Love Story Video at DVinfo.net

Love Story Video · June 3rd, 2009, 09:46 AM

Made a Love Story video for good friends of mine.

Questions, comments, criticism and critique are welcome.

George and Tanya's Love Story on Vimeo

David Schuurman · June 3rd, 2009, 10:07 AM

Hey Russ,
I enjoyed the piece and the interviews were clean and had great audio which is the most important thing. Your B roll was nice, I liked how you brought them into the church, good job.

I've got a few points I'd like to make not because i think it's a bad piece or because I think I could do better but these are small things that you could do to make the next one have alot more impact and less distraction.

1) in the interview you should have one of them playing to camera left, and the other one playing to camera right, that way it's more connected...and like they're talking from either side towards eachother. Also in his interview he was talking to the interviewer who was standing up or something because his eyeline was really high.

2)I feel like it's too long. it could be cut down considerably and be more powerful. It might seem like it's all interesting and pertinent info but people might start getting antsy at the reception where this could be played, and lots of people will probably skip through if they're watching it at home.

3) It'd be nice if you ended with each of them saying a definitive statement of love and hope for the future with eachother or something like that. I felt like your ending kinda just tapered off into completion rather than ending powerfully.

4) I mentioned that I liked your B-roll but I would've liked it even more if you had included more close-up shots. Wide shots are fine to establish locations but without closeups or medium shots the viewer starts to feel distanced from what's going on in the scene.

Those're just my opinions based on anything that I presume to know but might actually not :)
Keep up the good work.

Russ Motyko · June 3rd, 2009, 10:12 AM

David,

Thank you for the advice. This was my first video so I was kinda lost and confused as far as how things should go. I'm surprised the video turned out as well as it did. :)

I'm probably going to make another one some time soon and will certainly try to put your advice to good use.

Walt Paluch · June 3rd, 2009, 04:18 PM

Great job, current and done well. Don't change a thing.

Walt

Matt Barwick · June 3rd, 2009, 11:40 PM

Hey Russ,

Thanks for sharing this and credit to you for putting it up for review. For your first love story it's quite a good piece.

You've got some great advice already above, so my brief comment would be that's it's very long at the moment. This might be an alright length for the couple to watch in their own time, but depending on the audience and where it's viewed (say, at a reception), I'd expect people to lose interest and tune out before too long.

I personally tend to think 3-4 minutes is a good length and by tightening things up with some of the great audio and footage you've got you could turn a good piece into a great one.

Another thing to be watchful of is the cross dissolves which I felt were a little overused :)

Cheers,

Matt.

Russ Motyko · June 4th, 2009, 03:46 PM

Walt, thank you for the compliment.

Matt, I probably should have uploaded the video before the wedding. That way I would have had time to cut the video down before the wedding. What do you think the B&G would say if I told them I need to get all the wedding guests back together cause we're showing an edited version of the video? haha :)

Martin Wiosna · June 7th, 2009, 08:04 PM

looks great.

a huge plus is the intro, very creative!

Russ Motyko · June 8th, 2009, 10:07 AM

Thanks Martin. But to be quite honest, I got the idea for the intro from a love story/couple interview that I'd seen somewhere on the internet.

Do you guys know if it would be considered a theft of intellectual property if I took something I'd seen someone else do, changed it, and used it in one of my own videos?

Jason Robinson · June 8th, 2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ Motyko

Do you guys know if it would be considered a theft of intellectual property if I took something I'd seen someone else do, changed it, and used it in one of my own videos?

That sounds like the kind of thing a prissy photographer might say. Personally, I think it is called learning and adapting. Just because someone rack focused a camera for the first time many years ago doesn't mean that everyone who rack focuses now is infringing or copying their shot.

The first movie to use a jib doesn't mean they have exclusive rights to using jibs & cranes in all productions.

Now if you do stuff frame for frame for a significant portion of your work, then you might get some scolding and stern letters, but as far as I know (and I am not a lawyer), that is as far as it can go. If you don't use copyrighted names, characters, or the actual footage / music of someone else, then you are good to go.

Russ Motyko · June 8th, 2009, 09:25 PM

Jason, glad to hear your opinion coincides with mine. I figured that in the end, no matter what you do, it's been done before. The greatest film is in essence just a compilation of ideas and techniques that have already been used before.

"That sounds like the kind of thing a prissy photographer might say." I hope you weren't putting me in the same category as a wedding photographer. Some might take that as an insult :)

Jason Robinson · June 8th, 2009, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ Motyko

"That sounds like the kind of thing a prissy photographer might say." I hope you weren't putting me in the same category as a wedding photographer. Some might take that as an insult :)

No I wasn't, but I have had a photographer scold me for shooting behind her and over her shoulder saying "don't copy my shots.... stand back a ways back from me"

That was not in Idaho, it was for a destination wedding I did in Seattle. Who knows. May be the Seattle market is tougher on photographers so they are on edge when someone else shows up with good looking equipment.

Russ Motyko · June 11th, 2009, 11:32 AM

From what I've seen Seattle has allot of really good wedding photographers so I'm not surprised they get a bit out of hand when trying to protect their "turf."

Kren Barnes · June 12th, 2009, 04:23 PM

Hey that was our video you stole ithe idea from !! just kidding :)
No that is not theft..Everyone is influenced and inspired by someone else's work, as long as you don't copy the details and put your own stamp you should be good...

John De Rienzo · June 12th, 2009, 04:28 PM

deleted .......

Russ Motyko · June 13th, 2009, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John De Rienzo

deleted .......

What's that, Josh?

June 3rd, 2009, 10:07 AM	#2
David Schuurman Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Hamilton, ON Canada Posts: 369	Hey Russ, I enjoyed the piece and the interviews were clean and had great audio which is the most important thing. Your B roll was nice, I liked how you brought them into the church, good job. I've got a few points I'd like to make not because i think it's a bad piece or because I think I could do better but these are small things that you could do to make the next one have alot more impact and less distraction. 1) in the interview you should have one of them playing to camera left, and the other one playing to camera right, that way it's more connected...and like they're talking from either side towards eachother. Also in his interview he was talking to the interviewer who was standing up or something because his eyeline was really high. 2)I feel like it's too long. it could be cut down considerably and be more powerful. It might seem like it's all interesting and pertinent info but people might start getting antsy at the reception where this could be played, and lots of people will probably skip through if they're watching it at home. 3) It'd be nice if you ended with each of them saying a definitive statement of love and hope for the future with eachother or something like that. I felt like your ending kinda just tapered off into completion rather than ending powerfully. 4) I mentioned that I liked your B-roll but I would've liked it even more if you had included more close-up shots. Wide shots are fine to establish locations but without closeups or medium shots the viewer starts to feel distanced from what's going on in the scene. Those're just my opinions based on anything that I presume to know but might actually not :) Keep up the good work. __________________ http://www.davidschuurman.com http://www.dsweddingcinema.com

June 3rd, 2009, 04:18 PM	#4
Walt Paluch Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Syracuse NY Posts: 65	Great job Great job, current and done well. Don't change a thing. Walt

June 3rd, 2009, 11:40 PM	#5
Matt Barwick Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Kingscliff, Australia Posts: 196	Hey Russ, Thanks for sharing this and credit to you for putting it up for review. For your first love story it's quite a good piece. You've got some great advice already above, so my brief comment would be that's it's very long at the moment. This might be an alright length for the couple to watch in their own time, but depending on the audience and where it's viewed (say, at a reception), I'd expect people to lose interest and tune out before too long. I personally tend to think 3-4 minutes is a good length and by tightening things up with some of the great audio and footage you've got you could turn a good piece into a great one. Another thing to be watchful of is the cross dissolves which I felt were a little overused :) Cheers, Matt. __________________ www.mattbarwickfilms.com / wedding videos gold coast / my stuff on Vimeo

June 12th, 2009, 04:28 PM	#14
John De Rienzo Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: London Posts: 313	deleted ....... __________________ De Rienzo Films www.derienzo-films.co.uk

June 3rd, 2009, 10:12 AM	#3
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	David, Thank you for the advice. This was my first video so I was kinda lost and confused as far as how things should go. I'm surprised the video turned out as well as it did. :) I'm probably going to make another one some time soon and will certainly try to put your advice to good use.

June 4th, 2009, 03:46 PM	#6
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	Walt, thank you for the compliment. Matt, I probably should have uploaded the video before the wedding. That way I would have had time to cut the video down before the wedding. What do you think the B&G would say if I told them I need to get all the wedding guests back together cause we're showing an edited version of the video? haha :)

June 7th, 2009, 08:04 PM	#7
Martin Wiosna Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: thomaston, ct Posts: 141	looks great. a huge plus is the intro, very creative!

June 8th, 2009, 10:07 AM	#8
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	Thanks Martin. But to be quite honest, I got the idea for the intro from a love story/couple interview that I'd seen somewhere on the internet. Do you guys know if it would be considered a theft of intellectual property if I took something I'd seen someone else do, changed it, and used it in one of my own videos?

June 8th, 2009, 09:25 PM	#10
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	Jason, glad to hear your opinion coincides with mine. I figured that in the end, no matter what you do, it's been done before. The greatest film is in essence just a compilation of ideas and techniques that have already been used before. "That sounds like the kind of thing a prissy photographer might say." I hope you weren't putting me in the same category as a wedding photographer. Some might take that as an insult :)

June 11th, 2009, 11:32 AM	#12
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	From what I've seen Seattle has allot of really good wedding photographers so I'm not surprised they get a bit out of hand when trying to protect their "turf."

June 12th, 2009, 04:23 PM	#13
Kren Barnes Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Winnipeg Manitoba Canada Posts: 415	Hey that was our video you stole ithe idea from !! just kidding :) No that is not theft..Everyone is influenced and inspired by someone else's work, as long as you don't copy the details and put your own stamp you should be good...