Please review this clip

[Mike Oveson]

I just cut this together from a wedding I shot yesterday. As I have mentioned before, wedding videos are generally different here in Utah as we don't film the ceremony that occurs inside an LDS temple. So, this is just a clip of the photo shoot after the bride and groom exited the temple. I cut it together between the shoot and their reception that night, so I haven't color corrected or done much more than a quick edit with it.

It has received positive reviews from everyone who has seen it. However, I'd like to know what could be fixed or made better. I value highly the opinions of the community here and I would really appreciate any comments on this clip. I need to take it through a final edit so I'd like to get your thoughts before doing so. Thank you in advance for taking the time to watch it. The clip is just under 7 minutes, file size is 25 megabytes.

http://www.silentmountainstudios.com/collings.wmv

[Raji Barbir]

i'm sure i won't be the only one to mention that the couple looked very eager to get back to the hotel.

I think the only real thing that bothered me in the video was the pacing of the the whole thing. It felt a little too drawn out. I wanted to see faster cuts basically. Otherwise, great work!

of course, you know from talking to me that i have zero experience, so i could be wrong :D

[Daryl Davis]

what camrea did you use.

[Mike Oveson]

Raji, you're not the first nor will you be the last to mention that I'm sure. :D

Pacing isn't perfect, I agree. I was just trying to get this together in the short time I had (came down to just over an hour) and make it look decent. I don't know that I'll speed up the cuts too much though, as I like to give people the opportunity to "see" things. Although I guess I should probably consider the overall feel of the clip more. Thanks for the suggestion.

This was shot with a DVX100A. This time I shot in 30P instead of 24pA because I didn't have time to do any Twixtor work for the slow motion and I wanted to get it done for their reception that night.

[Eric Hansen]

Hey Mike, I agree with Raji, the shots look good, but it was a little drawn out for me, maybe a little more usage of slow motion and just shorter shots would do it.
And from past experience, families and couples don't tend to enjoy the excessive kissing and what not, but that all depends on the couple.

Eric Hansen
www.ehansenproductions.com

[Robert M Wright]

Mike -

Personally, I thought it flowed pretty nicely (especially considering the short time frame to edit in). You got some real good shots in there. You could probably cut the raw footage a lot of different ways, and get very different feels to it, if you had a mind to. I think I would keep it pretty much the way it is though, make tweaks and put the polish on for the final version. Of course, I have no idea what other footage you have. I bet that couple was easy to work with. Sure get the impression you didn't need to do much coaxing to get them to "play" for the camera! That might be the first wedding video clip I've seen that would wind up getting a "PG13" rating from the MPAA, rather than a "G"!

Eric -

I finally got around to watching one of the sample clips on your site. In a word, "wow" pretty much sums it up. You've got some genuine God given talent there. Before I watched a clip, it was pretty obvious, just from the comments of others on your work, a peek at your website, and your generally thoughtful demeanor, that you work at a professional level. I have no doubt that you will be one of the best in this business. Heck, you are already.

I hope to get an email written to you sometime in the near future, offering a few thoughts (not that you need any help!) and asking if you might consider providing me a little assistance with editing, in getting a demo video made for my business. I'm planning to start offering HD wedding video productions (no SD - HD only, shot AND delivered), beginning this summer. I'm still struggling to crystallize a good concept in my mind for it, to somehow promote HD vide on an SD DVD (a bit of a challenging paradox to figure out a slick way to do that!). Any thoughts on that would be more than welcome!

If you decide that you do want to start offering a DVD player that can display HD content on an HDTV (directly, no computer) included in your HD package pricing, I'd be happy to write you what I've learned about them. I've found that it's not that easy to get good information on them. I've actually learned more useful technical information about one player in particular, right here on DV Info Net, than from the manufacturer's manual (which is full of errors) and their technical support. I do think the player will work out well, but I intend to also have a fall-back plan, should clients experience serious difficulties playing their videos (probably be prepared to deliver on DVHS also, in a pinch, if problems develop, just in case). The technology is just a bit too new not to have a "Plan B" ready and waiting in the wings.

[Eric Hansen]

Robert,
Thanks for the comments bro.! Ya send me e-mail sometime I'd love for that info on the HD players and what not. I'd love to go over some ideas with you, send me an e-mail and we'll talk.

Eric

[Travis Cossel]

Nice job for a 1 hour edit.

For the final edit here are some things I would do:

I would cut the length of the 2 songs in half roughly, and then edit them together for a fairly seemless sound bed.

I would then increase the pace for the 1st song by using shorter clips, and I would time the cuts to the beats in the song. I would also use some slow motion for some of the shots, but not a lot. I might even use some stop-motion type editing for a few shots for variety's sake.

I would pace the 2nd clip with longer cuts and more slow motion.

During both songs I would make use of some black & white shots and maybe even some sepia-tone coloring.

Not much else I would do different.

Also, there was one angled camera shot near the end that I felt was angled way too much. Made me feel off-balance. Might want to watch that in the future.

[Mike Oveson]

Travis,

Thank you for your excellent summation. I agree with your thoughts too regarding the pacing and B/W, slo-mo, etc. I wanted to do more of that in the initial edit but time was just to short to even begin using it. In terms of pacing, that's actually one reason why the "walking" shot at the end of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" goes on so long. I didn't want to cut to my slower, more intimate shots until I got into the next song. But I agree that the cuts need to be quicker to go along with the pace of that song.

Also, I've gotten feedback from others about the angled shot. I think I'm going to take it out as it does seem to be too extreme. Thanks for commenting on it.

Thank you all so far for your comments. I really like this community and look forward to posting up a final edit for your review. It will probably be a couple weeks, but the comments so far have been so helpful. Thanks again.

[Douglas Villalba]

I have one question. I COULD ANYONE BE I SUCH LOW TEMPERATURES WITHOUT A HEAVY COAT?
I use to live in Connecicut, but I can't remember anyone with snow in the ground going outside without a heavy coat. :-)

[Travis Cossel]

It looked like a warm day there to me (maybe 40-45 degrees?).

I filmed a wedding this December in Oregon (my wife was the photographer) and we froze our butts off during the outdoor shoot where it was literally 7-10 degrees F.

The bride was an ex-Oregon Ducks athlete, and she put us to shame, doing most of the shoot with just her dress on (shoulder-less top). I couldn't believe it. I swear, I think I was cold for the rest of the day after that 25 minute shoot. d:-)

[Mike Oveson]

I think you should be a meteorologist Travis. :D It was about 45-50 degrees; not too cold. The sun was out too as there were barely any clouds that day. That helped, except when we were in the shade of the temple. Switching exposure that much wasn't fun either. It was a good shoot though. The couple was happy (not that you couldn't tell) and they just had a lot of fun. The reception was really fun too, and they weren't even drunk. All in all a really good shoot.

[Travis Cossel]

You have no idea. Just yesterday I was driving with my wife and I commented that I thought it was about 55 degrees outside. Keep in mind that we were INSIDE the truck. I clicked on my truck's digital thermometer and it was 55 degrees dead on.

Back in college when I was getting the biology degree that I would never ever use I took on a summer job in a bird study. Every morning I had to walk several mile-long transects and observe and record bird activity, as well as the current temperature and a bunch of other crap. I quickly realized I had a weird talent for knowing what the temperature was. I'm usually only off by a degree or two, and almost never more than 5.

It's a really odd gift. d:-)

[Robert M Wright]

Originally Posted by Douglas Villalba

I have one question. I COULD ANYONE BE I SUCH LOW TEMPERATURES WITHOUT A HEAVY COAT?
I use to live in Connecicut, but I can't remember anyone with snow in the ground going outside without a heavy coat. :-)

When it warms up here in Minnesota (goes above zero), it's not all that uncommon to see a few people in t-shirts outside on occasion.

[Robert M Wright]

Say Mike -

I read what you wrote about you letting the couple select the music, and I can understand doing that. The music really doesn't fit the footage very well though, and you might consider putting together something short to show them, with more appropriate music, to see if they like the result better (and of course, it's their video, so whatever they decide they really want, is what they should get).

I have a relatively unknown piece of music somewhere on one of my hard drives that might work really dang well with the footage you shot (would have to give it a try to be sure - it's been awhile since I listened to it, so the memory isn't all that fresh in my mind). If you'd like to give it a whirl, drop me an email and I'll try to find it for you.