Recon Barricade review

[benben2142]

Sorry bad lighting http://youtube.com/watch?v=52XyLgYMjKE

[Soundwarp]

Holy crap, a 10 minute review.....

I'll have to watch it after work

Man you did learn from the best!

*Saw a little bit, mate i think the sunlight in the window behind the figure isn't helping the lighting at all*

Man you are doing a great job but the packaging review.........

I just think that anyone watching the review has seen the packaging and is more interested in the toy....

2 Thumbs up still!

[Saintly]

like what SW said... sunlight from the background is making the video darker...

if you have anything like a proper video camera, pull the window shutters and the video camera "should" compensate the lighting and make it lighter. Perhaps also try putting a table lamp and make a spotlight on the toy. It's also really hard to see anything past the 9minute mark.

another thing what SW said.. the review should be the toy, not the packaging... and when you mentioned the decepticon symbol at the top of the packaging, it isn't shown... so try to move the camera back abit to fit the entire packaging in and zoom in by bringing the toy forward (like you've done).

One last thing, try to have a mini-script of what you want to talk about, that will avoid the ummms and arrrs as well as "oh I almost forgot"

But otherwise, another good effort... I think with a couple more reviews, you will have it perfected and be ready to make a school production assignment

[Soundwarp]

OK just saw it all, mate you really have the potential to be a great thorough reviewer. Couple of tweaks and you've got it!!!

[GoktimusPrime]

Frenzy is blue! HAR!

It's good to see you making an effort to improve the lighting, but others have said (and as you yourself have admitted) it's still too dark.

Here's what's happened with the first portion of your video...



Because you've positioned the light source (sunlight coming in through a window) behind your subject (Recon Barricade) all the light is hitting the side of the subject that's facing away from the camera with the dark side facing the camera and casting a shadow into the camera lens. That's why your subject looks so dark.

It's like looking at the Moon. The moon produces no light of its own - the part of the moon that you can see is where sunlight is reflecting off that part of the moon's surface (bright side) and the part that you can't see (the dark side) is where light isn't being reflected and a shadow is being cast; that part of the moon becomes invisible in the night sky.

A full moon is when the bright side of the moon is facing the viewer on earth where sunlight is fully reflected back, making that entire side of the moon's surface visible.

So you want to throw as much light as possible onto the subject so that the light can be reflected back at the subject. Don't place any light sources behind the subject as it will cast a shadow into the camera lens. You can put it anywhere else though - and the more sources you have the better.

Here's how I tend to light my videos (and photos) now...



The window directly behind the subject has the blinds drawn closed to block off any sunlight from coming in from behind and casting a shadow into the camera. I will have one or two ceiling lights on and preferably during daytime, have the other window with the blinds drawn open. Usually this is enough, but if it's a dark day (e.g.: overcast) and especially if I'm unable to shoot during daylight hours, I will add a desklamp to throw more light on the subject. It's not as good as sunlight, but it's all the available artificial light that I can throw on it.

Here are some sample results...
My G1 Megatron review was shot during a nice sunny afternoon. You can see that the blinds on the window behind the subjects (toys and myself) are drawn closed and sunlight is pouring in from the open window to the right. I can't remember if I even bothered using the ceiling light or not as it was such a nice sunny day.

My Decepticon Frenzy review was shot during dusk (between afternoon and evening) so although I still had sunlight coming in, it wasn't terribly strong so I switched on both ceiling lights in the room. I think I was using the desklamp too. You can see artificial light reflecting off the surfaces as well as natural sunlight.

My G1/reissue Soundwave comparison video was shot at night - so there was absolutely no sunlight available to use. I switched on both ceiling lights in the room as well as ceiling lights in adjoining rooms. I also used the desklamp - and you can see the light from the lamp reflecting off the subjects. It's still quite dark, but that's the best I can do without sunlight... hence I try to avoid shooting after dark.

This video consists of over four hundred photos I shot over a period of five days in varying light conditions! So you can see a wide range of different lighting techniques that I had to use - the ceiling light was always on and the blinds on the side window opened, but the amount of sunlight varied at different times of the day so at times I would have to use the second ceiling light and - the advantage of still photography as opposed to video - the camera flash (which was set to auto so it would go off it there wasn't enough light).

[Saintly]

...

I'm speechless Gok! Ignorance is definitely bliss!

[GoktimusPrime]

YouTube: behind the scenes.