New Video Batreps 1: Please Share Your Opinion!

[DukeMantis]

Hi Hivers

Ive assumed the mantle of content producer for our local wargaming club which will involve video batreps, blog posts etc.

I really want to do nice batreps for everyone so it would be incredibly useful to get some ideas on what the community likes in a batrep. Feel free to answer the poll question and add any other comments you wish.

Things to consider if you have the time to go into more detail about your opinions on this:

1) Do you like the batrep to be done in 10-15 minutes, or isit ok for it to last as long as 30-40 or even an hour?

2) Do you like fun stuff like action shots of the models with simple editing tricks to add a more fun vibe?

3) Do you like the idea of opponents giving a 1 minute rundown of their army and battleplan before the game begins?

4) Will you not bother to watch a batrep if you see some unpainted models?

5) Do you like bantering 'live' style batreps - or the more heavily edited type with voiceovers? Perhaps a combination of both?

Thanks in advance for your input everyone Your answers will help us produce better 40k batreps!

[Overread]

1) A battle report should last as long as it needs to depending on how its presented and the nature of the depth of content. More in depth battle reports will last longer than quick summary ones so it really depends how you want to present it - as a short summary of the game or as an in depth walkthrough of stage by stage of the game.

2) In moderation yes I think this can help break up some boredom of the game and add a little bit of spice to the flow of the commentary. But don't go over the top or be silly. If you do you end up spoiling the effect - simple and clean is often the easier.

3) I think there should always be a clear presentation of each army before each game; viewers should be able to see and know easily what it put on the table by each player. It's optional but helpful if the players also go through their plans for the game

4) Battle reports are about the playing of the game and whilst good terrain and well painted models help to enhance the experience they don't detract. Personally so long as the models are easily shown I don't care about the paint job.

5) A battle report should be clear and easy to understand and audio recording is one big area many can fall down on. Live banter or narrator overview are both very valid approaches however:

a) Narration has the advantage that you can give clear and summarised content without having to cut and past the content around as in a live banter game.

b) Narration allows you to record the audio in a controlled environment which means we also don't have to hear the banter of everyone else playing in the room or the hoover in the next room or anything else.

c) Banter tends to work best with experienced players who don't have to ask question in the banter every 5 mins. They don't have to play in silence, but players who are confident in the game and who know how to play improve the experience.

Personally I prefer narration - it allows a better ability to summarise the important facts and present them to the viewer and it also allows for a generally higher level of audio quality.


Personally I've always been a fan of www.youtube.com/user/WarGamerGirl battle reports and they present a nice clean way to consider doing battle reports.

Also If you are going to do live recording use a tripod. Nothing is more distracting than a camera wobbling all over the place, by all means use manual holding to zoom in to key parts, but try to keep the camera as stable as possible through the whole majority of the game - birds-eyeview stable is much easier to follow than wibbly wobbly chasing the action.

ps - if you do decide to use background music in the style of the battle reports I linked do use music from royalty free sources and attribute them (unless its your own music).

[DukeMantis]

Thank you for such detailed feedback, this is brilliant

I am a subscriber to GamerGirl too but had not watched any of her vids for a while. I reviewed some of her stuff and it reminded me how very clear and concise her style is... she seems to hold the camera for some shots and tripod others - but has a reltively steady hand anyway it seems.

I have a good quality tripod but wonder how arduos it would be shifting it about to set up every shot, i guess i could use it where applicable and try my best not to hand-shake the rest of the time.

Thanks for the tip on the royalty free music, its so temping to play my favourite songs but i dont want to get banned

[Overread]

One thing I think that sets the Gamergirl ones apart from some other battle reports is that she plays a game at home in a controlled environment and is playing the game "for" the battle report itself. This means that there is a good chance that along side playing the game, there will be pauses in the gameplay as segments of the video are recorded and some parts might be re-recorded. The game still flows, but it has the added video element.

Now if you're doing reports of battles with less specific control you might find some elements get harder; for example zooming in on the action might prove to be too distracting to the players. Also the more you break up the gameplay the more time the game will take, this is important for situations where you are against the clock and might mean that you had to adopt a more static camera position (birds-eye-view) for more of the time.

Also if you're going to narrate don't forget notes - always write notes during the game. What hits what, spells, powers, abilities, dice rolls etc... The more you do it the more you'll know what notes you will and won't need.


On the music front remember if the music is for the background it wants to be background quality, having strong music as a background can fail because it starts to try and dominate for the attention of the viewer. So "elevator" or "dentist" type music can work rather well because its just filling in the time - though you can go fancy like GG and use selective music for different stages/factions - its a very nice touch but not essential - in the end music is there to provide a background sound to help avoid deathly silences and the demand to "keep talking" the whole time.

[DukeMantis]

Keeping notes on all the action and dice rolls while filming everything seems kinda daunting xD

I can see that doing the batreps properly is alot of work

Ive seen some that are a super fast style where they skip the turn and just give you a summary while panning around the table. They are short and sweet but i dont know how well they go over with the fans. As a viewer i like a little more detail. On the other hand MWG's style of shooting everything and speeding it up works pretty well but sometimes it doesnt keep my attention...

[Overread]

I think it really depends what kind of battle report you want to present. The style where you've a summary at the end of each turn is probably the easier kind to do. You just need to take notes at each stage of the game and what unfolds in what order and then just summaries the roles. However it doesn't really lend itself well to a video battle report formate and tends to be better for a photographic battle report because, in the end, you've not much actually needing to move around on the screen.

The style where they speed through the turns is, in my view, somewhat annoying. It wastes my time whilst not really showing me anything of the game - oh I can get general big movement things but otherwise as a viewer I've little idea what is really going on until the end of turn summary (at which point your back to my first point).


You are right that if you want to do a good proper battle report then it is going to take time - both in the preparations and in the post production as you prepare the video. In the end you've got to make your own choice as to how far along you want to go with things. I would say that a proper battle report (like WGG) are rare and thus do have value both to the local and the larger community of gamers.
Also remember your slowest battle reports will be your first as you get your feet wet in how to do them - as you do more you'll speed up as you refine the workflow and get a feel for things.