First Ever Wedding at DVinfo.net

Sonny Costin · April 1st, 2007, 05:08 AM

a quick beach wedding montage shot with a Z1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVvpaeQrRm4

any advice and opinions would be great. oh and by the way i'm only 16 :)

Richard Wakefield · April 1st, 2007, 01:56 PM

great stuff, esp. considering your age...boy, do i wish the equipment we use now was available when i had been 16! it's laughable that when i was 13 i used to do plasticine animations with my grandad's HUGE video-camera, by estimating 1/4 second record presses!

anyway...

i would kill to get the backlit shots you got...they were 'closing-film' quality!
u have a good eye for framing, and it was a well-pieced-together romantic, personal clip. the couple looked so relaxed.

i couldn't work out if the shots were intentionally shakey?? and was that ur tripod in the foreground of one of the shots? :)

esp. liked the backlit shot that had an enormous sun and the couple's heads in a sort of heart-formation.

good one - u'll be better than people twice ur age in next to no time!

Sonny Costin · April 2nd, 2007, 02:00 AM

thanks richard :) oh and that tripod was actually the photographers tripod

and the shakey shots was due to the fact i went commando style and used handheld for the entire wedding.

I spent all my money to buy the camera and didn't save some for a tripod :( Man did by back hurt after all that.

Richard Wakefield · April 2nd, 2007, 02:23 AM

Hi again Sonny,

Can i just say I was really impressed with your short vids on myspace...jeez, the impact music can have! i.e. 'Fear'. what was the soundtrack to that? from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre perhaps!! or a David Lynch film?
u had it all so perfectly timed ('horror clangs' i think they're called?)
And your experimentation on colour-grading + focussing/short depths of field were very commendable.

Sorry, deviating from weddings here, but well done.

Sonny Costin · April 2nd, 2007, 06:03 AM

:) thanks Richard. This is really the first time I've had someone out my circle of friends see some stuff I've done so its great to hear some feedback.

And the music i used in "Fear" is from the soundtrack of the Australian film "Wolf Creek" its a great soundtrack.

Hopefully I'll be able to find some royalty free stuff similar to it or get some one to compose some cause I've been looking to enter it into a film festival. :) thanks again for the great feedback.

Richard Wakefield · April 2nd, 2007, 06:52 AM

ah yes, Wolf Creek, love that film!! put me off going backpacking again :)

there are lots of royalty free song sites 'freeplaymusic', 'AKMmusic.co.uk' etc, hope u find what ur after (e.g. AKMmusic has CDs with drones, stings, and cinematic moods - perfect!)

look forward to seeing more of your wedding shorts...i'm sure you've been quick to realise that weddings are a sure way of making heaps of cash, and in your case you can invest it in actors, equipment, funding etc for your future short films! good luck...

Travis Cossel · April 2nd, 2007, 03:29 PM

Let me first state that for your first time, and for your age, you did an excellent job. Now, for some constructive criticism that will hopefully help you out.

#1
If you have to go handheld for a long time, try to minimize the shots you take while moving your feet. It's very difficult to move (especially on sand) while shooting handheld with a small camera. Simply replace moving your feet with more camera movement (like pans, tilts and even zooms).

#2
I felt the video was too long for the variety of footage you had. I would have suggested editing the soundtrack to half it's length and just lose most of the clips that are very similar to eachother.

#3
Lose the shot with the tripod in it. It just looks bad. You could use the last part of that clip, after you pan away from the tripod, but the portion with the tripod only hurts your video.

#4
At about 1:30 it looked like you had a skip in the video right before you cut to a new clip. Might want to check that.

#5
The backlit shot at around 2:00 was too long. Need to shorten it up to keep things interesting.

#6
The final shot was beautiful, and was the perfect shot to end the video. My only suggestion would be to shorten up the length of it, and next time you have an opportunity to shoot that shot, hold the camera steady on the sunset and just let the couple walk through the shot. Then you can go with a really emotional slo-mo ending, or even a transitioning time-lapse style effect.

Again, you did very well for your first video, but hopefully these suggestions will help you make the next one even better. Good luck!

April 2nd, 2007, 03:29 PM	#7
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	Let me first state that for your first time, and for your age, you did an excellent job. Now, for some constructive criticism that will hopefully help you out. #1 If you have to go handheld for a long time, try to minimize the shots you take while moving your feet. It's very difficult to move (especially on sand) while shooting handheld with a small camera. Simply replace moving your feet with more camera movement (like pans, tilts and even zooms). #2 I felt the video was too long for the variety of footage you had. I would have suggested editing the soundtrack to half it's length and just lose most of the clips that are very similar to eachother. #3 Lose the shot with the tripod in it. It just looks bad. You could use the last part of that clip, after you pan away from the tripod, but the portion with the tripod only hurts your video. #4 At about 1:30 it looked like you had a skip in the video right before you cut to a new clip. Might want to check that. #5 The backlit shot at around 2:00 was too long. Need to shorten it up to keep things interesting. #6 The final shot was beautiful, and was the perfect shot to end the video. My only suggestion would be to shorten up the length of it, and next time you have an opportunity to shoot that shot, hold the camera steady on the sunset and just let the couple walk through the shot. Then you can go with a really emotional slo-mo ending, or even a transitioning time-lapse style effect. Again, you did very well for your first video, but hopefully these suggestions will help you make the next one even better. Good luck! __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

April 1st, 2007, 05:08 AM	#1
Sonny Costin New Boot Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 21	First Ever Wedding a quick beach wedding montage shot with a Z1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVvpaeQrRm4 any advice and opinions would be great. oh and by the way i'm only 16 :) Last edited by Sonny Costin; April 2nd, 2007 at 01:53 AM.

April 1st, 2007, 01:56 PM	#2
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	great stuff, esp. considering your age...boy, do i wish the equipment we use now was available when i had been 16! it's laughable that when i was 13 i used to do plasticine animations with my grandad's HUGE video-camera, by estimating 1/4 second record presses! anyway... i would kill to get the backlit shots you got...they were 'closing-film' quality! u have a good eye for framing, and it was a well-pieced-together romantic, personal clip. the couple looked so relaxed. i couldn't work out if the shots were intentionally shakey?? and was that ur tripod in the foreground of one of the shots? :) esp. liked the backlit shot that had an enormous sun and the couple's heads in a sort of heart-formation. good one - u'll be better than people twice ur age in next to no time!

April 2nd, 2007, 02:00 AM	#3
Sonny Costin New Boot Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 21	thanks richard :) oh and that tripod was actually the photographers tripod and the shakey shots was due to the fact i went commando style and used handheld for the entire wedding. I spent all my money to buy the camera and didn't save some for a tripod :( Man did by back hurt after all that.

April 2nd, 2007, 02:23 AM	#4
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	Hi again Sonny, Can i just say I was really impressed with your short vids on myspace...jeez, the impact music can have! i.e. 'Fear'. what was the soundtrack to that? from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre perhaps!! or a David Lynch film? u had it all so perfectly timed ('horror clangs' i think they're called?) And your experimentation on colour-grading + focussing/short depths of field were very commendable. Sorry, deviating from weddings here, but well done.

April 2nd, 2007, 06:03 AM	#5
Sonny Costin New Boot Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 21	:) thanks Richard. This is really the first time I've had someone out my circle of friends see some stuff I've done so its great to hear some feedback. And the music i used in "Fear" is from the soundtrack of the Australian film "Wolf Creek" its a great soundtrack. Hopefully I'll be able to find some royalty free stuff similar to it or get some one to compose some cause I've been looking to enter it into a film festival. :) thanks again for the great feedback.

April 2nd, 2007, 06:52 AM	#6
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	ah yes, Wolf Creek, love that film!! put me off going backpacking again :) there are lots of royalty free song sites 'freeplaymusic', 'AKMmusic.co.uk' etc, hope u find what ur after (e.g. AKMmusic has CDs with drones, stings, and cinematic moods - perfect!) look forward to seeing more of your wedding shorts...i'm sure you've been quick to realise that weddings are a sure way of making heaps of cash, and in your case you can invest it in actors, equipment, funding etc for your future short films! good luck...