Yet another highlights clip to share!
 

Hey guys,

I would like to share this highlights clip from an Indian wedding we shot and get your feedback.

There are couple known issues with this clip. One being the steadicam shots. One of the pins in the gimbal of my merlin broke in the morning and I had to shoot with a half alive merlin up until the park shoot before it died completely. Some of the steadicam shots not as smooth as I like them to be. Other issue was my 2nd shooter had some problem with the tripod head during a speech at the reception which is apparent in one of the shots in the video. I had to use that shot in the clip since it was a crucial shot needed to portray the story well.

Other than these two issues, feel free to critique on the editing, shot selections, story telling, etc. Thanks.

http://www.vimeo.com/1490788

I find the problems you had, minor issues, because at the end you managed to put down the whole story in such a beautiful way...

Hi Ram,

I think you have really explained the problems yourself, which unfortunately for me detracts from the whole expereince you are trying to portray.

For the rest I found it so-so, nothing bad, but nothing great, and hate to say this, but too much emphasise is put on the flycam, thinking this is what makes a great clip. As long as you move fast enough, or swing round here and there then it's impressive! but not ot me.

For me their is more to filming than just moving around with a flycam.

I would have liked to have seen some more creativity, focus pulling, and sharper composition, angles. Maybe different music with sharper editing!

Obviously this is not a showreel for clients to see!

Having said all that, the one shot I did like was your last of the couple.

Cheers.

Hey Ram,

I really liked it. The speeches were beautiful and emotion from the speakers came across really well ... so much that I really didn't notice the broken tripod bit you mentioned. I noticed it but not enough to pull me out of the moment.

Maybe some of the steadicam moves were a bit fast for the pace of the music. It felt about 15 to 20 seconds too long to me ... I started to zone out at about 2:30 then 15 seconds or so after that the bride starts talking again and that brought my attention back.

I thought you told the story well.

Cheers,

Matthew.

John, thanks for your input.

Sorry to hear that you got the impression of too much emphasize put on steadicam shots. That wasn't my intention. I'm totally aware that a moving (steadicam) shot is just one kind of shot (along with wide shots, mid range shots, close-ups, pull focus, panning, wipe pans, snap zooms) that helps telling the story in most compelling way. Its a right mixture of all these shots that makes a great clip. If I'm giving more importance to steadicam shots subconsciously, I will keep an eye for it in my future edits.

Mattew, glad you liked it.

I hear you on some of the steadicam shots being too fast for the music. That is because when I shot this wedding, I didn't have this music in my mind for the highlights (ie. did not shot it for this music). And I hate to slow down a shot more than 70% since I shoot in 24P and you probably know the slow mo issues that comes with it. Knowing the right pace to shoot the steadicam shots is a challenge I'm facing right now. I don't like to pre-determine a highlight song before the wedding. I like the mood of the event governs the music selection. I guess I have to learn to adapt the pace of the steadicam shots based on the mood of the event as well. For example, do mostly fast movements shots, if the wedding is fun and crazy or if the wedding is more melo and romantic, try to keep the shots more slow and steady. I guess more time I spend behind the sled, better I will get at getting the pace right.

Btw, I love some of your recent clips. Keep up the good work.

No worries Ram. Thanks for the feedback on our recent stuff too - much appreciated!

Yeah, similar to you I never really know what the music will be while I'm shooting so I have to always remind myself to get a variety of shots - i.e. some fast, some slow or medium etc ...

Cheers!

Matthew.

Hi Ramesh,

My thoughts:
- Overall you are upping the ante by trying to tell a better story so I can definitely appreciate what you are trying to achieve there.

- The cuts to the speeches were nice, but I felt that some of those moments could have been made more effective had those portions become voice overs
- Since you are now running FCP, I would try smoothcam for some of the tripod shots that are suffering from too much movement. Same would go apply with some of the steadicam shots.
- Instead of shooting 24P, I would consider shooting 60i in some cases. 60i is much more forgiving to slow mo and despite 24p having a more cinematic feel then 60i, I would more likely say that clients would notice shaky footage then the benefits of 24p. Especially in the case when your steadicam was malfunctioning, I beleive that if some of the Merlin stuffs was shot in 60i, being able to salvage the best portion of the footage would be a great help.

Great final shot, although I may have seen it somewhere before ;)

Thanks for the feedback Mike... some valuable pointers as usual.

Regarding shooting in 60i, at one point I was actually considering to have my steadicam camera shoot at 60i (and have the main cam shoot in 24P). didn't end up doing that because I was worried about the difference in looks the shots will have if I mix two formats together. I know with proper CC one can make both shooting modes look similar but I'm still no expert in CC as well. May be I will try this out for the park shoot at my next wedding. Thanks for the input though Mike!

Yes, the last shot could have been due to the "Mikey effect syndrome" ;-)