Threads tagged #atmosphere

emilyw - 2013-03-08 12:39:20 UTC - Parent #

There's a massive difference between "bad light" and "not much light"... it looks to me as if every frame of this vid has been extremely carefully and thoughtfully lit for the effect the author wants. I don't think that effect is "selling my act to the average busy booking agent".

In particular, you can see that there's a lot of care given to what should NOT be lit, as well as what should be lit.

pumpkineater23 - 2013-03-08 12:45:57 UTC - Parent #

The video was deadly pretentious, or was it supposed to be pretentious in a comical kind of way, like a Reeves & Mortimer sketch? Experimental maybe, further along, if/when their juggling videos contain some more juggling, then maybe i'll agree with the intro - "possibly one of the best videos ever on JTV." For now though, way too much icing and not enough cake.

Marlon - 2013-03-08 17:01:51 UTC - Parent #

I think you watched this in the wrong mindset.
If you ask me this was a video made knowing full well they were making a video.
There is very little you can do juggling-wise that is so impressive on video that you'll stand out.
This video didn't try that they tried to make a video that stood out for it's atmosphere.

I wouldn't want to watch videos like this all the time but this one I really enjoyed.

pumpkineater23 - 2013-03-09 13:10:31 UTC - Parent #

I seem to be watching juggling online that stands out more and more frequently as time goes on. If a juggling video is going to be introduced as "one of the best" I think the emphasis has to be on the juggling first and foremost, otherwise it's not really a juggling video, it's a video that happens to have some juggling in it. The juggling in the above video could have been replaced with anything, football, traditional Irish dancing.. anything. If they had been running down dark corridors with green lights strapped to their heads and then pulled into rooms where jugglers like Emmanuel Perez were sharing with us some of their latest juggling. And then if the editor could possibly leave it without interruption for long enough for us to appreciate the juggling then perhaps it would be worthy of the massive big up. There are videos like that on JTV, amazing juggling first and *then* the other stuff.

The Void - 2013-03-09 15:40:04 UTC - Parent #

They seem to have polarised opinion nicely. They must be doing something right.

The Void - 2013-03-10 14:41:18 UTC - Parent #

"Who said anything about juggling?"
Exactly! Extra hipster cred point overload for you, Marlon! :-)

We try to feature a wide variety of videos on JTV, different props, sometimes pure technical stuff, sometimes videographically interesting, sometimes performances, and there's nothing wrong with a fun/simple practice video sometimes too. But ultimately it's only ever someone's opinion, so if you think differently about this video, then fine. Sorry if the choice of words led you astray, but I stick by my opinion of it.

pumpkineater23 - 2013-03-10 22:43:22 UTC - Parent #

In case there was a misunderstanding, I do understand that JTV intros have nothing to do with the makers of the videos. I think you may both be clutching at straws a little with the "who said anything about juggling". I noticed that you had missed out the word juggling. Had you done that on purpose? If you had, then why? I picked up on it and thought it might be worth some discussion because - JTV is an online depository for *juggling* videos and I think, and correct me if i'm wrong, JTV is used pretty much exclusively by jugglers. I was surprised that a juggler would use the words "possibly one of the best videos" for that video, unless you meant it was one of the best videos for non-jugglers? So is it just me? Genuinely interested in your and others opinion in case I'm missing something.. it certainly wouldn't be the first time!

emilyw - 2013-03-10 23:47:54 UTC - Parent #

I loved that video.

I know it's a common thing to be interested in juggling purely for the sake of juggling, but that's not the case for all of us.

I'm interested in juggling, and I'm also interested in performance and lighting and videography and presentation and production and communication. In fact, videos of purely technical juggling bore me silly. All my own juggling is passing patterns of no interest to muggles; nevertheless I've literally no interest in watching videos only consisting of technical passing patterns.

I am a complete nerd in other spheres of life, so I mean it entirely kindly when I say one can be a juggler without being a juggling nerd.

The Void - 2013-03-11 00:29:08 UTC - Parent #

@pumpkin. I'm in the same camp as emily. It was me that wrote that feature text. There are over 6500 videos on JTV, and I've watched most of them. From about 2001 until JTV launched in 2007, I was quite a juggling video nerd, and watched most of the videos that were posted to rec.juggling. Before that, for 7 or 8 years, I'd watch any juggling VHSes I got the chance to watch.

I have seen A LOT of juggling videos. A LOT. Way too many, in fact.

So for me personally, it really takes something special for a video to stand out. Even "hard tricks" doesn't necessarily do it for me - I've seen a lot of hard tricks in 20+ years of juggleyness. So many that often these days I'll see some hard trick, and if it doesn't *really* grab me, then I'll just assume that I've seen someone do that before. That said, I do try to take the view that a lot of people won't have seen everything that I've seen, so sometimes I feature stuff that I find boring as hell! (Whilst trying to sound enthusiastic about it ;-) ) There are currently about 10 people who have "feature power", so a range of opinions get their say in what gets featured. There have been occasions when I've watched a video, thought it not to be featureworthy, only for someone else to then feature it. Ultimately, the blog text header says "featuring the videos we enjoy", so of course you and the world are welcome to have differing opinions. I enjoyed this video. Not for its pure technical juggling content, but for the experience I had watching it. I've sat through so many dull, badly made, derivative or repetitive videos that when I come across one that has had so much thought and effort go into it as this one has, I appreciate it for those reasons.

I'm curious: Are you a JTV member? There is no-one with a "pumpkin"-related username there....

Norbi - 2013-03-11 05:37:29 UTC - Parent #

I haven't had quite the experience of Ste3, however I have been on the juggling scene since 2000 (coming also from a travelling and circus family before that) and I was an extremely active rec.juggler. I've seen tons of videos, tons of live performances and tons of juggling in general.

These days I will often only watch a video if it's less than a few minutes long, if it is a longer video then I give it 30 seconds to grab my attention...unfortunately they rarely do. With the video in question however, I started watching it and didn't at any moment check the bar to see how long had past or was to come, and then it ended. The video grabbed my attention and didn't let go until the end - juggling or not, it is a well made video. That it used juggling to help express itself was a bonus (and the juggling really wasn't that bad).

On this side-topic of art-videos, here is a skate video which was released recently. The skating in it is very nice and all, but far from his biggest technical achievements. The video however, on a whole, is beautiful (in my opinion, maybe not everyone's, but I would definitely feature it would it be a juggling video).
https://youtu.be/HGGo1QaC84s

Anyway, instead of staying on this tangent, I'll jump back to replying to Tiff. The "jerky camera work, dodgy editing, [not much] light" were intentional, chosen by the videographer to help create the atmosphere he was searching. That is quite a difference from a video which has all of those things just because it's not well planned.
Blair Witch project shot on a tripod would be completely useless, as would taking a timelapse whilst holding the camera in your hand.

The Void - 2013-03-11 06:36:01 UTC - Parent #

That skate vid was lush, thanks for the link. (Beats insomnia, for sure.)