Feedback (Wedding Video)

LOL you know what I find funny? I did a "wedding video" for a friend who asked me to come be photographer (chose not to hire one, was happy with my abilities.) I put the phrase in quotes because I edited 2hrs of footage down into what was really a 6-7 minute "music video" showing highlights and tightly-cut bits and pieces that kept the action going.

She actually loved it, for the single reason that it was short! She said "who really wants to watch someone's wedding video? What a drag! But with mine, everyone wants to see it because they know they don't have to sit through who-knows-how-much of people walking around. It's cool."

Ever since, I've kept that ratio in mind for casual video projects... 3-5 minutes per hour of footage is really all the "good stuff" you'll get. This of course isn't a very 'traditional' way of looking at things for a lot of people, but I found this thread reminded me of it nonetheless.

Best of luck, I guess the contract is the best advice we can learn from you experience, but keep shootin'

Dip
 
Hi Lee,

Thank you for sharing the video - sorry for the late feedback.

Yes, if the bride has seen award-winning wedding videos, I have some thoughts on her possible issues (ordered by priority):

1. Bridal prep shots are not particularly flattering.
2. The music is, well, way too slow and somber.
3. The video resolution on YouTube is poor.
4. The camera work is often jumpy.
5. Composition is flawed (centering, rule of thirds, lack of nose room, etc)
6. The lighting is problematic - usually blowout problems, sometimes shadows falling on the B&G.
7. The color balance jumps around - always a challenge but it shouldn't be perceptible within a given shot.

Actually, from the bride's perspective, items 5-7 usually aren't a big deal but the top 4 items can make or break the wedding videographer.

1. Many emerging videographers slip-up on #1 - remember to always protect the "quarterback" (bride)!!! Unfortunately, male videographers take awhile before "getting it" on this important area - take another look at the bridal prep and I'm sure you'll agree it's not the kind of footage that makes her look elegant and beautiful.

2. It's admirable that you want to avoid copyrighted music on your video, however you can find some well suited upbeat music from various royalty-free companies. PM me if you'd like a list of references.

3. Perhaps you have a good quality DVD - in that case, good, but you'll still want to have improved quality video for the bride to share with her friends on YouTube (if not your website, etc.) Again, PM me if you need help with YouTube settings.

4. While we can't always use a tripod or glidecam/steadycam, I recommend you make use of a monopod to improve camera stabilization.

BTW, I recommend you include sound bites (voice overs) in the video - it can really help sell your videos. Several years ago Randy Stubbs helped pioneer breakthroughs in this area (very popular after he took away awards for several years); you can purchase training videos from him and others. On that note, depending on your style there are numerous instructional wedding videos that may be very helpful to you. Judging your style, perhaps you'd like to check out the VonLanken's offerings.

Again, thanks for sharing and good luck with your client.

Happy holidays,

Michael
 
TheDoody said:
Well I should touch even more about this, I had 2 days notice from them about doing the project. But I was ok with it because hell I had nothing better to do on a saturday but sweat my butt off. The pacing was slow but I slowed the footage down a great deal because I was (very) shakey and slowing it down helped keep you from throwing up. The reason was so vauge from multiple angles from the (you guessed it, the bride, or bridezilla)

1.) Out of 4 hours of footage (Bride Prep, Photo Shoot, Wedding, Reception) I edited it down to about 50 minutes (with the exclusion of cutting up the wedding of course)

2.) Things weren't done the way they were supposed to be done in the editing process (even though before we went through exactly how were were going to peice it together and I had her sign a contract).

3.) You didn't get my husband doing that one thing that he did during the reception (huh?)

Even though I had not did a Wedding up to this point I was positive that the product would be nice and 100 times better than most of the area. I just didn't understand from her perspective what it was.

Thanks for the input, I thought for last minute I did pretty damn good, not Kubrikian but it should fly in the wedding arena. Although I do agree looking back that the paceing was dragging throughout most of these shots and the music was the best that I could get (Minus some Kenny Chesley, which there is nothing wrong with that). I will though from now on not get in the game so late and give (bridezilla) any opportunity to trash me.

BTW: the groom loves it and when I called him he says "It looked fine to me, I dont know what her damn problem is anyways"

Thank you bondage!

Lee
Click to expand...

Since part of our company produces high end wedding films, I feel compelled to throw in my $.02 here. Firstly, as many have mentioned before, get yourself a standardized contract if you plan on doing more wedding events in the future. You can find TONS of contract examples all over, especially for wedding photographers. Just modify a good one to fit your business. Secondly, as several have mentioned, the pre-ceremony section you have on YouTube is definitely a bit slow. Music, pans, zooms, etc. Just constructive criticism. I don't know how the rest of your film looked though, so I can't throw in much input for that. Either way, the film is in no way "bad"; and in NO WAY deserving of giving monies back! Without prying too much, I'd love to know what you charged them, because maybe the bride was expecting something like the demo reel from one of the premier wedding film companies Elysium: http://www.elysiumblog.com/ . She would need to be paying about $12,000+ for a film like that. Anyways, in the end get used to having a bridezilla every so often, and just make sure you're covered legally. Happy shooting; and put that biatch behind you! LOL
 
Yeah I just watched your video and then I watched the show reel of elysium... and I dunno how much you charged, but if the bride wanted a video that looked like it cost $12,000, then she should pay $12,000. Something tells me you didn't charge that much... so she seriously shouldn't be so mad at you for what you made!

I honestly thought your video was good... it MAY have been a tad slow, but that's it. Not enough to get so worked up about. Maybe she didn't like how she looked in some of the shots and took offense.

Just take this as a learning experience.
 
Sorry to hear you are having such a nightmare...I thought the video looked good. It is a bit slow and you need to look at only using shots that make the bride look beautiful....sometimes hard to find I know!!! Good luck resolving it...I'm sure you have enough footage to pull something together that will make them happy.
 
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