Wedding Highlight

Hello, this is the first time I am sharing. This is also the first time I tried color grading in post. After seeing so may good shooters in this forum, I am a nervous posting this. Any comment is greatly appreciated. I shot using vx2000 with no stabilizer, Iriver for audio.

Fernando & Huong's Wedding Highlights on Vimeo

[Monday Isa]

Hey Noel,
Over all good job. You had quite a few scenes that were shaky. I also see you had the color balance on auto as the bride was at the window and the color shifted blue. I like how you paced the highlight. The audio was good and it looked like quite a wedding. I know the clients are happy. Thanks for being brave and sharing. :)

Monday

[Noel Lising]

Thanks Monday, good catch on the white balance. Client was happy, really appreciate the comment, need to get a stabilizer coz I can't shoot hand held with a small camera.

[Randy Panado]

Thanks for sharing!

Just one tip :

1) Have a bit more of shot diversity. During the brides opening sequences, it was mid shot after mid shot of her smiling and pan up after pan up. Try to get some tights, some mids, and some wides. Different angles and that sort of thing.

If you mean by color grading that you primary graded the footage (adjusted the blacks, highs, mids and general exposure) it was a good first attempt. What were you using to judge your color? Calibrated monitor, scopes, or both?

I just got into color grading myself after returning from the SM workshop in toronto. Scopes are a great thing :).

Thanks again for sharing!

-Randy

[Noel Lising]

Originally Posted by Randy Panado

Thanks for sharing!

Just one tip :

1) Have a bit more of shot diversity. During the brides opening sequences, it was mid shot after mid shot of her smiling and pan up after pan up. Try to get some tights, some mids, and some wides. Different angles and that sort of thing.


-Randy

Hi Randy,

I did notice that and would keep that in mind for my next shoot. I from the old school of traditional shooters and am really trying to re-invent myself. Thanks for the tip.

I calibrated my monitor and had my eye be the judge so it's not really accurate. Great to hear you attended the SM workshop.

[Jason Robinson]

I liked the colors. Greens were nice and deep. THe yellow flowers stood out. Some shoots still looked a little like they had a gray cast to them (try pulling down the blacks to the 0IRE level and pulling up whites to 100 or more; that lets you blow out the sky but keep foreground details)

The bride & groom kissing at 1L40 had the grooms face hidden a bit in shadows. that is a hard shot to get. lots of light in the BG. Might try over exposing the background so the foreground is in focus. You can play in post some to see if that helps. I don't mind blowing out things that aren't the details I need to see, but others don't like that look.

I know it wasn't color related, but I would pull the soundtrack down a lot more when the groom starts talking. I found it too hard to understand what he was saying.

Good job with the lighting at the reception. Looked like there was some targeted lighting, even if it was uni-directional (or looked like it).

The ending pullout shot was a great setup! Nice vibrant greens and red. I've not had a chance for a shot like that. I would give the B&G something to do, other than stare at the camera. May be just have them talk and look around after you give them the signal that you have backed out to a medium shot. It was a little odd with them just looking at the camera for the whole sequence. Still was a great shot though.

Overall, I'd say your colors looked good with not too many "flat" scenes. That is pretty much what I try to do for my post-production CC work. Keep things realistic, looking good, and keep the viewers attention on what it is supposed to be, and not distracted by my poor camera work, or by effects (unless I'm trying to WOW them with a color-pass).

[Noel Lising]

Thanks Jason, I am really "green" when it comes to CC. Its a bit of a learning curve for me. Thanks for the input.

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hi Noel,

I would agree with the comments so far. I would add to avoid using auto iris. You can see how it can ruin a shot like your pan across the group at 1:14. The iris shuts down as the light increases, and suddenly the faces are underexposed.

Also, a lot of your shots look staged. See if you can get more candid stuff. That doesn't mean you can't set it up, though. Getting someone to laugh and horse around can get you some great stuff, as opposed to saying, "okay, smile and look at the camera while I zoom out." Contrast the staged stuff with how much fun the cake cutting was.

You have some nice cutaway shots. I love the shoe under the dress. That's great. Cutaways can really help you transition from place to place, as opposed to a harsh cut. For example, at 1:50 they are signing the register, and bam, they're outside walking down the stairs.

In general, nice job. I'm sure they will love it. And congrats on posting. Don't be afraid to keep it up.

Cheers,
Vito

[Noel Lising]

Hi Vito,

Thanks for the great advice. I have always wondered how to effectively transition from one scene to another, I guess cut away would be the best way. I usually use page turn/peel but I want to get away from that. BTW that shoe was my fave shot as well.

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hi Noel,

Originally Posted by Noel Lising

I have always wondered how to effectively transition from one scene to another, I guess cut away would be the best way.

Cutaways are ONE way, but there are many. You have to remember you are telling a story. So if they are signing the register, and you want to transition to go outside, then perhaps a shot of people clapping, or a detail shot of the outside of the church, whatever. Always think like an editor while you shoot.

But you could also use a different transistion as opposed to a cut. A dip to black, for example, is common to show a passage of time, or a change of location. Just that would have been better than a cut in this spot.

I usually use page turn/peel but I want to get away from that.

Definitely stay away from those kind of transitions. They look really cheesy and outdated. Look at movies. You see cuts, fade and dip to black, and some dissolves. Not much else.

[Noel Lising]

Hey Vito,

Thanks a lot. I learned so much from posting this one video and watching all my clips I do tend to pan up everytime as noted by Randy. It's always good to have a second eye.