Forgehubs Top 5 Plays Week 1

Wow how the hell did zerosun pull that off, lol.
He shot the ground and got two snipes
Keep it up sharp

 

wow great vid. lol insanes vid was totally set up or he is just being himself. a suggestiono is that you have a vid for the top 5 runner ups

 

Umm, nice clips and all, you say fricking way to ****ing much. Your voice sounds so high and unmotivating....have someone else as announcer PLEASE
(reference to how asathecomic say please YouTube - asathecomic's Channel)
dun commentary ever again. He friggin...."He frigging gets a scope through two guys' heads off the ground...frigging amazing"
dun do that...

 

Doesnt matter......the videos had like progress bars and ****.....comon dude, be at least more professional.....
And yes, your voice did sound like that.....

 

No bro, the video was cool, just try and get a voice that sounds more motivating. I liked the choices, pretty cool bro. I'll PM you in a sec, wait up...

 

Dude. It sucked. Bottom line. Two of the plays in there were good. That's it. The bar got in the way, and you didn't cut the films shorter. Sorry, but it did.

And Insane; No you.

 

I agree you do say fricken a lot! I'd like it better if you didn't use mini-game clips. Also I'd like it if you got some one older to do the commentary

 

It was ok. These are fh top 5 not mlg so of course they may be a little weak compared to others. However, you do like to say freak, frick, and end with terrible inflection. I notice it more since I had some crazy ass history teacher that ended every sentence like it was a question, with his voice getting high at the end.

 

*cough*

 

Way to go Sdrak, make 1 good point but execute it like ****. I'd dare say your jealous he managed to pull off an episode before you did.

Anyway, it was okay, but is in great need for improvement, which I hope to see in the second episode.

First off, I'll say what Sdrak did, but not be a ***** about it. Its not so much your voice, as what is coming out of your mouth. The lines are delivered poorly, and just feel awkward. There are a lot of "freaking" and repetition of words, and pauses as if you are waiting for something to happen before continuing. Here are some simple pointers for fixing that.

• Write a script. It is easier to talk fluently when you are reading from something, using it as a guide. After watching your clips, jot down things you want to say, then proceed to write a script to say those things. Read it out loud constantly, to check flow.
• A common mistake I see with new editors dealing with V.O's (voice overs) is that they edit the voice to the footage, for lack of better words. This is not how it is done, and appears to be your issue. You often have breaks, stuttering, and filling in the gaps with additional commentary waiting for "the no scope" and what not. Naturally, it is obvious that you first edited your work, then recorded your voice as you watched this. While this is okay, it is not the proper way to do it.

1. As mentioned, write a script. In addition, write it with breaks in mind. For example "Next up is (username) pulling off a no scope from across the pit. Not only does he get the kill, but he moves in with the rocket (pause for a quick second, for pauses should be no longer than a second) [player shoots the rocket and gets a double kill] for the triple kill." As you write, make sure to know your footage so you can go over how it will all sound in your head in correleation with what is happening on the screen.
2. Record your audio in sections, not one piece. For example, divide each "Play" into a piece of recorded audio. Record "Play 5" stop, then record "Play 4". This will keep you from running out of breath, and make it easier to work with.
3. While it is acceptable to record your voice as you watch the edited piece, professionally this is not how it is done. Keep in mind, this art is all created in your mind, and true skill/talent is used when you are able to record your voice set to the image in your head, not what you see before your eyes. This will make your talking much more natural and smooth.
4. Record more than once, even if you think it is good. My safe measure for a specific shot (of course depends on the type of shot and complexity) is 3 times. The same can apply to audio. Then listen over it, and pick out the best.
5. After you do all this, lay your audio on the track, and edit TO the voice. If your commentary finishes faster than the clip, cut the clip to match the voice. When it comes to V.O.'s always edit to the sound. If the audio won't sync up at all, not leaving enough time to cover the footage, first try dividing the audio up manually into parts (such as sentences) and moving them to then fit the footage. If that fails, just re-record.

• Less talk is better. People are primarily watching these videos to see the clips, not listen to your speak, unless you are someone like Philly D. So, the intro and outros are unnecessarily long. An intro should go like "Hey, and welcome to the first episode of Forgehub's Top Five, where we crack down on the best clips of the week submitted by our very own users. This week, we have clips ranging from insane luck in Cat n' Mouse, to massive skill with a sniper. Let's watch." That is by no means perfect, or even good, but it is better, and a good example of what it should sound like. Also, keep the commentary to the clips at a bear minimum, using lines like I provided in the the #1 suggestion.

Now with that out of the way, I need to bring up the second issue, which is the name bars. While they are nice and ad some professionalism to the piece, they block a vital part of the screen. Right now, it is aligned with the bottom third line of the screen, violating rule of thirds in a sense. Thing should be aligned to the rule of thirds, but not obstruct it. It is quite distracting, but, there are too, ways to fix this.

• Have the bar fade in at the start of the clip, then fade out after a few seconds of being up. Then, you will have no obstruction.
• Make the bar thinner, and move it to a new location. With a thinner bar, if you move it closer to the bottom of the screen, then it will be out of the way. so you won't have to fade it out. You can also move it to the top right, or bottom right, since that area is generally unused, though for note, I think that will look worse.

Also, I want to see more style to this. Currently, it looks like any other halo clip video, and there are alot.

• Opening title looks cool, but could be better. The black of the logo does not matcht the black background, instantly bad. Also, it drags on for a bit long, and should be no longer than 10 seconds for a standard shot like that. Move it up a bit, through in some animation, but make it interesting.
• The numbers are fine, possibly look the best since they are animated, but something other than the bland black background will make it better.
• The name bars are okay, but short of position, they are also a little bland. Spice them up some, create your own in graphic programs like photoshop or gimp, and import them to your video program and stick them over your clips instead of using default ones. If you want, I can show you how to do this sometime.
• Avoid the music playing for the full duration of the clips, especially if it is a mainstream song. They are often used, and just makes your video seem like any other.
• Throw in some sound effects man. Whips and whooshes for titles. I know, confusing, but watch other Game Review videos from places like G4, and then watch them only a second time but only listen to it. You'll understand what I am getting at.
• Not so much style related, rather technical, but deserves note. Your captured videos don't fill the frame, so they have a black frame. If intentional, bad. If not, still bad. Needs to be fixed by enlarging the clip to fit the canvas space.

So what I am saying here is, develop a style, a theme, something that makes your video orignal and unique, not one made in Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. In a see of video game related (especially Halo) related content, if you wish to make something good, it needs to stand out. If you want this to become an official Forgehub thing, it will need to stand out. It is alot of work, but the end result is worth it. Hope to see your next one with some improvements.

 

I highly doubt sdrak's editing skills incorporate what I said.

 

The video was good, and I agree that people should SHUT THE **** UP about your editing and voice. Anyway the bar doesn't bother me at all, I wouldn't care if it was there(lol that rymed). The clips were good and good judging, and if people think the clips suck, they never ****ing know if those were the only best clips submitted, you can't just randomly say,"Hey dickwad, needs better clips!" They should blame the submitters, not you. Also it would be cool if you made a better intro than just a picture, but the picture was cool and didn't have a problem with it. But one thing, I have one problem with your voice acting, you kind of seemed like you didn't put enough "narrator" in your voice, just try to get that better in the next video. ANd I don't care if you say friggin, but not so much.

 

I remeber when Insane did that he was looking at all the corpses(mine espcially *I was the guy with the katana*)then he just walks up and I think Insane had his mic off his head or something because were all giggling and he just kept walking the he turns around and screams louder than I ever heard in the lost chamber. There many lols then except Insane who had a heart attack.

Although it is a good song please don't play B.Y.O.B in the background or any other song for that matter.