I need your artistic help. Not your technical help.

[matonanjin]

I don't know if this is a proper request in this forum. If it is not, administrators, please delete this. And accept my apologies. And if it's appropriate for this forum, maybe it's not appropriate for this Newbie/General discussions subforum. If not, please move it to where it belongs.

I am making a video for a musician friend of mine who puts on a benefit concert every year at Christmas to get and deliver toys to underprivileged children on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. His efforts are amazing but that is an entirely different subject.

I have the beginnings of the slide show started and the color background that I have for the first set of slides is completely inappropriate. If you look at this video you will see where I am going with this. I am trying to start the video by stressing the deplorable conditions on the reservation and green is the completely incorrect color for the mood I want. I am no psychologist but know that green is too soothing.

ANY suggestions on what to do on this are appreciated.

[poisondeathray]

I am making a video for a musician friend of mine who puts on a benefit concert every year at Christmas to get and deliver toys to underprivileged children on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. His efforts are amazing but that is an entirely different subject.

I have the beginnings of the slide show started and the color background that I have for the first set of slides is completely inappropriate. If you look at this video you will see where I am going with this. I am trying to start the video by stressing the deplorable conditions on the reservation and green is the completely incorrect color for the mood I want. I am no psychologist but know that green is too soothing.

ANY suggestions on what to do on this are appreciated.

What mood do you want ? "soothing green" is not what you wanted, but you haven't described what you actually wanted




Who is your intended target audience , and what is the delivery system ?

Is there going to be an audio narration accompanying this? Average literacy rates might be high in S. Dakota, Nebraska, but the attention span of the current generation is typically low. No doubt it's an important subject matter, a noble cause... but maybe 50% would last through the 1st slide if you're lucky. High school kids , twentysomethings typically sleep through PSA type messages

You could add visual impact, by intercutting pictures / footage of the poverty and deplorable conditions along with the text and narration. Nothing like powerful visuals tweaking heartstrings if you do it tastefully ; but at the same time, it might also be inappropriate, and you need to go through the hoops of consent, forms, etc...

[lingyi]

Just watched the video. Sorry to be harsh, but I believe honesty is required here. The background seriously hurt my eyes and distracted from the text throughout. I suggest using some kind of muted background images rather than a solid color. As poisondeathray stated, pictures with the text overlaid to show who, what, where you're taking about.

Make sure to get get permission to them first and bring down maybe bring down the opacity and colors so they don't distract from the text.

Also IMHO, your text is too slow, even for the slowest readers. I began to lose my focus waiting for the second line to appear. In addition, the font of the first slide is too small, especially when compared to the larger font and wall of text you use after.

I understand it's probably a one off Powerpoint presentation, but IMO, you did well to ask for help and critique. Best of luck and well wishes on your presentation!

Edit: I just Googled for images of Pine Ridge Reservation and see lots of pics (better if you or someone you know has their own) that would fit your first page's text. Again, get permission before using anything that's not yours, especially pics of people you don't know are okay with having their faces shown.

Edit 2: If you're pressed for time, I suggest changing the background to black with off-white text (not bright white, that's too jarring), especially after the cut from the singer to the next slide. It's like walking from a dark room to bright sunlight. You might also want to add some color to your next to emphasize the positive aspects of your presentation.

[matonanjin]

@poisondeathray and @lingyi thank you both for your responses and help. Poisondeathray, you are absolutely correct. I did tell you what mood I didn't want but failed to tell you what I do want. The opposite of smoothing? Desperation?

lingyi, don't apologize for being harsh. Harsh is exactly what I was hoping for when I posted. I know the background seriously hurt one's eye's and that is why I asked for help.

And to both I realize the first (all) slide(s) is painstakingly slow. I should have explained better. That isn't the speed of the video. This is all new to me. I just threw a few jpgs in the video editor and posted the rendered mp4 to show them. I should have just posted a jpg.

I am going to try and include some pictures ( I have plenty) or footage from the rez.

Thanks again to both of you for your help.

[David Banner]

I would suggest an image for each line of your text each statement e.g when it says average 68 years show a mam or woman or both that age.. And use a white text on black square in case your text gets lost in the background colour.

If you want to have just a solid colour what is wrong with white text on solid black. it is seen in all sort of documentaries and films

[JVRaines]

The cliché for "sober impact" is short white titles slowly fading in and out, one at a time, over a black background. Adding a sad image to each title ramps up the pathos considerably. As far as the text goes, 1) don't forget to space after punctuation, 2) avoid repetitive passive voice, and 3) round up the stats to whole numbers. Yes, green is the wrong color here. Use red for "alarm" or black for "serious."

[lingyi]

If you know the conditions of where your presentation will be shown, adjust the brightness of the images and text accordingly. Brighter if the lights are going to be on. Darker if they're going to off. Also, try to keep the brightness/contrast of the images fairly even, though the image of the singer can be brighter for effect.