I haven't posted any clips for a while so here goes.

This is a Wedding Day Edit that was shown last weekend. It's not one of our best, but there are some nice moments. We got some really nice sound bites from all of the parents, but had a problem with audio in the capture process. We had to figure out a work around, and it took more time than we had, so we only used two parents and the groom. When you are editing on location for a quick turn around every minute counts.

http://tulsaweddingvideos.com/video/MJWDE.wmv


This is a highlight that I just finished today. I don't know about you guys, but many times my latest highlight is one of my favorites, at least for a week. It's not like this one will win any awards, but again, there are some nice moments.

http://tulsaweddingvideos.com/video/HCHighlight.wmv

Hey Mark,
Very nice clip, thank you for sharing. I wasn't able to look at your sde yet but I checked out your highlight. You handle the back light impressively. Also very cool how you synced the vows together. Appreciate you posting these clips.

Monday

Nice Cuts Mark,


You showed each clip for just the right amount of time. That is something many miss. You don't need as much time to GET a closeup as a wide shot and your cuts were right on the money in that regard.

Mike Smith

Real nice stuff there Mark. I'm curious... What camera are you using? It looks like you were able to get some good stuff with just natural light on the highlight clip.

-Don

Hey Mark,
Very nice clip, thank you for sharing. I wasn't able to look at your sde yet but I checked out your highlight. You handle the back light impressively. Also very cool how you synced the vows together. Appreciate you posting these clips.

Monday

Hi Monday,

Thanks for the kind words. The backlight was handled by using the manual setting on the camera. You didn't see many shots of the Brides face from the front camera because the lighting was so harsh. Through part of the ceremony her face has half in the sun and half in the shade, which didn't look very good at all.

I didn't sync their vows together. They actually said them at the same time, but that is a good idea.

Nice Cuts Mark,


You showed each clip for just the right amount of time. That is something many miss. You don't need as much time to GET a closeup as a wide shot and your cuts were right on the money in that regard.

Mike Smith

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the kind words. You bring up a good point. You really don't need as much time to "GET" a closeup as a wide shot. Do you mind if I bring that up in our workshops?

Real nice stuff there Mark. I'm curious... What camera are you using? It looks like you were able to get some good stuff with just natural light on the highlight clip.

-Don

Hi Don,

Thanks for the kind words. We use the Sony PD-150/170s and a DSR-250.

Over the years I have learned it doesn't matter as much which camera you use, but how you use it. Of course you will get better results with a 3CCD camera and certain cameras are better in low light than others, but when looking at the current crop of similarly priced prosumer cameras, the biggest difference in the end product is how the camera is operated and not the camera itself.

The last 2 shots were absolutely incredible.....how did you get a cam in the chandelier?---lol

The rest of the clip was pretty straightforward---good job. I think I would've started freaking out once I saw that the ceremony was in front of that huge window....

Wow, Mark!

Thanks for sharing that! How long did it take to edit that SDE? It didn't look like you had any pre-set-up shots... like it was all shot, captured, and edited that day. Most of the SDEs I've seen have a photo-montage or Love Story built in, leaving only a few spaces for clips of the actual day. But it seems that your whole timeline was from the day of the wedding... and you got interviews with two parents and the groom!!! I was like, what the? When did you have time to interview them? Did you speak to them before the wedding day to ask them for interviews or did you just pull them aside? I would think it would be an interruption to ask for an interview the day of...

As for the highlights, their ceremony was cool that they said their vows together. I'm guessing the sand thing was the unity candle equivalent? I liked your sweeping camera techniques, reveals, and general moving camera techniques. Loved the shot near the end when you were up in the chandelier. May I ask what equipment you were using?

Thanks again for sharing, Mark!

The last 2 shots were absolutely incredible.....how did you get a cam in the chandelier?---lol

The rest of the clip was pretty straightforward---good job. I think I would've started freaking out once I saw that the ceremony was in front of that huge window....

Hi Sheldon,

Thanks for your kind words. The chandelier shot was done with a monopod with 3 small legs for added stability.

This wedding was 3 hours away, so I had never seen the ceremony sight. Yes, I was not too happy about seeing an afternoon wedding facing to the West, but we made the best of it.

EDIT: Sorry, I hit the enter button too many times

Wow, Mark!

Thanks for sharing that! How long did it take to edit that SDE? It didn't look like you had any pre-set-up shots... like it was all shot, captured, and edited that day. Most of the SDEs I've seen have a photo-montage or Love Story built in, leaving only a few spaces for clips of the actual day. But it seems that your whole timeline was from the day of the wedding... and you got interviews with two parents and the groom!!! I was like, what the? When did you have time to interview them? Did you speak to them before the wedding day to ask them for interviews or did you just pull them aside? I would think it would be an interruption to ask for an interview the day of...

As for the highlights, their ceremony was cool that they said their vows together. I'm guessing the sand thing was the unity candle equivalent? I liked your sweeping camera techniques, reveals, and general moving camera techniques. Loved the shot near the end when you were up in the chandelier. May I ask what equipment you were using?

Thanks again for sharing, Mark!

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the kind words.

The SDE was 100 miles away, see we captured everything the day of. Usually I already have the church exteriors on the timeline.

We actually got interviews from all 4 parents, but ran out of time to use all of them. We'll use the other two within the rest of the edit.

Wow, Mark!

Thanks for sharing that! How long did it take to edit that SDE? It didn't look like you had any pre-set-up shots... like it was all shot, captured, and edited that day. Most of the SDEs I've seen have a photo-montage or Love Story built in, leaving only a few spaces for clips of the actual day. But it seems that your whole timeline was from the day of the wedding... and you got interviews with two parents and the groom!!! I was like, what the? When did you have time to interview them? Did you speak to them before the wedding day to ask them for interviews or did you just pull them aside? I would think it would be an interruption to ask for an interview the day of...

As for the highlights, their ceremony was cool that they said their vows together. I'm guessing the sand thing was the unity candle equivalent? I liked your sweeping camera techniques, reveals, and general moving camera techniques. Loved the shot near the end when you were up in the chandelier. May I ask what equipment you were using?

Thanks again for sharing, Mark!

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the kind words.

The SDE was 100 miles away, see we captured everything the day of. Usually I already have the church exteriors on the timeline.

We actually got interviews from all 4 parents, but ran out of time to use all of them. We'll use the other two within the rest of the edit. We didn't get to meet the parents before the wedding, paritally because of the distance. When we get comments from the couple of especially parents it is usually on the day of. It doesn't take long, if you preplan it. For these soundbites we went for something short and sweet. If you do it quickly it doesn't have to be an interruption of their day. Of course if anyone is uncomfortable with answering some questions for us, we do not do it. Usually we just pull them aside to a quiet area, and in this case, didn't even record their faces. We just covered up the lens and place the on camera mic near their mouth.


On the Highlight, yes, the sand ceremony was in place of a unity candle. The minister read an explanation of the sand ceremony and I really liked it so much better than the typical unity candle.

The chandelier shot was done with a Bogen 682B with a pan tilt head on it. The 682B has 3 small legs at the base of it, which really adds to the stability when going that high. The pan tilt head allowed me to tilt down to see the couple. The rising table shot from the reception was also done using this technique.

In addition to that most of the shots had a .7 Canon wide angle lens. The sunset shot with the fountain in the foreground was done with a .3 fisheye.

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the kind words.

The SDE was 100 miles away, see we captured everything the day of. Usually I already have the church exteriors on the timeline.

That's quite a feat you pulled there, Mark! You're my new hero! :) I still haven't the guts to even attempt an SDE and here you are capturing everything and editing on the same day... with 100 miles on the road to boot!


We actually got interviews from all 4 parents, but ran out of time to use all of them. We'll use the other two within the rest of the edit. We didn't get to meet the parents before the wedding, paritally because of the distance. When we get comments from the couple of especially parents it is usually on the day of. It doesn't take long, if you preplan it. For these soundbites we went for something short and sweet. If you do it quickly it doesn't have to be an interruption of their day. Of course if anyone is uncomfortable with answering some questions for us, we do not do it. Usually we just pull them aside to a quiet area, and in this case, didn't even record their faces. We just covered up the lens and place the on camera mic near their mouth.


On the Highlight, yes, the sand ceremony was in place of a unity candle. The minister read an explanation of the sand ceremony and I really liked it so much better than the typical unity candle.

I guess they can also keep the mixed sands as a memento of their union :) What explanation did the minister give, by the way?


The chandelier shot was done with a Bogen 682B with a pan tilt head on it. The 682B has 3 small legs at the base of it, which really adds to the stability when going that high. The pan tilt head allowed me to tilt down to see the couple. The rising table shot from the reception was also done using this technique.

Yeah, I think I recall that you use a small tilt head. Is it the Manfrotto 3232? It looks hard to adjust the tilt on that head from the picture. Do you have to screw and unscrew the head anytime you want to tilt and/or hold the head in place? Are there issues trying to get a smooth tilt using just the head?

Also, have you tried the new Manfrotto 560B video monopod?

I have a monopod but I want the legs for extra stability as it is pretty hard to get steady footage when trying to do high shots or simulate crane shots like you do in your clips.


In addition to that most of the shots had a .7 Canon wide angle lens. The sunset shot with the fountain in the foreground was done with a .3 fisheye.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and expertise!

Amazing . Really a FAIRY TALE kind of wedding video. I hope to learn from your videos . :) Thanks for posting

Mark,

Your work inspires me. I'm just up the road from you in Joplin, MO. I'm just starting out, got a few weddings under my belt. All of my clients have seemed to love what I've delivered, but, truthfully, I've borrowed just a little bit from your style. So maybe it's YOUR work they love instead of mine! Anyway, I would LOVE to attend your Tulsa workshop in October, especially since I live so close, but the funds just aren't there right now. (I just invested in about $5K worth of new equipment.) My wife and I have said maybe we can shoot for the February 07 workshop. I hope someday to show you some of my work and hear your thoughts on it. I don't have it online yet, but I will soon.

But you always do such a fantastic job, and maybe someday I'll be good enough that I could actually provide you with some friendly competition! ;)

In any case, I hope that I'll be good enough to work with you and other top videographers to make this industry the best it can possibly be.

Thanks for doing it well.

-Dave

...I guess they can also keep the mixed sands as a memento of their union :) What explanation did the minister give, by the way?

Yeah, I think I recall that you use a small tilt head. Is it the Manfrotto 3232? It looks hard to adjust the tilt on that head from the picture. Do you have to screw and unscrew the head anytime you want to tilt and/or hold the head in place? Are there issues trying to get a smooth tilt using just the head?

Also, have you tried the new Manfrotto 560B video monopod?

I have a monopod but I want the legs for extra stability as it is pretty hard to get steady footage when trying to do high shots or simulate crane shots like you do in your clips...

Hi Peter,

The minister said it better than I can repeat, so I encoded that portion of the ceremony for you. He read the explanation after they poured the sand and after the song was over. To compress time and make the ceremony more enjoyable, we put his audio explanation of the sand ceremony in during the actual process. It's a way to compress time without losing anything, unless you just want to watch the minister say the words. Anyway here's the link.
http://www.tulsaweddingvideos.com/video/HCSandCeremony.wmv

I actually use a 3063 head on that monopod. I have the same head on 5 other tripods and I have the same quick release plate on my Glidecam, Scorpion Support, and 685B monopod, so it just makes sense to use the same head. I don't use the 682B for traditional monopod shooting. I only use it for those high shots.

For traditional monopod shooting we use the 685B, which actually allows you to do a smooth pan without a head. The top handle rotates seperately from the shaft of the monopod. It is great.

I haven't see the 560B.

Amazing . Really a FAIRY TALE kind of wedding video. I hope to learn from your videos . :) Thanks for posting

Hi Anthony,

You are welcome.

Mark,

Your work inspires me. I'm just up the road from you in Joplin, MO. I'm just starting out, got a few weddings under my belt. All of my clients have seemed to love what I've delivered, but, truthfully, I've borrowed just a little bit from your style. So maybe it's YOUR work they love instead of mine! Anyway, I would LOVE to attend your Tulsa workshop in October, especially since I live so close, but the funds just aren't there right now. (I just invested in about $5K worth of new equipment.) My wife and I have said maybe we can shoot for the February 07 workshop. I hope someday to show you some of my work and hear your thoughts on it. I don't have it online yet, but I will soon.

But you always do such a fantastic job, and maybe someday I'll be good enough that I could actually provide you with some friendly competition! ;)

In any case, I hope that I'll be good enough to work with you and other top videographers to make this industry the best it can possibly be.

Thanks for doing it well.

-Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the kind words. My style was influence by others who I admired. The key is to not merely copy someone else but take what they are doing and add some of your own personality to it.

We would love to have you down in Tulsa for a workshop. I understand about cash flow, so since October and Novemeber won't work for you, we will be announcing more dates for next year.

I like your attitude. You are just what we need more of in our industry.

That chandelier shot was amazing. The rest was great, of course. I've always enjoyed watching your stuff.

Is it pretty standard for you to do an entire highlights in slow motion? I use a fair amount, but don't think I've ever done one completely like that. I do notice from watching the work of our friends to the south, that you seem to use more than we do. Maybe we're used to seeing things jump around in the cold more. Heh, heh...

One thing I admire is your ability to use voiceover in highlights effectively. I think 90% of the time when I see that, I feel that it doesn't work, but you manage to make it work very well.

Thanks for posting. Enjoyed it greatly...

Hey guys,

By the way, I just happened to visit Mark's site and saw that he has a new training DVD out called The Art of the Edit. It looks like his introductory price is ending tonight so check it out if you'd like formal training from Mark Von Lanken himself ;)

I think his work speaks for itself and he's willing to share his techniques to help the industry improve as a whole.

Anyways, thought some of you may be interested :) I'm in!

Is it pretty standard for you to do an entire highlights in slow motion? I use a fair amount, but don't think I've ever done one completely like that. I do notice from watching the work of our friends to the south, that you seem to use more than we do...

One thing I admire is your ability to use voiceover in highlights effectively. I think 90% of the time when I see that, I feel that it doesn't work, but you manage to make it work very well...

Hi Vito,

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, it is pretty standard for us to do a majority of the Highlight in slow motion. The exception would be if the couple selected a fast song. I think the topic of slow motion could be best covered in a new thread, so I'll start one.

My wife, Trisha, is the voice over master at Picture This. She is the one that decides what to use and more importantly, what not to use. She also decides where it would best fit.

If you want to see a great example of Trisha's mastery of voice over look Cinemtaic Closing on our website. She trimmed back what the parents said and used cutaways to cover the edits. When she had to really edit what they said it goes totally to video and you don't see much of the person talking. You would not belive how many times the Bride said "and um". ;-)

Another example of great use of voice over is the Windows version of the Cinematic Highlight.

Truly inspiring Mark. Very impressive!

What songs did you use for the SDE and highlight!!

Truly inspiring Mark. Very impressive!

What songs did you use for the SDE and highlight!!

Hi Dan,

Thanks. The SDE was two songs from the Meet Joe Black soundtrack. The highlight was from the Lake House soundtrack.

Thanks for letting us know what cams you used Mark. I've been on the fence about getting either PD170 or the FX1. I still am on the fence. :) The fottage from your PDs looked great. I've been shooting with an XL1 for years and I do beg to differ with this: :)

"Over the years I have learned it doesn't matter as much which camera you use, but how you use it."

After this quote, your post did go on to acknowledge the issue of 3 chips and light sensitivity. I love my Canon WHEN I HAVE GOOD LIGHT TO WORK WITH. In the darker shots in your highlight reel I'm sure the Canon wouldn't be able to provide any useful images in that available light (even with the gain cranked and playing with shutter speeds).

I've done wedding over the years but have been working in pro video (or teaching production) for 20 years. I'm just now setting out to start a full-time biz specializing in (mostly) weddings. I'll be making a camera purchase to be used starting in spring. I'm still trying to figure which cam to get.

Thanks again for sharing your PD footage. Looks great.

-Don

Thanks for letting us know what cams you used Mark. I've been on the fence about getting either PD170 or the FX1. I still am on the fence. :) The fottage from your PDs looked great. I've been shooting with an XL1 for years...

...I love my Canon WHEN I HAVE GOOD LIGHT TO WORK WITH. In the darker shots in your highlight reel I'm sure the Canon wouldn't be able to provide any useful images in that available light (even with the gain cranked and playing with shutter speeds).

I'll be making a camera purchase to be used starting in spring. I'm still trying to figure which cam to get.

Thanks again for sharing your PD footage. Looks great.

-Don

Hi Don,

I shot with the XL-1 for 5 years. It is a good camera when you have enough light. That's a tough choice between the 170 and an FX-1. I do not have much experience with the FX-1, but I have heard people compare it with the XL-1 when dicussing light sensitivity. I don't personally know how accurate that comparison is.

If low light is your primary concern, it's an easy choice, the 170. The downside to the 170 is of course the DV format and 4x3. If you want to buy new cameras in the spring and keep them for 3-5 years, I think you have to go with the FX-1 to future proof you purchase.

If you do purchase new 170s in the spring, be willing to take a potential big loss on them when you sell to upgrade to HDV.

Two of my three cameras are 3 years old. I'm hoping the new version of the Z-1/FX-1, you know the ones that are better in low light, will come to market before I have to replace my aging cameras. Time will tell.

Thanks Mark. You have cited all of the factors I've been considering. I know 2 people that own the FX1 and they say its OK in low-light because if you crank the gain you get no noise.

I am looking to buy something I can use for a few years. I'm going to a trade show on Tuesday where there will be many vendors (Sony, JC, etc.). I hope I'll get a chance to see the FX1 in low light.

I do realize that if I but PD170 it won't be worth much in a year or two.

I think you have been another person to suggest that, considering my situation, the FX may be the way to go. I wonder how the FX would have done in the low-light situations you included in your highlight clip. (?) I am also hoping that the next HDV cams to come out will be better in low-light. Time will tell. :)

Thanks again.

-Don

I have seen footage from an FX1 in low light. While it is not as sensitive as the PD170, your friend is right in that the noise is almost not noticeable and you can crank the grain and it looks really good.

I plan on getting an FX1 on my next camera purchase.