wedding ... advice needed
 

Hi guys,
first of all .. is not MY wedding :]

in next september I'll have to shoot an entire wedding day, this means 8 am to 2 am.
A friend of mine that is a photographer asked my to shoot and edit the wedding video. First time i do such work and i seriously need some advices to let me survive for the whole day and to be able to make a decent video.

My owned hardware is the Xl1s with extra lens such as 3X canon wide lens, 14X manual Canon lens and the standard 16x lens. I have some filters like the foggalizer, UV that comes with the 14x and circular UV.

I have 3 pb-945 battery pack plus one of those big pack that you can find on ebay (7hours considering item description... did took so long yet so i dont know if this is true) ... I have all Lightwave items like Mic equalizer that i love .. and the Viewfinder separator.
I also have a Manfrotto fuild head+Tripod.

Lights will comes with the photographer.


My needed are about .... actually i never saw a wedding video.. so it could be cool to have some ideas, i know i should be the 'artist' but I wish to not be a 'crappy artist' first of all. :]

any advice will be appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Get your hands on some wedding videos, review them, make notes what works and what doesn't.
Find out what the couple's expectations are. The event is about them. And there are no retakes possible.
Findout what the program and schedule of events are so you are in the right place at the right time. The MC/DJ is a good point of contact, as is yor photog firend.
Remember you are there to work - not to have fun eating, drinking and dancing (the hardest part)
Find out what the rules are at the venues. Some are very restrictive as to what videographers can do. If you do bad things (in the eyes of the venue) you will mess it up for future videographers.

The 3x wideangle lens will be very handy.

You will want a wirelsss on the groom or preacher during the vows.

Lots of tips and traps discussed in various forums on the web. Surf a lot and read and learn..

Begin with taking video of the bride putting make-up on or something, get the groom to put on his tie. Perhaps jump back to the bride while she's refecting at a mirror (in her bride's dress). Shoot some footage with one of them or both of them leaving to the place where their vows will be be exchanched. Video tape the ceremony, and after where the come out and through the flowers and get plastered with rice---you know what I mean. Video tape them driving away. Now you have a nice long break!

Then there's the wedding reception: the entry, speeches, eating and dancing! Make sure you get the cake, and later get them cutting the cake.

I would just use 1 lens, probably the 16X, the UV filter, lens hood, tripod or shoulder brace---you'll most likely need a on-board light for the dancing---the lights are usually turned down, and that's it! It's not difficult, it's just a lot of work and you have to be on the ball, you have to react quickly. 2 final tips: make sure your batteries are charged, have a few tapes on hand and RELAX! :)

keep 2 chargers going
 

Hi.

Shot some XL1 wedding videos this summer. Canon's batteries don't last as long as Sony's. This is just a fact of life. Keep two chargers going at once so your batteries will re-coup faster. Get some extra batteries - some bigger, some smaller so you can charge up a smaller one quickly - a mix works well.

a video light is ESSENTIAL - am very impressed with Canon's light and it uses the same batteries so what could be easier?

It's fun. You'll want to do it full time, I promise.

Mark

you will need at least 7 or 8 or 10 dv tapes that day!
 

I kid you not. Everything takes longer and it's the Special Day so everyone wants you to at least FILM everything (so if it's cut later in post, fine - but at least have it!) so you will be surprised.

I did an 8am-2am stint twice and used 8 tapes both times.

All the best.