Guerrilla Day Players Review Your Original Content

[GuerrillaDayProject]

After spending a great deal of time leaving comments with criticism on videos on YouTube or through FireViews we've realized that criticism has it's place and this will be it. Expect encouraging brand building comments on watch pages and channel comments-- but here is where we will post our critical commentary. We'll dedicate time to feedback when it's requested.

Ideally this thread will reveal some original content producers that we can cross-promote. We intend to create a video review, after we've found some clips to weave together. We'll create a playlist and keep the reviews and the original video in circulation on our featured playlist box.

With that said, we don't have an interest in promoting Covers, Walkthroughs, Tutorials, Unboxings, Reply Videos, or ScreenCaptures. We make exception to narrative videos created with multimedia-- but this work must be way above par. We do have an interest in promoting fellow sketch troupes, variety shows, stand-up comedians, musicians playing original music or parody covers, animators, improvisors, monologuers, stunt teams, choreographers, and filmmakers.

FAQ: Why have you abandoned us Guerrilla Day Players? Why not just leave comments on YouTube where it gets noticed by Google?

People seldom comment back to a critique; the idea is to draw an audience to your videos by investing time in others. YouTubers, too concerned with brand image, simply write a quick thanks on their own channel or worse leave a comment about your review of their video as a comment on your latest video release disregarding your content completely. In some of our favorite instances our earnest advice is reciprocated with a tasteful "Sick My Duck" as a clandestine channel comment on our feed left unnoticed for a week.

Why would I want Guerrilla Day Players to review my videos?
Our content is produced under fire. We don't have 24/7 access to cameras or our Guerrilla Day Players with their Guerrilla Day Jobs, so the work is often an elaborate compromise by the time it's uploaded. We make great films when we have time and money and people, but that's not what Guerrilla Day Project sets out to do. Ours is a process similar to a 24 hour film festival, only without the prizes or the competition. That being said we'll be reviewing your videos with indie empathy, so don't feel like our mind blowing work is the standard.

 

[the9one8]

Feel free to brutally pick apart our videos. We could use any criticism (constructive or otherwise) to help us better our work. We won't cry about it until we are alone in a room blasting our Alanis Morrissette CD and watching Sleepless in Seattle.

www.youtube.com/the9one8
--- merged: Jun 13, 2012 8:33 PM ---

 

[Symph]

I'll do it! Take this one for a spin!

 

[GuerrillaDayProject]

A News Segment is one of the standards of a sketch comedy program. SNL's Weekend Update, The Daily Show, Who's Line is It Anyway, The Onion's ONN, PoykPac's Good Morning Internet, and Stephen Colbert have blazed the path-- so manning up to the challenge of the established report takes preparation. The meta humor payed off, with the weather man ping pong. Honestly who cares about a weather prediction in a world of windows? The man on the street interviewee title card is on the same vane, and was well played. Our correspondant on Monster Closet News "Chei Singdick" rests on our cutting room floor.
On the technical side of things a few design flaws stuck out. The news room shrinks on the broadcaster in its second appearance, just a matter of scale with the file. This is a good time to play with keyframes. See if you can shift the background image subtly over a long period of time. Pushing in or pulling away while moving either vertically or horizontally. If you're lucky enough to have some shaky camera operation, you can almost create an illusion of a news room with depth. Blurs work wonders on backgrounds as well, don't go overboard, it's a double edged sword if it distracts from the composition. And there's another important bit. The Hollywood sign. Try to imagine the background in three dimensions relative to your blocking. (esp. at 0:53 with the over the shoulder shot) If you use photoshop, transform the image that you will be compositing using the perspective transformation. Using this tool you can stretch an image along the z axis, depth, and skew it to appear with the perspective that your actors imply the camera has moved to. Currently the camera dances around the subjects, but always looks dead on to the Hollywood sign-- like it's Mona Lisa's piercing gaze. Cropping the hollywood sign to frame your actors mor fully is acceptable as well, its such a recognizable icon, that a few letters on a grassy hill do the trick, and if they are out of focus I believe that you care about them less, which convinces me more of your actually being there.
Overall this work is a major evolution from the previous news segment, the To Catch A Predator bit. You guys are working on much more succinct timing and the control you've given yourself for post production shows. Especially with the pace of the major interview. The TCAP bit was more segmented and long playing. It seems like you're starting to become more comfortable with killing your babies. I loved that bit, even if this is better. I've got one scrawled on a bar napkin from years ago that I'm biting my tongue not to tell you about right now. Maybe we can collaborate and give Chris Hanson something to tweet about.
What's next for the9one8? We can't wait to see.
--- merged: Jun 13, 2012 10:00 PM ---

I'll do it! Take this one for a spin!

This video is as playful as it the lyrics of the song. It's got a self effacing sort of enthusiasm that jabs at the trendy faux drug users. We're excited to see another video that ties in with our Poppin' Fresh Monster Closet News report. These kind of juvenile fads are ripe ground for parody.

On the technical side, the stark color changes felt like an unfinished thought. Either add more of these or play with the transition between frames. A cross dissolve can do wonders as you can observe in our Streets of Nerd Rage intro, these color flashes are created with tints and additive dissolves. Since you want a psychedelic look, we'd encourage you to go somewhere other than brown.

The song itself was quite enjoyable, after the initial hump of the mic quality on the guttural intro, when the wailing beings it instantly makes sense. The comparison of activities to have a good time cracked us up. On top of that the enthusiasm for a trip to mars was adorable and overcame any of the absurdity that it threw infront of itself. Tough balance, staying interesting while being weird. Watching your channel is like seeing a good front man revving up the crowd between sets, but on the internet. You should change your location up a bit to reflect the rockstar image. Is there an amphitheater in your local parks? Go set up your rig in front of you on a coffee shop stage or something. Or steal an alley way until busy hotel employees need to park trucks in your shot. Production value.

 

[the9one8]

GuerrillaDayProject - Thank you so much for your honest look and comparison of our videos. I would have quoted your text if I understood computers, but a monkey is actually transcribing this for me as I fear technology.
That was all extremely valuable advice. I am fairly new to the green screen thing and tips/tricks are great to learn. When I learned to edit videos, it was on VHS in the late 90's and things were much different then. It is a bit of a learning curve for me.
As soon as I uploaded the video, I realized the error at 0:53 and almost puked, but I didn't have another hour to wait for my slow internet connection to reupload and figured f* it.
We do have a lot of growth that needs to take place, but at this point we are trying to fine tune the dynamic of the group and get into a better and funnier style. I think we get a bit apprehensive when it comes to "putting it all on the line". We do have a lot of (what we think will be) really funny sketches planned, but we have them on hold until we can truly give them the time and attention needed to properly execute them.
We would definitely love to collab with you. Possibly as the summer progresses, we can take a road trip to the bustling Metropolis of Austin, TX to work it out. We are a mere 8 hours north of you (I know this from the drive to the 2010 SXSW festival).
All in all, yours and any feedback is priceless. As for some future projects; we have the Zombie trilogy to wrap up, a few random shorts coming and maybe some surprises along the way. Thanks for all your continued support.

 

[GuerrillaDayProject]

We have the Zombie trilogy to wrap up, a few random shorts coming and maybe some surprises along the way.

It was a zombie movie casting call on craigslist three years ago that brought the first two of us together to later become Guerrilla Day Project. In fact one of our directors, Greg DeBlieux, has a new zombie short film working it's way through the frustrations of post. On our featured box there's a trailer: "Runs With Zombies". I did my own make-up after perusing Indy Mogul's Halloween FX. Toilet roll and glue... and brains...

 

[HotDangProductions]

I suppose I'll let you have a go at this one

 

[the9one8]

It was a zombie movie casting call on craigslist three years ago that brought the first two of us together to later become Guerrilla Day Project. In fact one of our directors, Greg DeBlieux, has a new zombie short film working it's way through the frustrations of post. On our featured box there's a trailer: "Runs With Zombies". I did my own make-up after perusing Indy Mogul's Halloween FX. Toilet roll and glue... and brains...

I'll check out the trailer. and the make up looks good. Gotta have the brains!!!!

 

[GuerrillaDayProject]

Have a go at this one

This is the third video that we'd seen prior to reviewing on this thread, and fortunately again in this case it's one that we appreciated when we saw it on FireViews. The awkwardness is choice, the epic scream at the end buttons it out well. And you've got a great integration of branding and marketing techniques incorporated into the video itself. The videos interlinked with the annotations, the mention of twitter, the format that you've repeated in this video. You've not only got an enjoyable sketch, you've created an engaging YouTube Video that should be garnering a steady flow of traffic and subscription.

On the Technical side, the color correction/white balancing, composition, and rhythm are all spot on. The cinema verity style worked for the unnerving theme, but more deliberate camera moves would've told the story better. It seemed as if the cinema language was wielded a bit arbitrarily, or perhaps we read the emotions inversely, but it seemed the camera was zooming for transition sake rather than to communicate the relevance of the character. This could've been a by product of the frequency of the device within the short run time of the bit.

We really enjoyed your launch video Fred Wilson Teaches You, and this diverges from format but not style, you've still got a layer of absurdity that wraps it all together in the big picture. Keep up the quality work.

 

[HotDangProductions]

This is the third video that we'd seen prior to reviewing on this thread, and fortunately again in this case it's one that we appreciated when we saw it on FireViews. The awkwardness is choice, the epic scream at the end buttons it out well. And you've got a great integration of branding and marketing techniques incorporated into the video itself. The videos interlinked with the annotations, the mention of twitter, the format that you've repeated in this video. You've not only got an enjoyable sketch, you've created an engaging YouTube Video that should be garnering a steady flow of traffic and subscription.

On the Technical side, the color correction/white balancing, composition, and rhythm are all spot on. The cinema verity style worked for the unnerving theme, but more deliberate camera moves would've told the story better. It seemed as if the cinema language was wielded a bit arbitrarily, or perhaps we read the emotions inversely, but it seemed the camera was zooming for transition sake rather than to communicate the relevance of the character. This could've been a by product of the frequency of the device within the short run time of the bit.

We really enjoyed your launch video Fred Wilson Teaches You, and this diverges from format but not style, you've still got a layer of absurdity that wraps it all together in the big picture. Keep up the quality work.

Thanks for spending the time to give us this prime review; truly appreciate it