The Groom in a Bikini - August 19th SDE
 

First question- am I posting too many of these? I'm trying to significantly different or better than what I've shared before and while this SDE is one of our best, the events were so perfect for an SDE that I had to share.

Many of the Chinese weddings we shoot have some traditional games in the morning, followed by a tea ceremony and then a 'church ceremony'. The games in the morning are very different from the standard prep coverage.

This was the second SDE I cut on our new 24" imac. Having only 3 hours to put this together, the extra speed and screen size really made a huge difference. I was able to edit the piece, do full color work, export and build the DVD- and still had time left to go back and change some edits around a bit- then re-export etc.

BTW- I love the Steadicam footage of the Tea Ceremony. It is the first time I have shot one with the steadicam and I'm so happy I did.

http://stillmotionblog.com/?p=172

Patrick

Patrick, that's all very, very good. I hope your rates are commensurate with the quality.

My only criticism would be that I think the steadicam shots would have more impact if there were just a few less of them. But I do know it's a pain to come on and off the rig while you're more or less doing reportage, so maybe take it with a grain of salt.

The faux-timelapse of the shoes and the rings was exceptional, as was the edit.

Mate loved the style,look,pace.
What camera did you use?
How much color correction have you done?
And the color with the rings. How did you do that?

Hey Patrick,

How do you 'sell' this type of idea to the B&G. It's obvious you have, and I've said this before, a lot of creative control because your shop is doing both the video and photo. I'm just curious, do the B&G pic an option that turns into this 'glamour shot' video?

Just wondering.

Hi Nate,

Thanks for the comments.

We have a couple different tricks to do all of our details shots (ie shoes, rings, dress etc) and I really think they take that part of our videos to another level, and in the end, the whole thing as well.

I can't say I haven't heard the steadicam comment before, and I can definitely identify with what your saying but I think the idea is have agood balance between wild steadicam shots and solid static shots to give the whole piece a very cinematic feel. I've played with the balance and used less and more steadicam shots and I think this clip here is close to the balance I personally like the best. Its also tough when you get lots of great steadicam shots then you have to fill up an SDE timeline as quick as possible, but I guess that is a good problem to have.

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

Can I ask what setup you use for the steadicam shots (i.e. camera, lens, steadicam). It's just that I have bought an XHA1 to shoot alongside my H1 but was considering somekind of steadicam.

Do you also use the Brevis with the steadicam?

cheers
Ray

Hi Simon,

The whole clip was shot with Canon - A1s on tripods and on a merlin, and an XLH1 on the steadicam.

About the color correction, the short answer is- 'a lot.' There isn't a isngle shots that wasn't corrected and enhanced with multiple filters. Some have closer to 5-6 different filters, all just for the color, where as others have 2-3. Its tough to do for an SDE, especially when you don't use canned effects, but I use the same look on all my full videos so its tough to show something the night of and have it look completey different.

The rings shots are a combination of several different things. Its not all that hard to do- but I do think there are quite a few extra things we have in there to make the shots really stand out.

Patrick

To be honest, we don't really sell these anymore- they seem to sell themselves. Couples who come to us have already seen a lot of our work and they love our style, so they are usually very open to giving us complete creative control. The more freedom we get, the higher the production value gets and it becomes very cyclical.

I'm not sure I would called them 'glamour shot' videos, but then I'm also not too sure what you mean by that.

Patrick

Hi Ray,

If you check out our blog - www.stillmotionblog - we started a FAQ for professionals that mentions the equipment we use and what lenses etc. I haven't done a wedding with the brevis on the steadicam.

Patrick

Let me rephrase my question. In those cases where you show up, it's a more traditional wedding, bride may be running late, the reception is to follow immediatedly............are you able to do this type of work in those situations, or is it as you say, more of the client who sees the art and wants it for thier video?

I know mostly I work with more traditional couples in this area. So I may have answered my own inqury. Incidentally, we find our couples like our artsy approach as well, so it seems to be something that sets apart the cutter and artist.

Hi Steven,

I get what your saying. Here is one from this Saturday. ride showed up 90 minutes late when we were suppose to be already gone and at the church. Stayed for 10 min to cover her then went ot setup. The groom showered for over an hour and left us with maybe 15-20 min of him as well. We did have a photo-session after the ceremony, but I think that is standard, at least it is around here. The locations were smaller and much harder to work with as well. So yes, I do think we can still do this type of owkr, but I do think it always helps ot have the other factors working in your favor.

Here is the clip:
http://stillmotionblog.com/?p=173

Interestingly enough, when I showed up to the reception to edit on Sunday, there was a wedding taking place so I had to setup in a nearby food court with a 24" imac and start cutting. Before I started, I actually considered whether we could pull this off as I had under 3 hours, I was editing with a huge cmoputer on a wobbly table in the food court, and we still had ot cover the main ceremony.

Patrick

Hey Patrick,
I must admit your really pushing yourself to do better with these Same-Day Edits. Commendable job! The crane shots are just fabulous when you stick em in there. Thanks for sharing and continue to as I would love to view your progress with these videos.

Monday

Once again, exceptional job, Patrick.

The games were pretty hilarious! That wasn't you operating the Merlin, was it?

I personally liked your Saturday edit better with more natural audio and footage from the actual ceremony.

I also love that you are able to incorporate photos from the day as well.

You guys are a great team! Thanks for sharing!

Peter

Patrick,
Wonderful piece! I was lost in the moment, pure emotion. Thanks for sharing.
Randy

Patrick,
In one of the shots where the groomsmen are blowing out the candles, it looks like a smaller cam on the Merlin. I was curious because I was considering using my HV20 on a merlin for the reduced weight instead of the heavier XH-A1.

Beautiful video!

Steve