Feedback Needed From Dawn to Daytona: 8-Hour Journey to Bike Week

[ShiftQuick]

Hope everyone is finding success with their channels. It’s been awhile since I’ve last shared something and figured I’d post my latest video. I’m refining my editing skills and learning to operate a new camera and drone.

If you spend the time to watch, please provide your honest feedback. I’m open to criticism – always looking to improve, and don’t worry about hurting my feelings. Your friend here has thick skin. Hope you enjoy!

 

[Hippo-Drones]

Slick edit, which helped keep the audience engaged. Bad luck forgetting the camera batteries, but glad you sorted it.

 

[ShiftQuick]

Thank you! I've been researching engagement methods to help make my content more entertaining. This video is a test to see how well it performs.

 

[R-Rated]

The only critic I have is


I


HATE



WORDS



THAT



POP




UP




WHEN



TALKING


I know it is a latest trend but it really pulls the viewer eye to the word versus the action. Plus having worked with hearing impaired folks it is not as effective as true CC because of that distraction vs reading.

Other than that the kids should love it before their Ritalin kicks in.

Out of curiousity how much footage gets cut from on average from a scene?

 

[ShiftQuick]

Yeah, I'm with you on this. I'm just testing based on some research I've done. Like you mentioned, it's easy to see this used in shorts to desperately maintain viewers' attention, and the text tends to hold higher engagement.

I was initially thinking about captions, but I wanted to try the nonsense and see what happened.

The cuts are a result of me not starting with an idea or script. I'm shooting from the hip, so I bumble my statements until I find something that sounds good. I'd say a fair amount gets removed, then I do my best to seamlessly stitch the narrative together.

Having a plan would certainly save me an immense amount of time in post.

 

[R-Rated]

Having a plan would certainly save me an immense amount of time in post.

I know there those that story board their videos or at least have an overall idea of what they want.

I see it like riding in real life. We know we want to go from point A and sometimes have a destination but other times we ride from point A and have nothing more on mind than seeing what the world brings our way. Even on a planned ride things the unexpected happens.

I liken it to sculpting. All that footage is the lump of clay. Then you took it and made what you saw in it. Some clay on the floor and some in the final sculpture.

It is a pretty good sculpture.

 

[CalmBiker]

Impressive editing. You must have a lot of patience.

 

[LoneWolfer]

First, I am not the intended audience for this video.

My critique is that you need to set some limitations when it comes to cuts. I have ADHD and counted 27 cuts in the first thirty seconds. That just tunes me out. Also, a straight cut is your friend, novelty cuts are your frenemy. Think how George Lucas over used the wipe cut taking the audience out of The Phantom Menace.

Second, the first four minutes seem like an intro/bumper. You don't have that long to reel your viewer in.

Third, YouTube isn't Tiktok and vice versa. In a short time frame you can toss a bunch of stuff at a viewer and have the words popping up on the screen (mind you I agree with R-Rated that it is distracting - I'm watching motovlogs and vids about motorcycles to see motorcycles and the people that ride them, not the words that they are saying, I have ears for that or if I need captions, viewing captions are designed to be seen and not detract). If you're not showing us much of each cut then it just becomes noise and our brain will treat it like white noise and tune it out.

Lastly, my best friend is a professional editor, tons of movies to his credit, and he gave me some advice, which I still can't implement well yet myself at all, is the editor should never be seen.

I hope this helps, I hope you find your own style and last but certainly not least I hope you have fun making vlogs. I can tell you from experience if your work flow takes too much effort/time/patience away from riding you'll get sick of one or both real quick.

 

[Hippo-Drones]

Lastly, my best friend is a professional editor, tons of movies to his credit, and he gave me some advice, which I still can't implement well yet myself at all, is the editor should never be seen.

Some good points in your feedback there @LoneWolfer

Regarding the bit I quoted, by this do you mean we shouldn't feature in our own vids? or were you talking about the clapping to sync cameras?

 

[LoneWolfer]

.

 

[LoneWolfer]

Some good points in your feedback there @LoneWolfer

Regarding the bit I quoted, by this do you mean we shouldn't feature in our own vids? or were you talking about the clapping to sync cameras?

I enjoy the most likely accidental throwback to my dislike for handlebar cameras facing the rider, but stuff like the clap sync, or turning the bike off or telling the GoPro to stop recording are all good, visceral, crunchy parts of a video in moderation. I mean more of constantly cutting or the edits being very obvious and left with took marks pointing back to the tools in the editors hands.

 

[R-Rated]

I am with @HippoDrone asking for clarification but working with @LoneWolfer both in person and online for the past three years I am going speculate to see if I understand

I think it refers to the editor's work and not the editor starring in. In other words the audience should not be so distracted by the edit that they are pulled away from the footage.

If that is the right take on it then a good example is MST3K reacting to a jump cut in a film they are riffing. If it to noticeable, like an actor seeming to magically jump from one side of the room to the other then the guys ask if there was a wormhole involved.

Am I right Professor Wolfer? Do I get a pumpkin sticker? (Insert excited nerd snicker)

 

[LoneWolfer]

I am with @HippoDrone asking for clarification but working with @LoneWolfer both in person and online for the past three years I am going speculate to see if I understand

I think it refers to the editor's work and not the editor starring in. In other words the audience should not be so distracted by the edit that they are pulled away from the footage.

If that is the right take on it then a good example is MST3K reacting to a jump cut in a film they are riffing. If it to noticeable, like an actor seeming to magically jump from one side of the room to the other then the guys ask if there was a wormhole invovled.

Am I right Professor Wolfer? Do I get a pumpkin sticker? (Insert excited nerd snicker)

Yes! MST3K wormhole is a perfect example of seeing the editor at work rather than them disappearing into the work.