Funeral at Arlington National Cemetary
 

Hi guys.. I just did a short-notice coverage of a military funeral at Arlington on Friday. It was very, VERY moving... that is a powerful place.

The funeral was complete with a marching band, color guard, and a 6-horse caisson, and the 21 gun salute. It was incredible.

The visuals are strong (I shot two-camera), variety of angles, but unfortunately, the sound suffers. I think I will have to cut alot of the audio and just go with some instrumental music over it, some creative editing, and get the DVD into the hands of the family.

I didn't even have time to ask the military chaplain to put on the lav.. it was all done with precision, yet at a fast clip.

Just wanted to share.. anybody have any suggestions for a special way to put it together? This is a quick-turnaround project.

v/r,
Joseph

what branch of the military was the person in? that may help a little knowing that.

music: i always get choked up when I hear "amazing grace" on the bagpipes during a ceremonial in a movie.

is there a way to get the chaplain to do some sort of voice over?

well, it just happened two days ago, I could likely contact them and ask the chaplain, possibly to do a voiceover.. it wouldn't match exactly.. or i could just go with not trying to make it match, but have it as an obvious voiceover.

The man was Air Force (like me), had has given his country almost thirty years of service. Incredible. I am in awe of those kinds of acts.

Personally, I have almost 19 years myself, and will be retired next year.

J

Unfortunately, a lot of the time for military events, wireless audio is not allowed, due to the wireless signal that may cause interference with military air signals. This is the case for example at military weddings, like that at the Naval Academy. So the chaplin is not wired with wireless.

If you have ever seen large military funerals, like that of President Regan, the sound is not good because of this. Shotgun mics on Booms are used in this case.

Sometimes you can convince them to wear a small digital recorder, like IRiver and such and sync up in post later.

I have also been there to the Arlington Cemetary. It is a very touching place. I recommend that every one should go there once and it will put a lot of things into perspective. Good luck with the video and I would like to see how it turned out. I think a song that would be great for what you are looking for is (Rachel Portman, Final Salute) if you can’t find let me know I got the file.

Thanks, Adam.. I appreciate the suggestion.

J

I can't find it, Adam.. if you can, please upload it to a free fileserver, or just email it to me. IM me to get my email address. J

not sure how to message

Thanks...
 

Don't want to highjack the thread in any way, but wanted to thank you Joseph for your service to our country.

Tim

you can catch me on Yahoo Paintballer_39

Thanks Tim.. I appreciate it. I've almost completed my 20 years.. and I look foward to the next part of my life. No more gas masks.. no more "duck and cover".. No more sand in my shorts. :-)

Joseph...just an FYI in case you shoot another video there...
 

The family and Chaplain get together at the Admin building 30-45 minutes before the start of the ceremony. This is a perfect time to mic the Chaplain(or whoever is conducting the ceremony). They do allow wireless at Arlington.....in fact you will find that if you were hired by the family, you are given a bit more leeway than others. I shot a funeral there last year that a lot of local media were at. They were restricted to an area far away from the grave site while I was allowed to be closer. I also try to put a mike near the family seating area...hidden as best as possible. If they use an awning then that is a great place to put one. This will allow you to capture much of what is said by other's....especially when the flag is presented to the family. Doesn't work all the time because of the planes from Reagan and traffic on 395....
I think your idea of using music over most of it will work well....I had to do that once when a priest wouldn't wear a wireless......family loved it.
I have a short clip on my website if you want to look at it....just some highlights... it's all natural audio..... http://sladevideo.com/Video/video.htm
Mark

Thanks Mark.. your website looks great, though I couldn't play the videos.. the mini-windows opened up, but then the player just sat there.

Looks like we are in the same neighborhood.. although primarily a different clientel. My wife and I are trying to get our video co. up onto its feet, its a tough game out there.

Our website is http://www.lchaimvideo.com ... you can see samples of ours there (though be careful of the second sample. I have to fix it, it usually causes a browser crash at the end. Gotta regenerate it in flash).

Thanks for the feedback! It was my first one there, and I probably could have tried to mike the chaplain.. except it was all so quick, and we didn't get alot of time. Next time I have to try and be more insistant. Plus, I only had a wired lapel mike (only thing I had that didn't require a power outlet).. I was afraid to ask him to trail that behind him.

I want to buy a minidisc or recordable mp3 player to mic people and slip it into their pockets.. seems like a nice trick to have in the bag.

Take care, thanks for the feedback.

J

Hey Joseph....wonder why it wouldn't play!! Try this link... http://easylink.playstream.com/sladevideo/ancdemo1.wvx
If you need any help don't hesitate to hollar!!
Mark