Are wedding clients asking for HD or 16:9?
 

While the current talk is all about HD or at least 16:9 SD, I have never had a wedding client even mention either. What have been your experiences? Do you think HD or 16:9 SD will be a factor in the near future for weddings?

I think most people just want a decent souvenir they can be proud to watch afterwards.
I don't think they care so much about resolution and the very technical things.

I must say: I haven't done a wedding ever, but it's just what I suppose...

I have had one client ask for widescreen, and mainly for the cinematic look, not because he has a widescreen tv.

The rest really dont seem to care.

Once widescreen HD tvs have fully permeated throughout america, then it will be expected and we shoudl switch over. I dont know about your area but we are pretty far from having that happen here.

I have not had any requests for Widescreen, but I recommend it to the B&G. I have had positive response because I am telling them that 10 years after they are married, they will probably own a widescreen format TV/Monitor and they will be able to view their wedding in the 16:9 format. It lets the B&G know that I have confidence in the fact that they will enjoy watching their video in the years to come. If you were the B&G wouldn't you want someone to offer that to you?

no...

also half the clients arent even educated in this so wouldnt knwo the difference..

i usually educate them a lil and let them decide...

What im doing now
 

I'm working on a wedding video currently and the client is pretty demanding.... but his main request is "give me hollywood", and he wants cool looks like widescreen look and all the filters I can muster without getting cheesy. So, I shot in 720 X 480 and am putting black bars on the top and bottom to give a wide screen look and feel. This gives him the satisfaction and me the power to move the frame up or down if i shot to low. Maybe this would work also. Just a thought.

Moving up or down is & puting bars on top & bottom is good for the ones who want to cover their faults or arent too much confident of their work & compositions. Sudo 16:9 is not for me. i Have wide screen CCD cameras so i wont bother doing cover ups in post & going down the render blade & losing some quality if there is any more layers of effects i am applying.

i suggest feel that educating the client about future of TV as HD or the new HDV where the Tv sets would be in widescreen format such as plasmas is the best way to out to start with. Showing the client One smilar shot done in 4:3 & 16:9 is the far the most approp. way to shw client & ask what e would like for his day

!

Heh. If you're going for "cinematic" you could always shoot 16:9 and frame and crop to 2.35:1. Nothing says "cinematic" like "cinemascope". Not only that, but some of the HD "1080p" renderers (i.e., WMV HD) accomodate 1920x1080p as a native format.

-Steve

I've had one client ask about HD and we went over the details of the cost/gain. Others want the film look with letterboxing and never mention HD.

Ben Lynn

YUP ;)

youd be surprised... some people really DO want all that, but more than the delivery aspect, its of a quality aspect...
Its all about hte pacing of teh cut and how it FEELS when you watch it... not whether or not there are black bars, or whtehr you shooting in SD or HD...

people dont give a shit so lon gas it looks good and FEELS better...

Again I think that very few clients will actually ask for high definition however many people believe that if you have a digital camera then you are shooting in high definition. As it may seem obvious to the professional unfortunately high definition is a technology too complicated for the consumer to understand. However if the consumer cannot grasp the technical concept of high resolution imagery most consumers can grasp the concept of the big screen and the home theatre experience. Consumers typically equate picture quality with the size of the screen. Since high definition technology allows picture sizes to be increased without a loss of quality many consumers will buy these devices even if they have no understanding of how they work. By shooting a wedding in high definition you are meeting your clients expectations for using a top quality digital camcorder. And by downconverting to standard definition you can offer your client a version that he can play on his existing equipment and later offer a high definition version of the wedding when your client buys his HDTV.