New TV Pilot done and posted!
- Thread starter Papa_Bear
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Good Luck with it. The more shows out there about diving the better.
robint
Contributor
I wish you all the best luck with this venture. We got certified back in 2000 after seeing a little dive tv show that was on for awhile (I can't remember the name of it). It didn't last long but it inspired us to sign up for classes. We need more shows like that.
Now.......for my criticism of your video.
#1. The whole first section is nothing but a slideshow of people's faces, we don't know those people, so it is boring. You should mix in some live action with diving, otherwise you will lose people quickly. You need a "hook" if you are going to sell the rest of the video.
#2.....The shark action was nice but the JAWS music is bad and makes me angry! I hate it when every time sharks are shown underwater people go for the Jaws thing. It puts off experienced divers as they know sharks aren't really man-eaters, and it scares the heck out of non-divers (like a Pavlovian response). So why do it? Really, cut the Jaws crap - it is cheesy and doesn't work on many levels.
Other than that, I appreciate the effort and as I said before - Good Luck. I would love to see more Dive TV shows!
robin
Now.......for my criticism of your video.
#1. The whole first section is nothing but a slideshow of people's faces, we don't know those people, so it is boring. You should mix in some live action with diving, otherwise you will lose people quickly. You need a "hook" if you are going to sell the rest of the video.
#2.....The shark action was nice but the JAWS music is bad and makes me angry! I hate it when every time sharks are shown underwater people go for the Jaws thing. It puts off experienced divers as they know sharks aren't really man-eaters, and it scares the heck out of non-divers (like a Pavlovian response). So why do it? Really, cut the Jaws crap - it is cheesy and doesn't work on many levels.
Other than that, I appreciate the effort and as I said before - Good Luck. I would love to see more Dive TV shows!
robin
OP
Papa_Bear
Contributor
Okay, I have to already post an apology to our friend "Ann-Margreth Frei" She skated for Sweden being their national champion during two winter Olympics in the 1960's! She is a great SCUBA diver and I forget her past life and think of her as a diver! With 16 years with the Ice Capades one would think I would have caught one or two? Ann-Margreth is also an amazing sailer, I have seen here stand on the deck of a sail boat and stretch by touching her lower leg to her forehead while standing!!!! Also on a pitching deck in rough seas standing steady while everyone else got pitched to their "Hold on to something" position! I will correct the mistake as soon as I can! Again sorry to all our Swedish friends and Ann-Margerth!
The music is generated by me and is not "Jaws" at all just a guttural or primal beat with some brass???? The intro to the faces are the faces of the show and the characters involved? So it is an intro, but I understand what your saying and that can change easily!
Remember this is a concept and targeted to the non-diver so what maybe "cheesy" to divers isn't at all to the general public.....
I like the feed back and all of it is considered, but remember it is in the ilk as OC choppers and Ink, not exactly "Brain TV"! Not to put success down in anyway! It is a try at something really different since most Dive shows "Don't last too long"!
The music is generated by me and is not "Jaws" at all just a guttural or primal beat with some brass???? The intro to the faces are the faces of the show and the characters involved? So it is an intro, but I understand what your saying and that can change easily!
Remember this is a concept and targeted to the non-diver so what maybe "cheesy" to divers isn't at all to the general public.....
I like the feed back and all of it is considered, but remember it is in the ilk as OC choppers and Ink, not exactly "Brain TV"! Not to put success down in anyway! It is a try at something really different since most Dive shows "Don't last too long"!
PerroneFord
Contributor
The only time I have seen pans on still images on television have been for flashbacks. The immediacy of broadcast television demands live action footage. They aren't shooting with $80k cameras for nothing.
You keep referring to the show OC Choppers. The show has amazing appeal but if you really watch it, the production quality is amazing. The audio on the show particularly stands out to me. There is a lot of dutch angling on the show, and a lot of very sophisticated camera work. Try filming a welder sometime.
Anyway, again, I wish you all the best on your production, but putting on a weekly TV show with reasonable production quality is a MASSIVE undertaking. I was just looking at the latest ASC as they sat down with the cinematographers for the shows Mad Men, Desperate Housewives, and another show I can't remember. While those guys are clearly at the top of their game, the efforts and energy spent just to get the lighting right (on mad men) was astounding.
Have you ever seen Divers Down TV? This is a great weekly show that is out on broadcast cable and satellite, and is put together with a small crew. I think this would be a great target to shoot for if you haven't seen it. They have one recent episode online:
http://www.diversdowntv.com/diversdowntv/ddtvhome_files/Belize.eview.part1_7.17.mov
No dollies, no steadicams, reasonable budget. They shoot SD, with a nice camera (above the water) but I am not sure what they are using below.
You keep referring to the show OC Choppers. The show has amazing appeal but if you really watch it, the production quality is amazing. The audio on the show particularly stands out to me. There is a lot of dutch angling on the show, and a lot of very sophisticated camera work. Try filming a welder sometime.
Anyway, again, I wish you all the best on your production, but putting on a weekly TV show with reasonable production quality is a MASSIVE undertaking. I was just looking at the latest ASC as they sat down with the cinematographers for the shows Mad Men, Desperate Housewives, and another show I can't remember. While those guys are clearly at the top of their game, the efforts and energy spent just to get the lighting right (on mad men) was astounding.
Have you ever seen Divers Down TV? This is a great weekly show that is out on broadcast cable and satellite, and is put together with a small crew. I think this would be a great target to shoot for if you haven't seen it. They have one recent episode online:
http://www.diversdowntv.com/diversdowntv/ddtvhome_files/Belize.eview.part1_7.17.mov
No dollies, no steadicams, reasonable budget. They shoot SD, with a nice camera (above the water) but I am not sure what they are using below.
I completely agree. Having worked on a production or two in my misspent youth I can say that a simple one camera program will have a hard time breaking into mainstream television. PB, you should deliver the production to your local cable public access station, they will play it.
I love watching OC Choppers. They indeed have very high production values and use tons of light and have very good sound people, although Im not a fan of dutch angling, its hard to film the building of a motor cycle without it. (dutch angling = camera tilting off axis from the horizon or level)
OP
Papa_Bear
Contributor
I agree! But as I have said this is the concept "Pilot" production.... We will be talking budget with them soon and as "We all know" budget is the difference between Blair Witch and the Oman!!! I would have loved to have had a million dollar budget and three cameras two underwater cameras a boom man a sound man a mixer a couple grips etc etc!!! But that is the problem with SCUBA programs! No one wants to spend the money even for the concept..... The other shows have evolved over the years and the budgets have grown! They didn't start the way they look today! If anyone out there would like to volunteer or put up the money needed for top notch production at the concept level let me know ASAP!
The reason Divers down is no longer on is the market! I liked it and never missed it! But non-divers couldn't get behind it???? It was a combo of travel log and dive show, but for non-divers they don't want to see fins and a$$es You loss all but us divers!
If this was easy we would be awash in dive shows!
The reason Divers down is no longer on is the market! I liked it and never missed it! But non-divers couldn't get behind it???? It was a combo of travel log and dive show, but for non-divers they don't want to see fins and a$$es
You loss all but us divers! If this was easy we would be awash in dive shows!
PerroneFord
Contributor
No one is saying you need a mega-budget here. I think we all know that's just not going to happen for ANY of us. But, use the resources you have at your disposal. I'm sure you could hire a local college kid who's a musician to run your sound. Give him show credit, and he'll love you. Some of us here have things at our disposal. I'd happily do quality post work on a shoestring budget and with show credit. Others may have different things to offer.
I love indie production. But I'm a stickler for getting things right. So within the limits of my gear and time, I will try to produce Hollywood, or as close as I can get.
I just want to see this thing be as good as it can be.
By the way, have you looked at Blip.TV? Seems PERFECT for webcasting this kind of episodic work. And you can put nice quality stuff on there. If it doesn't get picked up for broadcast, maybe you can go that route.
I love indie production. But I'm a stickler for getting things right. So within the limits of my gear and time, I will try to produce Hollywood, or as close as I can get.
I just want to see this thing be as good as it can be.
By the way, have you looked at Blip.TV? Seems PERFECT for webcasting this kind of episodic work. And you can put nice quality stuff on there. If it doesn't get picked up for broadcast, maybe you can go that route.
OP
Papa_Bear
Contributor
We have considered that! We have a domain called SCUBALocker.tv and have considered playing to the dive community, but again advertisers will dictate budget and return, witch dictate what we will be able to produce!
We had an intern from a local film school (L.A.) and he helped a lot, but we couldn't get anyone else except the people involved....We were hopeful we could get a sound guy, but no one was interested! Mass production for the general public is a whole different level of production, but you never know what will be the next big thing??? Must "Just don't think it will happen" attitude is hard to overcome since they are not divers and see this segment the same way the industry sees it! It is a challenge! A friend of mine Rodin produces a series of Spearfishing shows and he has had the same problems! The new kids think they should be paid like the seasoned guys! Then there is the logistic problem of getting Non-Divers to the dive sites! So you have to utilize what you have until you have the budget to yell "Quit on the set" "Lights Cameras action"!
What we are hoping for is a budget and people who will give us a shot! In the "Old days you submitted a script or concept script! At least we were given the chance to put a visual presentation together! I hope that will add a little extra to a non-diver seeing what I see!
Believe me we have discussed this again and again and no one was willing to mortgage there house for a SCUBA show!!!! I do encourage this feed back, because you never know if you have missed something? As of now time will tell and as usual it is up to the money guys to give the thumbs up or????
We had an intern from a local film school (L.A.) and he helped a lot, but we couldn't get anyone else except the people involved....We were hopeful we could get a sound guy, but no one was interested! Mass production for the general public is a whole different level of production, but you never know what will be the next big thing??? Must "Just don't think it will happen" attitude is hard to overcome since they are not divers and see this segment the same way the industry sees it! It is a challenge! A friend of mine Rodin produces a series of Spearfishing shows and he has had the same problems! The new kids think they should be paid like the seasoned guys! Then there is the logistic problem of getting Non-Divers to the dive sites! So you have to utilize what you have until you have the budget to yell "Quit on the set" "Lights Cameras action"!
What we are hoping for is a budget and people who will give us a shot! In the "Old days you submitted a script or concept script! At least we were given the chance to put a visual presentation together! I hope that will add a little extra to a non-diver seeing what I see!
Believe me we have discussed this again and again and no one was willing to mortgage there house for a SCUBA show
!!!! I do encourage this feed back, because you never know if you have missed something? As of now time will tell and as usual it is up to the money guys to give the thumbs up or????
I wrote this as a critique of a show, not a fellow Scubaboard member and video hobbyist. I like your concept and admire your ambition.
1st 45 seconds was logo/ad stuff, too long.
Next 2 minutes of still photo's with personal dialog. If I didn't read your post and just watched the vid, I would think it was a home video, not a intro to a reality show. 2 minutes was too long.
I paused it when it finally got to moving video at 2:48 to write the above and give my short attention span a break.
Some of the shots looked like they could use a tripod and it sounded like you were using the camcorder mic in most of the shots. Maybe a wireless lavalier would help.
At 10:36 we finally get to some marine life....2 seconds of shark footage shot from topside. While I understand you don't want constant UW footage, I think a few still shots or a little UW footage thrown in here and there lets the viewer know what the show is about, keeps interest and builds suspense until you get to the "climax".
14:05 brings us to the only UW footage of the video and then credits roll at 15:34.
Today's viewers have a very short attention span, and you need to really grab them. Don't need to do it every second, but they need something to jar the senses on a regular basis or their minds will drift.
American Chopper: an argument between a father and son, a loud noise in the shop, the gas tanks transforms to a thing of beauty after being painted, the build runs into a major problem, another argument, but then, then, the bike is finished and it is beautiful.
1st 45 seconds was logo/ad stuff, too long.
Next 2 minutes of still photo's with personal dialog. If I didn't read your post and just watched the vid, I would think it was a home video, not a intro to a reality show. 2 minutes was too long.
I paused it when it finally got to moving video at 2:48 to write the above and give my short attention span a break.
Some of the shots looked like they could use a tripod and it sounded like you were using the camcorder mic in most of the shots. Maybe a wireless lavalier would help.
At 10:36 we finally get to some marine life....2 seconds of shark footage shot from topside. While I understand you don't want constant UW footage, I think a few still shots or a little UW footage thrown in here and there lets the viewer know what the show is about, keeps interest and builds suspense until you get to the "climax".
14:05 brings us to the only UW footage of the video and then credits roll at 15:34.
Today's viewers have a very short attention span, and you need to really grab them. Don't need to do it every second, but they need something to jar the senses on a regular basis or their minds will drift.
American Chopper: an argument between a father and son, a loud noise in the shop, the gas tanks transforms to a thing of beauty after being painted, the build runs into a major problem, another argument, but then, then, the bike is finished and it is beautiful.
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