Love Story Intro Critique at DVinfo.net

Ben Lynn · February 9th, 2005, 09:27 AM

I want to get some feedback on this clip that I'm producing right now. Actually, feedback on the whole concept is good.

The piece is a love story video but I wanted to work it from a little different angle than just a sit down interview with cutaway shots. I want to try and mix this love story into their wedding video and this piece here is the opening to their love story interviews. Then throughout their wedding video I'll be cutting to 1min interview pieces that tell something about their relationship. Then it goes back to the wedding events.

I wanted the look of this opening to be a little oversaturated and bold. The b-roll I was working with was a pretty shaky so I tried to make it work as best I could and cut it accordingly.

Link: http://www.benlynn.tv/Love story rough cut.wmv

Ben Lynn

Matt Jeppsen · February 9th, 2005, 03:51 PM

Linky no worky.
Try this one: http://www.benlynn.tv/Love%20story%20rough%20cut.wmv

Jennifer Moak · February 9th, 2005, 04:39 PM

Still didn't work for me. Valient effort though.
Got an error message.
Viewing on a PC with Windows Media Player 10.

Matt Jeppsen · February 9th, 2005, 04:47 PM

Hi Jenn!
Being duly chastised, I sent you an offline message containing content of a non-technical nature. Drivel, actually. ;-)

I got the "0xC00D1199: Cannot play the file" error in WMP too. Ben, I think your file is corrupted.

Ben Lynn · February 9th, 2005, 05:27 PM

Thanks guys, I'll get it reloaded tonight.

Ben

Ben Lynn · February 9th, 2005, 05:51 PM

Ok. Sorry the file didn't work before. Here's the link:

http://www.benlynn.tv/Lovestory1.wmv

This time it should go.

Ben

Jennifer Moak · February 9th, 2005, 06:08 PM

Link works!

I thought it was cute! I like the fast cuts and the footage was great. Seems like the perfect intro. Even in that short clip, I felt like I got a good idea of the couple's personality.

I'll be curious to hear how that works for you - working the love story interviews throughout the video. I've seen it done in a sort of "recap" but not throughout the entire wedding program.

I'm wondering what that will be like the 10th,20th, 100th time they watch it. Will it seem redundant? (But then again, isn't that the risk we run, period.)

It seems as though that approach would be a more doc. style.

Just curious - is this love story going to be played at the wedding or for a presentation before the wedding day? Will that require you to "re-edit" most of the footage to work it into the actual wedding video.

I'll be interested in reading how it works for you - if you like it when it's completed.

PS Nice to meet ya - I'm new here.

Ben Lynn · February 9th, 2005, 06:31 PM

Thanks for the feedback and welcome Jennifer.

I'm not sure exactly how it will cut into the wedding but it will probably come after each major section i.e. after the bridal prep I cut to a short story, after the ceremony another short story, etc. I could put all the pieces together as a seperate love story dvd but I really want to try and build it into the wedding as a way to have people learn about the couple as they watch their wedding take place and some of the history as to why they are the way they are.

Production wise, all of the sound bites are being edited, polished off, and then given to me on tape. After the wedding day I'll have the wedding footage cut and then the pre-produced sound bites can all be added directly into the wedding day build. I always pre-produce material when I have the chance.

With dvd's they can skip the sound bites so I hope that it won't distract from the wedding coverage, but I'll be careful about where I put the breaks.

Thanks.

Ben

Jennifer Moak · February 9th, 2005, 06:48 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Ben Lynn

With dvd's they can skip the sound bites so I hope that it won't distract from the wedding coverage,

What if you provided the sound bites on a 2nd audio track that they could turn on and off. That's pretty cool.

Matt Jeppsen · February 9th, 2005, 10:12 PM

Looks good, I like it. Color is nice, pacing was fun. Might think about using a more personal title, something along the lines of "Our Story" perhaps.
I agree with Jenn, it seemed to capture the couple nicely. Your clients should be pleased.

Brian Patterson · February 16th, 2005, 07:18 PM

I'm sorry but I didn't think it looked very professional at all. It was totally shaky and the clip had absolutely no flow.

Ben Lynn · February 16th, 2005, 10:23 PM

Brian,

Thanks for the feedback. The footage really was mostly shaky and it was extremly difficult to work with, thus the reason that I went a different direction that normal.

Do you have some idea's as to how it can be put together better? You mention the flow, what else could I add to give it more flow? This piece goes in a wedding that takes place in May so I have plenty of time to work on it.

Thanks.

Ben

Charley Gallagher · February 18th, 2005, 06:40 PM

I love Jenn's suggestion. If your DVD program supports it you can set it up to play the soundbytes as an option. I suppose that would take more skillful editing because possibly some of the spots your have in mind to place them might seem empty without them.

I like the footage and the couple presents as pretty cool and funloving. I also like the quick cuts. I have two suggestions.

One is the go back and see if you can find footage a second or two before or after some of the clips to eliminate as much shake as possible. You can slow your footage down. Alternate between slow and fast so its not all slo mo. Certainly the water scene if slowed wouldn't look much different except it would be smoother.

The other suggestion is to cut the clips to the music. Have the cuts fall on the first beat or an accent of the music. It might be more predictable but I think also more powerful. You will have added a rythm to your clip that can be seen and felt.

Brian Patterson · February 18th, 2005, 06:51 PM

Why is the footage shaky? Did you shoot the footage or not? I personally don't work with footage shot by clients if that is what you did. If you shot the footage, in my opinion most of it is unacceptable to give to a client -- it looks like war footage.

As for flow. The biggest problem I find is that a lot of videographers like to slap any old song in and let the footage roll. This kills the flow. Swap out the song and see if it helps.

But the real problem here is the footage. You can do quick edits or add transitions, but if the basis of the footage is shake, it will always look amateur.

Ben Lynn · February 18th, 2005, 09:31 PM

Thanks Charley,

I'll re-cut this a bit over the next month and see if I can help it any.

Brain,

I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Ben

February 9th, 2005, 09:27 AM	#1
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Love Story Intro Critique I want to get some feedback on this clip that I'm producing right now. Actually, feedback on the whole concept is good. The piece is a love story video but I wanted to work it from a little different angle than just a sit down interview with cutaway shots. I want to try and mix this love story into their wedding video and this piece here is the opening to their love story interviews. Then throughout their wedding video I'll be cutting to 1min interview pieces that tell something about their relationship. Then it goes back to the wedding events. I wanted the look of this opening to be a little oversaturated and bold. The b-roll I was working with was a pretty shaky so I tried to make it work as best I could and cut it accordingly. Link: http://www.benlynn.tv/Love story rough cut.wmv Ben Lynn

February 9th, 2005, 04:39 PM	#3
Jennifer Moak New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 24	Still didn't work for me. Valient effort though. Got an error message. Viewing on a PC with Windows Media Player 10. __________________ Thanks, Jenn M

February 9th, 2005, 06:08 PM	#7
Jennifer Moak New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 24	Link works! I thought it was cute! I like the fast cuts and the footage was great. Seems like the perfect intro. Even in that short clip, I felt like I got a good idea of the couple's personality. I'll be curious to hear how that works for you - working the love story interviews throughout the video. I've seen it done in a sort of "recap" but not throughout the entire wedding program. I'm wondering what that will be like the 10th,20th, 100th time they watch it. Will it seem redundant? (But then again, isn't that the risk we run, period.) It seems as though that approach would be a more doc. style. Just curious - is this love story going to be played at the wedding or for a presentation before the wedding day? Will that require you to "re-edit" most of the footage to work it into the actual wedding video. I'll be interested in reading how it works for you - if you like it when it's completed. PS Nice to meet ya - I'm new here. __________________ Thanks, Jenn M

February 9th, 2005, 06:48 PM	#9
Jennifer Moak New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 24	<<<-- Originally posted by Ben Lynn With dvd's they can skip the sound bites so I hope that it won't distract from the wedding coverage, What if you provided the sound bites on a 2nd audio track that they could turn on and off. That's pretty cool. __________________ Thanks, Jenn M

February 9th, 2005, 03:51 PM	#2
Matt Jeppsen Trustee Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 1,425	Linky no worky. Try this one: http://www.benlynn.tv/Love%20story%20rough%20cut.wmv

February 9th, 2005, 04:47 PM	#4
Matt Jeppsen Trustee Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 1,425	Hi Jenn! Being duly chastised, I sent you an offline message containing content of a non-technical nature. Drivel, actually. ;-) I got the "0xC00D1199: Cannot play the file" error in WMP too. Ben, I think your file is corrupted.

February 9th, 2005, 05:27 PM	#5
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Thanks guys, I'll get it reloaded tonight. Ben

February 9th, 2005, 05:51 PM	#6
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Ok. Sorry the file didn't work before. Here's the link: http://www.benlynn.tv/Lovestory1.wmv This time it should go. Ben

February 9th, 2005, 06:31 PM	#8
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Thanks for the feedback and welcome Jennifer. I'm not sure exactly how it will cut into the wedding but it will probably come after each major section i.e. after the bridal prep I cut to a short story, after the ceremony another short story, etc. I could put all the pieces together as a seperate love story dvd but I really want to try and build it into the wedding as a way to have people learn about the couple as they watch their wedding take place and some of the history as to why they are the way they are. Production wise, all of the sound bites are being edited, polished off, and then given to me on tape. After the wedding day I'll have the wedding footage cut and then the pre-produced sound bites can all be added directly into the wedding day build. I always pre-produce material when I have the chance. With dvd's they can skip the sound bites so I hope that it won't distract from the wedding coverage, but I'll be careful about where I put the breaks. Thanks. Ben

February 9th, 2005, 10:12 PM	#10
Matt Jeppsen Trustee Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 1,425	Looks good, I like it. Color is nice, pacing was fun. Might think about using a more personal title, something along the lines of "Our Story" perhaps. I agree with Jenn, it seemed to capture the couple nicely. Your clients should be pleased.

February 16th, 2005, 07:18 PM	#11
Brian Patterson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 51	I'm sorry but I didn't think it looked very professional at all. It was totally shaky and the clip had absolutely no flow.

February 16th, 2005, 10:23 PM	#12
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Brian, Thanks for the feedback. The footage really was mostly shaky and it was extremly difficult to work with, thus the reason that I went a different direction that normal. Do you have some idea's as to how it can be put together better? You mention the flow, what else could I add to give it more flow? This piece goes in a wedding that takes place in May so I have plenty of time to work on it. Thanks. Ben

February 18th, 2005, 06:40 PM	#13
Charley Gallagher Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Collingswood, NJ Posts: 99	I love Jenn's suggestion. If your DVD program supports it you can set it up to play the soundbytes as an option. I suppose that would take more skillful editing because possibly some of the spots your have in mind to place them might seem empty without them. I like the footage and the couple presents as pretty cool and funloving. I also like the quick cuts. I have two suggestions. One is the go back and see if you can find footage a second or two before or after some of the clips to eliminate as much shake as possible. You can slow your footage down. Alternate between slow and fast so its not all slo mo. Certainly the water scene if slowed wouldn't look much different except it would be smoother. The other suggestion is to cut the clips to the music. Have the cuts fall on the first beat or an accent of the music. It might be more predictable but I think also more powerful. You will have added a rythm to your clip that can be seen and felt.

February 18th, 2005, 06:51 PM	#14
Brian Patterson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 51	Why is the footage shaky? Did you shoot the footage or not? I personally don't work with footage shot by clients if that is what you did. If you shot the footage, in my opinion most of it is unacceptable to give to a client -- it looks like war footage. As for flow. The biggest problem I find is that a lot of videographers like to slap any old song in and let the footage roll. This kills the flow. Swap out the song and see if it helps. But the real problem here is the footage. You can do quick edits or add transitions, but if the basis of the footage is shake, it will always look amateur.

February 18th, 2005, 09:31 PM	#15
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	Thanks Charley, I'll re-cut this a bit over the next month and see if I can help it any. Brain, I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. Ben