What do you look for in a railroad video?

[charlie6017]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for input. I want to hear from you folks as to what you look for in videos, basicly, what are some of the things that are more important than others? What draws you to buy certain videos? Is narration important? Any information is good!

[pennsy]

Hi Charlie,

It all depends on your interests, AT THAT TIME.

I usually buy videotapes on impulse and what catches my eye, since I have a rather varied interest in just about everything.

Sometimes I am on a steamer kick, sometimes a diesel kick. I once got involved with steam turbines and got a videotape on the Big Blows of Union Pacific. What you really need is to surf the web and locate videotape manufacturers, and suppliers, that cover topics you are interested in. You can order on line, or head out to your local model RR shop and browse through what is available there. You might just catch a sale or two. I picked up a copy of "Mansions on Wheels" that way. All about privately owned railcars. Good luck.

[jmp883]

Just like Charlie6017 and Pennsy wrote I buy whatever appeals to me at the time of purchase.

I do have one overriding factor....if it's about the EL it's an automatic purchase.

[charlie6017]

Actually, I should have been more specific........I have advertised the videos I have created on Railroad.net (Derail Productions), but have had little success in selling. I am not sure if it's just not enough advertising (I have a wife and 3 kids.......'nuff said) or what. I don't narrate the videos, but I do add captions so the viewer knows the location. I try to keep the prices good.......on ebay for $7.90. I am just hoping to gain some perspective from you guys.

[MEC407]

Where on railroad.net are your advertisements? I haven't seen them.

[charlie6017]

Otto created a great banner and it ran, but I think my three-month advertisement ran out. But there is a listing of advertisers here:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19651

I will hopefully have my own domain name in the near future, as I have had nothing but problems with tripod. The site is not working properly as I type this, I can't even edit it. I guess you get what you pay for.

I am selling all videos for $7.95 on ebay for $7.90--DVD only, I no longer do VHS-too time consuming.

[MEC407]

It looks like you have some interesting titles to choose from. I will keep you in mind next time I'm in need of fresh railroad entertainment.

A newer, better web site would definitely help to increase your visibility. Having short video samples for people to download might also entice them to buy a video or two.

[charlie6017]

Thanks MEC!

[mxdata]

The railroad video market, like the all color book market, is pretty well flooded at this time. Having said that, on older topics that were originally photographed on film rather than videotape I prefer material that was done by the relatively few photographers who used 16mm cameras rather than 8mm or Super8. In addition to the individual frames having nearly four times the image area which greatly reduces the grain distortion, most of the 16mm cameras had better optics, and because of the higher cost of the film the photographers generally were a lot more selective about what they shot and how they shot it. Unfortunately, use of 16mm was rare to begin with, particularly when shot at sound speed, and most of the usable 16mm originals have probably found their way to video producers by now so there is unlikely to be a lot more material showing up in the future.

The cheapness and availability of Super8 in the 1960s to 1980s, and the videotape formats that have taken over the market in recent years, have resulted in a great deal of sloppy photography and redundant footage in productions on modern topics.

[pennsy]

Hi All,

Well said Mxdata; If you check out Mark I Video, you will see at the end of their videotapes that they actively seek old films of trains. I believe that they will probably either make a copy of what they like and then compensate you or whatever. In any event, Marc Balkin is actively seeking those 8 mm and 16 mm movies that are wasting away in your closet somewhere. Some of his work is quite interesting, and you might just enjoy some of his videotapes. I have several in my videotape library.