To Be Green

David,

A passionate inside look at how the two major parties elbow out worthy third party campaigns. Granted, the campaign manager tends to over-react, but that's reality for you.

I also have to say the volume is low. Very low.

Thanks for the Greenlight. Sorry about the low volume. I am headed out of town for a few days and i will upload a version with better audio when i get back.

Awsome!

Awsome!

Great Job, Dave! You mananged to cover a lot of info in a relativly short amount of time and you choose some good quotes from Cliff that really spoke to the mission of his campaign.

Yes CT Greens made a huge step in Corrupticut. The entire State is plumbed according to political in-breeds, and nepotism of the worst kind.

The real stench, begins in the Federal and CT judiciary, and the State legisature feels cozy in that kind of atmosphere!

This has been going on for years, Thornton and CT Greens are skiming the surface of the scum.

Constipated Yankees need to get relieved from the phoney, cronie political schemes of CT racketeers.
A speical prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the Jodi Gang for RICO!

Good story, strong message, but this video is fraught with technical issues that detract from the story, I hate to do this, especially on a story I believe in, but you need to be shown or explained how to shoot a video like this properly:

Opening shot is beautiful but oddly framed. I don't know why you have David Pond as a microscopic element cut-off through the knees (ouch - is what I think when I see that shot, pain, unless it was by design?) in the lower left side of the frame. The shot should be about what he's saying, not the crisp, in focus capital dome. He should have been prominently placed in the left third of the frame, who cares if he blocks part of the building?

The begining on-camera SOTS (where the campaign manager Ken Kreyeske is on camera inside) lose strength the longer he's on camera, they start strong but get weaker, once he stumbles on what he's saying toward the end the message is lost.

I'd re-edit those, & concentrate on closeups of the letter as the focal point of that section of the video, and turn his video SOTS into Voice Overs that are more cohesive. Less is more, and you can turn that 60 seconds piece of rambling video into a more poignant statement. I found it to be a little distracting.

The strongest pieces of video are of the candidate himself. The only time I feel Ken is especially strong on camera is when he's confronting the Kevin Deneen at the debate office with candidate Cliff Thornton, who keeps his cool in a dark situation for the Green party.

I think what you need to do is present a cool, calm and collective point of view. Mr. Thornton acheives that with every word he speaks. More of him, less of the manager.

The Camera framing on Cliff Thornton in most of your shots is kind of wide with WAYYY too much headroom too. It looked very odd to my eyes. The shots of Cliff Thornton should be tight with very little headroom. It's almost like you are exagerating that he's short the way he's constantly in the lower 2/3rd of the video screen. You make him appear diminuative.

In fact, I'll go far as to say nearly ALL your interviews appear in the same way, with too much headroom, so much headroom that empty space dominates the upper third of the frame drawing the viewer away from the person speaking. I'd increase the video size to 125% on your interviews in your NLE and reframe those shots to put the top of their heads inside the middle to upper range of the upper third of the frame.

The shots after Nader (again Nader was shot too wide, camera angle too low, which made Nader look frankenstein-like) you've framed Cliff in his sit-down interview to look like the lamp is growing out of his head, or it looks like an oddly cocked fez on his head.

I'm sorry if I sound so harsh, I am a HUGE fan of the Green party and allowing 3rd party candidates into debates, where they've been locked out for close to 80 years - but technically there are so many issues with how this was shot that the message is nearly lost on me.

If I were an ordinary viewer with no interest in the Greens I'd find this video distracting to the point where I'd find it unwatchable.

Go back to your non-linear editor. Resize and reframe ALL of your on-camera interviews, re-present this video to us. The message will be so much stronger if you do. There's no excuse for badly framed shots and low audio, but it's a bigger travesty if it's not FIXED IN POST. This is salvageable, it's a strong story with the right editor and changes made to it.

I offer my thoughts as creative criticism in the hopes you will make this story better, not only for the viewers, but for yourself as a storyteller.

When you get time give my pod a view. Thanks. -zen

I agree with zenbeer. That opening shot needs to emphasize the speaker. The value to using a conventional framing strategy is that it's tried and true. If you want the viewer to hear what the commentator is saying, he has to have the viewer's complete attention.

I agree throughout.

I had a few minutes so I made screengrabs showing you what I meant about technical framing issues with your pod.

Click here for screengrabs I corrected

Start at the bottom and work your way up. I hope this helps.

I highly recommend the following book:

VIDEO SHOOTER: Storytelling with DV, HD and HDV Cameras by Barry Braverman, as a starting point to improve your camerawork & storytelling.

-zen

a little rough around the edges but a pretty good job

The technical issues aren't so severe that it kept me from GL'ing this. Interesting, alt viewpoint, worth thinking about and discussing.

However, isn't it a tradition that the incumbent makes a grand feint to get as many minor candidates involved in the debates, the better to dilute the impact of his major opponent, even if he knows full well that the gesture is a hollow one? Is Mr. Krayeske so naive that he doesn't know about that, or is he just going along with the dance? And shouldn't that have been pointed out somewhere in this piece?

I'm still GL'ing, but a little more explanation of these things would be appreciated.

Yeah Dave. Good shit man. I loved the part where they confront that Kevin guy. Priceless. Wasn't Cliff Thornton the dude that spoke at NORML at Uhart back in the day? Keep up the good work.

During the last Canadian Federal elections, even though the Green Party of Canada had a candidate running in every riding in the country they were shut out of the televised national debate. (in both English and French)

A regional party whose mandate includes separating the province of Quebec from the rest of the country who ONLY has candidates run in the province of Quebec was able to take part.

It was an absolute travesty.

Keep working at it. North America is WAY behind and many have their heads buried in the sand, but keep working, people are starting to listen.

GL from me.

asm

Please click on my head and check out my latest pod “small town climate change”

An insider light shed on one of the myriad dealings and power struggles in the world of politics. Politicians with environmental agendas need more producers like you! GL!
If you have a moment, let me know what you think on my work.

Im GLing this strictly on the merit of its message.
As other members have noted, there are definitely a lot of technical issues to be addressed. Great story otherwise though

Great message. Don't be so harsh on that kevin guy, that part seemed kinda Bill O'riellyesque. 10 years ago, it seemed that third parties had a better chance than they have now, no thanks to Mr. Bush and the global effort to rid him of power. This is a very motivating pod and I have learned from it.

Current tv viewers are tough arn't they. Nice effort. GL from me. Please watch my pod when you have time. I am being attacked by those who don't want my story told and encouraged by those who need it told. Come check it out!

Great Content. And actually, I liked the Frankenstein esque shots of Nader, they had a surreal quality that I think gave the piece a certain aesthetic sense of meaning beyond what a conventionally framed shot would do.

Very responsible journalism. Things will never change in the system unless the truth about how stifling the system has become, comes out. I hope to see more in the future .

I liked the video. It is meant to be a message to people who think there is not hope. I wanted to be the voice of reason and compasion. Most people don't have a clue about running for office. Matter of fact I had very little experience before this run.

My hat is off to Dave Pond who was with us from the start. Keep up the great work and for those who have comments on how shots and other arrangements should be made, I thank you for your observation.

In the mean time let all know and understand that the Green Party is not going away.

I have always thought that the USA is a 1 party system, and you found a great example to show that. Nader's "two party dictatorship" is great!

very interesting

This piece is strong and definitely belongs on television. I think you could do without the stand ups and instead do fullscreens to orient the viewer; that would also cut down on time. But all-in-all a powerful message about the exclusion of diverse views in (not just) modern day politics.

For the most part, this was very well produced, HOWEVER, I was really distracted by the stand-in's and the occasional voiceover - couldn't you find someone with a stronger VO character?

As others have said, I'm giving this a GL on the merits of its message. I look forward to your future work.

interesting piece, well done! gl....
take a look at my piece "eighty eight" when you get a chance!