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Old February 7th, 2008, 12:45 AM   #1
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Wedding Day Highlight

My first post of a wedding day highlight reel.

comments welcome.

www.bluestarvideo.com/files/video/kwed.wmv
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Old February 7th, 2008, 07:30 AM   #2
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Hi Tom,

I'm sorry, but I could only watch the first 1.30sec before switching off.

Too slow mo for me and your composition is way out in my opinion.

At approx 46 sec. you cut off the mans head while concentrating on the lady with the candle. That shot does not sit right with me. You either need a tighter shot or shown a wider shot(including the head!)

When you follow someone walking you need to allow space in front of them.

You have done the opposite and they are far too close to the right of screen.

After this I cannot help as I turned off. Sorry, but hope this helps.

John De Rienzo
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Old February 8th, 2008, 11:38 AM   #3
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Like they say, different strokes for different folks.

I was hoping to have received critical analysis from someone with more credibility and who had actually watched the whole clip.

Sure, it's not a fantastic work of art, but it deserves more than just a casual look-see and off-of-the-wall, out-of-hand dismissal of the work.

Give me something substantive. What works, what doesn't.

By the way, my "composition" is very simular to a couple of "well knowns" in the wedding industry. We all snag an idea from each other here and there.

How well these ideas are emulated is on the table too.
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Old February 8th, 2008, 11:55 AM   #4
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Hey nice work! I like some of the panning shot. Are you using any kind of steadycams?

a few comments I have,

1. the opening title font is too difficult to read
2. the music is dreaful. The pace is too slow too.
3. some of the scenes are too shaky
4. you need to deinterlace your footage. Comb lines are visible
5. I will scrap the closing credit. Nobody cares :). Either that, or make it roll faster.

Great job!

I just finish one recently. It's a Chinese wedding.

http://lacolor.com/video/highlights?id=LucySteve
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Old February 8th, 2008, 12:02 PM   #5
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John is giving good advice re: framing. Also, I agree with the other two response that the music is much too slow to sustain interest for that long. I would either cut the length of the highlight in half or switch up the tempo at some point.

I don't mind credits but I find it a bit curious that you would include other vendors. Is this a request from the bride and groom? I would be interested in your reasoning for the large amount of detail.
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Old February 8th, 2008, 01:42 PM   #6
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Tom,

You put your work up for critique, and you obviously cannot handle the advice given! maybe if you are too sensitive to constructive critism, and good advice, you should not post your work for review in the first place. Swallow your pride, or carry on the way you know best!

If I switched off after 1.30 seconds, what are your potential clients doing???
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Old February 8th, 2008, 05:13 PM   #7
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[Quote]
If I switched off after 1.30 seconds, what are your potential clients doing???

Good point. That's why I offer a variety of different samples on my website that reflect different moods. The music for this particular piece was provided by the bride. I've seen it used before by a videographer from the 4ever group community and everone just raved about it....Doesn't seem to fly here though...Go figure!

The rest of the music on her DVD is quite spirited so when she gave me this music, I ageed with her that this will help offset the energy from the other highlights.

Rolling credits are included at the clients request...they seem to want to remember every vendor they used on their big day.

Framing can be better...that's just a training issue I need to address with my camera operator.

Deinterlacing the footage...I had not thought about that...Thanks, I'll try that to see what that does for me.

Opening titles look good on the DVD. May need to change them for web video.

All good comments from you guys...you too John.
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Old February 8th, 2008, 05:56 PM   #8
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Hi Tom,

Looks like you did not film this then!

I am confused......I have just been on your website and your work there is overall excellent.....with great tracking shots and framing...composition etc. so who filmed this sample your showing???

Is it a different cameraman? or was he having a bad day?

I heard the 4ever convention was superb this year!

Cheers.

John De Rienzo
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Old February 8th, 2008, 06:10 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John De Rienzo View Post
Hi Tom,

Looks like you did not film this then!

I am confused......I have just been on your website and your work there is overall excellent.....with great tracking shots and framing...composition etc. so who filmed this sample your showing???

Is it a different cameraman? or was he having a bad day?

I heard the 4ever convention was superb this year!

Cheers.

John De Rienzo
He had a very bad day...he usually shoots very good stuff...alot that you see on my website is him. He has been with me for 3 years and operates my crane most of the time.
Every now and then I have to give him a swift kick in the a$$.
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Old February 9th, 2008, 03:51 AM   #10
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He had a very bad day...he usually shoots very good stuff...alot that you see on my website is him.
Another fault I found distracting was the number of shots that are unintentionally off axis. This can be sometimes be corrected in post - easier if its consistent though. It's most noticeable when there are strong horizontal or vertical lines in shot (railings, wall corners, doors etc).

As for the edit itself, it certainly set a particular mood - a bit "soppy" for my taste, but effective if that's what you want. It will make the old aunties cry.

You might want to check the credits for typos - did you mean to put a question mark and inverted commas both ends of "Who made the cake?"

I would worry about using all that commercial music unless it had been cleared.
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Old February 9th, 2008, 10:48 AM   #11
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[QUOTE=Colin McDonald;823079]Another fault I found distracting was the number of shots that are unintentionally off axis. This can be sometimes be corrected in post - easier if its consistent though. It's most noticeable when there are strong horizontal or vertical lines in shot (railings, wall corners, doors etc).

Yes, it is 2 degrees off axis. That will be fixed upon final delivery
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Old February 9th, 2008, 05:30 PM   #12
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The camerawork was really not that bad, OK, the framing was not perfect and the scene outside when they stepped into the limo looked like there was no additional light used, but I think the problem lies more with the editing then the camerawork.
For me it doesn't feel right, the slowmo are used to long and it's also slowed down too much. Slowmo is used to make a particular scene look more intense or to increase emotion but I think you should use it with care and only when necessary. Like the woman and the candle (mentioned here already) takes forever, at that moment I started to loose attention.
Also the flickering effects (at 3:34) when the color changes and the image gets darker and lighter doesn't add much to the emotion. Same as mixing b/w and color (04:31) as I didn't see any reason why that had been done.
The music doesn't help much either because, even if it sounds somewhat romantic, it starts dragging after a while.

I know it's easy to "criticize" but you asked for an opinion, if I edit a wedding I usually feel whether I did right or not, it doesn't matter if it's not your own wedding but the way you edit, if combined with the right music can make a world of difference. With this demo, I didn't feel it, I think it's too easy blaming it on the cameraman because I've seen worse.
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Old February 9th, 2008, 08:38 PM   #13
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These are all very good observations. The more I watch this the more I want to go back to the bride for different music.

Anyone have any suggestions for music?
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Old February 10th, 2008, 04:10 AM   #14
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These are all very good observations. The more I watch this the more I want to go back to the bride for different music.

Anyone have any suggestions for music?
I allways ask the couple to provide me with their favorite music so I have enough to choose from. I don't know how it is America but in Belgium (Europe) we are allowed to put any type of music on the wedding dvd's so that makes it quite easy to find a song that fits.
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Old February 14th, 2008, 05:57 PM   #15
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I really don't understand the harsh criticsm about the camerawork. The couple was a little more to the right in the walking shot - but it was recorded live. This is not a feature film where you can rehearse and repeat a scene if it doesn't fit 100%. I think the camera (steadicam, I guess?) was pretty good for a live event.
I agree on the woman with the candle and the "beheaded" man besides her. This shot really looks pretty unfortunate and I'd consider leaving it out (but I guess the woman with the candle is someone important who you can't leave out?)

I also don't think the camera was "shaky". It has a certain amount of breathing, but that's ok for me - the slomo helps with that I guess, I'm not sure if it was still good in full speed, but I guess so. In a live event with a lot of emotions, the camera can show a little emotion as well

The music tells me "look how happy they were, but now she's dead!" ...something like that... ;)
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