Comments please!

[Norm_Li]

Hi,

Here's some "work in progress" wedding footage (only 35 seconds edited so far) that I would like anyone's comments on! Shot with DVX100. 8 MB. Progressive Quicktime.

http://www.q-productions.net/test/JD.mov

If people like the way it's edited, I will continue with this style! If not, then I would like some comments on how to make it better!

Thanks,

Norm Li
Q Productions

P.S> I also posted this on 2-pop for more viewers so sorry about the repetition :)

[Zoomforce]

Norm Norm Norm... you should be making movies... Absolutely fantastic, and stuff like the crane etc... that's just not normal. You gotta make some moves because you have the skills.

I had to dig deep for some critism/suggestions, but the one part where you trans to the title with the photo snap effect.. I would suggest pushing that transistion just after the title.. so the faces actually are showing when it does the sound and freeze frame, mostly because your doing a suggestive cut to a photograph, and nobody would take a photo of the lower half of the people walking. so them walking.. fade to title...fade to faces with the freeze frame and click sound.

[Norm_Li]

Thanks Zoom!

Your comments are really encouraging for sure.

I also totally agree with your suggestion! Good point and I will be sure to correct that very soon!

I have to tone down the yellow/green in the crane shot because it looks really strange! It doesn't look like that on the actual original footage!

Oh yeah, did you get a chance to send out my two batteries yet that I ordered 2 days ago?

Thanks!

Norm

[Zoomforce]

not yet.. its a holiday here today hopefully tommorow :)

[booggerg]

Norm what tripod are you using with your Cobra Crane? I want to get one of those but I know my tripod legs are not up to stuff but Promax doesn't even say the weight bearing rating of the legs we need.

[Norm_Li]

Hi Booggerg,

Good question!

I never thought about my tripod before so I had one of the more lightweight cheaper tripods I was using before and when my crane came in, it wouldn't fit the head because it was just a cheap camera plate. I tried to just attach it somehow to the top of that tripod head and the legs started to slide out of place at the bottom! Looked like it was going to bust. The head also was skewed down by the weight of the crane.

Thus, I ordered a new tripod and head. I bought the Manfrotto 028 tripod legs and the 501 Bogen head with the rectangular quick release plate. Those two work perfectly.

The crane itself with the extention kit already added on weighs about 10 pounds. The DVX weights well, what 6 pounds? And to perfectly counterbalance the DVX with disc weights at the other end of the crane, you will need to buy 22 1/2 pounds (I bought two tens and one 2.5lb).

The tripod and head weigh another 13-14 pounds.

It's definitely quite a heavy and bulky load to carry around if you're out shooting by yourself. It's nice to have an assistant help you with carrying some stuff but I manage to carry it all myself anyway.

Anyhow, as you can see, the ProMax crane is definitely a great tool to add to any videographer's collection.

Norm

[Zoomforce]

yeah it was a fantastic crane shot. clips like that make me wanna buy :)

[Norm_Li]

Hey Zoom!

Did you get a chance to send the batteries out yet?

I really need them for a wedding coming up! I hope they get here soon.

Thanks,

Norm

[killerht]

Hi,

I'm new to this, so bear with me.

I just have a question, what is a cobra crane?

[Zoomforce]

http://www.steadytracker.com/crane.html

[nickybee]

good stuff - I love the first dissolve as the dress comes in first (cause it's white)...

my only comment is that the second to last shot in B+W before the crane shot zooms in and out during the slo-mo - I find that quite jarring and it's a shame cause it lowers the overall high-end feel of the clip...

but that's just me trying to be constructively critical...

keep going for sure...

nick

[Dave_Mac]

Norm,
I have been looking at wedding videos for awhile (internet samples). I saw one site, videographer had very high end camera, many shots not on a tripod and some just set-up and silly. You are really trying to create something. I can tell you, one's wedding day, mine was May 20th this year, is very important. Keep going, your obvious talent will make this event last and last. I can just see the couples children watching your creation thirty years from now, very cool.
Dave Mac

[booggerg]

Here's a great clip that also utitlizes the camera snap effect but they used a change in the music instead. I like this guy's work very much, I think we can all learn from him. I think he's based out of Vancouver actually..

http://www.bluecoremedia.com/movieclips.html

Click on the first clip.

[Zoomforce]

cool... good editing for sure, some nice fx in that demo reel.

[Norm_Li]

Thanks DaveMac!

Yeah, BlueCore are from Vancouver and are really really good. I have seen their clips before a long time ago. Another wedding video company based out of Vancouver is Horizon Weddings, http://www.horizonweddings.com, and are very good too.

And alas, another wedding video company that we could all learn from that are based out of the U.S, is James Ryan Films (formally known as Big Sky Movies), http://www.bigskymovies.com.

Did you know that here in Newfoundland, 99.9% of the population are NOT willing to pay higher than $895? They think it's WAY too much already. It's funny how all of my competitors here in this province charge the same price as me but do absolutely no editing. They shoot the video and hand it to the couple a day or two later! However, I like to go the extra step and create a little "movie" styled highlights video for them as well as a tightly edited main video. I guess my style is "somewhat" similar to Bluecore and the companies alike that charge anywhere between $4000-10000 per wedding video. Maybe I am not to their level yet but I know it's definitely better than a lot of wedding videos I've seen across the Internet that charge 3-4 times more than I do.

The bottom-line, I am losing out financially in the long-run compared to the other companies locally, by being creative and selflessly dedicating so many hours to each wedding video. I am however, gaining a much better reputation than all of the other companies locally and I've heard many locals/rumors claiming that my company is the best in the province which is quite flattering!!!

I did not start my video production company (April 2002) solely for the money. I am in it for the experience and to add more videos to my portfolio. The past 4 months I worked on 14 contract productions, alongside with full-time courses at University! I was definitely kept busy this summer but I enjoyed it. *:)

K! Sorry about the long rambling...never noticed!

Norm

[Norm_Li]

Hi Nickybee!

I also find the zooming in and out during that part when they are spinning lowers the over-all feel a little bit too. I guess there's nothing I can do about it now though :(

If I zoomed in/out during shooting or not zoomed at all and kept a close framed shot, it would have created a nicer feel.