Not My Typical Highlights - Mark & Elizabeth
 

So this is a big departure from my typical cinematic style. I wanted to create a much more dynamic piece than usual, but keep an element of my cinematic style as well as strong emotional visuals. I think it turned out pretty good. In fact, I'm stoked at how it turned out. Here's the link:

Highlights for Mark & Elizabeth on Vimeo


Enjoy!!

Hi Travis,

I like more dynamic pieces, and therefore I liked this. Some solid, and great footage,nice tight editing and cutting to the beat. There is a good mix of cinematic and dynamic. I do think you do this extremely well.

Only one thing that jarred for me slightly was the overuse of the reverse forward shot. It lost its impact after a while. I think if it was used a couple of times it would have more effect, and maybe the slide down transition could be done differently with the church shot.

I thought this was otherwise an excellent and very creative piece.

Cheers,

John De Rienzo

A few things.

First: WOW!

Second: There was some pretty impressive Steadicam footage in there for it being shot with a merlin, I would have guess pilot or flyer. But maybe thats just because I use the pilot and I find it difficult to operate a merlin because of its small form factor.

Third: How did the client react to the new style of yours. I personally love it, but not sure what they would think since its so different then what you usually post up here. Also what are you planning on doing as the longer version, or are you only sticking with that style for the short form.

Fourth: I noticed the reception footage was a little dark at times. What are you using in terms of light if you are using light. Although at one point your subject was standing right below one of the high hats, the lighting on his face looked great.

Fifth: Again, I loved it.

Thanks for the feedback, John. I have to agree with the church slides. I'm actually tweaking a number of things in the video right now so I'll be taking a look at how to do that differently maybe. I think the problem is the slides don't work so well with a pair of wider shots.

Regarding the reverse-forward shots, I hear you. I won't be changing those in this video, but I'll take the advice for future pieces. I was trying to limit the number of 'tricks' in the video and spread them out so that the piece felt consistent, but maybe those particular shots are just too much to have that often.

Thanks again for the comments!

I have to say I film with the Merlin as if I had a Pilot. The Merlin is a major pain for sure due to the fact that it's smaller and has a much smaller contact area, plus I don't have the arm and vest. But I've worked really hard to try and overcome all of those challenges. Thanks for noticing!

The client hasn't actually seen this yet, and in fact I'm still tweaking parts of the video (enhancing some shots, replacing some shots, etc.). But I'm pretty sure they'll dig it. I create a short-form that is very cinematic, and I've been wanting to push the highlights a bit away from being cinematic so as to give more distinction between the two types of pieces. I probably won't go quite this far for every client, but I want my short-forms and my highlights to feel like distinct pieces.

Lighting .. I'm so bummed I didn't set any up for this reception. We tested the light before the major events kicked off (toasts, cake and dances), and it was pretty good for the most part. So I elected to go without the lights this time. Then when they kicked off the dances someone dropped the house lighting, so we were out of luck. I was still stoked to get a shot of the first dance from OUTSIDE the building. Never had that opportunity before. Still, in the future I don't care what the light looks like beforehand, we're setting up lights. d;-)

Thanks for watching and thanks for the comments. Glad you loved it!

Hey Travis

as ever, really liked your shots, colouring, and general quality

i really did feel like you were trying to force an effect/movement every few seconds though. I think personally I would have carried out the same cool effects but only for small snippets/sections at a time (i.e. perhaps during the choruses, or 'off-beats'). I hope that makes sense? the viewer would relax more and take it in better if there were parts that just played with no effect. 'Less is more' and all that.

really liked it though! the above is pretty minor, let's face it!

Awesome, thanks for the comments, Richard. Finding the right balance with this style is definitely difficult and time-consuming. I've probably spent 10 hours on this video now, and I'm STILL tweaking it, lol.

Anyways, thanks for watching!

well hey, i think I (and many others) took on board your very valid and recent point that not enough of us are reviewing clips.

i do like alot of your work so i thought it'd be better to pick up on something i could criticize, rather than just say 'i like it' all the time :)

That's cool. I will say that critiquing the work of others has a tendency of helping you improve your own. It's an odd thing, but it works.

I guess it helps to watch something with a critical eye when you aren't close to the footage to start with. When you watch your own work and the lighting is bad or there's a bump in the video, you can rationalize it and say "Hey, they turned the lights down on me or someone bumped into me." But when you see it in someone else's work it helps you to realize that your own excuses don't cut it.

So true Travis. There was me just about to put another clip for review and you just made me change my mind! ha...

Cheers.

Hi Travis,

Really liked the piece you've put together. The funky, upbeat style to it really works, as do the vibrant colours. I like also that you've included the rain shots, rather than pretending it was a perfect day & didn't happen :) - it cuts in nicely.

I'd echo what's been written already about the number of forward/reverse shots and the jump zooms (is that a term?) - maybe just a little overdone, but that's subjective I guess.

The other thing that sticks out for me would be the couples expectations on the style of finished product. i.e. what if they've booked you based on your previous samples/style and then receive something quite different?

The gliding stair shot at 0:48 looks familiar for some reason. Do you have this on your site?

Really well done on putting a great clip together. Very entertaining!

Cheers,

Matt.

P.S. I'm another that's heard your view about making an effort in reviewing others clips.

lol .. don't do that! Post it!

Thanks, Matt. Glad you liked the rain shots and thanks for the feedback on the 'dynamics'. Regarding the couple's expectations I'm not too worried. Their short-form is very cinematic and probably the best one I've ever done, so they'll have that element there already. Worst case scenario they don't like the highlights and I'll have to edit another one more in my traditional style. Guess we'll see .. cross your fingers for me!

The stair shot and a few others are in the promo trailer I created for my website a few months ago. Good catch!

Oh, and glad to see you commenting and reviewing. It helps everyone here. Thanks!

Wow, Travis, this piece of work is very inspiring.

Watching your clip make me realize that I been edit my wedding video in certain style and kind of stop trying to find a new way. Your work is inspiring and refreshing since we've watch a similar wedding video style on the forum every day.

I like how you interact the picture with the beat and apply different color to the clip. It encourage me go try out something new to edit wedding highlight!

Thx

Awesome, Siuchung! I think it is important for us as film makers to find new ways to twist what we do .. if not for the client ... then for us as artists. Because if you get too set in your ways you won't grow, and if you don't grow you'll get bored, and if you get bored eventually the quality of your work will suffer .. and none of us want that.

Thanks for the comments!

Travis
I really loved your video. I am always amazed as to how you synchronise the music to the video shots. How do you do this Travis? What editing program are you using? Is this done visually? I mean do you see the sound wave forms on your NLE and cut to that?

Stelios

Thanks, Stelios. For editing I just use Final Cut Pro. Syncing to the beat is a matter of just scrubbing methodically in the timeline and listening for the beats. Keep in mind that sound travels slower than light, so you don't want your cut to be right on the beat. A frame or two after the beat is more appropriate. Otherwise you'll see the cut a moment before you hear the beat, and it won't look right. In my editing the music drives the visuals, not the other way around.

Nice work Travis. Most of what i would have commented has been covered. I will say as a newbie to the industry I am inspired by seeing what you and others do.

I've been teetering on the edge of getting the "Reception Light" but what do you use for lighting? Is it something from the photography side (because your photographer already has that equipment) or is it something specific for your video shoots (like a big softbox, etc)?

Regarding the highlight, I really liked the style. Your are killing me here!

j/k

I can see why you used the reverse forward effect as often as you did, because the music made use of that triple beat sequence all the time, and since your style means the music dictates much of what happens on screen, then that is a natural outcome.

But I will say that I also thought there were a few too many of the reverse effects. BUT.... that doesn't mean the bride won't like it! The snooty highbrow videographers may want more variety, but that doesn't mean a bride will. I had one bride who wanted the B&W effect all over the place and i was thinking "but I'm shooting in color, why throw that information away!" Instead I compromised and used a color pass on a few shots. She loved those and as far as I can tell, completely forgot about the request for lots of B&W shots.

But back to your video. I could see how you made use of the low light dancing scenes with the color effects. I have done the same thing on a client's video many years ago .... and as much as I thought it didn't look good, the client's loved it. So who am I to second guess my instincts. Some times what you choose to do in the edit suite is just the perfect thing for the clients!

And that is why you make your living doing this, and the dozen other "guys with a cam" in the valley are part time weekend video guys.

Very nice. I thought it was fun, upbeat and edited very well to the music.
At :08 what is the effect causing the glow around the card? Also the transition at :17, how did you get the nice white flash, looks to good to be a plain additive dissolve.

Thanks for the kind words, Phillip. I'm honored to be an inspiration to you.

Jason, I use a standard 300-600 watt light on a stand. I don't use a softbox because it cuts the light so much and seems to make the light more obvious if that makes sense. I've never had a photog setup that helped me since they just use flashes.

Thanks for the comments on the video. I find it very interesting that the reverse-forward is the effect that people seem to feel was used too often. I though for sure it would have been the 'bump' effect. This edit sure has been a learning experience.

I totally agree that everyone needs to take the comments they receive here with a grain of salt. Fortunately and unfortunately all of us here watch videos here with a completely different mindset than a customer would. Sometimes we include a shot that isn't the best shot for example, but it reveals something that was very important to the client, so at the end of the day it actually WAS the best shot to use. Still, I think it's REALLY important to get feedback from professionals simply because they WILL watch things with a more critical and understanding eye. How you use the feedback is a bit of a balancing act.

Anyways, thanks for watching and thanks for the comments. Hope you're doing well. Things are REALLY slow this year .. scary slow.

That's a basic 'light rays' filter. I backed it down quite a bit for a more subtle look. The other transition is a combination of things. First, I have the clip exposure ramp up quickly, and then I have it also quickly cross-dissolve into a pure white clip and then it transitions out with a lens flare filter.

Thanks for watching!

Very true, which makes professionals the worst clients to have. I hate doing shoots for the video pros but when they come back saying they love it, well it just has all that more meaning.

Loved it Travis, not your average wedding vid which is what you need to help avoid becoming a wedding factory.

Thanks, Danny. One of the reasons I pursued this edit was to just do something out of my comfort zone. That's how you grow ultimately.

Great work! It's nice to move away from the usual stuff we do, it evolves you to become better

I completely agree, Raphael. Glad you enjoyed it.

WOW! I really, really enjoyed this style. Stunning quality/color/shot composition. Video keeping beat with the music is superb, kept me glued to the screen. This is one great highlight vid. I'm amazed at what you have created. Thanks for sharing. Headed out to shoot a wedding/reception in an hour and this really inspires me.
Thanks,
Randy
P.S. Not far from you in Hooper Utah

I think the bump is more subtle so the frequency of use is not as evident.

Yeah I hear you. It feels like this is October, not April which should be about the busiest for bookings.

I've got only 2 bookings AND my grand prize winner from the wedding show give away didn't book! That was $350 off of a wedding and she still didn't take it!

Hey, Randy, glad you were inspired! I hope you have an amazing wedding shoot today!!

That makes sense. The reverse-forward is definitely not as subtle. I can't wait to hear what the bride thinks, as she is a bit .. particular .. about things. d;-)

You know, I had the same problem every year I gave away something at the wedding show. The person who won would never actually book. I don't get it. It's one reason I stopped doing give-aways. It does tend to draw more people to the booth though, maybe.