Mark&Erin highlight video for critique
 

Hey folks,

I just finished editing this highlight and was wondering ifyou could give your critiques.

Erin & Mark - Highlights on Vimeo

I used an HV30 for it and I think it's one of my best so far!

thanks!

I like it. There was shake in the first minute but I feel a little shake adds intimacy.

I'm not a fan of the shot at :55 where they are singing in slow motion (or any slow motion for that matter), the split screen (right has a cyan hue to it and should probably be corrected so they match - quite a bit of the colour is off, actually), or the shots where the wedding party are just standing there waiting for the photographer to take a shot, but I don't like those things in general and that has nothing to do with your piece.

I do like the audio over the title at the end (though the title looks a little too much like it belongs at the beginning of a summer blockbuster than an intimate wedding highlight). The whole clip had a nice feel to it. It has a very "being there" atmosphere.

Hey David,

I thought it was great. You shoot well, good composition and variety. Other than a few jump cuts that didn't work for me, I enjoyed the editing as well.

Can't believe the image out of that little camera. The small size is making the footage shakey, though. You should try to stay away from auto-iris if you can (see the tilt up at about :20sec). Is that possible with the HV30? Great short depth of field. Are you using an adapter? Has a kind of super 8 look somehow with the shakiness and the look.

I find the cut to the bride at 53sec awkward cause it looks like she's yawning, not saying her vows. I would adjust to cut to it before she opens her mouth.

Some shots you might want to think about, unless you are trying to be funny. 1:03 the bridesmaid sucking her teeth. 1:51 is she pregnant? If not, she's not looking her best as she walks down. 2:09 some guy picking his nose.

2:30 the one vignette shot out of nowhere doesn't work. I would remove the vignette.

The split screen was nice, but the angles aren't in sync. Is that on purpose? It still worked, though.

I find the voice overs too quiet in comparison to the music.

In general, it looks great and we really get a good sense of the story of the day. Well done.

Nice depth of field on the ring shots...
Shot at Dundern castle i presume?

Were you using a 35mm??
Nice colours in the low lights...I can't seem to get my XH A1 to produce those same colours. What am i doing wrong?
Does a 35mm bring out colours that my standard lens can't do??

Lighting 101 is next on my agenda...

Definitely using adapter! Its like I'm watching "rachel got married" Its that filmic! well done!!! love the style!!!!!

The only things that I would critique probably the slow mo is quiet jittery, the split screen made the two images to be 4x3 which is not very filmic anymore..

Santo

Hey guys, thanks for the critiques! All of which were very on point and well founded.

I used a 35mm adapter on the HV30 for a few of the shots, and I color graded a bit based on each section of shots, so I didn't do a grade on the whole piece, just as I saw fit. looking back I think I should keep a single look per piece, thanks for that Matthew.

The slowmo is jerky which I don't like but I shot 30p and I used optical flow retiming in Motion so that's the best it's gonna get unfortunately.

The split screen was only done because half the ceremony was shot in SD because it was being used as a skype feed camera as well, and the shot looks awful uprezed...the other side of the split screen is slowmotion.

Peter, it wasn't shot at Dundern Castle, it was shot at Heritage House.

And the jerkiness is because I went handheld with the adapter on so I was seeing everything upsidedown and reverse. that and the size of the camera.

Vito, as to the spots you mentioned, I didn't notice until you pointed it out. thank you good eye. The guy picking his nose is brides brother and he was joking.

again thanks everyone.

Hey David,

So this is the skype ceremony you mentioned a while ago? Well done - good to hear an Aussie accent in the ceremony too :)

I really liked it overall. I think the handheld footage was a nice look and quite an 'intimate' feeling to it as mentioned earlier. The HV30 is certainly capable of putting out some nice images in the right hands.

The background audio mix with the music during the prep worked well also.

Quite a bit of critique has been covered already, so just a couple of things...

I would say there's a few of the cuts that were just a little too fast to see what was happening.

Not sure if the gradient on the titles works, but this could be a personal taste thing.

At around 0:42 I would've loved to have seen the moment when they were first together ie he's looking up at her on the balcony while she's looking down and then in the next shot they're together by the door. I was expecting to see that 'moment'.

Overall well done on a great piece - especially with all the tech. stuff regarding skype going on!

Cheers,

Matt.

Matt, you're so right about "that moment" and I wished I had it while editing but I missed it due to grabbing my camera bag from inside. It's something I am really hoping to work on in the future (knowing exactly what shot is going to happen when). Reading people, and reading the moment will be a huge lesson to learn.

and yes, this is the skype ceremony I was talking about. And I gotta say I think the grooms accent is the nicest I've ever heard, I was captivated by everything he said, though I'm sure much of that was due to every word out of his mouth was a very genuine and heartfelt sentiment.