Well, it took a lot longer than I hoped it would, but I've finally got something to show for my editing efforts.

There are a number of things I want to adjust, but thought I should get some second opinions. What do you all think?

Thanks very much

http://www.jeffreykorst.com/magic/promovideo.html

I have to say I LOVE the picture on your site of that woman looking astonished - that's a great image.
I would cut down the performance clips a bit - especially anywhere that there's silence. If it's a moment you feel is important, have some of the music running underneath it so there's at least something. As it stands now, the card trick is a bit out of context - as magicians we know what's happening, but someone with no knowledge of that may wonder why you devoted so much time to counting cards. If you have moments that pop a bit more (productions, a poker routine that ends with a full house, things like that,) they would play stronger to an audience not familiar with magic.

The video (and your performing persona) seem to be fairly classy, so I would just use normal dissolves between shots, or at most one standard transition, rather than switching between different kinds. The same thing with the text - consistency is best. It if fades in and then fades out, have it always do that. If it scrolls in from the side, have it always do that as well. It's best not to have text dissolve directly from one frame to the next; visually, it's more appealing if text fades out, there's a short beat, and then the next text fades in. That way it looks like one solid video from beginning to end.

I like the testimonials, and perhaps even a few more still shots if you have them to add some color. The ending is great! If you have a way to brighten that so the cards are as white as possible, and then make sure it fades out on that image (there's just a hint of your hands moving out of frame while it's still fading to black,) you'll have a REALLY strong ending. I thought that was very clever!

Nice work! Better than a lot of the stuff we see around here. I've been editing footage for the web and television for years, so I know it's time consuming but the effort sure is worth it!

Thanks for the comments, Andrew, especially on the transitions. I know there's a vocabulary to film, and I know I don't know it very well.

One transition that I want to ask about is the scale down. I put that in so the person talking is still there as they finish the sentence. Is that valid?

Also, regarding the music comment: Should I bring the music in during the silence, have the music running all through and keep the volume low, or have it running all through and bring it up during the silent parts?

Thanks, again.

I'm not sure where the scale down transition is...if you let me know how many seconds/minutes in it is I can look
Personally, I would probably leave the music running the whole time, and just lower the volume during testimonials, audience reactions, etc. If there's a specific spot where the sound is really important, you can fade out the music and then bring it back in, but I only will usually do that once or twice for something like this. It can actually be good to have a break from hearing the same music over and over again, but that can still be accomplished by just lowering the volume and bringing it back up again, rather than cutting it entirely. Makes for a more seamless video.
I watched again and you've got some really good stuff!

The scale down transitions are at :28, :57, 1:40 and 4:10

The last one IS pretty questionable to me--as in, I'm not sure it fits. It might need to be changed or tightened up so it starts earlier. The others, as I said, are intended to let the two scenes overlap more than I think they could with other transitions.

I'll get going on the other stuff.

Thanks

I think those transitions work so long as the audio of someone speaking doesn't overlap from one clip to the next - it would be best to have the spectator finish his sentence, and then do the transition into the clip of you performing. Having it get smaller while he's still speaking could mean there is some emphasis lost on what he's saying. I like how it transitions into a clip of that person watching you perform. It's a nice touch
Looking forward to seeing the updated version!

I may have to rethink it then. Having them finish talking while getting smaller is exactly the effect for which I'm using that transition.

Or did you mean have them finish talking, then scale down as I start talking in the next clip? Would that be a more appropriate way for them to overlap?

Yeah, have them finish talking, then as it scales down you can be talking in the next clip, and ideally I would have it so that you're visible while you're speaking (which I think is the way you have it now...the first clip moves off to the left, and in the next clip you're standing on the right so you're visible as you speak.) It probably sounds like I'm being picky but I got used to feedback from producers where they'd want a tenth of a second (or even less) cut off of something, so I must have been raised that way

Thanks, yes, that makes sense.

No, I don't think you're being too picky. There are already places where I'm planning to trim things by a few frames. I figure this falls into the category of pretty good now is better than perfect some undefined time in the future.

Thanks so much for the ideas.

Anytime! I browsed your site and liked what I saw!
Say hello to the bay area for me - San Leandro is like a second home to me (I spent about 25 Christmases there at my grandparent's house.)

Pretty amazing that you know San Leandro. It's a relatively small town.

Thanks again for all the ideas. It will be a couple weeks before they all get done, and in the meantime, I'm putting the video as it is on main video page so people can find it.

If anyone else has any comments, feel free to chime in.

I tried but it comes up error 404 file not found.

Sorry, Danny--and anyone else who tried. Now that it's live, it's at a different URL and I forgot to put an updated link here.



http://www.jeffreykorst.com/magic/video.html

My grandparents lived in San Leandro for years, so that's where we spent the holidays...never complete without a trip to the Navy base in Alameda for grocery shopping. I miss the bay area!
Looking forward to seeing the new video once it's up

Here's the new version. I've adjusted the color/brightness throughout, redone all the transitions and background music. I also added footage from a show a couple weeks ago that got good reactions.

The current version: http://www.jeffreykorst.com/magic/video.html

The previous version: http://www.jeffreykorst.com/magic/oldpromovideo.html

The poster frame will change as soon as YouTube updates it. The only thing that I'd still like to do is adjust some of the background sounds. Beyond my skills at the moment, but I'm working on it.

As far as the card routine goes, I'm going with the strong reactions and the fact that I can show it being performed in a number of different venues. I'll put something else in when I have something else.

Thanks again, Andrew.

Comments from anyone else?

What I'm going for is to show anyone looking for entertainment that their guests will have a great time if they hire me. Is that coming across?

Thanks

I didn't lnow you could ice skate!

Cheers!

Oh, yes. I did ice shows from 1984-91--usually 3-6 months of the year. Most of it was with Ron Urban. We did amusement parks, state fairs, hotels, etc. Most often it was 4 shows a day.

This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYh4EoXrXKo

is from a hotel in Japan. The show was produced by Rick Porter from Vegas. Two shows a night, seven days a week. One day off per month for them to resurface the ice. It ran for six months in 1989.