Wedding videos...just shoot me

thartley

thartley

Veteran
I just have to rant for a second here.....I shot a wedding yesterday at the beach, beautiful location, perfect magic hour, warm sunset, very photogenic bride... The still photographers and I had a chat beforehand and had an agreement of sorts so as not to step on toes etc... It was a very "loose" set up for video, meaning the bride and groom didnt really have any special requests as far as the video went. So that was cool... but why is it, when you hit "Record" on a camera, it is the apparent cue for every man, woman, and child to cross into the shot? I dont think its anything I cant edit thru, but is it just Murphy's Law? Just as the bride was coming up the boardwalk from the limo, someone standing VERY close to the camera says how they had to call someone a "di*khead" earlier in the day for having a picnic at the wedding location there... So much for crowd reaction to the bride. haha!!!!

Anyone, ANYONE, who does wedding videos for a living must have nerves of steel. Hats off... Now...I feel unbelievably inspired to work on a script so I can put the idea of another wedding out of my mind. :) Nerve-wracking, I tell ya!

And I am happy to say that the OIS worked wonders on this shoot, as people's kids were running and stomping up and down the boardwalk. There was a huge amount of shake and the footage is steady. woohoo!!!
 
Its cool Lady. Dont worry. I shot a couple weddings. But i tell people befoer hand. i am shooting a Doc, not a "weddingVideo" so they usually are happy with the "edgy" Cinema Verite style shooting, of their wedding. just keep saying.. "its Edgy" an they will buy anyhting...
 
thartley said:
And I am happy to say that the OIS worked wonders on this shoot, as people's kids were running and stomping up and down the boardwalk. There was a huge amount of shake and the footage is steady. woohoo!!!
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OIS? :huh:

- Mikko
 
When I was walking out to my car after I had gotten all the footage of Nana's backside I could handle, I mumbled "I freaking Hate f-ing weddings!" and wondered if someone from the party might be out on a smoke break or something. :D But quickly realized I didnt care. haha!!!
 
mikkowilson said:
- Mikko ... thought Terri has a Merlin.
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Terri does have a Merlin, but not the biceps (nor the skill) to heft that sucker for a wedding video. I'd have been filming their honeymoon by the time I got it ready to fly.
 
thartley said:
Anyone, ANYONE, who does wedding videos for a living must have nerves of steel. Hats off... Now...I feel unbelievably inspired to work on a script so I can put the idea of another wedding out of my mind. :) Nerve-wracking, I tell ya!
!
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I get a lot of satisfaction from producing a good wedding piece. Like any job, you will have your "moments." There are parts of the day that I am totally "done with," also.

You have to have a certain personality to do well with this genre. After that, getting paid a pretty good chunk of change makes up for A LOT.

Don't ever let yourself get flustered over people walking into your shots, even the photogs. There is not too much you can do about it. Though the photog will walk into your shots if they think they can get away with it and are generally not a very good photographer to begin with. Guests giving you the look like, "don't put me on camera, you papazzi" is something to hold your tongue for, too. If you find yourself not able to hack it for most of the day, look for other ways to make money.
 
No kidding, Alexa! I was doing this particular event as a (paid) favor to our vice-prez at my day job. I have no intention of ever doing this consistently for cash. The photogs were actually pretty cool about everything and we kept and eye out for each other and our respective shots pretty well. It was definitely the guests who made my bloodpressure rise. haha!!! Like the bride's son being mad about where he had to sit in the limo, so he crosses into the shot, stops dead center, and hocks a loogie...PTEWEY!

You are a special person, indeed Alexa! :beer: :)
 
"...I shot a wedding..."

Your first mistake, my friend. I did a favor wedding last year and it was a real challenge. No budget, crafty or Logger / PA to carry my junk around.

Forget about the fact that I was missing out on a friend's wedding - because I was shooting it. I'd become just another black-clad wedding-day staffer... by election. Dumb, dumb... dumb!

The worst moment of the day - and you can hear this moment on-tape - is when the stills photog kept wandering into my long-lens work on the beach. I was as far away as the DVX would allow, but s***head, in his somewhat spandexy looking suit, repeatedly stumbled through my shots despite our brief conversation about how we could work the beach together.

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I know the problem was with him - because I consistently work with multiple cameras in run-and-gun situations. Often, it is the talent who crops another operator out of my shots. But not this day. Not this day.

There is one point in the tape where I finally crossed the professional line and muttered, to myself (and the oh-too-sensitive microphone), "Hey stills guy. I'll kill you, you suck, you sucky s***heat f***."

Not a proud moment, but that day's experiences reaffirmed and catalyzed in me a vow that I would never subject myself to wedding shooting again.

e
 
overlandfilms said:
Forget about the fact that I was missing out on a friend's wedding - because I was shooting it. I'd become just another black-clad wedding-day staffer... by election.
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Ha! I know that feeling. I have done a couple of weddings. One was my sisters. And you are right...she loved the 'gift' but I was just other staffer that day when I should have been enjoying the time with her and all of the friends and family. But, what can you say when your sister asks???

overlandfilms said:
There is one point in the tape where I finally crossed the professional line and muttered, to myself (and the oh-too-sensitive microphone), "Hey stills guy. I'll kill you, you suck, you sucky s***heat f***."
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And this is just plain funny. I know how that feels. Photographers, by way of their gear, can be much more mobile. And they LOVE to completely ignore ya. Makes you want to tell them where to stick their zoom lens. But I digress...

Alexa or to any one else, I've only done a couple of wedding videos. I think they turned out well. THEY WERE A LOT OF FREAKING WORK. But, I assume that if I decide to do any more, they will get easier...but the problem I have is having no idea of what a full successful video is supposed to look like. Yes, I understand that each work is going to be different, but does anyone know where I could locate some FULL wedding video versions, so I can see what the bride and grooms are seeing when they are shopping around?

I've located many videographers from WEVA, but they usually just have clips. And, these clips are VERY confusing to me. Some of them, especially http://www.bluecoremedia.com/ are beautiful. But he seems to show the highlights (ceremony, speeches, dances, etc) all within a gorgeous 10 minute clip. I can't imagine how the rest of his video looks. So, I need full examples. Any ideas?

Rick
 
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Fortunately, unless the peanut gallery is speaking over something important (like the vows), off-camera audio is easy to get rid of . . .
 
Working for the bride... or worse - her mother, is the ultimate punishment. I spent a couple of months posting the favor video I shot for my wife's college roommate. Every once in a while, she'd call and nicely harass me about when she was going to finish it.

Each time she did, I reminded myself that I was effectively trying to cut a single-camera, single-system sound featurette single-handedly. The final edit was almost 40 minutes.

It was an eye-opening experience for a broadcast producer / DP / shooter to say the least. I honestly don't know how these one-man shops do this work day in and day out.

More power to them. Poor bastards.

e
 
i hate weddings, but i'll do them. no favor weddings anymore, i can't stand not being to bro down with my friends cause i gota get some dance or somthing.
 
thartley - You have a great job, so this couldn't have been just for the money. Why would you put yourself through this agony? Experience? Favor for a friend? You have a DVX addiction?
 
PK Gillock said:
thartley - You have a great job, so this couldn't have been just for the money. Why would you put yourself through this agony? Experience? Favor for a friend? You have a DVX addiction?
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I work with the groom's sister... No, its not for the money. I didnt have anything else on the agenda and thought "Why not?" (now I can effectively answer that question) :D

I am however committed to one more wedding in March. I somehow feel better about that one. The bride is actually a photography student and is aware of such things as lighting and what can and cant be done under certain circumstances.
 
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