Wedding Videography Advice??

[Jeff Anderson]

on camera wireless receivers are battery powered and the size of the transmitter. Take a look at the sennheiser g2 series.

I wouldnt use the onboard mic for anything. I would avoid handheld mics for guests. Some will hold it too close some will hold it too far. Ideally a boom op with a short boom would be great, but I'm betting thats not going to happen. A shotgun mounted on top of the cam would be my next choice. Or if you can setup a "station" at which to guests come to a stationary boomed shotgun would work well.

 

[madhorizons]

don't rely on your onboard mic for anything

I've decided for the interviews that I'll suck it up and carry a cable (ugh) and Shure SM57, which is good in mid-frequency and unidirectional (which will help with cutting some of the bg noise).


The entire grounds where the ceremony is measures 50' front to back and 30' side to side. I've talked to facility manager and I will be able to hang an overhead condenser in the gazebo and hide my cable up & out of the way (i have 3x50' cables at my disposal). I'm really at a loss on other alternatives since they are out of budget. I've been underneath these condensers, and they're pretty sensitive.

I wouldnt use the onboard mic for anything. I would avoid handheld mics for guests. Some will hold it too close some will hold it too far. Ideally a boom op with a short boom would be great, but I'm betting thats not going to happen. A shotgun mounted on top of the cam would be my next choice. Or if you can setup a "station" at which to guests come to a stationary boomed shotgun would work well.

A station is a great idea! If they'll let me set up a station, i can use the same condenser for that with another channel using the SM57/SM58. If not, i'm going to have to be stuck with the SM57 handheld...not my 1st choice either. If I had the $$$ to properly outfit myself, there'd be a lot of things in the audio department I'd do differently, but I have to run with what I have access to. Certainly a steep learning curve....definitely reminds me of why I like doing post-production.

I'm hoping to run a field test tomorrow for the rehearsal if my boss will let me out of work early. That will "tell the tale" if i can do that (i'd be more comfortable that way).

I'd like to take this time to thank each of you....all of your replies were extremely helpful. Much appreciated. Maybe i'll post something after I finish up all the post-prod.

 

[jdmoviemaker]

30p stills

30p stills

if i where you i would shoot in 30p ...Why? , because later you can go back and grab high quality frames and turn them into stills , works best with sony vegas :thumbsup:

 

[moonlitnite]

I've decided for the interviews that I'll suck it up and carry a cable (ugh) and Shure SM57, which is good in mid-frequency and unidirectional (which will help with cutting some of the bg noise).

The entire grounds where the ceremony is measures 50' front to back and 30' side to side.

Hi MH,

Oh-oh, long cables and wedding party guests don't mix well (read, alcoholic consumption). When we're forced to run cables (lighting, video gear, etc), we normally get out the gaffers tape to ensure no one trips. Running adhoc XLR cables in the midst of drinking guests, I hope you've got a good videographer insurance rider - it will help unless their lawyer proves willful negligence - so be very careful!

Regards, Michael

 

[madhorizons]

if i where you i would shoot in 30p ...Why? , because later you can go back and grab high quality frames and turn them into stills , works best with sony vegas :thumbsup:

I won't be grabbing stills....the reason they ran out of $$$ for the last minute "get your best friend to shoot something" camera, was b/c they pumped well into the 4 digits into a still photographer. I won't be using Vegas.

Hi MH,

Oh-oh, long cables and wedding party guests don't mix well (read, alcoholic consumption). When we're forced to run cables (lighting, video gear, etc), we normally get out the gaffers tape to ensure no one trips. Running adhoc XLR cables in the midst of drinking guests, I hope you've got a good videographer insurance rider - it will help unless their lawyer proves willful negligence - so be very careful!

Regards, Michael

No doubt. The long cable will only be ran outside during the ceremony, behind bushes, no closer than 5-10' from any guests...and ONLY for the ceremony. I learned that lesson long ago when playing in bands...gaffer's tape & tactical placement are key when alcohol is involved. For the reception, i'm probably going to be mobile with all the cord (only ~ 5' of it, still gotta measure), coiled on my body...only way to trip is if i'm pushed over and someone trips on me rogar-BlackEye(DBG

 

[JohnT]

We have shot tons of weddings in 24p with 1/48th shutter and if I need that extra stop, I have shot with 1/24th shutter. Using slow smooth pans the footage has looked great. Do a manual WB as suggested earlier. Slow mo scenes are shot in 30p or 60i. See if you can rent a few wireless Sen GL systems. They seem to work fine. Never had a problem with them. Put a lav on the pastor and one on the groom. I use a shotgun mic for the music and run an xlr cable from it back to my 2nd cam. If house sound is going to be use, you might want to see if you can get a feed from there mixer back to your camera.
My .2 cents worth.
Take care

 

[madhorizons]

Man...talking about trial by fire...i was burned.

Thanks to all of your great input, the shoot was a success!!

I played with the camera for a few hours the night prior (11/9), and got comfortable with the 24p workflow. I shot in 24p with shutter of 1/42.2 (i think it had a decimal).

I manually set the WB & everything...but since it was outside and VERY sunny @ noon, no matter how i cranked up the knee, the whites were really blowing out. The only way to have them not blow out was to go to a shutter speed that wasn't a multiple of 24 (which was the advise i received)...luckily, the vows & everything were shaded. It didn't help the bride's dress wasn't white. Good thing I brought a white 8x10 matte board with me. That's what I used to calibrate the camera outside. I just wish I could of avoided the white overkill (which i probably could of, but was scared to stray due to fear of losing the balance for the vows).

To make things more difficult, the entire inside for the reception was beige with huge windows and nothing but sunshine beaming in. It shifted the color spectrum way to the warm side (probably down around 2000-3000K)...and naturally, if a cloud passed by, then that totally changed the spectrum as well.

I've started post now...don't know how I'm going to color correct/grade everything. I'll be getting with her after the honeymoon, since she's a photoshop person (i'm goofy in Pshop, good in AE).

I haven't brought the stuff into AE yet, but started playing with a screen grab while at work (below). B/C i pulled the frame into photoshop and it's gone through a couple of photoshop edits...it's gotten jpeg artifacts all over the place. The footage doesn't.

We have shot tons of weddings in 24p with 1/48th shutter and if I need that extra stop, I have shot with 1/24th shutter. Using slow smooth pans the footage has looked great. Do a manual WB as suggested earlier. Slow mo scenes are shot in 30p or 60i. See if you can rent a few wireless Sen GL systems. They seem to work fine. Never had a problem with them. Put a lav on the pastor and one on the groom. I use a shotgun mic for the music and run an xlr cable from it back to my 2nd cam. If house sound is going to be use, you might want to see if you can get a feed from there mixer back to your camera.
My .2 cents worth.
Take care

Ya...i did the manual WB, but was only good if there were no clouds (mostly there weren't). I had to re-WB when inside, but that was so variant due to outside conditions & lighting changes, it was nightmarish...especially for a n00b like me.

They didn't get the wireless, so I ran a condenser into the gazebo and was getting good levels on that.

Once again....many, many thanks. I know the bride will be happy and thanks to you folks, I gained a very valuable learning experience. Had I not of found this forum, given the little time I had to familiarize myself with the camera, it could of been a disaster. I know the footage I've shot doesn't even come close to the stuff you pros are doing, but I'm still proud of it.

Thank you. You folks helped make the bride & groom very happy.