Filming my first wedding tomorrow

M

mattdreyer

Member
Any advice for a first timer?

My main question would be what support to use as my main - monopod or shouldermount. If i need the light im gonna have to use the shoulder as its the only one i can mount it on, and i wouldn't even consider the monopod but I saw this video (http://vimeo.com/26869155) and they're quite convincing about the awesomeness of it. Although mine doesn't have feet so im not sure exactly how good it is for video.. I'm very tempted to give the monopod a go as with the loupe i can imagine it being pretty stable and also quite discrete. Another issue is im quite tall, at 6"5, so I was thinking with the shouldermount im going to be constantly looking down at people.. What do you all think?

For the ceremony I think I'm gonna sit back and used my telephoto and tripod. If they have some sort of altar I'm gonna stash my h2n and lav mic in it so I can catch a bit of the audio but i don't think im gonna be able to mic up the minister..

After a bit of grafting and borrowing this is my kit:
7D body
Cheap lcd loupe
Portable light - hyperlight 471
Rode videomic<br>h2n<br>cheap lav mic
32gb +2gb +4gb cards

Cowboystudio shoulder support
Glidecam 1000hd
Manfrotto monopod (quite a basic one)
Manfrotto tripod with fluid head

11-16mm 2.8 tokina
17-55mm 2.8 (don't know if this is the canon or sigma since im borrowing it off a friend)
50mm 1.8
70-300mm 3.5 -5.6 canon usm
100mm 2.8 canon macro

Any advice or anything would be supremely appreciated, Cheers.
 
I don't do weddings but I do events which have some similarities. My preference is a monopod over the shoulder mount, my shots are just steadier that way and I don't really lose mobility. For an event, the thing that would make me the most nervious regarding the equipment you're going to use is the limited record time of the 7D. I think these are great cameras for digital cinema where you can have multiple takes, but not good to have the camera decide to quit recording just as you hear "I now present to you Mr and Mrs. ...". I'm sure others have worked around that limitation, but it would concern me.
 
First I second the monopod over shoulder rig for event shooting. I use the Manfrotto Monopod Pouch and it works great. I even made a hook so I can use my Sun Sniper Sling to hang my entire rig at my side.

I see 3 options for getting a good one man wedding.

1. One DSLR, Separate Sound recording and lots of True B-roll (for cut aways when the DSLR stops)
2. Two DSLR's (with staggered starts) and Separate Sound recording
3. One DSLR and One Real Video Camera with XLR inputs and constant video and sound.

I have done about 20 weddings with my T2i. If I am the only one shooting I use my HVX200 for the Ceremony and T2i for the rest. If I have a place to put it I will use the HVX for a wide shot during the reception. The only time I do not use my Monopod is when I grab my camera real quick to shoot video of my young son.
 
chuck I'm so afraid of this limitation too. Especially because I'm definitely gonna need to do a dump of my 32gb on to my laptop just before the ceremony so i can catch the whole thing without too many gaps... ahh the headache!!

And kgimedia I think im gonna go for door number 1! I'm gonna set up my h2 at the altar and have that recording for the whole ceremony.. a bit rough and ready but it will be better than my shotgun mic way at the back..

I don't think slr's are ideal for events unless you have more than one for sure. This was a last minute ask from a friend of mine, and id never have imagined filming a wedding, so im more than a little nervous.

Thanks for your responses, they've been really helpful!
 
Get lots of shots before the ceremony and after of the architecture and decorations. This is not only helpful for the gaps in DSLR recording but gaps in your shooting ( Out of focus to long, shaky shots, Aunt jane stands up to take a video with her iPhone in Portrait orientation.
 
Okay, so I just shot a wedding a couple of weekends ago and I used a T2i and a DVX100B. I had my partner operate the T2i on a monopod and it worked awesome (even on some longerish lenses). She loved the monopod (I have the Manfrotto 560B with the legs and ball head at the bottom). I would stick with that. Also, I found that I hardly used the tripod at all for the whole wedding. I used it exclusively for the speeches and I got awesome footage for that. I thought I would end up using it a lot for the ceremony, but it was just impossible to get good shots & angles. I had to pop off the tripod because there were far too many people in the way. It was like being at a parade. I would have to say though, that filming the wedding would have been very challenging with just one camera/person. Good luck and let me know if you need to know more specifics.
 
kgimedia said:
Get lots of shots before the ceremony and after of the architecture and decorations. This is not only helpful for the gaps in DSLR recording but gaps in your shooting ( Out of focus to long, shaky shots, Aunt jane stands up to take a video with her iPhone in Portrait orientation.
Click to expand...

This is the greatest post. You can even still record audio and show cut aways of various things. Make sure you record things that at first dont even make sense. Record the chairs, tables, any adornments, windows, words, bibles I mean any and everything you see record it. Record the clapping of peoples hands their smiles I mean EVERYTHING. Also dont event waste time dumping the footage, just make sure you have some extra cards. Make sure you batteries are charged, and finally get PLENTY of Rest and maintain focus..... You Got This!!
 
Thanks so much for all the advice guys! It was really helpful and reassuring. Just got back, been active for almost 24 hours now, including travel so im absolutely shattered. I was hella nervous the whole day, but it was a small wedding in a manor and really chilled, which was really nice for me.

If my calculations are correct I think I got about 3.3 hours of footage all in all.. managed to get the whole ceremony alright (sadly I wasnt in the best place and had to shoot this wide). A second camera man would have made such a dramatic difference to the filming... although for a wedding of this size it might have been overkill. but just being able to get the cross shots at the ceremony would have been awesome; instead i got the back of the groom for most of the service.

I have to say my saving grace was borrowing the rode videomic from my uni. I didnt realise how much of a difference it would make as opposed to the onboard mic! It picked up the speeches pretty well considering I was about 10 feet away! And when i was shooting candid shots it managed to pick up the conversations from pretty far. That being said the audio is far from perfect, because of the AGC, but i guess thats the best I could do by myself.

I ended up using my 100mm 2.8 macro for alot of the crowd shots weirdly enough, it let me get space but still get that tight crop and really good IQ. I really need a fast 30mm though, its a big gap in my range and my 50 1.8 isnt doing it for me anymore. its an annoying length between a portrait and standard lens..

I did a glidecam and tripod sweep before the guests arrived of the manor, but apart from that my camera was glued to the monopod and it was pretty amazing! Although I still managed to get a fair bit of shake occasionally with the 100mm, for the most part it was pretty stable stuff. Although I looked like a bit of a doofus carrying a giant pole around all day!

One thing that kinda sucked was when the camera was around it tended to dry up conversations and I don't think a few people appreciated the constant camera presence. I think i need to work on my ninja camera skills.

I wasnt really looking for a wedding job, this was more of a favor for a friend type deal, but im not sure if weddings are totally for me. filming wise i mean haha. I think the only way id want to do it is with the full proper kit and help so i can guarantee a solid video for them.

Now my challenge is to edit the beast!! I was gonna make a sorta highlight video, and then a full fat edition with all the trimmings for the bride/groom. Do you think that sounds alright or is there a standard way of delivering footage?

Cheers again guys!!
 
In terms of delivering footage, that is an excellent way to do it. That is exactly what I did. We released a 5 minute highlight reel/trailer and made it available on Vimeo, Facebook, etc. This was great for friends and family who couldn't make it out to the wedding. We are now editing a full version (should be about 1 to 1.5 hours in length I think). This will be the nice package with animated menus, special features, and nice packaging.

Don't worry about looking weird carrying around a monopod. It only looks weird to you. I bet it actually looked really cool to the guests. I also wouldn't worry about the camera shy thing either. I bet there was a wedding photographer who was up in everyones face snapping pictures constantly, right? It's not much different for the video camera. When I shot the wedding I got right in there because I knew that would end up giving me the best shot.

I'm glad you survived it!
 
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