Thread: Putting together a promotional DVD

Okay, I'm thinking it's finally time I put together a promotional DVD. I have some old VHS tapes of performance I'm planning to use. What is the ideal length? Any suggestions? Cost? I'd appreciate it if people posted examples of some good promos.

For example here is Arabesque: Most of the promos I've seen use 1 piece of music then fit the dance to that piece. Does anyone have any clips where you are using live clips with live music?
YouTube - arabesque belly dance troupe

Our promo is like the one you described (clips of many performances set to a single piece of music), but our editor was careful to try to get the dancing to 'fit' the music as much as possible:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGO00nS9-wM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGO00nS9-wM[/ame]

The cost to us was very small, as our editor is also in the troupe. We have a rate of pay for troupe members who render professional services that are below average (me for the website and costuming, her for filming and editing). I could find out how much her full rate would have been if you like.

HI Norma, check out this thread.
http://www.bhuz.com/forum/technical-...o-how-tos.html

Originally Posted by mihri

Our promo is like the one you described (clips of many performances set to a single piece of music), but our editor was careful to try to get the dancing to 'fit' the music as much as possible:

YouTube - BlueLotusTribe Demo 2002-2007

The cost to us was very small, as our editor is also in the troupe. We have a rate of pay for troupe members who render professional services that are below average (me for the website and costuming, her for filming and editing). I could find out how much her full rate would have been if you like.

That just amazes me how they can fit the music to the moves. I'm not sure that approach would work for me as the part of my dancing that I want to highlight goes so specific with the music i.e. hitting every accent of the live drummer. How long did it take to do the editing?

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

HI Norma, check out this thread.
http://www.bhuz.com/forum/technical-...o-how-tos.html

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Originally Posted by norma

That just amazes me how they can fit the music to the moves. I'm not sure that approach would work for me as the part of my dancing that I want to highlight goes so specific with the music i.e. hitting every accent of the live drummer. How long did it take to do the editing?

I would have to ask our editor. I had no hand in creating this. She just had all of our existing footage, we picked a song we liked and got permission from the artist to use it, and she went to town. I'll see if she can give me an answer on time when she gets home (she's on an out of state gig).

Originally Posted by mihri

I would have to ask our editor. I had no hand in creating this. She just had all of our existing footage, we picked a song we liked and got permission from the artist to use it, and she went to town. I'll see if she can give me an answer on time when she gets home (she's on an out of state gig).

I finally got a chance to watch it. She did a great job matching the moves to the music. Especially those drummers! They stopped when the music stopped!

For what it's worth, here's my promo reel:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBKa7e67xL0]YouTube - Jewel - Bellydancer, Melbourne - Promo Reel[/ame]
It goes for around 3.5 mins and combines 3 clips of dancing, interspersed with a few paragraphs on who I am and what I do. I liked the idea of slotting in the text to explain more about me, without the audience having to read a whole biography. I'm not entirely happy with mine, mostly because the footage is pretty crappy (but the best of a bad lot, and I just had to get something out there).

I think that 3-4 mins is the absolute maximum for general promo stuff, and you should consider that many people will only watch the first minute, or even 10 seconds. Name and website up front, no blank spaces to start or spoken intro's where you're off-stage!

My thoughts on costing were up to AU$300 was fine (say, US $250), but I would have paid more if it was with better footage, and so worth making into something fabulous. I reckon paying up to an amount you earn back in ~3-5 gigs is a good rate. I would also have liked to incorporate various photos in between clips.

For mine, we used the music on the actual clips, fading in and out to each clip. It was much cheaper than fiddling with one external sound-track. It works with mine because each clip is long enough - if you were flashing up lots of quick clips or photos one music track might work better.

I loved you promo, Jewel. It was lovely. :)

Originally Posted by norma

Okay, I'm thinking it's finally time I put together a promotional DVD. I have some old VHS tapes of performance I'm planning to use.

I've been doing some extensive transfers of VHS to DVD, and you may want to re-think using old tapes. For starters, most VHS tapes have about half the resolution of DVD, so even under the best circumstances your images will be poor. If you add age to the equation you're in even worse shape. I've transferred some tapes from the late 80's that were mostly unwatchable. The color is gone or badly shifted and the only real value is for a historical record. These are tapes that were stored in a box in a closet, not a hot attic or damp basement. Newer tapes aren't so bad, but still not as good as you might hope for.

Find someone with a digital camcorder and re-record. Your demo will thank you.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

For what it's worth, here's my promo reel:
YouTube - Jewel - Bellydancer, Melbourne - Promo Reel
It goes for around 3.5 mins and combines 3 clips of dancing, interspersed with a few paragraphs on who I am and what I do. I liked the idea of slotting in the text to explain more about me, without the audience having to read a whole biography. I'm not entirely happy with mine, mostly because the footage is pretty crappy (but the best of a bad lot, and I just had to get something out there).

I think that 3-4 mins is the absolute maximum for general promo stuff, and you should consider that many people will only watch the first minute, or even 10 seconds. Name and website up front, no blank spaces to start or spoken intro's where you're off-stage!

My thoughts on costing were up to AU$300 was fine (say, US $250), but I would have paid more if it was with better footage, and so worth making into something fabulous. I reckon paying up to an amount you earn back in ~3-5 gigs is a good rate. I would also have liked to incorporate various photos in between clips.

For mine, we used the music on the actual clips, fading in and out to each clip. It was much cheaper than fiddling with one external sound-track. It works with mine because each clip is long enough - if you were flashing up lots of quick clips or photos one music track might work better.

Thanks Jewel. I think something like what you did is more doable for me. I do love the quick clips but I think putting clips of my dancing to a track that doesn't match the music I'm actually dancing to won't showcase my style. I liked the narrative photo idea too.

Mmm. Now to narrow down hours of footage to just a few minutes.

Originally Posted by bakhtiyaar

I've been doing some extensive transfers of VHS to DVD, and you may want to re-think using old tapes. For starters, most VHS tapes have about half the resolution of DVD, so even under the best circumstances your images will be poor. If you add age to the equation you're in even worse shape. I've transferred some tapes from the late 80's that were mostly unwatchable. The color is gone or badly shifted and the only real value is for a historical record. These are tapes that were stored in a box in a closet, not a hot attic or damp basement. Newer tapes aren't so bad, but still not as good as you might hope for.

Find someone with a digital camcorder and re-record. Your demo will thank you.

My videos aren't that old! The oldest is from 1999. Most are from the 21st century. I can't re-record live shows with a live band so I'll have to use what I got. I didn't think about the transfer quality though.

I found a friend who's willing to help me. We're meeting next week. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile I'd still be interested in seeing more demos.

Originally Posted by norma

My videos aren't that old! The oldest is from 1999. Most are from the 21st century. I can't re-record live shows with a live band so I'll have to use what I got. I didn't think about the transfer quality though.

Find the biggest tv you can (everything looks good on a small set) and play your tapes and then play a current performance dvd. Look at the picture quality in both: detail, fading, blur, smearing. Even a 10 year old tape will show some age, but it may be that your tapes have aged well and will produce useable clips.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from making a demo dvd, I just don't want you to invest time and money into something you may not be happy with.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

I loved you promo, Jewel. It was lovely. :)

Oh thank you! As usual, I'm always most critical of footage of myself. Most of it, I can't bear to look at.