3 Comments

1. Ashish Khurana says:

   July 13, 2010 at 1:31 pm

   This video tells a great story! You get the sense of actually being there (which should be the goal for every video), clearly demonstrates that this is a landmark hotel, and showcases the strengths of this hotel – art deco architecture, river cruise, and restaurant.

   For the next phase of this video, I recommend:

   • Add voiceover or on camera interviews which would further enhance the great story.
   • Consider featuring staff members. It will help build a stronger personal connection with the viewer.
   • In the restaurant, perhaps show activity in the dining area or give a behind the scenes tour of the kitchen. This will maximize the medium of video by providing information that cannot be gained through text or images.

    

2. David Attardi says:

   July 13, 2010 at 1:50 pm

   The use of a lot of actual video footage (as opposed to pans across still photos) is great! However, the beginning is very slow and we don’t see a shot of the hotel until 55 seconds in. I would recommend getting right in to the story and moving it along at a quicker pace.

   I love the shot of the lights coming on in the building and the fast-forwarded shots at the end of the video. However, the video footage didn’t match the music.

   To enhance this video, I would:

   • Make it shorter. It could be broken out into three separate videos that are about one minute each or just condensed into one concise 1 – 2 minute video that tells a more linear story.
   • Add on-screen text titles to help tell the story. For example, there is great shot of a big beautiful boat, but we have no idea what that is. In fact, it appears that there is a Radisson logo on the boat. Is that true? Is the boat a feature of the hotel? If so, that is awesome. That should definitely be called out and highlighted in the video.

    

3. John McAuliffe says:

   July 13, 2010 at 2:48 pm

   I like the drama that unfolds with the video – particularly the transition from 1957 to 2010 as it moves from black and white to color with speed frame. It clearly establishes the hotel as a significant part of Russian history but it stays on this point far too long… I want to know about the hotel in today’s environment.

   • It really has great content but I think it might make more sense to divide it into multiple videos. For example an overview focusing on the story of a modern hotel with significant Russian cultural history; Art and architecture of a Russian Landmark; Live like a Czar in our opulent guest rooms, etc.
   • Text supers would assist a lot with this video. I recognize the difficulty with that given this hotel probably attracts people from many different languages. I would produce 2 or 3 versions with the most popular language supers on it. These will help provide context to what the viewer is seeing i.e. dine where Russian society dines, etc.
   • Propping is excellent. I like the fact that when you pan into a room the table is set and has a wonderful display of food or the tea tray is on the bed. This shows detail and says a lot about the detail I may experience if staying at the hotel. I think other hoteliers could learn from this.
   • The cinematography is excellent. The night shots particularly are very dramatic but I agree with David that the music seems to be out of synch with the video… perhaps it is because the video is trying to cover too much. If you segmented the thoughts and created multiple videos you may be able to better match the music to the video

   I am intrigued by the boat… but I don’t know what it is. You could create a separate video just about the boat. At the very least, find a way of weaving it into the current storyline.

   All in all, nice stuff – a little editing and you are on your way to establishing some great videos for travel shoppers!