Theme Park Review's 4th Annual Coaster Video Contest!

[saxman47]

I really think picking the right song is the hardest part of making a good video. A lot of songs will "work" but there are a select few that fit the theme, tone, and pacing of the video perfectly.

 

Personally I never intended on using hard rock music in my video (the Cedar Point one) but one day I was listening to Tool (the band) and just started envisioning some of the shots I'd taken going along with the music. I felt that CP, not being a park with much charm or theming, was more about in-your-face thrills that fit perfectly with some good rock music.

 

A fitting song can make or break any video IMO.

[XII]

Ok, here's my reviews of the videos in the second round.

 

Cody-Good Tatsu Video. You got great angles of Tatsu.

 

Matt- Not to be too harsh, But I really thought that video needed alot of work. The pacing was completly off. The footage just seemed thrown together. And the sound was completly off. When a person talked, you could barely hear the music. And if you didn't even bother to take you the glithes in the video, that also makes it lose alot of points. And the ending the video before the song just bugs me. IMO, if you still have some song in your credits, then you're not done. This honestly reminds me of the first coaster video I made.

 

Ryan-I really liked this video. It really showed what a day of fun at DLR really is.

 

Jimmy-Good Video. Good Pacing, Decent Shots. It really makes me want to go on a TPR Trip.

 

Justin-I would try and make the shots flow smoother. I would definitly split it into a Dollywood Section and a SFOG section. Then it would be nicer cause it would focus on one park at a time.

[robbalvey]

I really think picking the right song is the hardest part of making a good video.

I agree! This year has been VERY difficult for us. Think about it, we're producing three DVDs - 2 discs each. With an average of 15 segments that have music per disc.

 

That's 90 songs we have to come up with for just this year's batch of DVDs alone!!!

 

It's tough!

 

There have been times (even happened on the MidWest DVD I'm working on now) where I've had to put it down for a few days because I just couldn't find a song that would be the right fit.

 

It's interesting how certain DVDs do have a theme. For example the Spain trip DVD ended up being a bit more "retro" sounding, the MidWest DVD is certainly more rock & punk, and I'm not even sure where to begin for the Japan DVD.

 

At least now that MidWest is done I can start to listen to more music again for Japan.

 

--Robb

[FLIPDUDE]

At least now that MidWest is done I can start to listen to more music again for Japan.

 

--Robb

 

....*Jaw drops*

[Tanks4me05]

^^ *Hopes for Lina World, Rusutsu Resort (Ultratwister with a DIVE LOOP!) Japan Monkey Park and Baishinji Amusement Park.*

[kris182_2000]

For some reason my puter froze when I tried to load the page with the second set of videos. I haven't tried again.

[Tanks4me05]

My two cents on song choice.....

 

For me it is all about the song fitting with the video. I thought the song Jimmy used was great for that video. It isn't a song I would ever listen to on its own, though. Same with the song I used. It really isn't the type of song I would normally have playing at home or in the car, but I thought it went well with what I was trying to do. I was looking for a song that had sharp rhythm and would allow for quick editing with the beat. When I did my Enchanted Forest video, I used a blue grass song, because I thought it fit the feel of that little "off the beaten path" park. It really depends on the feel of the park and what I think will work with the footage I've got. That is how I look at it when I'm watching other people's videos. "Does it fit" not "Do I like it".

 

Exactly. I spend hours trying to find a song that fits the park perfectly. For example: my Adventure Island video. I really don't like Come On, Come In by Velvet Revolver that much, but it fits the park quite well. Except I go around it a different way: I find the song that fits the park beforehand, and I film the amount of time that the song is. Let's say the song is 3:52, so I film 3:52 of coasters - I do that because I often like my footage so much that it's really hard to decide what's worth cutting and what isn't. But I might try it the traditional way at a park this season. I also do it that way because I want to ride coasters as well, not just film them.

[mcjaco]

^ I'd say with your current way of doing things, it makes it very difficult. What if you have footage that just plain old stinks? You HAVE to use it because you took just enough for the song you have in mind. I'd rather have too much footage, than not enough.

[Erik Johnson]

I always try to shoot around a hour of stuff for a 4-5 minute video. As Matt says, you really never know exactly what you got until you start editing your stuff together. It is always difficult to make a decent video if you are running out of good footage.

[Tanks4me05]

^But do you actually ride anything?

 

If you want to see what my videos look like with that method, take a look at the videos I just uploaded in the Videos forum, and they use that strategy.

[mcjaco]

^ Of course we ride things. An hour of footage is nothing in the scheme of a whole day. You should be too, if you're only filming 4 minutes of footage!

[Edward]

I like the strategy of first the filming, then the music.

For one, when I do film something I'm not going by music and just filming. For the other, when it comes time to make some montage (whether by contest or just because I got inspiration by music), then I've got all the footage I need from my 15-30 minutes of footage from every time I went. Heck, maybe by the end of someone's life they'd have enough footage to be able to build a full 3D environment of a park or something.

 

/Edward

[robbalvey]

^But do you actually ride anything?

 

If you want to see what my videos look like with that method, take a look at the videos I just uploaded in the Videos forum, and they use that strategy.

I would say looking at your videos that you need more raw footage.

 

Like Matt and Erik, I take about 60 to 90 minutes of footage at a park that created a 3 to 5 minute segment.

 

--Robb

[Carnage]

Except I go around it a different way: I find the song that fits the park beforehand, and I film the amount of time that the song is. Let's say the song is 3:52, so I film 3:52 of coasters - I do that because I often like my footage so much that it's really hard to decide what's worth cutting and what isn't. But I might try it the traditional way at a park this season. I also do it that way because I want to ride coasters as well, not just film them.

 

That method leaves very little margin for error. If you decide you don't like a clip you're screwed because you don't have any extra footage to shoot from. Gives you no options but to put all your existing footage into the video. The end result will probably be a video that looks extremely rushed.

 

So do you just stop filming once you've reached your 4 minutes? If you kept fiming you could would have the chance of getting some better clips, or more interesting clips.

 

Don't be afraid of editing.

[Tanks4me05]

^But do you actually ride anything?

 

If you want to see what my videos look like with that method, take a look at the videos I just uploaded in the Videos forum, and they use that strategy.

I would say looking at your videos that you need more raw footage.

 

Like Matt and Erik, I take about 60 to 90 minutes of footage at a park that created a 3 to 5 minute segment.

 

--Robb

 

More raw footage as in less segments with music in the background or more raw footage as in simply film a lot more?

 

(Luckily, I'm old enough that my parents will start letting me go on my own to parks - they will drop me off, and then pick me up later, or my mom will split off and do her own thing and we meet up somewhere every few hours - so now I don't have to drag the family around as much, meaning more film can get in.)

[mcjaco]

^ Heck yeah. Like I said, in the scheme of things, an hour ouf your day at a park is a drop in the bucket. I film things as I wander around. Sometimes I have certain shots I know I want to get, but mostly I just do stuff as it happens. You can get a lot of footage over the course of a day doing it that way.

[Erik Johnson]

I am not really a marathon rider, so I usually ride a park's coasters during my visit once each, unless I find them to be special. This does give me some extra time to go around and capture footage. I have gotten myself in a bind with past video segments because I simply did not shoot enough footage. In my opinion, those segments are the weakest ones on my DVD's.

[Tanks4me05]

^^ That's pretty much exactly what I do, except I stop at the end of the song time. Now that I'm older my parents or the person who brings me to the park will allow me to go off on my own more, so that will be better.

 

(I know this gives me problems occasionally - my Hersheypark segment this year has WAAAAAAAY too much Great Bear and Comet footage, and not enough of anything else, so I will try that other film method.)

 

But, I have another question: What should I do for the times when I see a REALLY good vantage point for a shot, but I end up waiting a lot for slow ride ops/ride malfunctions? (For example, I waited about 25 minutes for the last Kumba shot in BGA part 2, and about 15+ minutes for the first Cyclone shot in SFNE part 1.)

[robbalvey]

Here are this weeks entries...

Jan_Andreen_europa.wmv

Jan Andreen's Europa Park

Jordan_Ryle_disneyland.wmv

Jordan Ryle's Disneyland

matt_jacobs_indianabeach_wmv.wmv

Matt Jacobs' Indiana Beach

adam_roth_themeparkentry2006.wmv

Adam Roth's Theme Park Entry 2006

c&c2006tprentry.wmv

Peter Davies' Camping & Coasters

adam_roth_themeparkentry2006.zip

Adam Roth's Theme Park Entry 2006 - Zipped

c&c2006tprentry.zip

Peter Davies' Camping & Coasters - Zipped

matt_jacobs_indianabeach_wmv.zip

Matt Jacobs' Indiana Beach - Zipped

Jan_Andreen_europa.zip

Jan Andreen's Europa Park - Zipped

Jordan_Ryle_disneyland.zip

Jordan Ryle's Disneyland - Zipped

[texasgiantrules]

These are really good! Great job guys!

[Juggler]

Ah yes, with Juggler's backside getting the last word.......

[BarryH]

OK, here are my impressions of the videos from this round...

 

Peter Davies’ Camping & Coasters

This is a pretty interesting mix showing fun at camping and fun riding roller coasters. It gave some good shots of roller coasters. Some of them I had no familiarity since most of them were in Europe. Still, there were some great solid shots of the rides and coasters in the varied parks. I wish I could have seen more of the camping, like being chased by a bear or being attacked by Jason Voorhees. This video isn't outstanding, but it does a solid job.

8/10

 

Adam Roth Theme Park Entry 2006

I suppose we could subtitle this video "theme parks, mostly in Florida." This video had a pretty good mix of roller coasters and people having fun. I liked the POVs on Kraken, the Dania Beach Hurricane, the Python, and Dr. Doom's Fearfall. Some of the POVs were a bit shaky, but with the Python, I can overlook the shakiness. I would not want to see a POV of Gwazi! This video looks like a beginner's attempt and it is a good, solid attempt.

8/10

 

Matt Jacobs’ Indiana Beach

I may be overusing this statement, but this video has a solid mix of the different fun things you can do at Indiana Beach. It looks like Matt Jacobs went on the TPR Midwest tour and I wished we could see some fun antics from the TPR Midwest tour participants. As for the different transitions, I generally don't like to use transitions beyond a dissolve and fade to black. A lot of people see all the transitions a video editing program uses and they tend to overuse it. I think the transitions used here were pretty effective. I liked the transition that he used when David Lee Roth said, "Change!"

7/10

 

Jordan Ryle’s Disneyland

I'd like to start out my comments on this video with the positives. I liked the skinny guys doing the West Side Story snapping walk. I also liked the guys when they danced to the HSM 2 music. Overall, though, I thought this video was awful! The skinny guys said things during the video and I'm sure they were funny, but I could not hear what they said. The music overshadowed the guy's talking. Many times during the video, I was sayng to the screen, "What? What did he say?" The video could have showed off more of the Disneyland Resort in the midst of the skinny guys antics. I could have used less skinny guys and more DLR. If I were running the video contest, this video would not have made the cut.

3/10

 

Jan Andreen’s Europa Park

The choice of the music in this video was interesting, but I don't think it fit the park. The video pacing didn't really seem to fit the music. The video gave a lot of good shots of the coasters and other neat stuff at Europa Park, but it doesn't really make me pack up and want to visit the park now. Still, it's a solid, if unremarkable, video.

7/10

 

The ranking for this round:

1.) Peter Davies’ Camping & Coasters 8/10

2.) Adam Roth Theme Park Entry 2006 8/10

3.) Matt Jacobs’ Indiana Beach 7/10

4.) Jan Andreen’s Europa Park 7/10

5.) Jordan Ryle’s Disneyland 3/10

 

Overall ranking so far:

1.) JimmyBo’s PortAdventura 9/10

2.) Darren Bailey’s TPR Midwest Trip 9/10

3.) Cody Kempema’s Tatsu 9/10

4.) Dave Thomas’ UK Randomness 8/10

5.) Justin Saxe’s Dollywood/Six Flags Over Georgia 8/10

6.) Peter Davies’ Camping & Coasters 8/10

7.) Adam Roth Theme Park Entry 2006 8/10

8.) Ryan Vesely’s Disneyland 7/10

9.) Matt Jacobs’ Indiana Beach 7/10

10.) Jan Andreen’s Europa Park 7/10

11.) Pam & Brian Kanal’s Knoebel’s PPP 6/10

12.) Kevin Aglione’s Cedar Point 5/10

13.) Matthew Tentnowski’s Six Flags Great Adventure 4/10

14.) Jordan Ryle’s Disneyland 3/10

[mcjaco]

Thanks Barry. I actually thought I overused transitions as well after I watched it the other day. These, are a good constructive way to post criticisms and compliments.

 

Just a note, I did not go on the Midwest Trip, just met them at IB.

[Chadley]

I'll cut right to the chase...

 

#1 Matt Jacob's Indiana Beach

#2 Jan Andreen's Europa Park

 

Honorable Mention: Adam Roth

[cosmic hearse]

Peter Davies' video was my favorite out of this new bunch.