There seems to be a lot more samples recently but hopefully enough of you can take the time to view this short clip and send me your thoughts.

It was shot with 4 cameras, the Sony PD VX line and the audio came from iRivers and the Sennheiser G2.

I'm looking for general areas that you enjoyed and others that you thought could be improved. The couple has already received the piece and are very pleased with it so I am not looking at making any revisions to this piece, but general feedback would be helpful to bring my work beyond this level.

http://www.smcouples.com/Thomas2.html

If you have any troubles getting the file to play back (it is mpeg4 quicktime movie) please let me know and I can include a wmv format.

Patrick

Nice job....we can always nit-pick someone's work but not always "justified", so good work all around. I'm sure your clients get their money's worth with your work.
-joe

Very well done. The voiceover from the officiant was compelling, especially as he told their story in the first half of the clip. While the visuals were incredibly nice, I felt more of an emotional impact from that story playing above it. Your shots were very nice, well framed. I liked the low angle shot as the bride and her father walked down the aisle. There were many other good shots but I don't have time right now to list them all. The fade of the candle at the end was also really nice. Fading to black on everything but the flame, what a nice touch.

One question. The audio on the officiant was from the G2? While the bride/groom were from the iRivers? Just curious. Thanks and keep up the good work.

Thanks for the thoughts. Any comments on general ways to improve would be very helpful at this point. In other words, can you give me one area or idea to look at that might make the work better overall (ie camera movement, color correction, transitions etc..)?

Mike,

The first portion with the officiant was an iriver. The middle portion was all the G2 and the ending was irivers. It was all cleaned up and effects were added to try and match the sounds better, such as adding a slight echo to the vows. I was quite impressed with the speaking style of the officiant, helped my job tremendously.

Patrick, thanks for the clarification. I totally thought it was the other way around. The sound from those iRiver's is rather amazing then. I'm sure cleaning it up helped a bit, but I'd bet it sounds pretty good raw as well. That slight echo on the middle section of audio is what threw me. I thought it sounded a bit tinny, weak. So naturally I thought it would be the iRiver (being the cheaper audio system). I'm glad I was wrong. =) I better get some of those as a backup.

When I watched it, the only thought that came to my mind, as something I might change, was the sequence of shots when the officiant mentioned lighting the candle of unity (voice over) and the shot was of the couple dancing. I think I might have tried putting the shot from behind the candle in right as he said those words ("...light the unity candle..."). That's hardly something general though, so I didn't think it worth mentioning. It's not my particular style (my personal style preference is a little more casual, with perhaps a faster pace - yours is more reverent and elegant, and it works great). It is a very well put together piece and I just wouldn't mess with that formula you have going (little tweaks maybe, but I sure don't see anything in general that I would suggest changing).