25,000$ vs 2,500$ Video - lets get a critique going so I can improve

So I got into a little debate today about whether a supposed 25,000 dollar wedding video was worth that much money. (to me, in my opinion) Said fellow decided to find a video of mine and publicly link it saying "here is a 2k video vs a 25k, see the difference?" Super professional, I know.

Anyway, this got under my skin in that I want to improve and its not always possible by just looking at your own work.
So in the spirit of improving, I'm going to link one of my best "only 2k budget" videos. Feel free to point me in the direction of some things I could improve on - whether its technique, direction, etc.

Oh and 30p I guess is for novices, as I'm told as well.
I surely don't want to " Keep being average and. striving for mediocrity. " as I was told to do so.

Kelsey & Jonathan on Vimeo

[Stephen Brenner]

I found your video more personal and less staged. The initial storytelling about how they met was nice.
There was a powerful moment when the bride got choked up and had to compose herself. That was way more real than what we saw in the $25k version.
Dancing scenes were nice. If you want dramatic vistas, just get a drone, but keep capturing the real moments and don't feel compelled to gild the lilly.

[James Palanza]

Yeah I took the link out cuz I'm not trying to turn this into a pissing contest. I appreciate your honesty. Its frustrating to be looked down at, I'm sure everyone knows that feeling :)

[Noa Put]

Could you pm me the link to the 25k version? It's easier to give my opinion, for what it's worth, about something if I can see what you are talking about.

[James Palanza]

Eh here I'll just link it. I mean I've never seen such a high budget video before and it is pretty darn good.
The guys very good obviously at what he does. It does help to you know, be shooting in a island tropical paradise though lol

Bansi & Edward, An Elopement in St. Lucia on Vimeo

[Colin Rowe]

Hey James. Your video is excellent. As for the super expensive one, I dont know of anyone who would even consider paying that ammount. It is very well crafted, but 25,000$. I guess its up to the individuals on what they spend there money on, cant see it myself

[Roger Van Duyn]

Hey James.

Your video is an excellent wedding video. It focuses on the couple. The second one is an excellent video too, but seems more attention is given to the place than on the couple, in my opinion. Made me think of the Travel Channel. Stephen mentioned "dramatic vistas" a couple of posts above.

Almost like it was made for marketing purposes. Pacific Pictures could pitch it to the Department of Tourism for St. Lucia maybe. Sell more destination weddings to the island.

[Garrett Low]

OK. I may get hate for this but as far as a wedding video goes, the $25,000 video is CRAP. It's a boring travel infomercial. Half of the shots could come from stock footage and have nothing to do with the wedding. If I paid $25,000 for that I'd be pissed. For $25,000 I would expect to see a well crafted story about the bride and groom, leading up to our wedding, and concluding with a well thought out ending that gave that "too be continued" feeling you see when you know a sequel is coming. That's just my opinion but I did not find the $25K video entertaining at all.

I should say I don't do wedding videos. Mostly narrative movies and documentaries at this point.

[Chris Harding]

Definitely a showy travel promo rather than a wedding video! I like James's one much better it's far more personal and about the couple, not the venue. I guess a chunk of the $25K went to airfares and 5 star hotels for the crew too?? Our average wedding here is $25K ..not the video, the ENTIRE wedding so they might allocate 10% for video if you are lucky ...obviously this couple had more money than they knew what to do with ...I guess if you are earning millions a year, 25K is pocket money!!

I have always wondered if Bill Gates had a wedding video?? I wonder what he paid (or offered) No video is worth $25K ...for me that's simply a big status thing for rich couples saying "Look how much we paid for our wedding"

[Gabe Strong]

Man I'll probably get crap for this but I'm not sure what you people are watching.
That expensive video is great. Don't hate on someone because they have figured
out how to do great stuff and get paid for it. James, your video was good as well,
very good, but not at the level of the other one. Of course with 25 grand you can have
extra shooters and drones and 3 axis gimbals to get different stuff then you can as a 1
person show, so you shouldn't feel bad. It's like comparing TV network coverage of
a football game with 5 shooters to a local station with 1 guy. Of course the higher budget
one is going to look more polished. You did fantastic for $2500 and to be honest I think you
should charge more. Also remember it's a different style. I've done a couple
'elopement destination' weddings and the bride actually WANTS that 'travel
promo' feel.......as a big part of one of these weddings for them, is about being able
to look back and remember how cool the location was.

As for cost, I agree, 25 grand is a lot for a wedding video. But remember, things are
relative. Like cars. I personally don't see why anyone ever spends more than 8 grand on
a car. I buy a good, low mileage used car and it gets me around just as good as my
next door neighbor's 33 thousand dollar car does, only mine doesn't have a power
moonroof, backup camera, Bluetooth connector and in dash GPS with voice navigation.
I could care less, it has four wheel drive and everything works, I feel he spent way too
much. He values the extras enough to pay for them. Also remember, many wedding
photographers charge quite a bit.......

As a video professional, I'm always trying to educate clients on why videos may
cost more than they think. I do promo videos and have charged clients as much as
$10 thousand. Why should they pay that when there is someone else who will do
it for $500? If they can't see the value in my videos over the cheaper ones they shouldn't!
I have done something similar, showing my cheaper competitor's video, for a company,
next to my video for the same company. Only in my case, I don't like to start pissing
contests either, so I refused to say who had produced either video. I didn't even say that
one was mine. Instead I said that here were two videos. I said I knew one had cost
significantly more than the other, and if you as a business person really couldn't tell much
difference, you should be hiring whichever company charged you less! I left it at that.
So I don't think the 'expensive' guy should have done what he did to you, I consider that
extremely uncool. No reason to look down on anyone. Everybody has their own
journey and is at a different place in life. And if you had their budget and crew,
who knows what you could pull off?

[Noa Put]

EVERYTHING in that video was staged, everything, there is not a single moment of raw emotion, it's just a very pretty video in a stunning location for a couple that has way too much money to spend for a video that is all about themselves, I mean where are the guests, family, friends?? :)

Pacific pictures did city of lakes together with still motion years ago and his kind of work is heavily story driven but there is hardly any real emotion involved, it's very often scripted and staged up to a point that it looks like a commercial, he has the intention to make it look like a real movie but for me it's as hollow like it can be, like a shiny christmas tree ball that when shattered leaves nothing but thin air.

He does however seem to attract the filthy rich that are willing to pay him a filthy amount of money for such a production so from a business point of view he is briljant, he probably is having a laugh at us 2,5k charging videographers. :)

I"d suggest to watch some workshops from the Ray Roman a like guys, his work is not "that" special but because he gets to shoot in exotic locations and work for very rich people you can get an idea what's behind that, there is no secret formula to become a 10k+ charging videographer, much is about marketing and how you present yourself to the client but also luck is involved as well.

edit: at 04:56 is the only part that was real when she walks up to the groom and priest and you see the groom smile, it only felt so much out of place inbetween all that fakery he better would have left that part out.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Gabe Strong

as a big part of the wedding is being able to look back and remember
how cool the location was.

I think a big part of a well made weddingvideo is being able to look back and remember why a couple fell in love with eachother in the first place, so when they have lost that love after years of being together they can look at the video again and remember, only if the location had the main focus then their marriage is lost anyway. :)

[Gabe Strong]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

EVERYTHING in that video was staged, everything, there is not a single moment of raw emotion, it's just a very pretty video in a stunning location for a couple that has way too much money to spend for a video that is all about themselves, I mean where are the guests, family, friends?

You are confusing the types of videos you do and putting those values in here.
At least when I have done these, there are no 'guests, family and friends'. If
there are, it's two or three people max.
That's kind of the idea behind these 'elopement destination' videos.
A totally 'non traditional' wedding.

[Gabe Strong]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I think a big part of a well made weddingvideo is being able to look back and remember why a couple fell in love with eachother in the first place, so when they have lost that love after years of being together they can look at the video again and remember, only if the location had the main focus then their marriage is lost anyway. :)

I mean again, I understand, but that is not what these people want. I edited my original post there,
because the reason many of these people are doing these 'elopement' ceremonies, is because they
want to go to a unique location, so that is what is important to them, NOT
a big, traditional wedding with lots of people.
I certainly don't have the people who fly in a helicopter up onto a glacier
and then dogsled back to an ice cave for a ceremony asking me:

'Make sure you get the interview about how we met at the start of the video!'

It's just a different style of video. It reminds me of the 'short form' vs. 'long form'
arguments. You may have clients that insist on 45 minute long videos without
missing a single moment, but many of mine don't want that, and instead
want a short 4 minute version to pass around on facebook. Nobody's is
necessarily 'better'. Although those 'sleek, polished' ones are expensive to make.
Drones, steadicams, 3 axis gimbals....none of that is cheap.
But 'expensive dude' needs to learn a little humility too. You don't need to go around
talking junk about other people and their work, and tell them to:

'keep being average' and 'strive for mediocrity'

That's just uncool.

[Roger Gunkel]

Both videos were very good in totally different ways, but looking at both I would be more interested in knowing what the actual nett profit was from the $25k wedding compared to the $2.5k one. The personal satisfaction of a great product is one thing, but if you are doing it for a living, so in the income.

Roger