My 1st Wedding Trailer
 

This is my very first wedding and my first attempt at a trailer, i was wondering if I could get some input as to what is okay and what could be better, thanks a lot.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhP7O92S8IA

Shawn,

Just a couple of quick things I noticed.

Firstly on the shooting

- Work on your positioning, as a couple of shots would have been better if you had moved a little. There are a couple of low angle shots that are a little steep, and later when bride is dancing with father and right over her shoulder is a relative with a camera that really detracts from the shot. Don't be afraid to move. The next shot where groom is dancing with mother, it looks as if you were using AF and the background is in focus. Also at around 00:40, you broke the 180 degree rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- You need to white balance your camera - whenever the light changes (interior, exterior, etc.,) Weddings are good for this because there's usually a lot of white things around to white balance off of. (wedding dress, tables cloths, get someone to hold up a napkin). You can fix it somewhat in post, but it's better to get it as close as possible when you're shooting.

In the Editing

- Generally, the point of the trailer is to have some very good stuff edited sharply and tightly. There are a couple of shots that could easily be changed and the piece would be better. There is a shot from the (father) to the couple sitting at the head table, and just after you cut to the couple, someone walks past the camera. It looks like you've got a ton of b-roll from that angle and that shot should be replaced.

- Not sure about your use of B&W, as it doesn't really serve the video particularly well. There is a sharp cut early on from B&W to color, that is a little jarring.

- Also I think you tried to do too much jumping around in the time line (reception, to ceremony, and back again). I think until you get the fundamentals down, it's easier and more productive to stay closer to the chronological order of events, but hey, that's just me.

Anyways, I don't mean to sound harsh, only trying to help out a little, after all it's a hell of a lot better than the first wedding I ever shot. But there are a couple of things I've learned here that really have helped my work to progress, and one key thing is to develop a very critical eye for your own work, and another is the 'relentless pursuit of excellence'.

There are a lot of great shooters on this forum. Watch and learn from them, and don't give up.

Thanks a million for the reply, that is the kind of info I am looking for. I did this wedding for a friend of a friend for pretty cheap as a way to get a demo reel started So I know I have a lot to learn. I do have tonnes of broll to grab from and I will try some of the other stuff you mentioned as well, thanks a lot.

Shawn

My second attempt at the trailer
 

YouTube - trailerV2.0.m2t

I tried to redo the trailer, if Ken is around I would appreciate him taking another look as he was the one who gave me some direction.

good job man i liek it

Hey Shawn,

I just came across this. That intro is killer. It took me awhile to figure out what video I had commented on then it came back to me as I watched it. Looks awesome...except for (IMHO) the vignette is too extreme and the overall image is tending need exposure. I tend to shoot relatively straight up when it comes to color grading, though when I first got magic bullet - I went a little crazy. As I recall, last time you mixed b&w with color and the transitions were a little jarring. I like the consistent tones, though as I say imho they need a little exposure.

I really liked the pacing - though some may find it a little slow - and it worked nicely with the song.

At this point it is important to please the clients and I'm sure you have done that. Now the work serves as a commercial for the next couple. A couple of tweaky little things for me were - on camera zooms. The shot of groom that starts tight and pulls out to the group shot of the groomsmen - while some will argue it - I'm not a fan of on-camera zooms unless you've got a good reason. The human eye doesn't zoom. The shot with the bride and the dog works better because it's revealing the bride. The shot with the groom I think would be better if you started with the tight shot of the groom and cut (with slight dissolve) to the wide shot. And the other tweaky thing I thought was the last few frames of the limo to the exterior of the restaurant/bar. The camera starts a bit of a move that just gets picked up (like I said it's just a few frames). Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I'm getting nitpicky. Overall, the piece was very tight. I looked for the original to compare but I see you pulled it.

Here's a mix I put together for a wedding show I'm doing. It's a little long at 7:36 but I'll run it on a loop on a flat panel at a booth. While I've been shooting for a long time - I only started taking weddings seriously this past season. In fact before that I went way out of my way to avoid them (my business cards had a skull and pirate flag on them). It was after seeing some of the exceptional work by members of this forum though, that I was inspired to 'embrace' wedding cinematography. You can shred it if you want to get me back =). I shoot solo most of the time but since I have a 5d2 now I think I will look for help during the ceremony, as it's a grind to run 3 cameras solo.

Thanks again for the input, I was going to leave up the other video for that exact reason, in case you forgot what video I was reffering to, but I just couldn't do it :) The vignetting was less at first but I could hardly notice it so I increased it, maybe I went overboard. It is harder to look at my own stuff the same way I do other peoples stuff, I wonder how to change that :) I noticed after it was rendered that the blacks were a little crushed but I kind of like the look except I lose some of the detail in black clothing. Anyway thanks again, this was my first and hopefully I can book at least a few for this next season and get a lot better.

Also, I am at work right now and the computer wont play the video above without extreme stuttering, so I will check it out when I get home, but from what little I did see it looks great. I love the shallow depth of field look, My FX1000 can do it ok, but I assume you are using either your 5DMK2 or a camera wth interchangeable lense.