Action Photo Sets - Do you like them?

[GPallan]

I was just wondering what you guys think of action (anything with more than one guy in it...toys...fucking...oral...etc) PHOTO sets?

When i say photo sets i mean real full-blown high quality photos (above and beyond the vid caps taken directly from the actual video). I guess like photos that you'd see on circlejerkboys.com (but maybe not so posed).

Do you guys like them? If you were to signup with a site, would you like to see photos to go along with a duo action video? Or is the actual video (with the vid caps, of course) what you're really after?

If you do like photos, do you prefer if they were posed or taken in action for a more natural look?

I'll be shooting an action video next week and i'm not sure if it's necessary for me to photograph the whole event, too. It seems kind of redundant to me. Don't get me wrong, i always do a full photo shoot for every solo set i do (just to get a good feel for the model and his personality), but i just wanted to get your opinions on the duos.

Thanks!

Allan

[Bec]

Don't know if this helps - but as someone who gets asked to design and layout free sites and galleries for video sets, it's much nicer to have hi quality images to use rather than those vidcaps. I spend a LOT of time cleaning up vidcaps, IE sharpening, color correction, etc. to get a decent set for a gallery.

Also, whats the time frame for running a digital camera alongside the movie camera and having pics immediately vs having to sit and make vidcaps later? Just a thought.... time is money.

[dalimili]

I have to say I'm totally photo guy. If I ever signup with any site is mainly because the quality and rareity of their pics....I think I've only watched videos twice... they're just not so hot for me as pics are sometimes... I know more and more people have DSL or T1 connections, I have it for some 3 years now, but I'm still not interested in the movies.... A good photoshoot is much more sexier, hotter and leaves your imagination running wild

[GPallan]

I have to say I'm totally photo guy. If I ever signup with any site is mainly because the quality and rareity of their pics....I think I've only watched videos twice... they're just not so hot for me as pics are sometimes... I know more and more people have DSL or T1 connections, I have it for some 3 years now, but I'm still not interested in the movies.... A good photoshoot is much more sexier, hotter and leaves your imagination running wild

ok thanks. but do you prefer "posed" shots? or spontaneous "action" shots where the guys are just going about doing their thing without posing for the camera or paying attention to the camera?

[gaybucks_chip]

Usually we have a production crew of either two (stills and video) or three (stills, video, audio). What we typically do is take short breaks on shooting video, but keep the action up and get a bunch of stills, then go back to video. We do shoot some portions of the scene simultaneously and, of course, we always get the cumshots on video and still simultaneously, as well as a B-roll video camera.

There are always some extra stills before and after the video shoot, including some posed shots used for promotion, DVD covers, etc. Only downside to shooting stills simultaneously with video is it makes editing take much longer as we have to remove all of the video frames with the flashes in them. (If you're doing amateur class stuff, this is probably less important.)

Boyfunk has traditionally been mostly a still site. Our members love our still sets which include both action and solo content. But recently the audience seems to demand more video and we are adding it. So I would say that both still have a place... some of the members never watch the videos, while others never view the stills.

[citiboyz]

Allan,

You definitely need to take at least some hi-res photos of your action scenes, if only for marketing purposes. You'll be glad you did. Just tell the guys to slow down a little, pick up the camera and snap some stills every so often. It's no big deal. Whether or not you want full sets depends on whether or not you think your members would want them, but at least get some for your own internal marketing use.

[Xstr8guy]

Unposed action shots are great for use on AVS sites.

[longboardjim]

photography is my speciality , so "photo's" is what i do!
i have people that videotape ( videographers are not to be confused with photographers...who do give a f**k what's in the background! ) while i shoot , but i also work on "video-only" type shoots also.
i guess it comes down to your "buyer" ( videosite or photosite ) and what they are looking for , most videosites i deal with only want "video" and vice-versa for photosites.
both media's are good , i wouldn't hold one above the other , they each have there place and bring something different to the table.

sincerely ~ ..."picture you! , picture me! , picture us!"...

[GPallan]

Longboardjim, i still haven't been able to figure out what your avitar is of?! hehe

it looks like a maui waui plant....hmmmm

[GPallan]

and btw...thanks everyone. I think i'll try and do what Boyfunk and Citiboyz Steven mentioned about taking stills during the breaks. I'm not a big fan of seeing flashes going off during the video either. Thanks again...

Boyfunk: Do you guys also take vid caps from the videos? If so, don't you find that thats enough in terms of "photos" for an action video?

Because taking action stills during a video shoot is pretty much like taking vid caps from the actual video footage...except with better quality. Is the slight quality difference that important?

Thanks

[longboardjim]

...i'm not saying!

sincerely ~ jim

p.s ~ ..."i think that i will never see a poem as beautiful as a tree"...

[longboardjim]

i'm not a big fan of flashes myself ( i normally "edit" these from the video ) but it isn't always easy to get your guys to "cum" twice!..."okay , cut!...photographer out! , videographer in!...okay bruce! , can i get you to cum again , but this time with more feeling?

sincerely ~ ..."i'm ready for my closeup mr.demille"... :beauty:

[citiboyz]

We take framegrabs from video to use only in marketing the videos. Psychologically speaking, I think that retail video buyers believe that framegrabs are a truer representation of the video. Experiments we've done with replacing framegrabs with high-res images of the same thing seem to hurt sales. I would never use framegrabs for actual web-content, though. I think that's what you are referring to, anyway.

[GPallan]

We take framegrabs from video to use only in marketing the videos. Psychologically speaking, I think that retail video buyers believe that framegrabs are a truer representation of the video. Experiments we've done with replacing framegrabs with high-res images of the same thing seem to hurt sales. I would never use framegrabs for actual web-content, though. I think that's what you are referring to, anyway.

sure, i think framegrabs (i call them vid caps ) could be pretty hot. So, what i was thinking about offer on my site was the actual video and vid caps for sure, but i was reconsidering doing the stills (too much work). But after reading everyone’s comments, i think i'll give the stills a go and see how it works out. Thanks Steven!

[gaybucks_chip]

Boyfunk: Do you guys also take vid caps from the videos? If so, don't you find that thats enough in terms of "photos" for an action video?

Thanks

Two different things. On Boyfunk.com, we currently have still sets shot at same time as video, but we will soon be adding galleries made from frame grabs because our customers have asked for them. We offer much higher resolution (and larger) stills though, so our members like both.

And you can definitely shoot still and video simumtaneously during the cumshots... using a good video editing tool, you can remove the one or two frames where the flash is, and no one will notice in the finished video.