When you are walking through the event you see places a stream viewer would never expect to even be there. Looking around as if we are there. Alternating the shots was done quite right in my opinion. Sometimes or many times you see for example looking over the shoulder of a player too long as if the focus can even go into what he's doing inside the game rather than how he is there physically. You could argue that after the game in the stadium some shots were lasting too long but since it provided such a unique perspective I don't think that's fair to do.

Loved the lens. Wondering what it looks like if you "correct" it when you are watching the screen from the bottom. You see that in programs sometimes that you can warp or make a lens correction. I think it's useable there but I don't know what change it makes, am curious though.

For the videography part I wouldn't know technical things. However when you made the cam fade to black and the sound off in one of the final shots. I thought there was gonna be a few more of those to make it seem like it's an eye slowly opening and closing while coming out of a daze to simulate a sort of waking up from a dream kinda feel. If you want to play around with the video stuff I would recommend looking into those scenario's.

And you seem to just go for it to get great shots I think that's a great attitude, walk through people watching the screen, stand in front of the crowd, go up on stage. Maybe that's just me but at least the shots you get in return are valuable. Watching from behind Hero how he see the whole stadium. You don't get that view from the stream, you don't get that if you are anywhere else in the stadium than right at the bottom. Quite special and awesome you were able to capture that.

Thanks so much. Enjoyed it immensely <3

Raidern

Brazil3814 Posts

December 01 2011 21:06 GMT

#12

hey, great video
thats a much better angle than the official stream!

pPingu

Switzerland2892 Posts

December 01 2011 21:15 GMT

#13

Really cool video, thank you

At 2:34 is it the ssf4 finalist? And 3:17 I think it's the same guy as at iem cologne

terialk

United States770 Posts

December 01 2011 22:10 GMT

#14

I definitely got a sense of a kind of dreamy haze from the video (and I do mean that in the positive sense). I really liked the music choice, but I'll echo what legatus said ^ before me, were the final cuts in the video where the sound cuts off intentional? I did find it a bit disruptive to the overall feel of the video.

Otherwise, great stuff

LittLeD

Sweden7973 Posts

December 01 2011 22:16 GMT

#15

You really managed to capture some of the amazing atmosphere. A very well done video in my opinion!

Divine_

Sweden115 Posts

December 01 2011 22:23 GMT

#16

I have absolutely no "eye for videography", but all i can say is that i enjoyed the film and was emotionally touched by several parts of it. Thank you for taking this time!

126Q;A1

Sweden517 Posts

December 01 2011 22:27 GMT

#17

Very nice video

Madera

Sweden2672 Posts

December 01 2011 22:29 GMT

#18

That was really well done, good job!

-stOpSKY-

Canada498 Posts

December 01 2011 22:30 GMT

#19

Pretty wicked video man.

forSeohyun

504 Posts

December 01 2011 22:32 GMT

#20

That was so nice, I love the music which ties all the different parts up, it was a beautiful journey of a movie. Really well done!

Lysithea

Sweden204 Posts

December 01 2011 22:35 GMT

#21

Awesome, only thing missing would be a short overview shot in the beginning of the 3 halls of the lanarea, something like this: [image loading]

tymt

Sweden293 Posts

December 01 2011 22:37 GMT

#22

Wow, very nice work!

Ariovist

Germany430 Posts

December 01 2011 22:38 GMT

#23

Not so often you get such a good feeling for the atmosphere of those events, you managed to deliver that very well. Thank you, amazing video!

andytb

United Kingdom180 Posts

December 01 2011 23:43 GMT

#24

None of my shots were from stage or other non public areas- in one of the Swedish TV wide shots you can see me filming the very last section. It was a pretty emotional position.

rotegirte

Germany2859 Posts

December 02 2011 00:18 GMT

#25

as an amateur film maker you might want to look into the "EZ-steady" camera stabilizer.

it is currently being pledged on kickstarter.com and due to production within 13 days.

i got to get my hands on one of these at last CES and they're pretty straightforward to use and perform quite well (i.e. running, stairs). so in case you plan to invest further in that hobby/profession it could be something interesting/affordable.

labbe

Sweden1456 Posts

December 02 2011 01:07 GMT

#26

Sick atmosphere at the finals !

andytb

United Kingdom180 Posts

December 02 2011 22:47 GMT

#27

To respond to some of the feedback I've had.

Looking back a few times, I used a lot of fisheye. I went to the event with only two lenses, the Nikon 10.5mm fisheye and the 35mm f1.8. For filming the moving shots it was extremely difficult to film with the 35mm because of the shallow depth of field and lack of visual focus adjustment. By comparison the fisheye you basically set to infinity and everything past 1m is in focus even at f2.8. It made filming variety shots a lot easier and I'm a sucker for the effect, however I realise now it's not to everyone's taste. I will stand by using it for the closing shot to the end of my days.

Regards stabilisation, unfortunately this isn't cheap. A monopod only works for stationary shots so to make my moving shots look better - and that's the main point of contention - I would need a handheld stabiliser. A cheap one still ranks in at a couple hundred plus. If I keep making videos it would be totally worth it however. Tempted by the ez steady (see above) ^^^

A few people on youtube said that I overused effects and that's simply not the case. Excluding the 'dreamy' fades I tried at the end, there are a total of three non-cut transitions and they're in places it in my opinion suit it. I hate the 'Windows Movie Maker' effect as much as the next guy.

The music was a personal choice. I'd like to have used unlicenced music because having the copyright bot detect your videos on Youtube puts you on shady ground should you ever want to partner in the future. If anyone has suggestions for variety electronic producers that are happy to have their work used in this way, I'd love to hear them.

The sound quality at the end sucks. I have no option of an external mic on this camera. Sucks but I'm working with what I can - I bought the camera to play with video because I already have a full Nikon system for photography.