First clip postings
 

Please be gentle with me... Here are two links to some clips in my last video.
http://s46.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...01Q7J657GL3INV

and

http://s46.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...116Z2R55FBXU6H

please copy and paste in your address bar. Not sure how to hotlink it.

Thanks

I see you've got 19 reads on this one and still no feedback... so I will volunteer myself.

I watched both videos. The biggest thing that hit me (like club to a baby seal) is that you must either be super, super, super-duper fond of the shoulder level shot or you are unaware that there are 3 other camera positions.

Thanks for the reply, Any suggestions or explanations on camera positions? This would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

hi jason,

i like the overall feel of your piece, it's lighthearted and fun, and i feel as though the personalities of your subjects show through.

the split screen shadow effects are funny, but go on for far too long for my taste (the shot with the groom goes on for 20 seconds).

forget about camera positions for now... first things first... the biggest thing for me is that a lot of your shots are framed with the subject at dead center of the screen. for instance, the shots from 1:33 to 1:58 have the b&g at dead center. look at how much empty space there is between the top of their heads and the top of the screen!

also, most of your shots are frontal angle shots. these "squared up" shots tend to flatten the three dimensionality of your compositions. introducing angled shots will add depth and perspective.

if you want to read a book, i suggest "shot by shot" by steven katz. if you want to use the google film school, google terms like "rule of thirds" and "golden section" for good tips on composition.

again, thanks for sharing!

my two cents
 

I really liked the personality that you put in with the music and fun shots. My one suggestion is the shots of the B&G getting their pic's taken around 1:40. Don't just shoot what the photographer is shooting,zoom in for the emotion, or show some of the action happening with the rest of the wedding party. Remember they can look at their photo album anytime to see those pic's. Give them a reason to watch the DVD!

close ups - you need close ups
If you keep your shots tighter, the improvement to your videos will be huge.
You know how to operate a camera and direct people. Now start thinking about framing.
In the friends intro, I feel like I wasn't introduced to anyone. The first 10 seconds was enough to establish that you have a group of people in front of a fountain. Zoom in so you can see the individual personalities. Facial expressions describe characters.
For instance, Mark's introduction. There's so much information in that shot I don't need to see. I just need (and want) to see Mark's face and his arm. Anything else is a distraction.
You could even start with a mid shot and zoom/cut to a close up, for example, the intro's for Shelby, Shannon, Angela, Justin would be great if those shots cut to close ups of each character as well.
Stuff like the shot at 1:20. There's lots of space either side of the group. It's a nice shot, it just needs to be tighter.

I like the cuts to different positions in time with the claps of the music.
There's a great feel to your videos so keep your style while refining it. With some more practice and experience, your future videos will be a real treat to watch.

Overall - not bad. Thought the whole "Friends" video was a great idea.

I will agree with the others that some shots went on way to long, as I saw many places where the camera shook (or panned slightly) which for me as the viewer looked awkward. You could have easially cut before that slight pan movement.

Closeups are also a must - you had too few of them.

Liked the shaddow thing - was funny - though I agree it went on too long (though - how did you do that? With AfterEffects?)

Some low-angle shots would have also been nice to have.

Overall - not bad - more good things than bad in the video - if I was the customer - I would be happy with the result.

Ryan

a start
 

For a beginner you have a lot of creativity... and again the shadow thing was cool just a bit too long.

The book I would recommend is the 5 C's of Cinematography
read it over and over keep it on hand.

The "Please be gentle with me" statement tells me that you don't think you know it all - and that's always good trait, even for people that have been in the business for umteen years. If someone believes they are the best from the start, they won't look as hard for ways to do better. Often times you'll hear these same people say "that's my style" which creates a huge mental road block.

There's plenty of good advice in the thread here and the camera positions was one that stood out for me. The 4 handheld camera positions are feet, hips, shoulder, and overhead. In my videos, I use all four and two others which are not handheld. Other than the ceremony (which I don't think is the time to get too creative) I try not to bore the viewer with any one position for too long. Try looking for more interesting angles on your next shoot. As a matter of fact, if you go into it with the mind-set that straight-on, subject centered, shoulder level is a BAD angle - it will help you break the habbit!

Hello jason, that's a nice piece out there, I like the fast paced song you've put on "friends" clip, it would be better if you just not put the camera on the tripod, I guess well i'm also new with this, but this is a good thing about this, you see others and you can apply the things you've learned if it's your turn to do this... :)

I like the shadow dancing on your b/g nice masking technique out there, would like to try that as well. :) I think the reason that you made it long is for the viewer to notice the dancing shadow right? that's also me, I like others to notice what i have done differently with the clips. hehehe :)