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-   -   first wedding highlights (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-event-video-sample-clips-gallery/140421-first-wedding-highlights.html)

William Dortignac December 28th, 2008 02:19 PM

first wedding highlights
 
Ok, first I want to thank all of you for all your advise and all the great info I have gathered from all of you!

So, I decided to take the plunge and start my own business.
and this is my first wedding.

it was shot entirely by beginners. And it was a first time for the editor.
so feel free to rip it up! shred it! be honest. I know it's not a masterpiece, but I would love to here your opinion.

oh, constructive criticism is also welcome ;)

Nathan and Tiffany Highlights on Vimeo

Chad Nickle December 28th, 2008 02:45 PM

Hey there, I am not sure if its the monitor I am on (Currently visiting my parents) But the Blacks look Waaaaay to crushed. I like to crush my blacks a little bit but not nearly that much. Does your editor use scopes when color correcting?

There are some great books and dvd's on color correction that could help alot.

Edit: Never mind, it was my parents monitor from 2004, I really need to talk them into buying a new computer!

Some scenes, particularly in the church, are still way too dark.

Jason Robinson December 29th, 2008 01:04 AM

The text is pretty light against the second scene (the first non-black scene) consider fading out the titles once the first non-black scene cuts in to make them more legible.

The date was pretty hard ot read because it was static tet that was tiny.

The hand held dutch + zoom out was.... awkward. You will quickly learn that all shots need to be stationary and not zooming for them to be of any use.

The shot of the boquet starts out stationary, then zooms out. Always start a cut AFTER the zooming has started that way there is no sudden change in the zooming (or non-zooming) of a scene.

The church stained glass scenes were way too jerky but had greeat potential. Next time you shoot that, put it on a tripod, and get smoother motions (left to right, etc).

I like your close ups of the makeup scenes. Good job for getting those shots.

The color pallets of the shots in the prep scenes are different. This is probably because the scenes were either shot in different rooms under different colro lights, or were shot from outside light & inside light combination. One thing you can do to keep those scenes flowing smoothing together is to have the color balance consistent between the cuts. Vegas has a "copy screen shot to clipboard" and then a compare current screen shot to previous clipboard. That allows comparing side by side the two scenes to make sure your white balancing & color pallet is the same. Very handy. I don't know what NLE you use, but it probably has a similar function (if it is a pro app, and not the consumer version).

One of the "would be money shots" where you pan down the length of the wedding dress, was completely out of focus. Better watch the focus next time. That is a quick way to kill a shot (the other is to be shaky, and a third is to be under/over exposed).

At 1:33 you had a rack focus shot. Very nice. If that shot were from a locked down tripod instead of hand held, it would have been MONEY! As it was, the shot was still a nice shot.

1:45 was actually a very well done "flying" shot, though I'm pretty sure you didn't use a Glidecam / Steadicam. $500 gets you the Glidecam anad $800 gets you a Merlin. Those might be worth an investment to add some serious "punch" to a shot.

Tell you camera ops that anytime they zoom, the footage is useless. That might help get you more usable footage. Not that zooming is evil, but if all of your cams were zooming at the same time, then what cam can you cut to in post as the "safe" cam?

Overall, I'm sure the couple will love that production. You did a good job with the "Moment Capturing" you promised. Add in some more tripod use in the prep scenes, a bit more restrained camera operating, a white balance card (they are worth the $6 @ B&H), and some communication between your ops and you will have some great footage.

Jeff Harper December 29th, 2008 02:14 AM

The intention of your highlight clip was very good. The footage was littered with poor shots, particularly the beginning. The stained glass shots IMO were worthless.

Too much shake. Too unsteady. Lay off of the zoom. The creative ideas behind the shots were good. Execution was poor.

Learn to use the video camera as a still camera and first learn how to nail static shots before doing the moving shots. You would be better of with all perfect static shots and to have no moving shots than to have all of this shake.

Some of the getting ready shots were well done.

William Dortignac December 30th, 2008 03:37 AM

Hey Jason, Thanks for all the advise. That's how I learn.

a couple things I want to point out or add.
let's see, first of all, I'm using Final cut. but I'm still learning in. I fought those clips, and they drove me nuts. but in the end, I really had to get the project out, cause other projects are stacking up.
I didn't edit or shoot any of the wedding. It was my sister's wedding, and I was in it.
it was everybody's first time doing what they did. someone else cut it, and then I did some color correction and little stuff. I did have a steadicam, but again, it was a first time user, he's still trying to get the hang of it.

All the blurry shots (or, out of focus) were all really super incredibly grainy for some reason (still trying to figure that one out) the only way I could figure out a way to salvage them, was to fut a blur on them. and although it drove me nuts, it was either that or scrap all the bridal prep shots.

another thing, for some reason everything looks way more bumpy on the web, giving it a very rough look all around. I think it looks a little better when I play it back in final cut.

Oh wow! I just went back and watched them side by side, the one I exported and loaded on the web really looks bad! I didn't notice the difference until now. it looks like half the frames are missing!

I hate to sound stupid, but what is a white balance card, and how does it work.

again, Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate the input.

Jason Robinson December 30th, 2008 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Dortignac (Post 985962)
I hate to sound stupid, but what is a white balance card, and how does it work.

Go to B&H here and then in the search bar enter in "POWBC" in the search bar (that is B&H's item number for the Porta Brace White Balance card for $5).

You hold the white balance card in front of your camera pointed at your subject with the same light hitting hte card as is hitting your subject, and then use the camera's "Custom white balance" setting to force the camera to adjust its "color temperature" to match the actual lighting.

That helps control your whites from swinging yellow (under halogen lights) blue (under flourescents) or in between if standing in windows with exterior light, etc.

I'm constantly shuffling my WB setting depending on where the camera is pointing. Takes some getting used to on the GL2 because the WB button is tiny and in my setup, under the LCD, but above the Beachtek.

Stephen J. Williams December 30th, 2008 06:21 PM

WB is something that I missed many many times. It took me about 4 times to realize what an idiot I was for missing out on something so simple, but yet makes your footage look so much better. You can use a card, or simply use something white thats around the same area your shooting (with the same light).
Also, I sometimes will WB to an opposite color such as blue, which gives you a warmer look outdoors... and then to orange which would give your footage a more bluish look.
The same look could be duplicated in post. But it's fun to play around with...

Danny O'Neill January 3rd, 2009 12:53 PM

Totally agree with everything which has been said. You do a lot of movement and it looks like your trying to re-create the steadicam shots many here use. My advice is dont, you cant do it handheld so either use a steadicam or embrace your handheld and make it look... handheld.

Whitebalance can be easily corrected in post, especially once you figure out the video scopes. And lock down the focus.

keep up the good work.


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