Hi Dave – You talked last time about the length of promo videos, but what is considered acceptable when editing? I filmed a set last week that’s pretty good, but there are a couple spots where I didn’t get the audience reaction I had hoped for. I also messed up a joke and really don’t want it on the video. Is honesty the best policy and should I send the whole set unedited? Thanks – D.
Roll the film!
Hey D. – Honesty is always the best policy, but sometimes being too honest is too much. If you normally have great sets, then you honestly want that represented on your video. But if great sets are few and far between, then sending out an edited video making you look like the next coming of Dave Chappelle is not going to help you in the long run.
In fact, if a talent booker hires you or gives you a showcase off a great video and it’s obvious during your performance you can’t back it up, chances are you’re not going to get a second chance.
Ideally, you want to present an unedited video.
That’s seamless gold- but sometimes seemingly impossible. There’s always going to be something going on in a club that you can’t control like people arriving late, talking in the back, ordering drinks, spilling drinks – whatever. There might also be tech problems with the club’s sound system – or even a joke that always kills, but for some reason doesn’t work the night you’re filming.
It happens.
What happened?
So, when it happens – something in your set that’s not truly representative of what you do on stage – then yeah, edit it out. It’s not uncommon. And even though talent bookers might spot the edit the best videos don’t make it so obvious.
Good edits make it look seamless. (Sorry, I feel your pain and will stop with the seamless wordplay).
I also feel if you want to be paid like a professional you must represent yourself as a professional.
What I mean by that is it’s easy today to film sets using high-tech phones and tablets, but you must also be aware of the “room sound” that will invariably happen if your best friend is filming you while sitting at a table in a club surrounded by noisemakers. You know what I mean – people at tables next to him laughing (or talking) too loudly, knocking over drink glasses, or ordering food.
Those sounds will also be heard on your video.
And it doesn’t sound very professional. So, try to have both a good visual and audio recording of your set, even if it means hiring someone with a tripod (to steady the picture) and a microphone that picks up what you are saying over the room’s ambiance.
Since I have a kid that can film, edit, and post a music video online in less time than it takes me to write these ramblings, I know what the term “old school” means. I’ve also worked with aspiring comedians on this side of the age scale who claim emailing is about as high tech as they get.
But when it comes to putting together promotional material (primarily your video) that will get you work in the future…
There are video editing apps and programs for computers and tablets, and most of them are not even that expensive. In the long run, it would be worth the learning time and investment to do your own editing because your video should always be current and representative of your act or presentation. It doesn’t do you any good sending out a year(s)-old video you’ve paid a professional editor big $$$s to fix if you’re not even doing that material anymore.
You should also be a better comic or speaker than you were a year ago and need to show that.
I won’t get into specifics on editing, though I am pretty good at it (if I do say so myself). But here’s a good rule to follow:
Don’t make a LOT of edits and don’t make your video look like it has a LOT of edits.
Make sense? It’s okay to cut out a flaw here and there, but if it’s a jumpy-looking set because one moment you’re standing on one side of the stage and the next you’re on the other side – or if you’re wearing different clothes for each joke (a telltale sign it wasn’t all taped at the same show) then no booker will take you seriously.
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Instead of thinking you’re a great comic or speaker, they’ll be wondering what you’re trying to hide with so many edits. They might also think you did a half hour set just to get five minutes of presentable material and would not be willing to hire (pay for) the remaining twenty-five minutes that they’ll assume didn’t work.
So, it’s okay to make edits – we all do – when truly necessary. In other words, when the parts cut out are honestly not representative of your typical performance. But too many obvious edits will look too suspicious to bookers. The key to remember is when someone is hiring you to perform, they want to know what they’re paying for. Your goal as a comedian or humorous speaker is to show them. Honestly.
Thanks for reading and as always – keep laughing!!
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