One Tight SDE
 

This was one heck of a schedule. Never seen anything quite like it:

Preps started at 6 am.
Ceremony at 11:30 am (1 hour)
Photo-session prior to the ceremony
Reception started at 1:30 and ended at 4PM

Of course, things ran late and we got to the reception right at 1:30 with the goal of showing the SDE at 3:45. Everything is edited in HD now too, so I budgeted from 3 on to export, giving me 90 min to put this together.

Every time I took a break in editing to go shoot, Mike sat down and cut some of his footage together- which probably saved the SDE right there.

This is our tightest SDE yet, but oddly enough, I think it is also our best. Can't wait to do one of those full day shoots where we have an SDE- what a treat that will be :)

Shot in Tupelo MS.

http://vimeo.com/1031776

Patrick

Damn..I'm all excited now to check this out. Haha..I hate those rush jobs. I'm so glad I don't have to do the SDE (yet). :D

*edit* btw, it's protected.

Hey Patrick the video is protected

Just wanted to build some suspense. It is all fixed now :)

P.

The suspense is really building now - it is still protected when I try!

Changed the settings back and forth and saved it as public. Tested on other machines and all is good.

P.

build suspense :p good one Patrick (^_^)

Congrats on 1,000 posts now to your video

Patrick you guys really pushed yourselves on the creative part. The nail polish shot was pretty slick just like the stop motion ring shot. The opening shot of the chapel with the lights turning on. Very cool ideas and the photo session portion in the building with the steadicam really added huge depth to the clip. Really enjoyed it. Your in the US quite a bit now? Let me know when you come to Maryland. Would love to meet you and your crew. Thanks for sharing

Monday

Awesome!
It's hard to believed that is been done in just that short amount of time but coming from you guys I can believe it. I’m never imagine me doing an SDE. I think that will be too much stress and risk. Usually we are three videographers with 4 A1s, Glidecam x-10 and 1 HV20. It is very stressful just to coordinate the set up of equipment from one location
to the next additional to the shooting. You guys are an inspiration for some of us. Curiosity How do you handle the capturing of the Tapes before the SDE editing?


Great job as usual!

Jose ortiz

yep, nice one pat! not done watching it but i like what i see already! :D

I second Monday. The opening shot with the lights coming on was a great idea, and the warhouse section really made it for me as well.

Outstanding! Were you shooting in 24f with the camera on the Flyer? How did you happen across the empty warehouse? Great job again!

Great job, especially for only having 90 minutes to edit. My wife (photographer) was wondering if you guys brought the furniture to the warehouse from your studio or if you brought it from somewhere near the warehouse like the hotel where they got ready.

Thanks for checking out the clip Monday. We have been doing quite a bit of traveling as of late with a couple Ca weddings, this one in MS, and a London wedding that will debuting shortly (and is probably the best thing we have done to date). If we are ever in Maryland, I will be sure to get in touch.

Patrick

Hi Jose,

I'm very happy to hear that you find inspiration in our work. This community has done a lot for our growth as a company and so I hope I can, at least, give a little part of that back.

For capturing tapes during the day we are often just playing an HV20 into a laptop wherever we are; the salon, hotel, ceremony, in the car. Our new workflow also involves having the shooter quickly rough cut their footage and find the best shots.

Raphael,

Glad your enjoying the clip so far. It certainly doesn't have as much pep and flash as your latest work, which is really outstanding, but I sure hope you still enjoy.

Patrick

Alastair,

I kinda got lucky with the opening shot and was in the right place at the right time, and then just put it together in FCP. I was so pumped about the warehouse portion of the day. We will be posting some photos on the blog shortly and those are pretty insane too.

When we arrived into town the father of the groom showed us around and pointed out the old warehouse. After mentioning what was inside, he said that the owner now kept it locked to keep people out. We took a look and knew that we just had to find away in. There was probably a team of 3-4 people in the groom's family calling everybody they knew to find out who owned the warehouse and how we could get in. Eventually somebody went to city hall, we got the name and they were happy to let us in.

Travis,

Be sure to check out the photo post coming soon; there was a bed and couch, as well as some mirrors and a ladder. The chairs are the only thing we brought there, and they came from the salon.

Patrick

Wow, what a great find. An awesome warehouse WITH some props. Amazing. When I was showing my wife the video her mouth dropped open when she saw the warehouse. That one is like a dream location. Can't wait to see the stills too.

HO-LY-Crap.

That was a great video...and in 90 minutes of editing.

The sharp flying during the warehouse scene is VERY VERY impressive. Those shots really sell me on the capabilities of the steadicam with experienced users. Were these shots achieved with the merlin?

From the setting up of the photos, it also looks as if they did a killer job on composition. The OOF to in focus shot of them coming down the aisle was fantastic.

I really can't say enough about this video, you guys just keep raising the bar.

Also, sending you an email regarding something else. :)

Travis,

The warehouse certainly was a dream location. We had a couple in today who is getting married this weekend and their jaw dropped to the floor when they saw the still from that place. The problem is, how do you compete with that and find something as unique in your local area? We have some serious searching to do around here.


Randy,

Thanks for all the kind words. We really go for a lot of diversity in our work in terms of the tools we use and the style of shots we achieve, and it really seems that is coming through when you watch our work. The merlin, while an amazing tool, can't get the same type of long tracking shots (nor can a glidecam) but the quality is close and it is debatable as to whether the extra time to learn a full steadicam and the extra investment is worth the extra smoothness in the footage. You obviously know my answer to that, but this is a very good argument for the other side as well.

Got your email too. Will get back to you ASAP, just need to sort out some emails issues. I do have good news though :)

Patrick

I hear you. I just found a small warehouse-type building here a few weeks ago and can't wait to shoot an upcoming save-the-date video there. Boise building up quite rapidly, so it seems like any time you find one of these cool old buildings it's gone a week later and they're building something newer. All part of the challenge I guess. d;-)


So you were using a full-rig of some sort for those shots? I just got my Merlin last week and have found it to be quite a challenge. I thought those warehouse shots were on your Merlin, and I was blown away, especially by the quick shot between the pillars.

Travis,

I used a full Steadicam rig (the flyer). I couldn't get the smoothness or the same length in my shots with a merlin. Mike is more of the Merlin expert but even he finds they are better for shorter shots.

Patrick

Why is that? Are the larger rigs just more stable over a longer shot?

I ask because in my upcoming shoot at this warehouse I was planning a shot where I circle the couple several times from about 20-30 feet away. The shot would probably take a full 60-90 seconds. Oh, and I don't yet own the vest/arm unit (maybe next year).

do not try this at home
 

i counted 10 places where i would've had an SEI (season ending injury) in that SDE.

you young-'uns. that's some lovely work.

jones

Travis,

A larger rig is has more inertia and is therefore more resistant to small bumps, wind etc. With the arm attached, it is also easier to avoid having your footsteps in the shot. Add to that that the gimbal comes out the side of a flyer but is directly underneath the stage on the merlin, and you can get some much smoother long shots when you learn the rig. Of course, the operator makes all of the difference, but the flyer certainly makes it easier.

Patrick

Okay, that's what I figured. Thanks!

Chris,

There were probably a good 10 SEI in there for sure. That warehouse had some holes in the floor and the stairs were spotty at best- not the best steadicam terrain. But, you seemed pretty young when we got together, so I'm not sure when all this 'you young'uns' stuff is coming from. I'm sure you can still boogey when you try.

Patrick

I see you posted a still on your blog. Can't wait to see more.

Question ... when you shoot outside with your steadicam rigs are you using an LCD hood on the LCD viewfinder so you can see your composition or a monitor attached to the steadicam unit? What about when Mike shoots with the Merlin handheld ... hood or no?

I must agree with you. It's also become my favorite stillmotion SDE to date.

Must be the variety of angles and shots. Perhaps the song. Most definitely in large part due to the flying. (i'm seriously considering one now - just because of the sheer production value it adds).

I love the wit you put in there with the shoe shot and the nail polish(?).

And it must be said again, the warehouse shots were incredible!!!

The ending kinda just tapers off a LITTLE bit after a spectacular flourish in the warehouse. Don't you just wish we had that extra ten minutes evrytime for SDEs?

The synergy you talk about photo-video wise clearly shows. That said, I'd like to ask if you do take video only or photo only jobs.

Thanks for sharing!

THAT IS KICK ASS STUUUUUUUUUUUF!!!
Holy!
Guys, I want to meet your ideas dealer.

The shoes shot, stop motion sequences and STEADICAM stuff - WOW. 1:57 and 2:14 are killer shots.

Congrats!

I can't wait to see UK clip.

Gorgeous as usual!

Wow, thanks for all the support guys.

Travis,
I use both the on camera LCD and the one at the bottom of the rig for flying indoors and out, it all depends on the shot and the terrain. The bottom LCD is great for watching where your walking but can be less accurate for composition and exposure. The really tight spins around people are done with the on camera LCD to monitor things better.

Jason,
Thanks for the comments. You know how much I appreciate your feedback and enjoy your work. I can't say enough about what the Flyer does for our work. There is a common debate on these forums about the overuse of glidecam/steadicam type products, and I am sure we have been guilty of that in the past, but from our clients point of view, we only hear wonderful things about that aspect of our work in particular.

Totally agree about the ending. 10 more min and I could have really spiced it up, but as is I just need some way to end it and I used what I had. I am so glad Mike got that killer silhouette right near the ending so we had something strong for the last sequence. A couple gorgeous recap shots would have made it for me though. Always good to have something to look forward to next time.

We certainly do do photo or video only and a good 30% of our jobs are single service. There is a premium we charge for booking single service as it then makes it tougher to book the other side alone, but for many couples that option still works better. We have created some excellent work in single service environments, but especially for our cinematography, I think our best stuff comes out when the whole team is there. For photo, they sure don't mind having the extra room when we are absent. I got super lucky with this shoot as I got to shoot video for the day and show the SDE and then we did another mini shoot and I shot just photo- what an awesome day!

Konrad and Ian - thanks for the comments.

You know, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the feedback and support we are getting with this clip. When Mike and I shot in London a couple weeks ago I think we produced the most complete and well rounded piece we have to date. I have kind of been holding back waiting for the right time to throw it up, but seeing as how this one is going over- admittedly much better than I would have imagined- I can't wait to share our clip from London shortly.

Patrick

Right, but do you have a hood on your on-camera LCD? Outside in full sunlight I have a hard time seeing much on the LCD, and have been considering a hood like from Hoodman. Just wondering if you use a hood and if it causes any complications with balance on your rig. Thanks.


I've never felt that you guys used to many stabilized shots. I think it's all in the editing and the variety of shots. Videos where it seemed like too much stablizer shots is where the edit just has those shots over and over and over. You guys tend to edit plenty of static and handheld shots in with the stablized shots, so stays interesting and dynamic. You also get a variety of stablized shots, and don't just repeat the same type of "fly by" shots over and over. I think that's a big help too. Just my opinions ... d;-)

Fabulous Work
 

I am new to posting at DVi, but have been lurking for very long time. It has always been learning experience here. Especially this video is fabulous with color and technique used. Keep up the good work Patrick.

Ramesh

What a wonderfull clip. I noticed that on this particular clip there isnt as much post colouring compared to your non SDE highlights and it still looks awesome, can't wait for the London couple.

I was wondering with the Merlin are you refering to one with a Vest or just hand held? and how much difference is there with and without the vest as far as the final results of the shots?

Travis,

I do use the hoodman LCD shade on occasion, depending on time of day and where I am shooting. It is a simple adjustment to the rig. The great things about a larger rig is that it is easy to add extras like that and adjust for it in seconds.

I hear what your saying about variety and pacing, and I agree, but I think here is also a mindset change when you start trying to be equally creative with static shots (ie church lights coming on, rings shots, the shoe shot) as we are with steadicam shots when there was a point where we left the bulk of the creative to just the moving shots.

Jason's work, above anything else, really pushes us to get more out of our non-stabilized shooting. I find that he can put together a full piece with very little glidecam type shots and yet it always seems to have lots of story and the stylized approach that we also take.

Patrick

Ramesh,

Thanks for checking out our clip.

Peter,

There was quite a bit of color work on this one but the look we went for was a little bit more realistic and less moody like some of the strong red or blue tints we can do. A regular highlights gives me time to think more about the color in different sequences and tie that to the story, but an SDE gives you much less room.

We use the merlin or glidecam handheld, no vest or arm. The only rig with a vest is the full steadicam flyer.

Patrick

So there is a disadvantage to using the LCD hood then, since you don't use it all the time outdoors? I'm assuming it limits your angle of view of the LCD and that's why you don't just use it all the time. Correct, or are there other disadvantages as well?

I've always tried to get creative static shots because I didn't have a stabilizer and my handheld "motion" shots were hit and miss on usability. You and Jason and several others on here have definitely opened my creative mind to try out shots even if I don't think they'll work. For that, I thank all of you.

Heh heh. I have no excuses. I'm actually the same age as JMag. But we're older than we look! Probably got about 8-9 years on ya.

I broke a sweat and got winded watching the flying shots. Time to get some cardio!

Glad you're doing great work back in my home state. When I talk to my folks (in jackson), they're always telling me how the videographers don't get paid jack-squat at the weddings they attend.

jones

at 2:43, looks like the little boys were more interested in the guy with the stedicam than watching the bride walk down the aisle. future shooters for still-motion, perhaps?

jones

Speak for yourself Mr. Jones! ROFL!