DV Info Net - Gauging interest in training DVD ideas...

DV Info Net (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/)

- Wedding / Event Videography Techniques (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-event-videography-techniques/)

- - Gauging interest in training DVD ideas... (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-event-videography-techniques/100614-gauging-interest-training-dvd-ideas.html)

[QUOTE=Yang Wen;862646]The thing with seminars is that when it comes to high-end wedding videography, you need to work with a "crew", meaning multiple people representing a studio and this group has to know each other well and be familiar with each others' shooting habits/styles.
QUOTE]

Some of our best shoots have come when shot by either myself or Michael by ourself, so I don't think you need a whole studio to produce top notch work. When you get into things like SDEs, then you certainly benefit much more from additional people.

For me, the idea behind showing advanced shooting techniques such as glidecam/steadicam/35mm adapters is less about the tool and what it does and more about opening your mind to see things in a completely new way. That vision persists even without the equipment. By the very nature of how the mind works, we have a tendency to see patterns and the world around us in a very structured and predictable way- the challenge is to find a way to shake that up and see things completely differently.

Patrick

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Moreau (Post 863503)

Some of our best shoots have come when shot by either myself or Michael by ourself, so I don't think you need a whole studio to produce top notch work. When you get into things like SDEs, then you certainly benefit much more from additional people.

Sure, ultimately, it is just one person behind each camera. What I'm saying is that person HAS TO work with others to create a compelling video, especially when capturing a real-time event like a wedding. In other words, a single person can't just fly around all day by himself and create a DVD of well executed glidecam shots and call it a video. He has to juxtaposition his video from the glidecam with complimentary style video shot by someone else, ie, close-ups, details, etc... So in essence the studio has to be a well oiled machine with multiple shooters in matching styles.. if one person is flying around capturing graceful glidecam shots, his partner probably shouldn't be shooting snap-zoom happy. If it becomes a gear/technique based seminar, then I see little value in it other than for the studios who already work in similar fashion as you guys.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Moreau (Post 863503)

For me, the idea behind showing advanced shooting techniques such as glidecam/steadicam/35mm adapters is less about the tool and what it does and more about opening your mind to see things in a completely new way. That vision persists even without the equipment. By the very nature of how the mind works, we have a tendency to see patterns and the world around us in a very structured and predictable way- the challenge is to find a way to shake that up and see things completely differently.

That would be an excellent topic to base the seminar on, something I would highly value. I suspect this kind of seminar will have much larger appeal overall.

[QUOTE=Yang Wen;863937]Sure, ultimately, it is just one person behind each camera. What I'm saying is that person HAS TO work with others to create a compelling video, especially when capturing a real-time event like a wedding. In other words, a single person can't just fly around all day by himself and create a DVD of well executed glidecam shots and call it a video. He has to juxtaposition his video from the glidecam with complimentary style video shot by someone else, ie, close-ups, details, etc...

I have to disagree.
It is hard to do, but it's doable. Just look at the last highlights from still-motion on their blog. Tony did an awesome job shooting with 3 cams by himself. Was it hard? I bet you.

On the other hand, yes, it is so much better and it is HUGE difference when you have a team of 2-3 shooters. And if they know each-other well and work smoothly together, you will get amazing results.

I think the idea behind such a workshop is to see how it all works together, how you can make it original and different from what's out there and to get energized, pumped to go and step it up. All it takes is for one person to be there and then he can pass it on to his colleagues at the studio. You don't need the whole team at the seminar. And, as you already said, it would be expensive.

As an intermediate user, I find DVD4 to be the most appealing. I would buy it in a heartbeat. Anything from still-motion would merit at least $150 off the bat.

The walkthrough of one of your weddings would be a great educational resource. From it alone, the other topics you listed would be covered at least in passing (sde production, and the tools you use of course).

I'm not a big fan of how-to instructionals hence the preference for DVD4. I believe it's more important to understand why an artist does what he does rather than how he does it.

How will teach you one trick in the bag, Why will open a whole plethora of possibilities. But people who don't get it will merely clamor for the how.

as an aside: That's my struggle as a person who does workshops and seminars - balancing the how (concrete things an attendee might pick up) with the why (inspiring and widening horizons).

35MM Adapter Macro Tricks

"can't delete double posting."

hi patrick,
I'm very interessted in your "training series", especially in DVD2 and DVD4.
because I'm from Austria (Europe) it would be great if there is a download option too. ordering and importing products from the U.S. to Europe causes a lot of shipping costs and customs fees in relation to the productprice. even the euro does quite well against the dollar right now.
I don't know if such a model is actually possible but it would be a great help and maybe allows me to purchase one more disc instead of paying additional duty fees ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Moreau (Post 723856)

We have been receiving a ton of phone calls and emails lately asking us about how we do what we do, workflow questions, as well as very specific questions about certain shots.

As we don't have time to answer all the phone calls and emails individually, we are developing a Q&A section on our blog just for professionals. A natural extension of that page seems to be the idea of doing training DVDs.

So, I'm wondering how many people would be interested in some sort of training DVD if we were to do one, and if you would be interested, what sorts of things would you be interested in seeing?

DVD 1 idea: I like the idea of doing a same-day edit training DVD that would take you through the workflow on the day of the wedding, you could see footage of us creating it, the reactions of the crowd, as well as a ton of tips here and there that we have learned through experience.

DVD 2 idea: Another idea was to do one based on love stories. It would walk you through how we do our lighting, how we actually interview people, our list of questions, some out-takes of us actually interviewing them and responding to their comments, and then some ideas and footage of our love story footage portions and how we work those. This would also have a bunch of tips that we have learned through years of doing these, as well as several samples from start to finish. The love story DVD would be a perfect compliment to the SDE DVD, and especially as we sell those as a package and I think they work so well together, we could add in a little feature about marketing them together.

DVD 3 idea: An easier training DVD to make, and probably something with a wider appeal, would be one based on the special tools we use, the value they add to our productions, as well as shots of us using them and the footage we get from them. I would probably focus this one on our crane, steadicam, and 35mm adapters, while possibly going to the Canon A1 in specific and how certain cams (A1 vs H1 vs HV20) work with certain tools and the custom presets we use.

DVD 4 idea: Our last idea would be a much simpler one, and would basically be a behind-the-scenes look at how we shoot a wedding, how we intereact with couples, setup (or don't setup) shots, as well as the final product they received. This would include a full wedding video from start to finish as the couple received it as well as a bunch of footage and commentary of us actualy shooting that wedding.

For pricing, we were thinking in the $2-300 range depending on which DVD it is. That would be based on the amount of time we would need to put into these to make them as good and as helpful as I think they can be, as well as the info itself that we would be providing. If we were to do any of these, we would start shooting these soon and hope to release them in the early new year.

These would be geared more towards middle to advanced users, but I think they would benefit almost anybody. These would NOT discuss things like white balance, exposure, unless it was some sort of tip or trick in a certain situation.

We would really appreciate knowing how many people might be interested, any other comments and suggestions, as well as the certain areas ideas you would most be interested in seeing.

Thanks for your time if you made it all the way through this.

Patrick
www.still-motion.ca

i will buy them all and anticipate the release of all future dvds :)

Being a huge fan of your work, I'd have to agree with Ryan and say I'll take one of everything. I think there's definitely a market for all your ideas.