i like the business section idea, but just with a different name...
Where should Wedding/Event section live?
- Thread starter JRAnderson
- Start date
JRAnderson
Well-known member
Jarred Land said:
How about "Making Money"
with sub categories:
Weddings/Event
Commercials
Corporate
TV -- Reality shows and news to dramas and sitcoms.
Documentary (moved from filmmaking)
Other -- Real estate, biographies/memorials, and everything else.
I'm too late...the poll is closed. FWIW, I think I'd go with Barry's suggestion.
Not all events are equal: weddings as multi-cam shoots have different reqs/consids than say lectures, plays, recitals, etc, or (harder yet) - a one-person doc. I'm basically a 1-man/1-cam operation with a small but (slowly) growing network, hence not likely to take on weddings any time soon; others out there are better at it than me. But, . I'm interested in how others solve problems I have - or have yet - to deal with. I do like seeing others' shots, tho, to learn from what I see.
Not all events are equal: weddings as multi-cam shoots have different reqs/consids than say lectures, plays, recitals, etc, or (harder yet) - a one-person doc. I'm basically a 1-man/1-cam operation with a small but (slowly) growing network, hence not likely to take on weddings any time soon; others out there are better at it than me. But, . I'm interested in how others solve problems I have - or have yet - to deal with. I do like seeing others' shots, tho, to learn from what I see.
Jared Meyer
Veteran
Bump....
I know a wedding/events sub-forum probably rates pretty low on the to-do list for the powers that be, but I was curious if it was still a possibility?
I know a wedding/events sub-forum probably rates pretty low on the to-do list for the powers that be, but I was curious if it was still a possibility?
Knoxworth
Well-known member
A forum with a few guys coming to consensus about "what a wedding video should look like" doesn't interest me. Wedding videos are intended for such a small target audience that sharing them with the forum is usually a bad idea.
I have no reason to post "my first reception" to get opinions from the experts, because all i did was shoot it like a documentary. Some guy would say "its too long" as if he's the intended audience. Another guy would say "you should have shot with a crane" or something silly. But this is simply documentary footage for the family to preserve the moment. No critique necessary.
http://stage6.divx.com/user/moorefield/video/1625581/Frame-Reception
I have no reason to post "my first reception" to get opinions from the experts, because all i did was shoot it like a documentary. Some guy would say "its too long" as if he's the intended audience. Another guy would say "you should have shot with a crane" or something silly. But this is simply documentary footage for the family to preserve the moment. No critique necessary.
http://stage6.divx.com/user/moorefield/video/1625581/Frame-Reception
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Drew Ott
Wish I were banned.
I don't think the intention is to show off our wedding videos. I think it would be more about tips, equipment, styles, clients, etc. There are a lot of things that are specific to wedding videos that are not specific to general filmmaking, and having a specified forum would keep those things separate.
Jared Meyer
Veteran
Me neither. Not sure where you got that idea...
That's your prerogative to not want critiques about your work. Someone who felt that way would obviously not opt to share their footage, wedding related, or I am guessing, anything else.
But there are plenty of people who would like critiques and are interested in a healthy discourse and sharing of work that seeks to moves the field of wedding and event "filmmaking" forward...
And yeah, what bballplaya said.
J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
No disrespect to weddingographers
I respect ones need to make a living. I am not speaking to strictly wedding and/or event professionals, but filmmakers.
But if I was dreaming my whole life to be Johnny Filmmaker and simply ended up doing weddings forever, I'd cry.
It's why I have no desire to even work in the industry unless I am achieving my dreams and goals. Forget gripping, forget editing, forget shooting weddings
I'd rather stay away from the studios than suffer being so close.
-
A wedding sub-forum ? Why ?
Showcase your work but this isn't a weddingographer site
(Still trying to balance real life and going after ones goals) : /
I respect ones need to make a living. I am not speaking to strictly wedding and/or event professionals, but filmmakers.
But if I was dreaming my whole life to be Johnny Filmmaker and simply ended up doing weddings forever, I'd cry.
It's why I have no desire to even work in the industry unless I am achieving my dreams and goals. Forget gripping, forget editing, forget shooting weddings
I'd rather stay away from the studios than suffer being so close.
-
A wedding sub-forum ? Why ?
Showcase your work but this isn't a weddingographer site
(Still trying to balance real life and going after ones goals) : /
Barry_Green
Moderator
The reason I would want to see a wedding/event section here would be to help promote our users' ability to make a living working in the video field. So, like bballplaya said, the idea would be to talk about marketing strategies, pricing concerns, contracts, clientele, whatever you guys would feel like sharing so that those who are interested could make a successful business plan and execute it effectively.
Barry_Green
Moderator
And lots of video users have no intention of ever becoming a filmmaker, nor any desire to...
Jared Meyer
Veteran
I was wondering when you'd post that here, John
I can respect your goals and the fact that you, like MANY of the users here, are hard working people who work outside the industry and are trying to make films on the side.
I guess I would just say that we're all different, but as a 24 year old guy with the same filmmaking aspirations as you, I will say firmly that I'd rather be making a living, and a damn good one, with a camera in my hands than not.
And for the record, I'd probably be more than a little disappointed if this was all I'd ended up doing. But that's me, and I don't look down on career event videographers. If that's their passion, then that's awesome! I am learning a huge amount about camera techniques, color, graphic design, editing, etc and right now I love what I am doing. Doesn't mean I want it to be forever.
It's not "Spielberg or nothing" for people with a passion for the moving image. Otherwise there'd be thousands of hopelessly dissatisfied people out there with no recourse to create art with a motion picture camera.
EDIT
Those gripping, editing, PA, assistant jobs are often the ones that ALLOW you to achieve your goal and get your dream job. You can't jump from nothing all the way to the top!
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J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
I'd never look down on anyone for what they do to make a living. Jesus, these days I spend half mytime underwater after 4 years fo running a business that failed.
It is merely my own personal feelings on the matter. I do thank you for allowing me to be honest.
I'm just stuck in real life and it's obligations. I bleed for my son and bleeding for film is a hard sacrifice these days; exhausted, drained, spent ... but I still dream and wait for the right circumstance to pursue it
I have seen in recent years some wonderfully expressive work from wedding shooters I confess
Hell, if I did it, I;d be bringing my De Palma fetish to the event
It is merely my own personal feelings on the matter. I do thank you for allowing me to be honest.
I'm just stuck in real life and it's obligations. I bleed for my son and bleeding for film is a hard sacrifice these days; exhausted, drained, spent ... but I still dream and wait for the right circumstance to pursue it
I have seen in recent years some wonderfully expressive work from wedding shooters I confess
Hell, if I did it, I;d be bringing my De Palma fetish to the event
Knoxworth
Well-known member
I'd really like to see a forum in that case, so long as there's no clique who dictate down to everyone else how things should be done.
I like critiques and comments but it gets to be so frustrating when others cannot remove their egos from their opinions, and talk down from that place of pride. If a community of wedding videographers can be established I'd love to see it. I just don't want to subject myself to the opinions that J.R. just expressed above.... on a daily basis. ( as if no one's ever said it)
A single wedding can rake in thousands of dollars. Kill yourself if you must but I'd rather have the money.
I like critiques and comments but it gets to be so frustrating when others cannot remove their egos from their opinions, and talk down from that place of pride. If a community of wedding videographers can be established I'd love to see it. I just don't want to subject myself to the opinions that J.R. just expressed above.... on a daily basis. ( as if no one's ever said it)
A single wedding can rake in thousands of dollars. Kill yourself if you must but I'd rather have the money.
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J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
So you want a nice friendly place where no one criticizes your work or judges you ?
DVXUSER was built on that; honesty and expression and no holds on opinoin of work or agenda.
Knoxworth
Well-known member
I didnt say all criticism is undesired. There are multitudes of comments I've read in many "first wedding video" threads by people such as yourself saying things such as
"Dude if I ever did weddings I'd kill myself" or
"Honestly this sucks. I hated it."
So whatever you're trying to say with that idealistic statement above, I think the majority of first time videographers would be better off not looking for help here (beyond searching) . The majority of dvxusers are discouraging toward commercial ventures such as wedding videography, and those pride-filled comments make new guys second guess themselves.
"Well if he second guesses himself he was never serious to begin with. I never second guess myself. I'm the bomb."
These are the kinds of critiques that are inevitable.
"Dude if I ever did weddings I'd kill myself" or
"Honestly this sucks. I hated it."
So whatever you're trying to say with that idealistic statement above, I think the majority of first time videographers would be better off not looking for help here (beyond searching) . The majority of dvxusers are discouraging toward commercial ventures such as wedding videography, and those pride-filled comments make new guys second guess themselves.
"Well if he second guesses himself he was never serious to begin with. I never second guess myself. I'm the bomb."
These are the kinds of critiques that are inevitable.
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Jdaniels
Well-known member
Just to weigh in.
For the record.
I just lined up my first client this week.
After months, nay, years of dreaming and planning,
Narrow Road Productions is a living, viable entity.
I have learned a lot, read a lot and contributed some.
A lot of what I know, I gladly credit DVX User, despite it's
film bias.
I have spent a lot of time deciding what my niche is. Decidely, it
is not filmmaking and not weddings. Ill shoot a wedding if Im asked,
but am not gearing my business there.
I would love to see a special business section not dedicated towards film
or at the very least, an expanded version of the one that exists now.
The DVX 100b camera is an impressive camera. I want one, when funds come in. I will continue to expand my knowledge base of video and it's magic.
THis place is invaluable to that end.
JD
For the record.
I just lined up my first client this week.
After months, nay, years of dreaming and planning,
Narrow Road Productions is a living, viable entity.
I have learned a lot, read a lot and contributed some.
A lot of what I know, I gladly credit DVX User, despite it's
film bias.
I have spent a lot of time deciding what my niche is. Decidely, it
is not filmmaking and not weddings. Ill shoot a wedding if Im asked,
but am not gearing my business there.
I would love to see a special business section not dedicated towards film
or at the very least, an expanded version of the one that exists now.
The DVX 100b camera is an impressive camera. I want one, when funds come in. I will continue to expand my knowledge base of video and it's magic.
THis place is invaluable to that end.
JD
Scott F
Pug Life
Agreed, and a brilliant post in it's simplicity.
I come to dvxuser for technical information and have learned a great deal in the past two + years. Priority #1 for me is to pay the bills, not create art.
dvxuser has provided guidance as to which equipment to purchase, shooting techniques, as well as a forum to view examples of user's work.
Personally, I couldn't stand shooting weddings exclusively, I need to mix it up with other projects. (commercials are my main push) But as Knoxworth alluded, weddings can yeild some nice "f-you" money.
My vote is still for an "event videography" section.
DivotDan
Veteran
Business or Event or whatever you want to call it. I agree there should be a "Non-Film Makers" section. Exclusive to non-film related business that is conducted via the cameras we own. I'll shoot anything that pays $$$$. A lot of us do this for the extra cash, if for nothing other than paying for all the equipment. Would be good to have a place dedicated to discussion about the best methods related to our various ventures, be it weddings, commercials, trainings, corp, or whatever.
I have my own little wedding videography business and shoot shorts as well. The wedding business isn't exactly a dream job, but the longer I do it, the more I realize how wonderful it is as a training ground to work with the equipment in such a tense environment. It forces you to constantly make decisions on the fly, and you learn what works, what doesn't work, and what you are good at. It is a crash course in audio, composition, editing, lighting, and the list can go on and on.
It's true that most weddings are awful and unoriginal, but that doesn't mean that you have to follow. Your vision and enthusiasm dictate how impressive and powerful photojournalistic work can be.
I remember reading about how Scorcese said he benefitted as a filmmaker by shooting The Last Waltz, which in essence, was just filming an event.
Lastly, I have to mention how important it is to learn how to size up a situation and critical think on how to shoot it in the shortest amount of time. As time goes on, you learn how to align yourself with finding a story in the chaos. They are there, but you have to develop some serious observational skills. This isn't so different than dealing with a film set.
I used to be secretly ashamed as running a one-man business that got most of my work in weddings. As time goes on, though, I feel lucky that I have had the opportunity to be forced to constantly be sharpening my chops without letting them atrophy.
The quote, "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans" always seems to resurface when I get frustrated. As a videographer, I am a lucky dude cause my work is constantly improving. Sure, it isn't a feature film, but I still have an audience, and they will watch it for the rest of their life if its really good.
AND you make your own freakin schedule! Nobody to answer to, and you get the winters' off to shoot a film every year.