Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Lots of great points here.

My intention for what I'll call "DSLR type" footage would primarily be for the Pre-Ceremony/Bridal preps where I'm getting a lot of detail kind of shots... and similar for filler material at the Reception. Also, general shots of the venue and venue details etc.

For the Ceremony, it would be very traditional, as that's what literally 100% of my clients in this area want. The whole Ceremony -start to finish- and we are usually very limited by the church to locked down cams with 2 or 3 operators depending. (but sometimes we can only use 1 camera in the very back for the whole Ceremony even)

I was discussing with other video friends this week, and if I was to eventually get something like a Canon C100, or a Nikon D800, or a Sony FS100, it would be relegated to a wide shot from the back for the Ceremony portion kind of thing. The NX5U and XF300's would be the main guns at the Ceremony.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I totally agree with a lot of the thoughts here. Personally, it's great to have the latest cameras and for the sharp images they can give but it's only half of it. So, so many videographers have the DSLRs and whatever but they don't know how to frame a shot at all, how a picture is and isn't balanced, the use of light and shade, depth( I don't mean bokeh here), and the best way I've found that does that is to study classic art from the great painters, photographers and film-makers, even music for it's rhythm and structure. Knowing all this gives you an identity and style. There is a fashion lately for shallow dof and for me, a lot of these guys are clones of each other. There is a sterility in their work that seems to miss a key ingredient...emotion. Bokeh here, bokeh there, cut to slider here, cut to tracking shot there....all well and good but like any icing, it soon makes you feel a bit sick.

Style and fashion are two very different things....the first is individual and the latter is for sheep.
Having the latest gear means nothing if the end result doesn't have heart. A film shot tomorrow on an old basic portapak can beat the same subject filmed with a 5D III with a two grand lens.
The talent is in the eye....not the lens and as Chris has said a few times, your average bride who may not know a DSLR from a stethascope only cares about one thing. Does her DVD make her emotions well up when she watches what her videographer has produced for her????
The greatest compliment I get from a bride is when she says it made her cry!

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Chris

I like your term "icing" At least now I know where the term "eye candy" might have hailed from!

Yes sadly a lot of the "new age" videographers tend to smother the movie with sugar to cover the fact that they have failed to capture any emotion at all and it does tend to be overdone. Basically if a movie does not invoke some kind of emotion then it has failed totally. Of course that doesn't mean that the bride has to burst into tears when she watches it but it must be some sort of emotion which of course can be anything from wonderment, pride and many many more BUT there has to be emotion not just sugar coated pictures!

Funny, but often the least "eye candy" style of shoot sequence will evoke the most emotion! After the ceremony when the couple are congratulations (I have an idea it's called the receiving line in the USA) and that's a simple bit of footage where you can grab almost every emotion under the sun.

I remember one bride showed me her sister's wedding and told me "the frigging videographer spent more time fiddling and adjusting his fancy camera than actually shooting the bits that really mattered to her" Good advice.

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Alfred Eisenstadt a very famous photographer for Life magazine (for those that don't know what Life magazine was...google it) had more covers than any other 2 photogs including the iconic shot of the sailor kissing the nurse at the end of WWll once said "it doesn't matter to me what camera you give me to use. I see the photograph in my mind before I see it in the camera". Ansel Adams was the same on his landscapes. Henri Cartier-Bresson a contemporary of Eisenstadt was the same way. BTW, those 2 were both very small men, one German, one French both used Lieca Mll with a 50mm lens. Period!

The camera and all the fancy gear in the world means nothing. It's HOW it is used to create a series of photographs and tell a story. No matter the bride and groom lived it, they want to see it again and If it's told correctly, it is beautiful. If not, well fill in your own word.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hey Don

I worked for while (a long time ago) as a beach photographer and my boss had been doing the job all his life and yep a 35mm Leica -old and battered but still working. He knew his exposures backwards and being on the beach day in and day out the salt air had actually corroded the aperture ring to the point where it didn't move anymore. It was only beach photography of course but his photos were always stunning!!

I think the more fancy controls you have at your disposal the more photogs tend to fiddle with them and spend less time actually on composition and framing. On video my cams are always on auto some I can use my precious time on what I'm shooting rather than playing with various features! If the image looks good in auto then that's where it stays ...obviously in tricky lighting or focus conditions I do have to over-ride settings but that's kept to a minimum so I can concentrate on what I'm shooting rather than the cameras.

Goes without saying that it's not the camera but the person behind the camera that makes the difference!

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I certainly agree with all the last few posts regarding framing, composition, etc and of course the continuous sheep like over use of sugary shots at the expense of seeing the real emotion. As I have often said though, many wedding videographers come from the photographic world and are great at all the above, but what sometimes seems to be missing is the visual flow that comes from learning how to build the story with a series of flowing interacting images. Successful emotive video is not just about individual shots, it's knowing exactly how long a shot should be, and constructing and presenting a longer scene, by drawing the viewer to the bits that really matter and little details that are picked up.

In a film performance, all action and scenes would be carefully and painstakingly storyboarded and scripted. You can't do that with a wedding, but experience gives you that ability to carry a storyboard in your head and know instinctively what shots to take to be able to knit them all together for that vital visual flow.

Roger

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I've decided to try and make a list of what most brides want and in order of how important they may be..

1) All the right bits covered
2) All the right people covered
3) Being able to hear clearly
4) Being able to spot most of their guests at least once
5) The videographer to not be demanding (the togs do plenty of that).
7) * The video quality to be better than old school - generally this means sharp, but at least some DOF that separates the background from the fore - Not too shallow though.
7) Variety of camera angles in service and speeches.
8) Some creative shots
9) A 'story'. (I believe most know their own story and don't need you to creatively make it emotive)


* on number 5, just to clarify - If you show a bride two options - one with old school camcorder footage with everything in frame in perfect focus, and a shot with some DOF ie. the background slightly out of focus, accentuating the fore - the bride will choose the latter and will declare that it is better quality. Of course, there is a limit - I think in Church Services f4.5 is a pretty good place to be.

Thoughts? Any disagreements?

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Clive

That's a pretty comprehensive list ! Well done .. any bride would be happy if you can do all that.

I cheat a bit on Point 4!! As soon as the bride has come into the reception I then go around the tables with the camera doing a slow pan of each in turn and that usually keeps the bride happy as she can see everyone who has come!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with selective focussing as long as you know what sort of DOF to expect ... a soft background behind you filming a couple is magic and always looks good but try and shoot stuff at F1.8 and a group of 10 people at a table will result in someone being out of focus for sure!!

I'm also a bit lazy with speeches and just shoot on 2 cams ..one on the person making the speech and then lot's of cutaways on the second cam so you are not just filming a talking head and shoulders!!

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

In my country I see a new generation of videographers, I often check out "competitors" portfolios, just because I like to watch others work but also to see what others are up to, I start to see more and more photogs offering shortform videos. They all work with 5d"s (something I can see based on the very shallow dof all their shots have) and they don't care about sound.

Their videos are some kind of extension of their photography meaning much attention to how a shot is framed, often frames that intentional don't follow the "rules", they all shoot handheld meaning lots of shaky footage and they engage a lot with the couple, you can see there is a lot more interaction going on between videographer, couple and family, same as a photog would do, lots of shots that are staged and all shots have a very shallow dof where you constantly see them struggle to keep good focus, the result however is a actually fun to watch short video, they also colorcorrect in a way the video gets a distinct but to my eyes weird and unnatural look, something artsy fartsy for a couple that want's something different. I"d link such a video here but prefer not to as they can see where their videos are embedded and can follow what is been said about them.

Thing is, that fine for a 3 minute trailer but I can't imagine this to be a 30 to 45 minute version, especially since they don't invest in sound, just like a photog they like to travel light, shoot candid video and just carry around one 5DIII all day, no tripod, no light, no sound.

Maybe this is the future and I"m becoming a dinosaur? :)

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Noa

I think you hit the nail on the head here. Looking at wedding short form done on a DSLR you can easily spot the photography style breaking through! Suddenly the bridal prep becomes shots of all the dresses, jewellery, makeup exactly like a photog would shoot it. Basically they are still shooting a still shot but just adding a slider sometimes so it makes it very easy for them and they stay completely within their comfort zone. If you take someone who has done a lot of videography and decides to switch to DSLR's the style is immediately different ... they are still videographers and are simply using a different tool to practice their craft.

If you have been a photog at weddings for all those years you will have developed a style of your own so it would be very tricky to try and develop a completely new style for video and even if you do, your experience as a photographer will always shine through.

It would of course be interesting to get a comment from someone here who was never a wedding photographer and simply decided that they liked DSLR's to make wedding videos ... Anyone in that situation here with no wedding photog experience and went directly to wedding video with a DSLR??

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I think that's an interesting comment, because I've sort of noticed the same... The particular photographer I'm thinking of corrects his videos like he would his photos, but, for whatever reason, it doesn't work. Maybe because there's so much more information to play with with a RAW still vs an h.264 video. Or maybe something about a moving frame doesn't lend itself to the same effects as photos.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

The whole concept of cinematic, photographic style short form is really a new product that couples are able to consider. I don't see any reason why it should be seen as a threat to doc style or old style whatever you want to call it. The danger lies when a couple are totally unaware of the options open to them and assume that short form is what wedding videos are all about.

I had yet another video view this week where all of the other companies that they had contacted were showing short form. I was the only one offering a whole day documentary, and they didn't know until I visited them that anything else was available. Within 10 minutes of them starting to view one of my videos, they stopped it and said 'This is exactly what we wanted'. Their signed contract arrived yesterday, so that means that four other companies offering short form only and competing for the same job have missed out.

I will include a short highlights video set to one song for quick showing to their friends, but that wasn't mentioned when I visited. So it reinforces my view that whole day footage is what most couples want given the choice and that the short form cinematic is more of a luxury item or perhaps sometimes chosen when they aren't aware of the alternatives. In other words, a different product entirely.

Roger

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

What brides want is as varied as the people on this board.

Some will come here and say "No, they dont want it". Some will tell you they want long form and short form is wrong. Some will say short form is the only way to go.

The fact is, what your brides want is different to what our brides want. Our brides go with us because they want a shorter edit, they want the DSLR look, they want Steadicam and all the rest. We have people who want a longer edit and we will put them in touch with people who offer that.

Its very hard to say if brides want shallow dof. Our brides do, those who dont offer it, their brides dont want it hence the reason they go with that person.

When we do our edu events people always ask how can people possibly want a shorter edit as all their clients want a longer edit. And we explain that if you offer a shorter edit then yes, the clients you currently have wouldnt book you but you find different clients who do want it.

Same as if you stopped filming weddings and only filmed funerals. Your current clients wouldnt book, but you would find new clients who will :)

Dont get too caught up on what other people offer. You find your own thing, whatever makes you happy and the clients will come.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I dunno. I've said this in another thread and I'll say it again. People talk about
'most brides' or 'most couples' wanting long form or short form or shallow depth
or shallow depth of field or deep depth of field or whatever. Brides do NOT fit
in some neat category in my opinion. They are individuals and as such, are all
over the place. I have been asked for just a highlights video, to every moment
of everything that happened in the day. You either choose what you want to
offer, and then get mostly that type of bride coming to you (as watching your
demos will weed out many that don't look for your style), or you offer everything
and anything (and post demos of all styles). That is much harder to do, but
certainly possible. However, this is why you have a sit down meeting with a
potential customer. You get to find out what kind of video she is expecting,
and she gets to view demos of your work and you can both decide if its a good
match.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I absolutely agree with this! I also agree with Danny's point that you decide what style you want to do and if they want something different send them elsewhere there is room for everyone. I couldn't care less whether people produce long form or short form, only that I can sell my own services.

I will add though, that I advertise that we produce wedding video with the option of photographic package, but I do not advertise how long the finished product is. So potential clients do not contact me because they want any particular style unless they are recommendations, but rather because they want a wedding video. In my experience, over 2000 weddings, the vast majority have little idea what to expect although some may have seen a friends video, which could be long or short, cinematic or doc. I always visit potential clients to discuss requirements and show our work, and over the last 24 months of visits am still maintaining a 100% booking rate from visits, all long form doc style! I've no idea what that means except that I can't see any possible way to improve on that!

Roger

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Roger

During interviews brides will usually ask me "How long is the video" and I tell them "It's on two DVD's with the first covering prep, ceremony and photoshoot and the second covering the reception" "between 60 and 80 minutes depending on speeches"

What weird is that they have never said to me "Oh, that's very long" .. I have never asked them "Is that what you were expecting?" I wonder what they expect the DVD to run for? Danny's are short form so I'm now curious as to what my brides would say if I told them it's a short and sweet 20 minutes. Maybe the next time I will ask... what length did you expect? 20/40/60 or 100 minutes?

Have brides ever said to anyone ..Why so long? or Why so short?

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I've never got the question, "Why so short?" or "Why so long?", but I pretty much always get asked, "What is the total length?"

I think, from the bride's perspective, duration of video is one of the few solid things that can cling to try to distinguish one vendor from another, and I've got a feeling they adopt the attitude that more is better.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Glad it's not only me then! Yep mine always want to know how long the DVD is but never ever comment. If you told them 60 or 120 minutes I don't think they would comment either way ... I guess it's much the same as asking your camera dealer ..how long will this battery last ...you want a reasonable time but don't expect a miracle.

I wonder if short form guys get asked the same question and do brides have a pre-set tolerance for both?

I think if I said 35 minutes their little brain would work hard and then think .."Wait a minute, the ceremony is 25 minutes so how will he fit in everything?"

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Basically I offer a 'highlights' video, and a long form, multicamera video.
I usually sell the highlights video along with a photographers package.
I'd say about 60% buy just the highlights video and about 40% buy both but
almost no one buys only the long form video, but that's just my market.

I have been asked about how long my short form 'highlights' video is, but
almost everyone who contacts me has already seen my demos online...that's
how many of them find me. The first thing I do when fielding an inquiry over the
phone or via email, is to direct them to my demos and they pretty much always
have already viewed them, so most know a little about what to expect. People
are becoming 'Internet savvy shoppers' and many do some legwork (mousework?)
at least more now than they used too.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Gabe

A while back I offered a short form video and I think only one bride ever took it so I dropped it. I also called it a highlights so maybe brides figured that it would omit too much of the important stuff?

With my highlights I think I offered a short bridal prep (about 3 mins) and then just the entry and vows/rings part of the ceremony (about 10 minutes), a 3 minute stedicam shoot and then bridal entry, cake cut and first dance which would have been 5 mins. That (without speeches at all) was around the 20 minute run length ... problem is if you include speeches (even the tradition 4 ) that can easily be another 30 minutes which makes it almost a long form again as it's nearly an hour!!

Are your short forms around 20 minutes or shorter/longer?

What do people think a highlights should and should not contain?

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I think the above question could be a separate thread.

I know a few people who provide products that are only 40minutes in full - but I can't imagine any clients NOT wanting the full speeches. So I don't know how they find clients who want what they offer.

I've recently proposed to condense my ceremony footage down to 20minutes and nearly all my clients opted for it...

But as somebody once told me, selectively removing parts can be almost as time consuming as leaving it all in an checking through it - boring as it is!

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hey Clive

So how is 40 minutes called shortform when the only thing you are NOT filming would be stuff like congrats after the ceremony, going around the tables and dancing which might add maybe 30 minutes tops to your short form video? To watch 40 mins or 70 minutes to me is long form surely??

I think Danny does a 20 minute short form video only so maybe he can give a rough idea of what he fits into 20 minutes?

I think 20 minutes and under could genuinely be called highlights/ short form but to me anything over that is getting close to long form. I did a wedding 3 weeks ago with 10 speeches .. if one had to include speeches in the short form that alone would chew up 40 minutes!! (allowing a tiny 4 minute average speaker time)

I'm confused where the line is drawn ...is it 20 minutes or less??

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Chris. I'm dipping in again now that we're a bit more settled and connected on our own broadband.

Surely the terms of short form/long form/ documentary are self defined. There is no industry or consumer standard that clients refer to when choosing a video. This industry as you know is comprised of a myriad of individuals who have self-appointed ourselves as video professionals. There is no trade body or guild that we have to belong to and sign-up to a set of standards. We have all established our terms, definitions and ways of working based on our own preferences and experience.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Here's my product - I don't call it either long form or documentary but its certainly longer than 40minutes.

Bridal prep and Church gathering - 10mins
Ceremony - 40/50mins
After church - 5mins
Afternoon - 10/15mins
Speeches - 30/40/50mins
Dancing - 15/20mins

Total Anywhere from 1hr 45 to 2hrs 30mins generally


I then do a highlights trailer of 4/5minutes.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Clive

Thanks for that..that's basically what my DVD's come out to and I figured that was long form. I'm just curious to figure out what Danny uses in his videos which are normally on 20 minutes?

George!!! Great to hear from you again and nice that you are settled ..I can see a few French wedding videos in the making once you get a full grasp of the language!! I assume your trusty JVC 700 is there with you??

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hi Chris, les français est à venir sur, but I have no intention of getting back into weddings either here or back in UK. In fact I turned down one for last weekend and turned away two enquiries this week for future dates. I'm more interested in weeding now than weddings. I am getting as much if not more pleasure repairing our leaky 200 year old french barn as I did slaving over a warm computer. That said I am still keeping my hand and eye in, I've left most of my shooting kit back in UK as I am traveling back every few weeks to do the training & induction videos that are now the mainstay of my video work. Seems to be working out at the moment so long as cheap airlines keep flying from my local airport.
I've had to pass my theater and schools work to a former local competitor who I'm friendly with as quick turn-around and bulk duplication and distribution is just not feasible. C'est la vie as we say here in La Belle France.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Clive and Chris - your end product timings also sound the same as mine, which I describe as long form documentary.

Roger

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I helped out some friends of mine at a Bridal fair in Tennessee over the weekend, and I as I was talking to the brides to be, several of them specifically mentioned that they really liked the short form videos and not full length ones.

I just thought that was interesting.

There really is no right or wrong in all this, it's just a matter of knowing what your client wants from you, and then working to deliver that, if you can.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

There definitely seems to be more interest in cinematic short form in the US generally. Perhaps it is more of an instant gloss product that fits in with what appears to be a more showy wedding industry than certainly the UK has.

Roger

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

But back to the question - the people who deliver short form (I mean 30/40minutes) are they editing and removing some of the speeches?

I can't get my head around any bride being OK with us taking editorial decisions over what parts of speeches to cut.

But some people surely must.

Does anyone on here cut some of the speeches for their end product???

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Clive, usually our speeches aren't as long as yours seem to be. It varies by region, of course, but for example, in my area, speeches are 5-15 minutes total, depending on number of people. Usually Best Man, Maid of Honor; often a parent and/or bride/groom will speak, too. So 2-4 people usually speak, and 10 minutes or less TOTAL.

When I do highlight style videos, I just use quotes, the best parts, of speeches. Rarely all of it. If the speech is REALLY short (as some often are) then it's rarely got anything worth showing, so I show it for the sake of the person rather than them having said anything of value. If it's longer, then it's harder to trim, but choices often have to be made.

I can do this precisely because I provide BOTH a highlight style (15-20 minute) video AND long form (60-90 minutes) so they can go see the full speeches if they want.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I currently deliver long-form but my aim is to eventually deliver short-form. If/when that happens, I would also include a separate disc/usb stick with uncut speeches and uncut(ish) ceremony. From watching Stillmotion stuff over the years I believe that's what they do also.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Those who claim they deliver short form only generally will also deliver the speeches & service in full on a separate disk. I'm betting that even those who come up with pretentious twaddle like they won't include the ceremony if it doesn't fit with their artistic vision still deliver the traditional documentary style speeches & ceremony

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

When i deliver short form which is now rare in Liverpool as they seem to want everything possible for their money, we deliver about 25/30 minutes, then straight after the short form film i include their bespoke trailer, then include the full speeches and full ceremony all on the same disc, that way they can see the artistic short form which i love editing and then they can view their trailer and then at their leisure they can view their speeches and ceremony. Simples. steve

Wedding Videography & Photography Cheshire Liverpool | Capture Your Moments Weddings | Home

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

There seems to be a subconscious dread afflicting both videographers and clients that the yet to be shot wedding video may be hours and hours of unwatchable junk. Rather like they fear that when it comes to stills that the posed photo session will be 2 hours of forced cheesy smiling at the camera.

The reality is anything but. In the UK at any rate.

The great majority of weddings are civil ceremonies and these will seldom be more than 20 minutes. 30 minutes tops even if you leave the cams running throughout the register signing. And within those 20 minutes are lots of golden moments which cannot be done justice by just including a few seconds - or even worse time-shifting the audio.

Some speeches may be marathons but typically they also will seldom be over 20 minutes in total. And again lots of golden moments including guest reactions.

What else? 2 minutes of pre-wedding tops - unless you bring your slider along in which case you'll really bore the socks off the audience :- ) 2 minutes photoshoot highlights. 2 minutes reception scene setting. 2 minutes cocktail hour highlights. 3 minutes 1st dance. What else? Oh yes 200 minutes torturing unwilling guests into making meaningless messages :- ) 200 minutes getting in everyones way with your steadycam on the dance floor whilst you dazzle them with a light late in the evening :- )

So what is so ..... well ..... long about longform? And which bits do the clients really not want to have for their family history? Newsflash to shortform clients: your friends do NOT want to watch your wedding video whether its 5 minutes or 5 hours. They may tolerate a bit if they think they might see themselves. But thats about it. So don't worry about them; just focus on what you'll want for the future.

Unfortunately for us the vendors all these things like shortform and shallow depth of field are highly seductive for clients at the research stage. Even though we know in our heart of hearts that longform is where its at in the longrun. Editing shortform etc can be fun but thats for our benefit not really for theirs.

Discuss :- )

Pete

p.s. I'll just put my tin helmet on!

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I need to start filming nearer you then!

Speeches seem like they are rarely less than 30-40 minutes and often more like 40-60 minutes.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

Hey Pete

I can hear the shrapnel hitting your helmet already!! I can honestly see the use of a trailer or maybe a 5 minute clip with just the vows and bits and pieces of the wedding to tempt a viewer's senses but I honestly cannot see how one can supply a "wedding video/film" which is 20 minutes long that covers all the events (as Clive says..especially the speeches)

I notice an absence from Danny from Minty Slippers who only delivers shortform (I think he was talking 22 minutes) so maybe when he is not busy he can explain how you get a wedding into that time?

A straight forward doc wedding from bridal prep to end of first dance is easily compressed into an hour IF the speeches are short! but I, for one, don't see how one could compress everything into 20 minutes.
I'm sure Danny has said (forgive me if I'm wrong) that he only does shortform so maybe he can clear the mystery?? Based on civil weddings I can see Bridal Prep in 3 mins, Arrival, skip the opening chatter and just do the vows and rings and kiss (maybe 10 minutes) then a 3 min photoshoot full of eye candy, bridal entry. the groom's speech only and cake and first dance, MIGHT be able to be squeezed into the remaining 6 to 8 minutes if the groom just does a 1 minute speech?

I did a REALLY compact wedding this afternoon (just got back) and CamA has 48 minutes on it and Cam B has 55 minutes ..and there was only one speech from the groom! (no bridal prep either!!)

Ok people that do short form ..tell us what you leave in and what you leave out but be nice to Peter

Chris

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I see people refer to and talk about friends' wedding trailers (5 minutes) often, so I know people watch their friends' wedding videos if presented well.

Pete, we're not as good as some folks, but I'm really happy with how our 15-20 minute edits work out. The DVD version full length video for this wedding was just over an hour, but here is an 18 minute wedding video with 5 more minutes of out takes at the end that I couldn't leave in since I felt it ruined the rest. I don't time shift much, but still like to punctuate the beginning or ending with something.

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

I need to start filming nearer you then! Speeches seem like they are rarely less than 30-40 minutes and often more like 40-60 minutes.

Those are my averages based on hundreds of weddings. I've no idea why it would be so much longer in your part of the world. I did used to live in your part of the world but I was never aware of folks being longwinded :- )

Part of my routine for every wedding is to ask each speaker roughly how long their own speech will be. I explain that this is to help me be in the right place at the right time. Particularly for photography. If I know that someone will be on their feet for just 2 minutes thats a whole lot different to 10 or even 5 minutes in terms of opportunities to capture photogenic moments - where the speaker is looking up rather than looking down at his notes, and smiling or laughing rather than frowning or grimacing.

Robert, do your stats show specifically how many different people watch the trailer right through rather than just clicking on it for a few seconds whilst they suss out whether to watch it. And how many watch it because they fear being interrogated by the bride afterwards (OK probably not the latter!).

Pete

Re: Do brides want shallow depth of field?
 

:)

I didn't mean our videos that they watch. I've had people who hire us reference their friends' videos. So, the gal who hired us for her wedding in January, sent us the link to her friend's wedding from Colorado.

Or, seeing the WeddingWire bride message board everytime someone asks about a videographer in (name the city). Sometimes they'll show a friend's video and say 'like this' kind of thing.

From our own website I can see how long they stay on a certain page, but not through vimeo. So what I'll be doing in the future is sending the online link to a page on our own website rather than vimeo. Then I'll get a better idea if they watched the whole thing or not.