Hey, there is a new category called "Videos" to post about videos.

Speaking of videos, I am slowly gearing up to produce a series of dharma videos if all goes well, as I notice myself watching a reasonable number of mostly YouTube but also Vimeo videos and thought that I should create more than the two Vimeo videos I created some years ago.

I spend my whole MCTB author's check for this half year on a very good short shotgun microphone (Sennheizer MHK 8060 for those serious mic geeks in the crowd, which will go into a just-purchased Apogee One iPad/Mac version) for creating said dharma videos so that they will have good audio (I was a sound man for 6 years so bad audio grates upon my nerves), but the author's check wasn't enough for the full setup, which will involve getting some LED lights and possibly a camera, though we'll see if my iPad 9.7" Pro is good enough with proper lighting, so currently trying to figure out how much is the right amount to spend. Otherwise, pondering a GX7ii vs a Canon XA30, for those who know what those are, but would prefer to not spend the extra cash right now if I don't have to, as well as appreciating the portability of my iPad in comparison to those.

There is this side of me that thinks, "I should get over this perfectionism and just go for simple and easy, shooting everything on my old iPhone 6S holding it in my hand lit by my houshold lights without editing using my cheap Rhode iPhone lavalier and post directly from my phone like a low-budget vlogger and so as to maximize the volume of material I can get out there."

The other side of me thinks, "You aren't a kid, and quality production helps support the message, gains respect and avoids the distractions that poor production produces, so take your time, get an adequate rig together, and then create carefully crafted videos that you will be happy with and that will be a match for the level of importance of the topic being covered."

What may happen in reality is a mix of both options, perhaps labeled as such. Thoughts?

For those who like the technical details, will likely buy a lighting kit from B&H Photo called a Dracast LED500 S-Series Three Light Kit (for Key, Fill and Hair lights, not that I have much hair anymore, so more of a fuzz light really...). Ideas?

If I shoot on the iPad Pro, will likely do my editing in LumaFusion, which is a remarkable app for the price, or, if I end up getting a camera I can shoot tethered to my iMac, will use Final Cut Pro X and Logic for the sound effects, if any.

Thoughts on making them funny and down to earth vs making them more pro-educational and serious? It will be hard for me to do anything completely dry without some work, given my personality, but ideas on what might be most helpful and useful are welcome.

I have been watching loads of YouTube videos on production, lighting, editing, and the like, but the more I watch the more I realize that it is really, really complicated to do very well, though it can be done pretty well without that much hassle so long as one pays attention to detail.

Thoughts? Helpful hints? Topics you would like to see videos on? This is an exciting new adventure in a relatively new medium for me, so advice by those who know well will be much appreciated, as I am a relative novice in this regard.

Video #1 will be on candle flame meditation if all goes well, though I am realizing that shooting a candle flame in video can be a bit complicated depending on how good one wants it to look.

Awesome.

My only advice is have fun with this. Both the audio/visual stuff and the content. If you're having fun, we're having fun!  

Actually, one other piece of advice is about "density of information". The shorter and denser you can make the video, the better. The thing I dislike most about some youtubers is they talk A LOT before getting to the point. So "Bottom Line Up Front" and then provide more context/detail. Along the same lines, sometimes the presenter should their face get off the screen and put up a diagram/graphic to help explain their point, rather than trying to say it in words. So for example, what does a candle flame kasina with a gold center and lots of mini swirling dots with gold centers and rainbow boarders really look like? Good time to show a sketched image. Your mind map videos were a good example of combining graphics with audio explaination -- could you imagine doing that without the mind map graphic? Yet that's what a lot of presenters do. 

Hope this helps!

I like shargrol's advice (as usual).

I would also suggest that you steer clear of all things political.

Also, I personally would like to hear more about your intuitions/theories as to "what's really out there," what happens at death (and beyond, if any), the nature of the divine (if any), and similar un-pragmatic subjects.

Definitely don't suppress your humorous side. 

No offence Ward! I think the contrary, with due respect, the world is in sore need to know the truth, if you get flak for it, know that most of us are standing by you. This will also get the attention of those who are seeking the truth for the right reasons, which is why you would be doing this in the first place, no?

I also respectfully disagree with Ward, for a two reasons:

1) Daniel lives in the US, a republic, and as such, politics neccesarily infuses all parts of life. If you think something is not influenced by or influences politics, you're probably not paying attention.

2) What one person thinks is just common ethics, someone who disagrees will say it's just politics. It's difficult (increasingly so) to separate the political and the ethical, and I do not think that one should try.

My own preference is to see you being yourself just blurting content/humour/dharma into video, without too much concern for production quality (just enough to keep the workflow streamlined and easy for you and not inconvenient to the audience) but OTOH with something like MCTB I really appreciated the professionalism and quality of something like that, so if you are saying you want to produce top tier long lasting video content that will stand the test of time thats another thing, so I guess it depends more upon what the content really is going to be, and then to choose a production style that would help support that.
But some of my favourite dharma talks ever are just recorded by the guy on his iphone with the built-in mic, propped beside him while he is giving the talk and theres something very good and real about keeping it simple like that.

Daniel --



Your name is what carries the weight, not how you shoot the videos. Content is king. And to add yet another trite saying, the best is the enemy of the good. Why not start sooner with the equipment you have and see what happens?

Since 98% [whatever the number is] of the world's sentient beings are at stage 0 on the path, I feel that a video which moves people from stage 0 to 1 would generate the most dharma bang for the buck. [generate the most 'person-paths' per video]. I'm not sure what the most useful definition of state 1 would be, but I'm thinking of something like their first retreat, or A&P or at least access concentration.

As a side note:
I fantasize that there are a series of questions one could ask a motivated, skilled and annimated yogi about their own journey such that a given yogi's story would motivate a certain sub group of the 98% to put in the time to move from 0 to 1.

The same questions to another yogi would get different answers and in turn motivate a different slice of the 98% to move from 0 to 1.

A side benifit is that, since the same questions are being asked/answered, a database of the yogis and their answers could form a body of information suitable for analysis of the stages of insight.

This sounds like that 'finder' project, but maybe a DhO version could end up with a larger date set and focus on just the 0-1 problem.

In my experience, it's extraordinarily difficult to make a good video, especially if it consists of just one person talking to camera. Adyashanti's live streams are probably the best in genre. Interviews work better, especially if you have two people in the same room rather than a recording of a Skype call.

BTW For anyone else who doesn't see the "Videos" category, it is on the second page, here: https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards/category/6939812

This all sounds very cool. Looking forward to it!

As far as audio and video quality is concerned, I'd say a couple of things:
- I reckon you need to think about what people are going to watch the videos on. You could get the most badass setup, but unless people are watching it at an Imax cinema you won't get any of the benefits. I usually use my laptop with its built-in speakers for these kinds of videos. Some people probably have a nice speaker system that they use for music or films on their computer as well (which I imagine you've probably got?), so if it sounds clear on that, I reckon that'll do. 
- If you're just going to be recording your voice, then the frequency range you'll need will be much lower and the quality needed for the ear to perceive what you want it to hear clearly will be less than, say, a Mahlerian orchestra playing 8-part counterpoint. You might also appreciate the smaller file size.
- Both mobile phone camera and super high quality could have their places; you might just do a very short video showing something while you're out and about and maybe haven't planned so much, or you might want the other end of the scale with an hour-long structured documentary-style discourse, in which the better quality would be appreciated.

As for content, I like hearing about practices, old, new, how, what happens etc. etc.

Hope that helps?

Good luck!

Make something you'll be happy to look back on in 20 years when the technology will be outdated, whatever that means to you. And have fun with it. I'll take down-to-earth over dry, serious, and "educational" any day.

I should say: keep the videos situational, i.e. talk about what comes across and seems important at the given moment. Here and there you might want to include a partner for dialogue, but not necessarily so. Don´t feel obliged to being educational. To me, education comes by itself from me picking up bits and pieces here and there. I agree with the others who said, If you have fun we have fun.

Good audio is really nice for foreigners. Random noise or unsteady loudness can be offputting for speakers of English as a second language, and make it difficult to follow the thought. Concerning light and video quality, on the other hand, I for instance would be totally happy with low standard. The visual helps to follow what is being said (I like videos better than podcasts), but i.m.o. there is no need for HD quality or professional light.

My humble thoughts. I am looking forward to your videos!

Looking forward to this!

I appreciate the appreciation for a high quality setup. l agree with the Daniel on the right shoulder talking about production quality gaining respect. My loose association is Boomer Buddhism -- Technophobe -- Poor Quality Websites/Videos/Etc. I do get put off of a lot of videos/podcasts because of poor quality. And, even if someone is watching on their toaster phone YouTube or w/e will set the appropriate quality. You can always downgrade the quality but can never upgrade.

My idea of good educational content is Khan Academy or Joe Rogan Experience. I think conversational/interactive beats scripted/serious. I also think long videos are the way to go. JRE is regularly 2-4 hours of 2-3 people just having a conversation (fun fact: Vince and Emily Horn were on), and it's one of the most popular podcasts. Your Robert Wright interviews were each about an hour long with at least a few minutes of "we can get to this next time", "we don't have much time left", etc. Videos can always be cut up later into soundbites or topics (people do this with JRE on YouTube constantly).

Is there any way to make it more interactive? Like talking to a student, or peer? Interviews? Making threads on DhO or sisters sites (awakenetwork, r/streamentry) asking for questions for certain topics?

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions: I will take them to heart. Fun it will be!

Lost my furry little mind and bought a Sony a7s ii. Should be about as good as it can get for low light candle flame videos.

Hope to shoot some video tonight and tomorrow.

The best silent camera? I can see how useful that can be...

Yeah, just have fun! Looking forward to the videos... 

That's a great camera and mic, I'm sure that investment will help you reach a wider audience. Eventually you might want to think about lights, but a good starting point would be to use natural sunlight where possible, avoiding high contrast.

Practice makes perfect! Just start regularly making videos and you'll soon see what works and what doesn't (and if it isn't obvious to you, luckily you already have an audience eager to give you feedback ;). Just avoid the trap of being afraid to fail and trying to think your way to perfection. You'll pick up the technical skills soon enough after a bit of trial and error.

Good luck, I look forward to watching!

Great camera choice. Before buying a lighting setup, consider that there are many options for a low tech solution that will give great results. By taking the low-tech route you can also avoid getting in the way of your spontaneity.

Digital cameras in themselves are great for experimentation. I am not familiar with shooting in movie mode, but in general avoid the automatic settings. Fool around with available light. Try taking shots in all kinds of average settings and adjust the aperture. Even with a poorly lit subject, by simply opening up the aperture it will lighten the image, which can end up creating a beautifully lit image. Or, try under-lighting the subject and slightly over-lighting the back ground, and expose for the subject's lighting. Outdoors, cloudy days are good for soft light and rich colors, and once again try different aperture settings (slightly under and over) to see what those look like.

In general, when using lights use bounced light (soft light) instead of directly pointing the light at yourself (hard light). Harsh shadows can be distracting. If you do use a hair light, make sure to block any light that may be aimed directly at the camera lense to avoid lense flare.

Digital cameras also can be color balanced to work with any lighting source. Learn how to white balance the image.

Since there is sooo much to learn about the camera itself, start off just delving into what you can do with the controls it offers. Take your time and have fun experimenting before attempting to make your first video talk.

Addition: Thanks Daniel for jumping into the "realm" of video! Yet another exploration for you and a bonus for us.

And, as another Buddhist web site turned to video talks, the inclination to record a talk and edit it down led to a jumpy flow visually. Watch out for how edits cut into the flow of a viewer's connection.

I've focused on techy advice because I'm a photographer, but in the end what actually matters most is what you have to say.

If you have little programming experience, check out Derek Banas' (Learn (X language) in one video series). He pretty much covers the basics of a given programming language in .5 to 1.5 hour video. I know you don't master it. But, by the end of the video you have a pretty good overview of the language instead of wading through a 300 page book. The videos are extremely well edited with close to zero diversions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rub-JsjMhWY&list=PLGLfVvz_LVvSX7fVd4OUFp_ODd86H0ZIY

In similar vein, you could do a series with videos such as "Learn Metta in one video", "Learn 1st Anapana Jhana in one Video", "Learn Noting in one Video" etc. The conciseness and high information density would be along the same vein as MCTB.

Lastly, please emphasise the attitudes of generosity, contentment, kindness, and in general a relaxed unhurried (yet not lacking energy) attitude for meditation.

Also, I agree with the others, do have fun! Fun is contagious.

Hey I really like these ideas, and I'm sure Daniel, you've got some other less familiar techniques, also of your own, like the ones you include in MCTB.

In addition to the element of fun that many have suggested, one of the things I have most appreciated about your approach when discussing these topics is your down-to-earthness and frankness, I think many traditions try to paint beautiful imagery and esoteric or flowery descriptions of things, which is great, but I liked what seemed like a complete lack of mysticism, with descriptions aimed at being clear, rather than trying to wow the reader/listener with how fantastic they are. Hope that makes sense??

Ok, yeah, I totally get that aesthetic, straightforward, tightly edited, punchy, information packed. It sounds like a great plan.

Then why, for the candle flame video, do I find myself getting out the hooded robe, doing it by candle light, and wanting to speak in a bad British low-brow accent like some cartoon of a bedragled wizard?

If I combined both, would that detract from the message or make it more fun?

Have been playing around a lot with Final Cut Pro X, lighting, my new camera, playing with clips, refining candle positions, learning about effects and all of that.

I am caught between being a nearly 50 year-old physician on the one hand who yet has a hefty helping of 14 year-old geek thrown into the mix, and these two empty non-existent entities are struggling for control...

Seriously:

robes or no robes?
wands or no wands?
lighting by flickering candlelight with black background or pro-lighting standard setup (key, fill, overhead) on, say, an office chair or couch?
talking head or power point with voiceover?
special effects and quirky soundtrack/sound effects or dry?
greenscreen and chromakey over fun background or just straight up ordinary?
ultra-tight editing with very rapid information all milennial-style with spinning logos and words popping up when I wave my hand or more conversational, slow and deliberate with minimal cuts and no fancy stuff?

I now have all of those capabilities, just wondering how best to use them.

I should create a survery on surveymonkey or something.

Thanks!

Daniel

Then I think about simple questions and very short videos, such as, should my recent post about A&P vs Equamimity also be a quick vlog post? Just something very rapid, like a minute or two, and done.

I often have brief rants that I might wish to get out there somehow in some generic form triggered by some specific exchange with someone I just hand, and have wondered if a vlog would be a good way to double down on the message.

Any thoughts welcome. Still learning this video world and wondering what would be best.

Do what you prefer. Also, think which style will pierce through the soul of your target audience and get them to start practicing. Really, no way of knowing that exactly until you get feedback on the first few videos.

-> Robes
-> Wand
-> Black Background
-> Talking Head
-> Sprinkling of Special Effects Maybe
-> I'm not sure. I'd think twice before splurging on my first video. A well edited video may not need Green Screen.
-> Maybe, a combination of both. You can be super fast and informative in the beginning while giving the intro and slow down when you transition into the technique. Maybe, get a website ready with a PDF manual to accompany. Then, later you can combine those manuals and make a comprehensive meditation manual book; The Dan Ingram Visuddhimagga  .

Anyways, feel free to post a couple of versions for A/B testing .

Alright.

Dance breaks or no dance breaks? ;)

Too early. Will tell you when the time is right ;) .

If helping people to practise well is the priority, then when the video is over-the-top with someone making me wonder if all movie-watching Americans really think that I am evil because of my accent, then during practice I will have a fairly extended period involving a greater or lesser degree of sniggering while I remember the instructions in the video along with the comedy-value extras, and probably only after getting over these hindrances can practice really begin. I reckon whatever would be conducive to good practice.

Rants are good and would definitely be interesting – robes, breakdancing and whatever all the way.

Check out Jordan Peterson. 

His hard hitting style is very appealing to us slacker millenials, especially advice about getting our own house in order setting your own house in order before criticizing the world.

Edit: Due to ambiguity

Watch out for analysis paralysis! The best way to figure this out is to actually make videos, good old fashioned trial and error - I'd strongly recommend just making a few short videos of whatever kind you like to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. If a video ends up sucking you can just not upload it

This is a great idea. Would love to hear you rants:-)

It would be great to hear about your latest reflections on practise as well as what is emerging for you personally. 

- Reflections on what holds us back. 

- Reflections on how to move past common sticking points or stages. 

- Things you have found useful or inspiring. 

- I would be interested to hear you take on broader buddhist tradition and teachings, as many of us practise in different traditions with an interest in noting, 3 Cs etc. This can bring up issues about how to integrate experiences that can come up through the maps of insight with visualisation, dzogchen or metta practise (hope this last one makes some sense). 

An audio/podcast version would be cool too.

Looking forward to it!

On a related note, I've been thinking lately that video logs could someday replace the written practice log medium.  I'm not sure how it would work since ppl like their privacy, but in general I think modern users have more patience for consuming video than text.  There's also things that can be communicated in video & not in text.  Finally, recording can be less intrusive to one's internal state while on retreat, which I think is why you guys, Shannon & Coach Atlas's group all used it for the Fire Kasina retreats.

So, while still trying to get a good grasp of more sophisticated video techniques, I got ancy and put out this quick little video on Nirodha Samapatti. Yes, I misspelled Visuddhimagga. Perfection continues to be appropriately elusive.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Daniel

Well played, Daniel. Well played. Starting with an attainment a tiny, tiny minority can attain. Makes me kinda jealous... Sorry, I mean filled with Mudita ;) (this is how this Dhamma thing works right ).

Now, I'm really inspired and motivated to master the eight Jhanas. 

As for the video, it was clear, to the point and enjoyable.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family and also to the DhO sangha!

Glad you liked it. That video is actually a shout-out to a friend who had asked about it and would be within reasonable striking distance, and it was easy and quick as these things go, maybe 5 hours work. Not trying to make anyone jealous, just happened to have been a recent topic of conversation.

Candle flame is next on the list, already started making it, but video with images of myself and lighting and multiple things on the screen and all of that is a lot more time-consuming and more difficult, and, while I might know some things about meditation, am a novice video maker. I would like to figure out a way to coordinate with Shannon and do it together, so I should get in touch with her and perhaps we can plan something, as the book was with her, but that sort of thing takes more time than I have had free, and my free time when it does occur tends to be very late at night. Also, she is in Canada, I am in Alabama, I have a low-end-of-pro rig here now but she wouldn’t have anything like that, so thinking about quality discrepancies vs mailing equipment vs just putting it together with radically different audio and video rigs and dealing with the hacked-together nature vs pondering what other options there might be, such as me also shooting low-res like on my iphone, etc. Anyway, perhaps overthinking this.

That video got me more comfortable with basic audio and video editing in Final Cut Pro X and with composing video presentations, like a beginner’s exercise. I had actually made most of the power point slides for this years ago and then things came up, so I thought I would just get my feet wet again after not posting a video for 4 years and toss it out there.

Hopefully, there will be more to come soon and it will be something for a wider audience.

Quite the present to find under the Christmas tree. Thanks Daniel!

Hehe... You know it's just friendly banter . Btw, the audio was perfect.

Looking forward to your upcoming videos. All the best!

Thinking of starting a basic Hindi language YouTube channel myself too for the Buddha motherland, Jambudipa. I am nowhere being a master myself, so will stick to translations of suttas and other masters.

Clear and helpful content as always. Not much else to say. If I were trying to attain NS this seems pretty perfect.

Though, I want to criticize the format and stuff. It stuck out to me. I don't think it matters THAT much in the end but maybe it will be helpful or constructive in some way:

Is the audio supposed to be echo-ey? I first started playing it with headphones and immediately noticed an echo-ey thing. I don't like the parchment texture and font. Looks tacky to me. I kept reading the 'i' as if it were 'í'. Also why square aspect ratio? Maybe I'm just used to seeing 16:9 or whatever but it seemed odd. Similarly, maybe I'm just used to seeing sterile, minimalist, postmoderny aesthetics so the parchment looks tacky. Idk.

In the beginning you were speaking a little bit more formally and slower. Then later you were more informal and speaking in your more runonsentencedontpausebetweenwordsmuchorevensentences. This isn't necessarily bad, just something I noticed.

Just my honest impressions. Maybe constructive, maybe not.

Looking forward to more content

You have a good sound setup. There's lots of cool things you could do. Maybe with the release of the book you might come up with a side course with video material that is not in the book to be released at the same time. NS is going to be beyond my capabilities, likely forever, but it's nice to know what can be done if they have the time and inclination. It looks like waking up from a deep dreamless sleep feeling refreshed, except for 2 days.  Fun.

Daniel,

In case you are taking requests for next video: I would really love to hear you riff on video about the 6 sense doors and the three marks as the core practice that took you to the other side.  I know you’ve written about this in various places, but a targetted video just on this topic would be super cool, and I think quite beneficial to lots of folks.

Specifically, here are some topic fodder questions:

- how much do you find yourself in one particular sense door vs others.
- of particular interest is the mind sense door vs observing the other 5 sense doors.  Would love to hear you chat about any observances and thoughts you have on this sense door vs the others.
- when I read you talk about the 3 marks + 6 sense doors, I sort of see a matrix of those two orthogonal axis, ie. a sort of linear algebra matrix making a total of 18 pairs.  Do you see it this way?  

Thanks!

As requested above, I just posted a video on Vipassasa, the Three Characteristcs, and the Six Sense Doors.

Here’s the link.

It is the first with my talking head. On rewatching it, I look a bit, well, something, but hopefully the information will be useful.

I took the advice to be information dense to heart. It is tightly edited without pauses of any significant length.

Any feedback welcome, as this is the first with my new camera, lights,and audio rig.

This is a wonderful video: direct and understandable! Thanks Daniel

The black on black reminds me a bit of this....

But I actually like it! It makes you pay attention. Keep the videos coming. 

I'm no professional, but I think it looks great, Daniel.

This was awesome Daniel.  Thank you very much for posting this - you hit on the exact points I wanted to hear you riff on.

One small follow-up question: when you say 1 sense instead of 6 in the video, do you mean that one could view all arisings as just one sense door?  (ie. all tastes, itches, thoughts, feelings, smells, sounds, sights etc. at the perceptual sensate level are the basically the same "stuff" and as such, one could view the traditional 6 sense doors as just 1 giant door that all experience goes through)   

Thanks again - this video really helped me, and I'm sure it will help many others!

I'd strongly, strongly encourage you to keep posting these vids.  I'm pretty confident they will potentially have even higher impact than the book. 

Very absorbing. Yes one can make fun of facial expressions and such, but if one cares about letting go of marionette strings in the skull yanking this way and that, then I think you explained it about as good as can be explained. I think the denseness is good for long-time dharmaovergrounders, but would look strange or mysterious for newbies. I think I'll share this in a facebook psychology section and see what they make of it. 

Good job!

Hey Daniel, thanks very much for this, this was really clear, direct and very much appreciated!
I found the speed and density of information, as well as the content, just right.
For some reason as much as I might have read or heard about this, I don't think I have felt that I could so clearly understand what you were talking about as now. Probably your talking head helped with that. 

I thought I might mention that if you're trying to be as secular possible, there are some who might be a weeny bit put off by the hands-together praying gesture at the end. I can't say I personally minded, especially since the verbal aspect was great.

I very much look forward to more videos!

Thanks for all the feedback. Glad the video is helpful.

As to the ending, if bowing (a general sign of respect) and well-wishing annoys someone, I am going to guess that the problem might be primarily on their end. As to being secular, I draw widely from spiritual traditions in my life, and I wouldn’t consider myself secular, with definition one off the web of secular being “denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.”

'frustrated' from www.online reports...

me i like words, you can flick through pages quickly, you can search for something, but w/ video and audio you kind of have to sit down for an hour to get the full process going at the exact same speed as the presenter, but if it's only avail as video well i'll consider it.

well with vimeo i get nothing but 'failed'. I've tried clicking on the picture (whirling circle for a loooonng time...), clicking on play (nothing happens), download (nothing happens) and investigatons reveal that every attempt to download said video results in 'failed'.

I haven't got the right masonic certification for this.

using firefox on linux mint, i'm IT literate, any ideas?

(sorry for growling, maybe i need to do a metta practice)



FWIW Daniel many thanks for comments on LSD use in other thread, very apt

https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/comments/7prb4z/practice_daniel_ingram_on_six_sense_doors_three/

Good content. More relevant to most than NS.

Back to nitpicking the setup, though. When you put your hands up the brightness decreases. Probably an auto-light feature confused by what appears to be a floating head.

So far my share of the video in the psychology section is mostly silence with 2 thumbs up. I think people are just intimidated by the material, but those who already know some Buddhism are liking it.

Hallo Daniel, thank you for your video, it was very nice. 

I have no knowledge about these things but i wonder if a bit less strong contrast between the backround and the face gave a more natural feeling to the video (withought loosing the very nice dark shades). Something like this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlfKNqoL8JY.