wedding Demo Shot with XH A1

J

jsvideoworx

Active member
Here is a wedding i shot about 3 weeks ago, Im trying to make the transistion from hobby videographer to Professional. I still need somework, but one step at a time for. I would like to hear peoples thoughts.

http://jsvideoworx.com/Js_Video_Worx/Samples.html

I just bought a video light, so hopefully no more dark shots during the reception.

All input would be appreciated.
 
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pretty nice, i think you're off to a good start

i liked the high angle shot of the flower girl, emphasized how small she was and how cute that role in the wedding is

at the same time though - and this is probably due to constraints placed on you by the wedding people - being that far and high away (and from behind) for the vows and made it feel a bit distant. then again, weddings arent about watching a cameraman running around so you're kind of stuck where they put you.

with a bit of freedom you could have gotten up in there and caught their emotions / sincerity, maybe a close up of the kid sleeping on the groomsman's shoulder

with all the cutting you do, i'd try to have a bit more variety in the frames next time - the bride and groom were generally waist to head most of the time before the kiss itself. note - as i was writing this, the variety in shots and frames suddenly increased for the rest of the video.

late in the clip, there's a cut of the crowd outside (long pan around) with their crowd noise, then the noise ends for a quick shot of the couple, then picks up again with a crowd shot inside - that was a bit distracting, if you want to keep the crowd noise i'd just let it run through that shot of the couple and cross fade the noise of the two crowds

finally, once they're inside at the end and it's dark, i might have seen if it was possible to increase the contrast a bit in post without losing the image

anyway, all in all good stuff, these are just a few thoughts on what i might try next time to see if they work. i think you'll transition nicely from hobby to pro.
 
Hey Jared,
First of all thanks for posting. It takes alot of guts to put your work in front of so many experienced eyes and wait for feedback. I'm going to try to be constructive and keep the discussion about helping you and giving you my OPINION. Because that's all it is. Things aren't necessarily right or wrong but just my perception. Keep in mind also when putting work in fron of other professionals, we are going to see things and complain about stuff that brides would never see nor complain about.
What you have here is a collection of all of the things that everyone has to go through in the beginning. I'm going to list what I think are the most important things to learn from in this sample. btw these are in no certain order
#1 Start with an establishing shot. The shot of the groom doesn't tell us where we are, and it is not the best shot to start the video with. The second shot of the church is a much better shot and gives us at least a place to work with.
#2 Get closer to people. I know that when I was first starting out I had the hardest time with this. Shooting people from far away looks like surveilance. You build a connection with the video by being close. Also, vary your shot composition. Use some wide shots, some medium, some close, some very close. Get details etc. Mix up shots but don't be afraid to really get in there...
#3 Some of the shots are too long for the content involved. the way I try to look at an edit is if I feel like I'm waiting on something to happen, I need to skip to when it's acutally happening. Try to shorten the length of the clips accross the board. Robert Allen said once that one of the big problems in wedding videography is that editors fill the need to fill the whole song with clips when maybe we just need to stick to the right clips and shorten the music to match the clips.
#4 on that note, try to cut to the song. In other words, Use the song to build drama. A song tells a story in itslelf, try to use the music to control where and when things happen in the video. If nothing else, just time the video to the music.
#5 It looks like this ceremony is just one camera. Try to get yourself another camera for wide high shots like where you were here. The jump from bride walking up the steps to flower girl or whatever was going on there wasn't very clear. I use 2 A1s and an HV20 the HV20 can save your life as a backup shot. They can be had nowadays for no more than $550 $600.
#6 Work on stabillizing your shots. I'm not necessarily talking about tripods or glidecams, but there are quite a few shots with zooms and adjustments that just shouldn't make the edit. There are a few that are acceptable, but the vast majority have too much moving and adjusting going on. Get the VonLankens Moving Camera Techniques video. It will change you shooting completely.
#7 Ok the dark reception. A light is not necessarily what you need here. No matter what anyone on a forum says don't be afraid of gain on the A1. Use the Trucolor or Vivid RGB presets and you will be fine. Also drop your shutter speed to 1/30 for situations like that. I shoot 80% of my reception without a light. It takes quite a bit of practice and understanding of what your camera will do in what situations, but just keep in mind that you will get a better picture with grain and good color retention than what you have here. It looks like maybe you tried to fix it in post by just raising the brigthness, but in any case, learn the post correction on low light and it will also help.
#8 and lastly try to render your web files a little larger. in this day and age, people expect a nice large clear window for viewing clips. Play around with your settings from rendering, see what loads quickly, but that window need sto be larger.

Anyway, the most important thing here is that you are trying. You are asking questions, and if you really want the answer, you'll find it. I'm going to post a few samples for you to see a bit of what I'm talking about. Take a look and feel free to e-mail me if you want to discuss it further...
This is my first highlight demo from 2005. I booked 17 weddings that year off of this if you can believe it.
www.grantphotovideo.com/highlightsmd.wmv

This is a highlight I did with the VX2100 in October it is to an upbeat country song which is why I'm including it here.
www.grantphotovideo.com/stacyaaron

Here is one from this year with the A1s note the color issues I had with white balance in that room:( but it was very dark. I was using a Canon VL10i in that case.
www.grantphotovideo.com/taylorjonathan



Bill Grant
Grant Photo & Video
bill@grantphotovideo.com
 
Thank you for the quick and detailed response, This is what i was looking for. The way i learn is from negative inputs to create postive out looks. With me starting out, i know i still have a lot to learn and this website has helped me in many ways. I do appreciate all the input, and it will be used to in a good way.

As far as what i have shot.
I showed up to the rehersal the day before and noticed how small this place was, and realized that there was a lot of people invited to this Wedding. I made the decision to shoot from the top, due to the fact that there wasn’t a lot of moving around space, especially with a 2 photographers walking around. The reception part with it being dark, I shot this looking through the viewfinder and it looked decent, when I put it post, all shots were almost black (scared the crap out me) so I played with the brightness and contrast a bit and that was the best I could come up with. Reading your input has already helped me out.
 
Good effort jsvideoworx. I'm sure with a little time and experience you will do fine in the wedding vid biz. If you look at how much of a quality difference there is in Bill's clips, as well as the time between them you can see the awesome progress he made in relatively little time and I'm sure you will as well!:thumbup:
 
when your limited with lighting it is tough but ,start and stop panning is hard to watch. use the trypod or at least a monopod. the start and stop of the manual zoom is distraking .use the slow auto when you can . get the closeups when you know the lighting is good , close enough to get some emotion. shooting in the dark. don,t bother with out a light. i saw the photo guy there shoot them posing for the stills guy out side ,slowmow if you can at 24p . don,t be afraid to direct a little more ,times like the entrance. not a fan of your zoom out a mile, into a transition you used many times. the bride talking to the little girl would have been the money shot, any one else agree?
 
I agree with previous posters saying that up close and personal is the way to go, especially with something as intimate as a wedding.

I am doing my first wedding in a week, and am also researching techniques and tips for getting good shots. Anyone have any advice on shooting the ambience (e.g. the location, the candles, etc.)?
 
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