National Promotions Video Discussion & Ideas

[techres]

Hoping to use this spot to centralize open discussions about video ideas.  This should be an area with pretty open access while not being completely public.

I started this in part to talk about a great post from AZ:

Small point, no Face book volunteering for me, not my thing, not something I would do in the right spirit. When I volunteer for something, people know about it.

Now back on topic; the Videos:
All are fun and great. While I think this discussion should be done elsewhere on the forum, I'll give my opinion.  With the Caveat of understanding that I really like them all. I really thank those who took the time to do them, they look wonderful.

Daddy Daughter Day, and A Different Classroom I think are the line and tempo for attracting the 99% that have not heard of AS. All we need beyond that is puppies and kittens.

First Seed: The music gives it a sense of impending drama and difficulty. The voices spoken seem to add to that, though the look on his face makes it look like he is having a blast. (the fun aspect is more on mission).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=-WPCy34D5zM&NR=1
"Your Other Self" in contrast is cute, fun and fresh.

The other videos mentioned are cool, but have aspects to them that may detract or turn off potential attendees.  They also have aspects that I feel need to be touched on more strongly. Those issues are.
Safety,
History,
The challenge of becoming a Rifleman
Adaptive Appleseed. 

I really do not think the video Appleseed Project, adequately promotes the program. For a reluctant parent or significant other it looks dark.

While testosterone filled videos have their place and audience, it is too easy to watch all the videos on Youtube when doing a bit of research. In context I think Appleseed is awesome, taken out of context we lose our mission.

After seeing these, I am going to try and make sure I take some video of the shoots I am involved with, even if it is just for instructional reasons for a "what to bring". Having extra video or images can be used for anything, including critiquing the Program, and we need to be aware of that.

[techres]

As soon as I can tell that the AZ crew can see this, I will move posts over here for a larger conversation.

[PaxxAZ]

Can see it and can post. Delete this message as needed.

[dragonfly]

What kind of video camera's are best? Cost, value, ease of use, got to be rugged for sure. Tripod needed or does hand held work? Do we just shoot video send it to a national Appleseed Video Producer, or do we make are own videos? Do we have a Appleseed Youtube Channel ? 
Thanks,
D-fly

[George Hacker]

What kind of video camera's are best? Cost, value, ease of use, got to be rugged for sure. Tripod needed or does hand held work? Do we just shoot video send it to a national Appleseed Video Producer, or do we make are own videos? Do we have a Appleseed Youtube Channel ? 
Thanks,
D-fly

I have a "Flip" video camera that is pretty easy to use.  Seems like we would want to do some editing before we release the videos to YouTube.

- ShadowMan

[PaxxAZ]

Do we just shoot video send it to a national Appleseed Video Producer, or do we make are own videos? Do we have a Appleseed Youtube Channel ? 

Those are Great Questions. Here is the thing that I know about making video and such (not much). I have a childhood friend who works in the business, I have 3 friends who work or have worked in Radio, one child hood who is a professional Videographer,  my sister and my brother in law who each have been in the broadcasting business for over 30 years.

So here is my $0.02 worth.

Any and everything of my not so insider knowledge on this topic is through the Prism of being around others who have done this professionally for all types of events. 

My thinking is our main objectives need to be to
A.   Appear professional.
B.   Not be Scary.

Also we need to know what is already there and what is not done. Also advice on where to go for information on how to get it done (Indiana Appleseed clearly has it down). There may be things that need doing (e.g. exercises to do before going to an Appleseed). But at the moment I am not sure how best to contribute to this effort.

On A. appearing professional.

People trust us to train them to shoot well. For some people the concept of shooting is scary, if in a video we simply have an untied shoe lace, it might be a no go for them. If we are aware of grooming and looking well kept, it goes a long way. Hair (both on our head and facial) that is well groomed looks better and less off putting for many.

Side note on the Hair, I hate shaving and looking well kept is not something I do, but for this we need to be aware.
Posture, is important. A confident posture by all the instructors in the videos at all times is important.
We often do not look great at the end of an AS event or even early Sunday morning, for a video that can't be the case.

You never know what someone might focus on and use that to deem the whole of the organization, as silly as that might be we need to minimize that.

On B. Not being Scary

Anything that is not on message and made with clear context that might include anything resembling perceived violence, needs to be avoided.  (Wow!!! That is the most weasel words I ever strung in a written sentence.)
What I mean by that is "Shooting someone's head" "Kill shots" "War" "If our government becomes Tyrannical"  etc. needs to be put into a proper context, such that it does not seem to anyone as loony.
We especially should avoid those terms by themselves or with little context.

Separately I think we should keep things on message.

Advertisements are advertisements 20 seconds to 120 seconds, if made longer there should be a short version with a link, and they should probably be fluff.

Message pieces, should be message pieces 2 to 5 minutes in length, and stay focused on topic not meander from history to shooting to gear back to history.

Educational pieces. These are where we teach people what to expect, what to  bring, what happened at the North Bridge, should be as long as needed and not a second more. They should also stay focused.


Things to avoid throughout:

Anything that appears stereotypical of whatever people might think of us. Be it gun nuts, survival nuts, red necks...We may be all those things and much more, but we are a community building enterprise in the long run. We need to avoid easy labels.

Anyway that is my second edition of this post, sorry if it is preachy.

[Foppish Dandy]

Just wanted to throw in a quick note... I'm coming into this discussion a bit late and will read the thread a bit more thoroughly when I get home from the office. However, I wanted to throw the word out there that I'm quite experienced with video work. I'm not a professional (though I work in advertising and have quite a few friends that are), but I know how these things work. Most of what I've done is stuff for my church or my own little SFX projects.

Yes... that's me volunteering to help out. 

[techres]

Tripods are a must and should  be default for anyone capturing video.  The jittery nature of handheld capture has made a mountain of unusable media and even image stabilization software cannot fix it 9 out of 10 times.

Cameras can be as cheap as the flip cams as long as they are HD (720p or higher) as anything less looks visually grainy.  Less motion by the camera is preferrable as they distort the capture with motion.  If you do a sweep shot go SLOWWWWWW.

Keep all media, throw away nothing.  The 1second capture in the middle of 20 minutes of apparent garbage might be the gem that is needed.

Get photo waivers signed.  Please.  We have to have it if we use the stuff for promo use.

Happy, smily, fun, professionals is good (as noted correctly above).  Gruff, angry, fearful, droning gun nuts is bad.

Finally, anything heading to youtube or facebook is national in nature and has to pass through some review.  It is a protection for us all.  The official process for that is being worked on now.

Oh, and yes, there will be a "Official Project Appleseed" youtube channel.  Please, do not go out and make one yet.

So that everyone knows.  I have been working on building camera kits that travel to shoots via UPS, capture  video and come back to me.  The prototype kit is being tested in Florida right now and is scheduled to go to WI as soon as it gets back from FL.

There will eventually be 3-4 of these kits (1 camera, 1 tripod, 1 hard drive, batteries, 1 hard case).  This will help us capture the volume we desperately need.

I will post more this weekend after I finish certification exams on Friday that I am still cramming for.

Thanks all!

[PaxxAZ]

Great info and thanks.

Questions abound, but that info really cut through what I wanted to know.

I have access to everything needed (I think).

This is me volunteering to capture some video, when not needed doing other things.   

I'll formulate a slew of questions this weekend, after exams are passed   

[grunt soldier]

some great information in this thread.  does anyone know of a tripod for you iphone or maybe I should just upgrade to a better all around package.  how does Iphone video compare?  is it good enough to use for something like this.

[Foppish Dandy]

some great information in this thread.  does anyone know of a tripod for you iphone or maybe I should just upgrade to a better all around package.  how does Iphone video compare?  is it good enough to use for something like this.

There are all sorts of attachments available for the iPod... tripods, lenses, lights, etc. The iPhone 4 records in 720p and the 4S records in 1080p. The video quality is very good when a scene is correctly lit. In fact, there are many people shooting films using the iPhone.

[grunt soldier]

I only have the 4 is that ok or no?  I'll look for some accessories for this thing and see if I can get it set up right at the next shoot for some good video. if the 720 works.

[Foppish Dandy]

720p should be sufficient for online use. Check out Amazon.com. They've got tons of stuff.

[grunt soldier]

ty sir.  I'll check it out.  I won't be able to make videos like most you guys on here but I would like to do a little something

[Foppish Dandy]

ty sir.  I'll check it out.  I won't be able to make videos like most you guys on here but I would like to do a little something

You don't necessarily need to be able to make the videos to be a huge help. A lot of the problems with just a small group of people doing videography is the lack of variety in the shots. You end up with a lot of the same people and same scenes. While this is good for some videos, it's nice to have a large library to choose from.

Don't try and get too fancy or artsy with your shots... good solid videography is what's needed. You know what stuff you find interesting... chances are, other people will too!

[techres]

720 is what is needed, and the main need is good light and stable shots.  With an iPhone the main issue is not moving it.  The movement distorts the image badly.  Keep the camera rock solid still and let the people move.

That and light, light, light.  They are very dependent on good lighting.

Capture what you can and the video team can take it and make from it.  Source material is gold when trying to make movies.