i made a promo video for my new show, mr tiff's procrastination happy hour, book now!!!
https://youtu.be/yUC1vAQUCSk
Little Paul - - Parent #
I'll watch this properly later, but I'm genuinely excited about your combination tricks.
Little Paul - - Parent #
Having watched it now, I *love* the tricks. Properly love them in all their old skool glory!
They deserve much better camera work than that though. If only Norbi was still in the UK, based on his recent videos, a collaboration would look all kinds of awesome! :)
I agree. I loved the technique and am super impressed by what combinations you've learnt...but I was constantly distracted by the terrible cameraman.
Thirded. You're a great juggler and performer, and although this video shows off some of your skills, it could be better *as a video*.
Some tips for next time:
- Get some shots from (at least) 3 different shows, including one outdoors.
- Make sure your video is properly deinterlaced, and in the correct aspect ratio.
- Having a web page as well as an email address would probably look more professional. (Even a single page site is *some* web presence).
- People have short attention spans, and a video with fast cuts should reflect that. 90 seconds maximum, please, but aiming towards 60.
- "Procrastination" in the show name sounds a bit cynical, perhaps?
- I like the video description.
I would tout https://tlmb.net/video/ at you, but the Bristol-Leeds journey would probably hike the price a bit much.
You're probably quite chuffed to have got a reasonably nice video out, only to be disappointingly slapped down in our responses here. Cheer up, it's because we all think you're good that we bothered to reply with constructive criticism. :-)
Cheers, and best of luck with the performing. I hope I get to see you live soon. (In fact, I just recommended you to someone.)
Little Paul - - Parent #
All good points.
Re: The Bristol-Leeds Journey ... Are you both going to be at BJC? Something which better showcases the material could probably be put together there?
I'd be up for shooting a few stills for you to use as you see fit (any excuse to watch you pull this stuff off in person ;)
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
yes, that would be great!! ill be there from tues till fri morn, im compereing team shreddie show, might be a good time?
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
thanks for the recommendation!! i am an old man trapped inside a young persons body, cynical? you cant even imagine!!! theres a lot of hope in the title too though, procrastination for me at least, usually involves doing something highly productive, just not what im ment to be doing, and its ment to try and evoke a sense of exploring the world when your not ment to be, day dreaming at school, you learn so much while day dreaming, yet the teacher stops you.
me
x
p.s day dreaming has a professional job title, meditation....
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
well, you cant polish a turd....
and that camera man (and possibly the juggler) was just that. thanks for your help and love, must try harder i suppose.... 6hours fighting (editing)(windows movie maker) 7 attempts to even get started in the first place as the footage was in vob. format. lost footage from josh, and lewis, as well as another guy who filmed a different show.
i am in year 3 of a 5 year plan to make a success of myself, to go from teaching to performing, in both music and juggling. year 3 is learn to advertise. i spent 2 years learning the most banging act i could conceive of, 4hours a day, and 10 years before that learning how to juggle and play music. WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. i should have learnt to be an internet web designer, an accountant, a secretary and a video editor and pro photographer. cos people with those skills and almost no talent in the skill they claim to have, circus in our case, seem to do really quite well... in music, this is called the pop industry!
ive no dought the more i do of my 4new jobs, mentioned in the previous paragraph, the better i will get at them, however for now im still learning, i feel thoroughly devastated by your well meaning and kind comments, along with similar ones from family and other friends, but dont think im not grateful, its exactly what i need from the people that are successful, hopefully one day i will be successful too. but the erge to let only a squash court wall be my audience at the moment is overwhelmingly strong. think the video will do more harm than good? shall i take it down?
me
x
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
ok, the video stays, thanks again
Little Paul - - Parent #
One thing I'm still trying to learn in my professional life, is that I don't have to do everything myself. Working out which bits I'm Just Not Good At and working out how best to pass them on to other people gives me more time to concentrate on the bits I frankly rock at.
Pulling in favours, "collaborating" or (last resort!) paying for someone else who can do that bit isn't cheating :)
Anyway, my praise of the material is genuine, and I'm grateful that I got to see it at all (because those tricks aren't all that common) so those hours are not wasted! Chin up old chap! We all want you to shine, and if I can help with that at all, I will.
Also - bloody great to have you on the edge tiff! Now if you can persuade the rest of leeds* to join you we can have some fun like we used to on r.j!
* I've been missing my daily dose of louise since the ijdb died
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
the collaberations ive tried since the end of uni have been a spectacular failure, all of them. and i mean all. i do agree that i need to let some of this work load go but at the moment i cant pay anyone to do it and no one likes me enough to do it for free. i know the enthusiasm is genuine and im really happy you all like the tricks, i know the public require good pretty footage and nice graphics etc etc but i hope the people within the industry at least can watch this promo video and start booking me, think it will work for that purpose?
thanks again
I'm sorry you took it badly, negative comments are always a bitch. As I said, and as has been said by others, I have nothing against your juggling and all those many hours were worth every bloody broken nail and burst blister.
I strongly suggest you put some money into it.
It's such a hard choice, and what everyone calls "investment" just feels like emptying out your bank account and not being able to eat for the foreseeable future, but you just need to think about it properly...
If you have a video which is distracting and will be turned off after 30 seconds, you probably won't take the attention of a lot of agents/producers/etc. Now if you put in let's say £1000 into a super lush video, it's a mega amount of money...but it's got a lot more chance of getting noticed, and then just a couple of medium-well-paid corporate events and you've paid for the video which you'll use for possibly years to come.
There are a ton of really terrible jugglers (I saw a very successful ring juggler who finished with a very shaky 5 ring qualify) working full-time due to beautiful photos, a sexy video and a slick website...however, there are very few incredible technical jugglers working, due to low quality promo material.
Apart from "who you know" (which is ridiculously important), your public image and online presence is often more important than how good you are.
I hope there is something useful in this post, I want to see on the big stage, you deserve it!
As others have said, truly superb juggling, but the video doesn't do your skills justice.but i hope the people within the industry at least can watch this promo video and start booking me, think it will work for that purpose?
I know you probably don't want to hear it & I'm sorry to say it, but no. I remember seeing years ago a clip of a music label exec going through demo tapes. The tape would go into the machine, he'd listen to perhaps 10 seconds (if that) before discarding the tape & moving onto the next. This is what you are up against.
A promo video could be your first contact with a show producer, if the video quality is not to a professional standard then they will infer that neither is your act. Successful professional jugglers like Steve Ragatz, Luke Burrage, Ivan Pecel etc. have often written about the importance of being professional. Having a great act is only one piece of the puzzle. You have got to be organised, punctual, pleasant, flexible & much more at all times. In short, you have got to be as easy to work with as possible. Which means at the start showcasing what you & your act can do for the client as clearly as possible. If they have got to squint at wobbly camera work then you are not making it easy for them.
Cedric Lackpot - - Parent #
Disclaimer : I am not an agent, booker, or promoter.
That said, don't even think about showing this to an agent or promoter. It will be a cheap and cheerless way to permanently add you to that person's mental blacklist. If you really want to show something like this to an agent, then get it shot deliberately badly by a professional. At they'll know how to shoot something that looks like it was intended to look bad, if you see what I mean. This just looks half-arsed, even to an old hack like me who knows you personally and has oodles more patience than someone in a dingy office with one eye on the gross profit.
Have you tried approaching Nathan Rae? He might have some good ideas about how to proceed; he might even offer you mates rates to shoot a short showreel. Showreels don't have to be Oscar material; but they absolutely must not be cack-handed.
As with every other respondent in this thread, I have no doubt whatsoever about your juggling abilities; few doubts about your performing abilities; and considerable doubts about your ability to turn those things into income. If ever a performer needed a sympathetic director and a no-nonsense agent, it would be you. Good luck Tiff, I hope you can find the way and the means to make something better. Kickstarter for Tiff anyone?
Little Paul - - Parent #
I've been thinking along kickstarter lines too.
Cedric Lackpot - - Parent #
Further to all the other stuff, have you heard about the Udder Belly festival Tiff? It might be of interest to you.
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
p.p.s if i go in for the competition then i will just experience subjective opinions, which usually dont go my way. ''It's better to fail your own way than to spoon feed the public your warm diarrhea created by the opinions of everyone else's curry!''
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
''This just looks half-arsed, cack-handed, don't even think about showing this, cheap and cheerless, mental blacklist''
jay,
its a fucking good job i didnt speak to u like this when u stumbled over in a vunerable state at the bjc, while the others mocked and bullied u for your 'guitar' playing i only encouraged your struggling self esteem to keep having a go.
i am writing this not cos you responded, but cos you responded saying the same thing as everyone else, in an even more negative fashion, thought u might have been a bit more tactful given the posts already above.
tiff
p.s they were very very cruel about u
Cedric Lackpot - - Parent #
Tiff, I wanted to come straight to a point without pussyfooting around, but without causing offence or getting under your skin. Evidently I failed, so please accept my apologies, I wasn't trying to get up your nose. I have a great deal of respect for your abilities and the dedication that goes into them.
For the avoidance of doubt, you are clear that I was criticising the video's production values and not the performing content, right? To be absolutely clear, I liked the content; I disliked the way it was shot. In fact I wrote and then deleted a reply to that effect when you first posted here, having decided that my reply was not constructive enough - perhaps I should have come to the same conclusion with the more recent message, but I didn't, hey ho.
Now, consider how you would like your promotional material to be received. Do you want to be received like my guitar playing, where everyone has a negative opinion but no one can quite manage to say it to my face? Or would you prefer an honest appraisal, regardless of how uncomfortable it may be? Luckily for me I'm a crap but contented guitarist with little to lose or gain from the opinions of others (though I'd always prefer honesty, given the choice), and no aspirations to take it anywhere other than my own pleasure; you are an excellent but sometimes frustrated performer with much to lose or gain. Me being crap and drunk doesn't matter to anyone; you missing opportunities to promote your skills matters very much.
I firmly believe that friends should not condescend to mollycoddle one another, and fearless criticism is an example of that, though it can get uncomfortable. So, I'm honestly sorry if I was much too blunt (I often am) but I urge you to look past the negative comments you quoted, to the positive ones. Above all, if you want a showreel, get someone good to do it for you - it can be very liberating to be allowed to concentrate on the things you're really good at.
I can't really remember for sure but I have a feeling that I may have needled you in the past with some post or other (r.j maybe?) yet we get along like a house on fire in person, aided and abetted by a beer and a smoke. Let's keep it that way - I'll try to be more considerate online, and request that you try not to take criticism too personally when it's intended to be informative.
In my experience most people struggle not to take it personally, if you take something they have spent a lot of time and effort on, and call it cack-handed.
That's rather more personal than just saying look, professional videography is very skilled and very time consuming and doing a DIY job is just never going to cut it for this purpose.
Just because you don't have a lot invested in the quality of your guitar playing doesn't mean other people feel the same way about their own creative endeavours!
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
i am far too delicate for my own good, i like u loads, i asked u about this vid before i made it cos i respect your opinions xx
* I've been missing my daily dose of louise since the ijdb died
Has she had an invitation?
Matthew Tiffany - - Parent #
took me a couple of days to work out who u ment, ill try and get 'him' onboard....
pumpkineater23 - - Parent #
"well, you cant polish a turd.... "
Agreed, a shiny turd is still a turd.. but I wonder would it be possible to fashion a little white furry purse out of one of those little white furry dog poos that you never seem to see around anymore?
"You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter" - someone on the internet
Little Paul - - Parent #
I'm always a bit wary of people suggesting rolling anything in glitter
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