just looking for some feedback on our first filmed hunt. We're completely new to this so don't be to harsh lol. It was fun being able to document the hunt. This was my 2nd elk hunt and we tried to get as much as we could on film. Let me know what y'all think!
I’ll watch when I get a chance, it’s very difficult to get feedback here on videos. I’ve noticed most people don’t want to sit through anything longer and 30 seconds. The shorter the video I post online, the more views I will get. Also, I’ve noticed you will get a lot more coverage if you use Facebook as compared to YouTube. I get 10x the views. I upload to both. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It is funny that you say that Simon, because I have noticed the same thing and at times am just as guilty. I know a lot of us work hard to put together a "professional" looking video of each hunt and we take pride in them. But I find the more time that I put into the production quality, the less views and/or response that I get, not only here but on all of the other outlets (Youtube, Facebook, forums, etc). Yet someone will throw up a 2 minute raw video from an iPhone with zero editing, shaky footage, horrible audio, and terrible exposure/colors ... and they will get like 5,000+ views in a matter of a day. I found one recently on Youtube of a really crappy turkey hunt that had over 100,000 views and tons of positive comments. It gets frustrating for sure. I've thought about joining up with an established program (I've had offers to do just that) and just dumping my footage to them to do the editing and publishing, while I just go about hunting and filming, but I enjoy the total process too much to turn it over. Personally, I find my time to dive into watching a video limited anymore. It isn't that I am not interested, but I just cannot find 10 minutes to dive into a video with audio running to enjoy the experience. At work I am interrupted all the time with ... well ... work (LOL). At home in the evening, I cannot find a free moment to watch much of anything. If I play a video with sound, then my wife or kids are telling me to turn it off. If I throw in ear buds, then I am not engaging with the family. So I simply don't get a chance to dive into videos. It isn't fair to these producers either because there is some really good content out there, and just like me, they want views and enjoy a positive comment. I used to have the mindset that a hunting video should be no longer than 10 minutes fully edited. But times are changing and I'm not so sure that it shouldn't be 3 minutes tops these days given all the content that we are competing against. OP ... I skimmed through the video (I basically jumped from point to point), I didn't see a kill on video, so to be honest, it probably won't hold a lot of attention from the general hunting audience. If I am wrong and missed it, then I apologize. I will almost never watch a 20+ minute video of any sort, I just don't have that attention span. Heck I cannot watch a 30 minute TV show ... LOL. That doesn't mean it isn't a quality video though, it might be. I will often scrub through a video just to find the kill scene and just watch that short sequence ... right, wrong, or indifferent. It can take me 3 or 4 days to scrub through a single episode of BHD ... and I skip a ton of the talking stuff ... LOL. You ought to see me go crazy scrubbing through a show like Midwest Whitetail ... LOL. I will make a 30 minute show, 5 minutes long.
Thanks for the feedback!! I knew going in that it was to long! Lol there was no kill shot on the video.. my brother did most of the filming and the one time I went off by myself I forget the camera and that is when I got the shot lol!!
Pretty good actually. You guys have the right idea. I don't think some people know how hard it is to hunt and film. Pretty good job on the editing. The footage of the doe sniffing you guys was great! That could be once in a lifetime there! I like filming my hunts but I'm not at the point where I'll pass up a shot if I can't get it on camera either. So I guess a couple of critiques for the video.... 1. Not sure if it was the upload resolution or the camera but try to get HD footage. 2. Filming in the wind is tough so try to shield the mic a bit if you can and if you have a detachable mic, get one of those fuzzy things to cover it. 3. Just keep practicing! All in all I'd say a pretty good video. Siman is right though. I've got a couple videos on YouTube too and the average watch time is about 5-6 minutes even if my video is longer. People just really wanna blow through and get to the kill shot if you ask me. Unfortunately they don't want all the story. I don't mind it a bit though so make the movie how you want for your memories, not to please other people.
I film for me. I post my stuff on Vimeo. If you like it cool if you don’t thats cool too. These are my memories that will be for me and a few close friends when I can no longer hunt which is not to far away. I really enjoy the added difficulty of solo cam filming. It dosnt matter how many hits i get or how many people watch. I’m not tryna make a tv show just fun times in the woods with my friends. Remember if it ain’t fun why do it?
We must be twins!!! I agree with everything you say.... My partner brought me 30+ minutes of footage for our YT channel to edit .... when i was done it was less than 10 minutes LOL!!!
The camera we were using was an old handycam so the quality was not the best. After the video we realized how fun it was so we invested in a better camera for future hunts! The whole reason we are trying to do this is to have something to look back on so if even it's just me and some family/friends that watch it that's cool with me! Thanks for the feedback
I concur with basically Hillbilly Jedi's post of the three things. I also concur to Siman's and DEC's comments on length vs views. I just started filming hunts this year and I've decided that if I ever show a hunt (once a harvest occurs) I'm going to shoot for high quality 4 mins (hard max at 5 mins)...this will get the most views....then I'll work on a full length one which will ignore length, share the story, recovery interview....lead up cam shots...more b roll and while this will get less views this video will engage and does engage (for lack of a better term) my true hunting brother's and sister's out there. I see this in the habitat discussion videos I post for Small Acre Hunting all the time....my shorter 5 minutes or less (some just 2 mins) clips always get better views even if the content by comparison sucks to the 20 minute video....but the true habitat nuts or guys getting sucked into the world will watch the 20 and comment or email me with questions while the shorts get the views but not engagement really. It is two drastically different viewer basis really....in the end I don't do either for monetary gains so I upload both varieties depending on mood....I sometimes will worry about editing and such more in depth and other times I say screw it and upload it.
