Theme Park Review's 3rd Annual Coaster Video Contest!

[Corkscrewed]

Albert Lam's "Knott's Halloween Haunt"

A very well paced tightly edited video. Definitely captures the feel of this great event. The song choice was also a good fit. One of the bad things about this video is the fact that it is filmed entirely in the dark and many of the shots are hard to see. Some of that, I'm sure, is because we are viewing it on a computer and it would look much better in a TV set. Also I would have liked to see a little more ride footage even though I know it was the haunt event that was the focus of the video.

 

Yeah, I watched it on a CRT monitor and noticed that it was definitely a lot darker. I didn't even think about this being an issue when I was making it. I have a laptop, which of course, comes with an LCD monitor, and it looks very nice on my computer. It's something I should keep in mind for the future though.

 

Thanks for the comments!

[65skylark]

^ Its kind of strange, but, I also have an LCD monitor 19", but videos always come out darker no matter what I do. In the past, on my own videos, I would use cleanning effects on a few darker shots to brighten them up, then, watch them on my 42'' LCD HDTV, and they would be too bright so I stopped doing this and just trusted the video would come out ok when whatching it on a TV. I don't think I'm the only one who experiences this as I've heard others say the same about there LCD monitors vs there TV's.

[robbalvey]

I actually use an old...VERY old 13" Commodore 64 1702 CRT monitor (basically a JVC Television) as my "lowest common denominator" screen. I figure if a video (DVD version) looks crisp and clear on that old junker, it should look good on just about anything!

 

--Robb

[Erik Johnson]

I actually use an old...VERY old 13" Commodore 64 1702 CRT monitor (basically a JVC Television) as my "lowest common denominator" screen. I figure if a video (DVD version) looks crisp and clear on that old junker, it should look good on just about anything!

 

--Robb

 

Hey, show some respect for the old Commodore 1702! I understand it does not like being called an old junker. .

[BarryH]

I had a Commodore 1084 monitor that died after a few years. It was a really nice monitor!

[Corkscrewed]

Theme Parks, Coasters, and Old Commodore Monitors.

[coastercub]

 

 

Martin Hore's "Janfusun Fancyworld"

Another video that didn't stand out, this was still a nice vid that shows a park not many people have seen before. The music choice is better (I know; subjective, but The Used >> Prince in my book), and the shots, while basic pans, do show off the park pretty well. G5 looks like a pretty cool (though ridiculously brief) coaster whose location helps a LOT. The colors in the park, though, are pretty wacky. Did Knott's Berry Farm buy the park out? I do like the parts where you synched the dive machine to drop just as the music hits a high, and although there didn't seem to be a lot of music synchronization aside from that, this certainly wasn't a bad video.

 

 

Ta for the critisizm, anything constructive is good as far as I'm concerned.

 

The video was only really ever intended for me as sort of reminder of my day at the park but I decided to submit it anyway cos so many people said they wanted to see footage of G5. I had limited time at the park and as I knew I wold probably never get there again I concentrated on riding rather than filming so the footage is basic and the editing is simple. The choice of music suited what Kind of pace I wanted in the video and if "The Used" isn't your thing then I'm sorry but it's what I like !

 

I think I've made enough excuses now for what essentially is a poor video!

 

BTW: G5 was VERY good due to it's location. The floorless was great fun too although not that fast. I got to ride the floorless B&M on my own too (a couple of times) but they wouldn't send G5 out with just me on it.

[Cllins]

Nick Collins' "USA Coaster Trip

 

I hope you don't take this as an offense, as it's just my opinion, but I personally found the frequent bursts of raw audio to be very jarring, especially since the rest of the footage would be music only, without any background sound. So to suddenly have loud bursts of dialogue or sound effects from the video or live feeds was very distracting, especially since it completely overpowered the video. I remember this being an issue last year as well with your video.

 

Don’t worry I’m not offended at all everyone is entitled to there own opinion.

I think its time to update my editing software anyway as I have had the same software since 2001 and the software is dated 1998.

 

Nick

[robbalvey]

I have posted this year's ballot:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/contest2006/ballot2006.htm

 

Go vote for your favorite video!

 

Voting will continue until we get back from the TPR UK trip in about 3 weeks and then I'll post the winners!

 

Good luck everyone!

 

--Robb

[Luxo]

Yay democracy! Best of luck to all the competitors!

[robbalvey]

Holy crap! We've already received nearly 100 ballots in less than 12 hours!!! And it doensn't just look like it's Barry voting 100 times!

 

Thanks to everyone for participating!

 

--Robb

[jamesdillaman]

The first time I forgot to include my email (i know, i know...) But I corrected it, please count my 1 vote WITH the email, lol.

-James Dillaman

[Corkscrewed]

Naturally, I voted first place for myself.

 

But Paul and Julian were 1 and 2 if I were to put my ego aside. I think it'll be down to those two when everything's said and done, but I hope I get some votes too! I'll crank out a list of my own "awards" sometime when I have time.

[AugustVonPolen]

Hi,

Here´s my Top3 List:

 

1. Tom Müller - PortAventura

2. Paul Ruiz De Miquel - Parque de Atracciones

3. Julian Jhonson - Don´t look down 2005

 

Nothing had changed,

These are my Winners...

 

 

 

But remember :

"You Can Also Vote For My Video!"

[MrMorgan]

Hi everyone.

I know how nice it is to get feedback and constructive criticism, (hint hint), for videos, so I've decided to write a little something about every video this year. It's going to take a while to get through them all, but here are my comments for the first 10 videos that were posted:

 

1. Conner Thompson’s Magic Springs. I really like this video. It’s got the right mix of “us having fun” shots and “ride” shots. The song is fun, the editing is well choreographed, and it holds your interest the whole time. I also like the “surprise ending with the train dispatch.

 

2. Julian Johnson’s “Don’t Look Down 2005” This video starts out great with all the “friends” shots, and basically let’s you know immediately that it’s going to be a fun video. The record scratching and musically choreographed editing is superb. What editing program was that? If I had one constructive criticism for this video, it would be that it’s a little too scattered as far as the park footage goes. It skips from park to park and coaster to coaster with no sort of order, (at least not that I could recognize). After a while, it gets kind of hard to watch because it’s not congruent and it becomes just random shots of all sorts of coasters. I prefer videos that showcase park after park so those of us who haven’t been there can get an idea for what the parks are like. After a few minutes into this video, I was so confused about what was what. Know what I mean?

 

3. Justing Saxe’s Silverwood. Great video showcasing this park that unfortunately few of us have been to. I love the onride footage of the paratrooper! It’s also cool how you used the flat rides to get interesting footage of the other rides. The editing fits great with the unconventional choice of music. Fantastic how it all climaxes with the footage of Tremors. A very well paced video.

 

4. Paul Ruiz De Miguel’s “Parque De Attractiones”. Fun fun fun ! I loved this video. In fact, I think it’s just about perfect. The right mix of fun people and ride footage, catchy music, great editing, and even some suprising special effects. Great. Love the footage of the “no line jumping” signs and then all the people jumping the lines.

 

5. Dennis "Park Junkie" Kolodzeizik's Slagharen Video Contest Entry“. I liked seeing the footage of this little seen park, but I have to say this video just didn’t do it for me. The onride footage is fun and clever, but the music is so aggressive it just doesn’t fit to a “fun day at the park” type video. Just changing the song would make this video a lot more fun, I think.

 

6. Nicolas Chavances’ Eftling video. Great video. The beginning is genious. You see the people sleeping, then it fades to the footage from the sky tower thing rising above the trees, so it’s kind of like waking up, (maybe I’m looking at a little too artistically?). The music fits great, and it’s lots of fun to watch everyone playing around in the park. There’s enough ride footage thrown in to keep it interesting for us fans, and then it ends with more sleeping. A very well rounded, fun video that does a great job of showcasing this awesome park.

 

7. Jonathan Hawkin’s “Midwest Conquest”. The opening credits start this video off very interestingly, and it’s cool how the footage of Hades’ first drop fits perfectly with the slide in the music. The song is great for a fun park video, and there’s a nice mix of footage. The only complaint I have is the footage is a little scattered from park to park, which makes it confusing for those of us who haven’t been to those parks, (see my critique for Julian Johnson’s “Don’t Look Down 2005”). The strongest part of this video is the “us having fun” clips, I think. Those guys spinning on the carousel are CRAZY!

 

8. Lars and Cornelia Theissen’s “Coaster Season 2005”. I like the intro with the Park logos and then a “signature shot” of the park, but after that it gets confusing as to which park is which. Nice cameo of Robb, but it’s missing the “this is us having fun” footage that’s so enjoyable to watch, and becomes a bit boring with only ride footage. Fun song, though, and it looks like you really got around in in 2005!

 

9. Jim William’s SFMM December 2005 Video. Lots of good coaster footage with creative editing, and you get bonus points for actually getting some footage of Deja Vous in action! Some very funny moments, like sleeping on the scrambler, screaming in pain on Viper, and whipping the horses on the carousel. There’s been so many videos about SFMM in the past, it was good that you included so much personal footage of you and your friends because I think even people who’ve never been to this park know all the rides inside and out from all the videos we’ve seen.

 

10. Tom Mueller’s Port Aventura Video. Moin moin aus Hamburg, Tom ! This video is close to perfect and makes a very professional impression. The beginning is fantastic with the build up of the music and the intro to the park. Lots of great ride footage and plenty of “us having fun”. It’s fun to watch and makes me want to go back to Port Aventura. Great job. I would be really surprised if this video doesn’t make it into the top 3.

[MrMorgan]

And here my comments for the next 5 videos:

 

11. Mark Owen’s Busch Gardens/ Cypress Garden’s. I like the way this video starts out, sort of a “this is were we went and this is who we are” type of thing. The editing is great, too, with the pauses and black-outs to fit with the music, and it’s a good mix of onride, offride, and “us having fun”, (although there could have been a little more “having fun”). Some of the offride shots were composed in a way that made me think, “wow, that’s pretty when you look at it like that.” Know what I mean? Very nice. Only complaint is the scattered “which park is which?” editing that appears in many videos this year, but that’s just my personal taste.

 

12. Erik Johnson’s Expedition Everest video. Call me a loser, but I don’t want to watch this video! I tried to read and see as little as possible about this coaster because I want to be surprised and feel like general public when I ride it the first time. Sorry Erik, I’m sure it’s a nice video! (I’ve also never watched a video of Mummy.)

 

13. Blake Fowley’s Goat Encounter. Well, what can I say? This video is weird!!! I like the footage of Disneyland and the goat encounter idea was really funny and strange, but it became just strange and not funny any more after a few minutes. I was hoping for some hilarious climax or something, but it didn’t come… Bonus points for the idea, but it just should of gone somewhere somehow, or been more of a video about Disneyland, with one goat encounter segment, not a goat encounter video with some Disneyland segments. Know what I mean? Fun, though.

 

14. Barry Hom’s FLCC at Busch Gardens Video. Another video that’s close to perfect, in my opinion. It’s the perfect mix of “us having fun” and onride/offride footage that’s all cleverly edited together in a way that’s not confusing, and it does a great job of showcasing the park. It never get’s boring, and it makes me want to hang out with the FLCC. I would be surprised if this video doesn’t end up in the top of the contest.

 

15. Phil Hart’s Carowinds. Extra super duper bonus points for the concept! Did you have the old video first before you got the park footage, or did you have the park footage and make it fit so well to what the announcer was saying. Great job of remixing and editing the soundtrack to the techno beat and stretching it out the whole video long. Besides all that, it’s also a fun video. Definitely top 5.

 

More reviews coming soon...

[MrMorgan]

And here are my comments to the rest of the entries this year.

 

16. Dan and Jackie Collison’s Epcot Video. This video is very solid and makes a profesional impression, but I don’t know, there’s just something missing. I never laughed or thought “cool!”. It wasn’t boring, but it just didn't hold my interest somehow. Sorry! The little princess with Goofy and Mickey was very cute, though! Is that you’re daugher? What a great memory.

 

17. Nick Collin’s USA Coaster trip. I loved how the video of the TTD rollback was mixed together with the break down in the music. Very clever. Lots of great offride and “having fun” shots, but, once again, I got sooo confused as to which park was which and which ride was which. The editing was just too random and chaotic for me to really enjoy watching the video. Sorry. Just my two bits. By the way, I can’t believe you went to Coney Island at night!

 

18. Kevin Gillan’s “What We Learned On Vacation”. The opening segment is VERY cool, if maybe a little too long, but when the video gets started it’s a lot of fun. Cute kid shots will get you bonus points every time. Nice creative editing and some interestingly composed shots, but, like many other videos, I get frustrated that it skips from park to park and you never get a chance to focus on anything.

 

19. Dave Arnold’s Fantazyland. Dave gets extra bonus points for just going to this park and making a video. OMG. Hilarious choice of music. I like the black ring around the outside of the screen. It kind of gives it a “hidden camera investigation” look. Unfortunately, there’s no onride shots or coaster footage, but I guess that’s a lot to ask when everything in the park is closed! Great finale.

 

20. Albert Lam’s Knott’s Halloween Haunt. Very nice beginning. It gives the video a nice creepy feel, and let’s you know right away what the video’s about. For me, though, the video lost my interest quite quickly. The little bit of coaster footage in the video was really well composed and edited. It would have been nice to see more of that because after the 55th person getting scared by a monster in a mask, I’m just not interested any more. I know the video is about the Haunt, but I just think it needed some more coaster footage to be a contender this year.

 

21. Pamela Lytle’s “Little Coaster Season 2005” video. Lots of great coaster footage in this video. You certainly hit some great parks in 2005. My only complaint with this video is the same I’ve had with several videos this year: the editing is so random, as a viewer, you never know which park is which and what ride is at what park. With a little more time spent on the editing and composition, this video could have been much more interesting if it was divided into parks. You have so much great ride footage, I would have liked to see it organized.

 

22. Jarivs Morant’s “My Hump”. So much fun! I, personally, love this song and I think it works well with the video and all the shots of speed bumps and small hills on coasters. Very creative. The editing is superb. I love the mixed shots of pov’s that sort of melt together. What editing program was that again? One of my main “complaints” about a lot of the videos this year is that they’re so chaotically composed and you never know which coaster belongs to which park, etc. This video is the same way, but it’s so cleverly thought out that it doesn’t matter. It keeps my attention the whole time and makes me want to watch it again. A great mix of pov’s, offride, and funny stuff. A definite contender for the #1 spot, in my opinion.

 

23. Paul Fowler’s Paramounts Canada’s Wonderland. This video does a great job of showcasing the park and the rides it has to offer. I had no idea Canada’s Wonderland had so many crazy flat rides!?!? That last one was insane. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I’ve been to quite a few parks… One question: why no footage of the Mighty Canadian Minebuster? You’ve got lots of shots of all the other rides, why not that one? Overall, a well composed video, but for me it’s missing that extra something to make it really memorable and a contender for my top 3.

 

24. Colin Coon’s Cedar Point. I really liked this video, but the song drove me CRAZY. It’s not easy to make an interesting video about a park we’ve all seen so much footge of already, but you had an intersting take on it and it was fun to watch. Just the song needs to be different. Haha. You must have been to the park quite a bit to get those shots of the impulse coaster and free-fall ride malfuntioning, or did that ll happen in one day?

 

25. Martin Hore’s Janfusun Fancy World. Bonus points for going to such an out of the way park and sharing the video with us. I like the intro, but the song is a little too aggressive for a fun coaster video. It makes me want to turn down the sound and just watch the video because I like to be HAPPY when I’m watching park videos. Also, it seemed like you kind of stretched out the footage to make it fit to the song. Why not just pick a shorter, (more perky), song and keep the repeat footage to a minumum. That makes it more interesting to watch and increases the "I have to see that again" factor.

 

So, now I have watched all the videos, (except for the Everest video. Sorry!), and will be voting for my top 3. Writing all these reviews helped me realise what it is I think every good coaster home video must have.

 

1). A good intro that get's your attention right away.

2). A mix of ride footage and "us having fun footage".

3). A fun song.

4). Well organized editing that either makes it clear which footage is from which park, or is so creatively presented that it doesn't matter.

5). The "OMG, I have to watch that again" factor.

6). The "That made me laugh" factor.

 

Since the contest is basically over now, I have no idea if anyone is reading this thread anymore, but I thought I'd post my reviews to give some hints to the contestants about what at least one person who's voting is looking for. Maybe it will also help people who've never made a video with a guide line of how to create a good video? I'm also hoping that some of the other contestants will write a review of my video to tell me what they think. Thanks in advance!

[65skylark]

^ Great comments.

 

The more people respond about what they like in a video, the more I realize just how different everyones tastes are. I generally tend to prefer a video that is very tightly edited and paced well. Also the music choice is big for me. If I don't like the song I will probably not like the video. I really don't care much about the "fun factor" in a video. That's not to say I don't like seeing people having fun, but, it is not something I specificly look for or expect in a good video.

 

I guess overall there really isn't a certain criteria that a video must fit for me to like it.

 

Justin "thanks for the Silverwood video comments" Saxe.

[jarmor]

Ok I think its time for me to give my take and opinions about the videos. First and foremost I want to thank everyone for sending a video and congrats to the 26th finalist. I want to also thank R&E for hosting this contest because without it all of our talents, rather big or small would probably go unnoticed. Now on to the video reviews. Overall I really enjoyed the videos and there were no bad videos at all. I didn't want to read anyone elses reviews about other people videos prior to watching because that tends to steer you to a certain mindset even before watching the video. Now while that can be a great thing, it can also be a diabolical one also. Im just going down in order from uploaded to uploaded because im going to watch each video several times before I can say which one would be the top anything!

 

Connor Thompson's Magic Springs Video Contest Entry

WOW is all I can say about this. Not only because its a great video but because you are this young making great videos! Connor, you and your crew looks like loads of fun to hang around. I really did admire your take on the park because it truely leaved up to the title "magic springs video" rather than "magic springs COASTERS...and some park footage video". Your mix of coasters, atmosphere, onrides, and antics really made this park look interesting to say the least. I really did like the transitions from scene to scene because sometimes the straight cut to another scene just isn't enough. The video is in-synch and you gave just enough on each clip for it to not be over done. Oh yeah, the kid in the green shirt totally made the video for me lol. he seems like a riot and whenever I watch the video I always manage to laugh at him waving his arms with his shirt over his head on the coaster! The song choice was perfect. Actually, song choice is gonna be the theme here because that is what can really make or break a video. And this video is a perfect example of mixing music w/ video audio because while the music is louder you can still hear whats going on in the background without feeling like the audio and music are fighting each other. Well anyway great job connor and what a way to start off my video watching!

 

Julian Johnson's "Don't Look Down 2005" Video Contest Entry

While it seems like you went to the park with an idea in mind of how you wanted to do the video, the video still had lots of moments of impromtu antics in it! I liked how on one segment you featured the many animals of powered coasters (yeah I notice small things like that). But what really stood out in the video was the "record stratch" effect! Looks like my video found its brother lol . I do feel that it was borderline used too much. Im not trying to say that it was used too much but for an effect as great as that one, it kind of looses its punch because it got to the point that whenever I heard the stratching starting I knew what was gonna happen. What would have been cool is doing a little more like you did with the kraken shot. The song choice was perfect for the video and there was never a dull moment. I really dig songs that have a life of their own, as when it slows down and gives a different feel then speeds back up. Alot of people cant master editing to songs like that because its hard to change the pace of a video and catch back up and you seem to have it together man! One thing I really liked about the video is how it showed tons of footage from around the world and this is a perfect example of what a "coaster" video should be like!

 

Justin Saxe's Silverwood Video Contest Entry

If im going to be honest here I have to say the song choice killed this video. That score only works well on the "chips ahoy" commercials . I enjoyed watching the video its just that I think that park didn't seem to have enough to really grasp my interest, or perhaps it could have been the song choice that really threw off the whole thing. I would suggest exploring other transition options because when using the same one (especially when its not a great one to use) seems to get boring. I myself is guilty for that when I started making my videos but I try to balance it all out! But you know what...towards the end the video really picked up the pace and I feel that if you had to just focus on tremors and did the fast clip change thingy in the beginning insynch with the video, in my opinion, the video would be even better!

 

Paul Ruiz De Miquel's Parque De Attactiones Video Contest Entry

I have a theory, the first few seconds of a video generally lays out the whole video, and in this case this video had impressive first seconds! Its obvious this person went above and beyond to edit this video from the 4 video screen. Thats something you dont really see that often in coaster video editing. Lots of good footage in the video and any video that starts off with a POV is alright in my book. The song choice was very nice, but it would have been nicer to have the music have the edge over the audio quality. Im sure you have heard it a zillion times but the flick was the best thing I have ever seen in coaster videos! Well other than fake boobs...but still it's what really gives this video its edge. Now back to the song choice...love the attitude change in the music, even I dont know what the hell they are saying it sounds like they dig coasters lol. I Absolutely loved the ending! I dont know if it was 2 different songs or whatever but you ended your video very well!

 

Dennis "Park Junkie" Kolodzeizik's Slagharen Video Contest Entry

Well...i'm sitting on the fence with this one because I want to say its the song choice but then I want to say it was just the park lacking. But I think harder and really listen to the song and I think w/ the right editing that song would work. Did you use 2 different cameras because some of your video quality looks different from the rest. I also feel that you could have eliminated some repeat scenes by making the clips longer so you wouldn't have to go back to the same clip. Sometimes shorter videos have more standing power than longer videos! If I had to give a suggestion I would say just explore your editing options and dont restrict yourself!

 

Nicolas Chavance's Efteling Video Contest Entry

Cant blame a man for trying with this video but this video didn't seem like something I would put in a contest. Obviously it made it this far, but it just doesn't seem to have it to me. I loved the tree fly-over and it would have been nice to see the actual pov of the coasters! Now dont get me wrong this is NOT a bad video at all but it just didnt do it for me...but I don't count !

 

Jonathan Hawkins' "Midwest Conquest" Video Contest Entry

Two words describes this video - Kick ass! It's amazing what having good friends to share the theme park world can do for a video. It's pretty evident that you guys always enjoy a park regardless of where you are! The song choice was a very nice pic and went well with the song...even the dancing ride op making love to the mike! Your camera angles proves to me that you not only have a camera but you KNOW your camera and how to use it. The rides featured where great for the video and contest. I sometimes sit back and think...for a coaster video, especially one for a contest a person should try their hardest to feature the "happening" coasters and whats hot during the time and you pulled that one off hands down. Its pretty evident that the star of the video is dave. He doesn't just steal the show, he makes the show. My only gripe is that I wish the video was longer!

 

Lars & Cornelia Theissen's "Coaster Season 2005" Video Contest Entry

Ahhh...I just love videos titles that have the word "season" in it because it means im in for a real good treat and this video didn't dissapoint. The beginning is very professional and basically sets the pace for the video. it wasn't in-synch by like a fraction but it was still well done and I very nice touch to the video. What I would have like to see more was action for the cameraman/woman. What I mean by that is some more pan shots and zooming in and out shots. It brings character to your video vs. just the regular still shots. The song choice couldn't have been better. That was a high energy song but at the same time calming and cool. And also a notable thing is that evident from this video, it doesn't take POV to make a great video. This video features not one single POV but still it reigns supreme . Not too much glitzy glamor transitions which is fine because that stuff is icing on the cake but I felt that you had just enough to make a very good quality video. I would have saved the clip of california screaming launching for the final clip and fade to black from that point on to give it a lasting impression but thats just me.

 

Jim Williams' Six Flags Magic Mountain December 2005 Video Contest Entry

I hate to say it but this video leaves alot to be desired. After looking at that video I was left with the though of "ok...when are we gonna see the actual park?" I feel a little more effort could have went into this video to make it a great one. Little things like synching the video to the audio. Also it looked like mother nature wasn't on your side because it looked like it was very overcasted throughout the whole video, but I know thats out of your control. To sum it up, I think a great park like SFMM has soo much more to offer than just coasters and it should have been showcased in that video.

 

Tom Mueller's Port Aventura Video Contest Entry

The beginning of this video scared the crap outta me lol lol. But it made it clear who the star was going to be. This video was very professionally done and the clips were very nice. I liked how you made good usage of panning shots and the zoom effect on the drop tower. The song choice was fitting because the video was very enteraining. One thing im starting to notice about the finalist is that EVERYONE has friends lol lol. Another notable thing about this video that stands out is that it features night shots, a common feature not shown on a majority videos! its not always easy to get good night shots but it seems like tom has make it look it! Not much more to say about this vide just that its very solid and its what the contest is all about.

 

Mark Owens' Busch Gardens Tampa/Cypress Gardens Video Contest Entry

Whoa...did I make this video lol. This is totally the kind of work I dig. High energy, non-stop fun. Love the song choice. At first I was like...where have I heard that song...then I realize I had used it for a video featuring " wild one" at SFA. You could have had a crapy video but that song would have given it life. My only gripe is that I feel you could have shown more animal footage and garden footage to kind of balance out the scope of the video. At first I was nervous that you weren't going to show ANY animal footage but then you came thru. I love your video set up though. How you show several off ride clips then go to on ride. That is professionalism at its best. Another good thing about this video is that it shows more flatrides in several minutes than some parks have shown its whole life time! Flat rides are becoming rare to see in videos and im glad you came thru. I was totally digging the video and I forgot all about shekira then you pulled that off very well. I think that point is the climax of the video. Great job man.

 

Erik Johnson's "Expedition Everest" Video Contest Entry

Im not usually a big fan of soundtracks but this one really fits the purpose. You happen to catch one of the most talked about coasters today on film and I too would have used it to my advantage to enter it into the contest. I was about to call you out in the beginning of the video because it looked like it was done by disney until I saw you in the video . I really like how you encorporated the whole area so the viewers could get a feel of the whole ride. Speaking of the whole ride...what happen to the full POV. I know the video had to be within some limitations but hey, dont tease us w/ bits and pieces of it. But it would have made the video much better than what it was if you had to include the full POV. You could have still included the off ride but just break up the pov, show the off ride of that section, and pick up the pov from there. But still a pretty good video.

 

So there is my take on the first 12. Gonna do the rest when I have time inbetween work since half the power i my house is out and it has to be the half where my pc and media stuff is!

[TheStig]

24. Colin Coon’s Cedar Point. I really liked this video, but the song drove me CRAZY. It’s not easy to make an interesting video about a park we’ve all seen so much footge of already, but you had an intersting take on it and it was fun to watch. Just the song needs to be different. Haha. You must have been to the park quite a bit to get those shots of the impulse coaster and free-fall ride malfuntioning, or did that ll happen in one day?

 

Thanks! I appreciate your input! Yeah, back when I did that, I was just getting into rock/metal and of course, 90% of my videos were either system of a down or metallica, which isnt good. Ive gotten back into the techno/dance/rave type stuff for my videos. And YES both of those mishaps with Wicked Twister and Demon Drop happened in the same day, but we were there for 2 days. Thanks again, and look for a video with a better song next year!!!

 

Colin C

[Erik Johnson]

To answer Jarmor's question involving a full POV. I made two, well actually three, Everest videos. One was a full POV of the ride which can be found here:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21878

 

The original music video can be found here:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22040

 

The one I entered into the contest is a different edit of the music video, which I think is a better version.

[radial]

15. Phil Hart’s Carowinds. Extra super duper bonus points for the concept! Did you have the old video first before you got the park footage, or did you have the park footage and make it fit so well to what the announcer was saying. Great job of remixing and editing the soundtrack to the techno beat and stretching it out the whole video long. Besides all that, it’s also a fun video. Definitely top 5.

 

MrMorgan: (and everyone else)

 

Thanks!

To answer the many questions about this video... Yes, I had the old video first. I found it on a downloading spree from archive.org's video vault. I did not download it for any particular purpose, I just downloaded a bunch of old stuff to watch, hey it's free! You can find the video here. http://www.archive.org/details/your_movie_camera

The video is very long, and is a real instructional video of how to use your movie camera. Made in 1948, you can imagine the technology back then. The original video is just over 10 minutes long covering all sorts of topics, many more than what you see in my resulting video. The video is funny in and of itself, I recommend anyone to watch it just for a laugh.

 

Then, many months later, ACE's C3 event at Carowinds occured. I could not go for financial reasons, so the other members of the whootah.com clan went. Alan filmed a tapes worth of footage, handed it to me and said go at it. I looked at the tape over and over and tried to pick out some good scenes to put into a video. However, as I watched the tape, I realized there really wasnt that many good scenes to make even 30 seconds of a video. I was at a standstill.

 

Then I thought of this old video I had downloaded a long time ago. I didnt tell anyone of my plans, espeically Alan. I was afraid he would be mad or embarrased, but I didnt care!! Whootah love. On I went and threw it up there and told him to check it out and he (and a lot of others) got a big kick out of it. (I know, I know.. some people dont like it. I respect that and admit this video isnt for everyone.)

 

Secret confesion - the video on TPR entered into the contest is the uncensored version. That is by mistake! I rendered 2 copies, one straight render actually forgetting to put the beeps in there, and then one render again with the certian words bleeped out. Well I ended up never rendering an AVI for the censored version, I only rendered the smaller wmv to go on the website. So the AVI I had was still the uncensored one, and that's what I sent to Robb. I realized this a week after the video was posted into the finals, and by then I decided it was too late to change, everyone who was going to download it had already downloaded it, and I didnt want to have 2 different versions floating around in cyberspace. If you want the censored version, get it from http://whootah.com/archives/86

 

Anyway, hope that answered everyone's questions. It was a stab at Alan to be better camera man, and a stab to the rest of this video world that all your videos dont have to feature silly little coasters , points of view, and pretending like your on that jackass show.

 

Thanks for your support, and good luck to all the video entries!

[robbalvey]

Now that we are back from the UK, voting has officially CLOSED!

 

Winners will be announced this week!

 

--Robb

[Nrthwnd]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagreat.

 

[jarmor]

CRAP!! I didnt even get to vote and im in the running!!