How to Review your Video Draft | Video Tip
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here – you’ve received the video draft of your most recent performance, promo video or creative project!
You will probably have feedback when you receive your first draft, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts! With nearly two decades of editing experience at Nel Shelby Productions, we’ve developed some tips on specific ways to view your footage — and to communicate your feedback — that can help generate the best possible final product.
Step 1: Watch & Enjoy
Don’t take notes or criticize yourself or your work. Just sit back and take in the full effect of your art on video— and enjoy it!
Step 2: Watch for Sound & Movement
Make note of any moments that the sound sticks out to you as too loud, too soft, distorted or off. Are you watching a creative promo? Does the music we chose not suit the mood? What about the tone of the piece feels wrong musically? What vibe are you actually looking for? More upbeat, more contemplative?
Also look for visual moments that intuitively don’t feel right. Are you watching a two-camera edit and when we’re closer in on a dancer you actually think it’s important to the work to see the full stage? Are there moments we’re showing a wide angle that you wish we were closer in? In a promo, are we focusing on a close-up of the body when we should be looking at an interview subject?
Ask about the possibility of making these changes and shifts, and be sure to include the timecode for all revision requests.
Step 3: Watch for Text & Graphics
Watch a third time and take notes on all copy/text and graphics. Perhaps you notice a spelling error in a dancer’s name in the credits or a font that doesn’t match your company’s branding. Maybe you see a lower third that just isn’t needed or is harder to read and you’re thinking it should have a purple background instead of gray to match your color palette. Are we using the correct version of your logo?
Make note of anything in this category you want to change last, and again, be sure to include the timecodes for all revisions.
Step 4: Get a Second Opinion (Optional)
Share your video with someone you know will watch it with a different point of view. You can send our private link to a trusted colleague or collaborator, or maybe your partner who isn’t as connected to your work as you are. Even your parents or siblings can be a good resource if you want another eye!
Step 5: Send your Feedback to our Video Team
Once you’ve recorded your own feedback, and maybe even a reliable second opinion, tell your video project manager your notes are ready for us! If we need clarification on your feedback, we’ll be in touch!
Tech Tip: How to Use Vimeo Video Review
We use a Vimeo Pro account to send video drafts to clients for review. This new tool lets us send a private review page link to anyone (even if they’re not on Vimeo), so you can add time-stamped notes right in the video. Plus, we can track progress with real-time replies and to-do lists. This is the single best way to receive your feedback on your video, because all of the notes will be recorded with the timecodes stamped automatically!
If you’re having trouble getting the hang of Video Review, you can still send your notes to us by email or in a doc, as long as you include those timecodes! Or ask for our help and we can walk you through your first Video Review comment process.
Nel Shelby is Owner & Filmmaker for Nel Shelby Productions, her New York City-based company dedicated to dance videography and editing. Nel shares her mission to preserve and promote the art of dance with her husband, Christopher Duggan, a dance and wedding photographer. They collaborate on projects with dance companies of worldwide renown, up-and-coming choreographers, dance educators, dance schools and more. Nel is Video Producer at Jacob’s Pillow and Vail Dance Festival and is also the proud Director and Producer of PS DANCE! — a New York Emmy-nominated documentary about dance education in NYC’s public schools.