WEDDING SHOOT ...

[Mikel_Low]

First ... I love this board. I am simply blown away by the level of knowledge and expertise found here. You folks are the awesome individuals and masters of the craft.

With that said ...

I'm about to shoot my first wedding with my DVX (don't have the A yet) and wanted to know a few things.

1. Should I shoot it with the steadicam ...?
2. Should I bring my sound guy ...?
3. Should I use just existing light or set up lights ...?

Basically ... what are the essentials? I realize that I need to bring lots of tape, extra batteries, battery charger and such. So, what am I missing?

Any and all suggestions would be great ... oh, and thank you all in advance for your help. :D

[bryster]

Congrates! on the camera.

I’m just like you ( don’t have the A yet)
As you already know the totally rocks! and for those that say the camera doesn’t work very well for wedding because of low light issues... They are speaking out there astronaut.

1. No you don’t need your stabilizer unless you think something might come up to use it. (for the most part you don’t need one) The one of the only places I can see you would want to use one would if you wanted to catch the "Dance" But you probably would not have enough time to balance and setup as needed. Depends on the situation.

2. Bring a tripod for sure. You can use it as a standard tripod or even a mono pod. (what ever makes you feel comfortable.)

3.Personaly I would bring a wireless mic or even a wired Lav.
This would be used for the on officiating the wedding, if you prefer to capture the ceremony.

4. I do interviews at my weddings and a good wired or wireless handheld works great!.

5. Lights? I bring them but only had to use them on a rare occasions. where it is outside and no light is available.
I guess I have been lucky If you do have portable camera lamp available the my help in an emergency.

All in all the camera totally rocks, You and your client will be very please.

let us know how it turns out.

It will be experience that will make it. the more you do, the more you will learn. and the better the outcome.

[Mikel_Low]

Thank you very much for your time and the information. *I really do appreciate it.

So - how much do you wedding shooters normally charge? *I've seen packages for $800.00 all the way up to $3500.00. *

Trying to get enough money together for a mini-dv deck (saving those heads).

[Unclemort]

I did my 1st wedding with my best friends PD-150 [I now own a DVX!] I got him hired as the DJ when I booked it with the bride! So it was great having him around to guide me! I would hire an experienced wedding videographer as your assistant! Don't whatever you do blow your 1st few weddings............Remember ...You're building your portfolio and track record................If you blow it ...........Word might get around and it will do damage to your Valuable Reputation! Regardless you cannot possibly do enough planning and preparation for your 1st gig! Don't worry too much about the $..........You'll get to charge a little more with each successful Wedding! Good Luck! Oh and don't waste your $ on a deck unless you buy a real good one [$1500 and up! ] Dropouts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would spend it on the new Pana GS-400 .............2nd cam for weddings and playback camera!

[Mikel_Low]

Thanks ... indeed. Sage advice about hiring a pro for the first one. Yeah ... I definitely have my eyes on top of the line equipment only as I am working toward doing film for a living. Weddings and such are the stepping stones toward that goal in terms of money and equipment. :D

[matthewd5]

just one comment, i have a dv deck but i still use a cheap sony dv camcorder for my capture deck to save wear and tear on the deck.

matthew

[David Jimerson]

What do you use the deck for?

[Mikel_Low]

Don't have a deck yet but will use it for rewinding and playback ... (if this question was directed to me) :D

OK ... two brides to be just asked me to shoot their weddings. What should be the starter price?

Thanks again in advance.

[Elvis]

Are you guys shooting in 24p?

[Mikel_Low]

Yes ... that's my intent. Should I shoot in a different mode for wedding events?

[JohnT]

Mikel,
Just shot a Wedding last weekend in 24pa progressive mode and have 2 DVX100a's. Had bot cross shooting behind the Pastor so we could get good shots of the Bride and Groom. Use the house audio that was being recored to CD, so I just laid the hold track down and plugged the video to it. The quality was just great. Look much better than the Betacam I use to shoot with a few yrs back. We set the two cameras up to match and before the Wedding itself, I ran around and got shots of the bride, groom, parents , Grandparents and followed the photographer outside to shoot the bride and bridesmaids. Also have a monopod to get quick and somewhat steady shots. Hope this helps a little.
JT

[JohnT]

Man, my spelling just sucks today..Sorry for all the typo's. :P

[Mikel_Low]

JRT ... thank you for the advice. Sounds like you got some wonderful footage - maybe you can post a bit of it. I'm looking to buy a second DVX and possibly a third since I don't have the "A" Model yet. :( I haven't even broken in this one thoroughly and I'm talking about buying a new ... I guess I'm destined to have a collection of cameras for the museum. :)

btw - what did you use to collect your audio?