First Bridal Elegance Video. Opinions?
 

Okay looks like its my turn to show something.

First time shoot and edit so any helpful opinions will be welcome. Its a "Bridal Elegance" style clip. Tell me what you like and what you dont and why. Thanks.

http://www.bridalvideography.com/Sample/Video/TimeReel/DSL/TimeQuickDSL.html

Brett

Hi Brett,

Nice job!

That was pretty solid work throughout and it's a great advert for your business. Nice flowing camera work, good movement, subtle effects, well structured with a keen eye on pace, and it tells a story that carries emotional impact. Your lucky brides must be delighted with their videos!

If I may offer a couple of *very minor* negatives I would say that a pairing of repetitive shots immediately followed each other at the beginning of the clip - 2 shots of Bride looking in the mirror are very alike and the same can be said for the next 2 shots of the back of her dress. It stands out because the rest of your work is at such a high standard. And this next comment is really scraping the barrel because B&Gs are blissfully unaware that Now We Are Free has been flogged to death... but, as a videographer, I groan every time I settle down to watch a clip and that track comes on. I've used it myself... might even do so again in the distant future... but it has become very tired.

Thanks for sharing the video, Brett. I really enjoyed it and it is an admirable piece of work!

Mossy

I agree about the song. It used to be one of my personal favorites but after watching other wedding demos and noticed how popular it was it started to become a bit tired. Never the less the video was already cut and like you said from the brides prespective its all new to them. I hate and almost never use top 40 songs but its ultimately up to the bride. However you just have to gag when they start pulling out the Titanic sound track. If the bride insists then its going in the video but when they are open to other ideas I try to normally work with songs that your not likely to hear the average DJ play. After all its their "special day" so if I can point them in a new and exciting direction that they like as well then all the better. I never understood why someone would want to use top 40 pop songs in personal wedding videos anyways but then again I dont understand why people still dance to YMCA.

The deal with using two shots. I agree. I didnt want to use it on the dress but my friends gave me feed back on the video and said they couldnt tell what was in the first shot if I had used it by itself. Not to mention I figured it would fly because the bride wouldnt mind seeing the detail of her dress. The first two similar shots were a bad idea though. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll keep that in mind in the future. So what do you think of the glow. Over done or subtle enough. I was wondering what other people though about that. I used a lot of it due to the mood and pace of the song. Perhaps too much.

Hi Brett,

Just to re-iterate, the repetitive shots are a minor quibble and it's something the majority of your clients won't bat an eyelid at.

I agree with your views on Top 40s. During my consultation sessions I really try to impress upon the bride that music needs careful consideration and a great video is one that hasn't aged in 5-10yrs from now. Top 40s might sound great this month but due to the fact that most lack any real substance and we're bombarded with flavour of the month until we reach mass saturation and beyond, most current pop tunes should be avoided wherever possible. Of course, sometimes you hear a tune and it's got classic written all over it but 'tis rare such beauties come along... and don't get me wrong, I love to use pop music but it needs to be chosen very carefully, doesn't it. As for Titantic... enough said.

Regarding Glow: I actually remember admiring your subtle use of this effect and it complements your work!

Mossy

Love the steadycam clips.........steadycam mini?

Very nice indeed! I didn't actually mind the two shots in the mirror, I think it works fine, and the music works well too. I do think there are too many static shots with the bride posing for the photographer etc, and the necklace clip would have been better without some hairy bloke's arm in the way!

The steadicam-esque shots are fabulous, and the editing has a very nice pace to it. All in all an excellent effort.

Thanks everyone. Yeah that hairy hand had to go in. I just didnt have enough good shots. I rarely pose the bride and groom. More of a fly on the wall approach during the wedding and cinematic feel when I bring it into post.

As far as what kind of steadicam its actually kind of a custom unit. Imagine a Flow Pod with a quick release plate to swap out with my tripod and a traveling rod/gear system that lets me balance the whole rig on the fly in seconds without tools. I feel its the ultimate piece of gear for event videographers. I never go out without it now. Compact, smooth, easy to use, light weight and doubles as a mono pod. I like to tinker with gear to get it to work better. For example I also run a LED panel for an on-camera light. Runs off my camera batteries instead of thoughs heavy and bulky batteries out there right now. Uses 14 watts but puts out 50w of light. I hate the look of on camera lights but once in a while you just have to use them. I found LED's were the solution. Energy efficient, light weight, dimmable without color shifting and give off soft light without using diffusion which kills the output of your light itself. I've spent a lot of time making gear that lets me stay portable, loose and still get the shots I want to get. I find a lot of the gear out there isnt ideal for the fast paced/live atmosphere of wedding videography. I dont know why. Perhaps our market isnt as big as I thought it was and manufactures dont take notice of our needs. Anyways thanks again. Nice to hear positive opinions from veteran videographers on this board. I'm just starting out so learning from you guys has been great.

Looking forward to view your sample. I will download and post my comments later today.

Davi-
Didnt see your response. In case the videos arent playing for you try clicking on the windows media player version of the file. I hope the videos are playing for everyone.

What a beautiful piece of work. Great job. Also, your innovative modifications to the gear you use is interesting. I would love to see some pictures of the gear you mentioned if you have any.

1- That was beautiful, thanks for sharing it!

2- A minor suggestion/idea:
At the end, you could re-arrange the clips a little so it has a more solid ending.

The last two shots are:
Smiling bride + friend
Backlit bride shot from behind

It kinda jumps mood here as it goes from smiley/happy to solitude.

What about:
Shot where crying bride and groom are in car
Backlit bride shot from behind

Or even (this might be crazy):
Shot of kid blowing the bubbles. Or other shot which doesn't have the bride in it. It'd be really cool if you could use the bubbles as part of a transition (i.e. the bubbles go into the camera and into a burnout/dip to white-type transition or additive dissolve).
Backlit bride shot from behind

You could have a sequence of edits which leads into the last shot, which to me suggests a sense of solitude/reflection.

3- Assinine technical comment:
In the last shot (Backlit bride shot from behind) you can see purple color shifts on the bride.

I'm not sure if it was intentional or it was just like that out of your camera.

Aesthetically, it does work.

I'm being nitpicky here though. Overall, this is among the best work I've seen.

Thanks Glenn. Though are some really thoughtful ideas! This is exactly why this thread is so great. I think the bubble idea is interesting but I would only do it if I could either get it in camera or do it photo realistic in post. I find that most of thoughs pre made wedding f/x you can buy dont blend naturally into the scene and actually distract from the video. Sometimes they might work as backgrounds or means of transitioning between two main segments of a video but I'm still looking for a set of f/x that can be used subtly through out.