Time to reflect & learn.. So who's the best?

[Michael Padilla]

Chris, thank you for the control.. I appreciate it.

Marcus, you are being more than helpful.. thank you for your constuctive criticism.
______________

Getting back to point: I have saved in my web files a list of (in my opinion) the best wedding videographers clips. Before I shoot I go back to all of the clips and review them for inspiration. This doesn't take away from my "style" but adds new ideas & passion for the day, esspecially if I'm feeling a bit stale or burnt-out. This really isn't about "who's" best, so perhaps I should have titled it differently, its really about who's out there doing really great work, although I think from my original post that should have been clear enough.

I checked out a few of the people that walter posted.. good stuff; I haven't had a chance to look at them all, but I will as soon as I can. I notice their are alot of people that use good framing & depth in the shots; looks like a small range of tracking without steadicam gear. One thing I like about david perry's stuff is the very artistic angles and use of wide angle, esspecially when tracking across the church door etc., the very first thing that I noticed about Iris is the amazing framing...absolutly awesome.

Marcus, about your question with the rig regarding low mode. Yes, I can flip it over quickly to get low shots, I have only started doing that... we filmed a couple down at redondo beach and I wanted to get a shot of their feet walking in the sand/water so I fliped my camea upside down... unfortunetly I couldn't see my LCD so I had to wing-it as far as footage goes, but it worked out. My wife was freaking out cus the camera was like an inch from the water. :) haha
Here's a link to that if your interested, its a quick date video:
http://visualmasterpiece.com/quicktime/robin_lanea.mov

it may take a bit to dL?

As far as with kids... David Perry does the flip thing with the LCD, and kids just love it, they are so attentive to him once he does (he's also very charismatic and even a little goofy - he's a very fun & likeable person!). Unfortunetly with the XL2's we just can't do that, there's no lCD :(
SO on occations where we've tried getting close ups of kids, they just stare at us like "what the heck are you doing?" kinda looks, and that's no fun... any advice on this.. short of getting a camera with a pop-out lcd?

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Michael Padilla

As far as with kids... David Perry does the flip thing with the LCD, and kids just love it, they are so attentive to him once he does (he's also very charismatic and even a little goofy - he's a very fun & likeable person!). Unfortunetly with the XL2's we just can't do that, there's no lCD :(
SO on occations where we've tried getting close ups of kids, they just stare at us like "what the heck are you doing?" kinda looks, and that's no fun... any advice on this.. short of getting a camera with a pop-out lcd?

That's why it's good to have a smaller camera with that capability. Using a GL1 or GL2 would intercut nicely with the XL-2. I did this on a personal video using my Pana 953 with a 2 year old and you'd have thought I was holding a cookie. She was mesmerized by that picture and I kept stepping back, and she kept coming towards it. Also, the smaller camera doesn't seem as intimidating toward youngsters. That same 2 year old didn't like it when I tried using an XL-1. It scared her.

-gb-

[Michael Padilla]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

That same 2 year old didn't like it when I tried using an XL-1. It scared her.

-gb-

Yes, exactly... I have noticed the same thing, even if its my wife that's filming.

Do you think a GL2 would be ok to use alongside an XL2? I have been actually dreaming of using a GL alongside our XL's, as I've hoped that canon make something (GL3) of equal caliber to the XL2. Here's the delema, let me know if its just "hot smoke"; we shoot and deliver in 16x9, the xl2 chips are quite different, Also (so far) we have been shooting all our weddings in 24p & 30p (even for slo-mo) and I know that the GL only shoots in 60i. Other than that, there is really nothing that I can think of that is majorly different, the colors should be very similar. I've been considering a 3rd camera/backup camera, and I've been waiting for a GL3, but it seems like forever.. should I just give and get a GL2?

[Glen Elliott]

So who is the "best"? Well the definition of the word "best" can be defined in so many ways by different people. What is considered the "best" by one person's taste isn't necessarily universal. Make no mistake about it wedding videography IS an artform- and as like any artform it's extremely subjective.

To me the "best" are the people who have a genuine passion for video, have good client relations, and are financially and socially sucessfull supporting a family doing none other than the thing they love most.

[David Mathew Bonner]

Originally Posted by Walter S. Chelliah

This is just my opinion of what I've seen.

In no particular order off the top of my head:

joel @ weddingfilms
loi @ bluecoremedia
jan & jennifer @ horizonweddings
jason @ jasonmagbanua
glen @ gmelliottvideography
terry & joe @ customvideobyterry
mark & trish @ tulsaweddingvideos
dave @ dvideography
daniel @ dvartistry
david @ dmbvideo
stacy @ stacymarks
david @ boulevardvideo

Too many to list and I'm sure I forgot at at least a few dozen others.

URLS's not listed out of respect for bandwidth limitations.

Coincidentally, EventDV magazine has a Top 25 list of videographers which will be announced in Orlando on January 9th and printed in the January issue.

How about the man himself... Walter S Chelliah.

Winner of the weva award of excellence and two first place Diamond awards this year from the 4ever group.

Walter use to be with my company, but stay tuned as he unveils his own brand of wedding videography. I am sure his site ill quickly become bookmarked on your computers soon :)

[Michael Padilla]

Originally Posted by David Mathew Bonner

How about the man himself... Walter S Chelliah.

Winner of the weva award of excellence and two first place Diamond awards this year from the 4ever group.

Walter use to be with my company, but stay tuned as he unveils his own brand of wedding videography. I am sure his site ill quickly become bookmarked on your computers soon :)

Cool! Thanks for the post... Is there any footage of his online currently?

[Walter S. Chelliah]

pffft, my stuff doesn't belong in any list that has the word "best" in it at all. I think dmb is trying to get out of the $10 he owes me for helping him dump grass at the landfill.

Here are some sites that have some great videos:

http://www.gpva.com/Theatre/
http://www.4evergroup.org/artisticac...entawards.html

One video I personally wanted to recommend is the Stage Event Production Segment Diamond Winner by Peter Boardman of Lifestory Video Productions on the 4EG site. It's amazing.

[Michael Padilla]

Walter thanks for joining us, I appreciate your post; i'm checking out the footage right now.

[Michael Padilla]

ok, I just finished watching your video...

Diamond Winner
DMB Video Productions
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Walter Chelliah
Tyson Wedding

Dang..
Now, I didn't know what to think at first; kinda shocked, amazed and horified all at the same time ;) so I had to watch it a few times in a row. I must say awesome editing & use of effects; great for the music it's set to, you did an awesome job. I have a date video that I shot and am editing right now; I always ask for the music in advance so that I can get a "feel" for what I want to shoot & edit for. This couple didn't deliver in time so when we went out I just did the normal stuff that we do - got some nice shots etc...I thought it had never really been a problem before. So a week later I got the music and thought to myself, wow.. did I screw up or what? the footage doesn't match the music at all! I would have done something totally different. (so its a Foo Fighters song - a real up-beat-knock-your-head-against-the-wall kinda thing; and don't get me wrong I've got long hair and jammed to metallica when in HS); but all the same it took me by suprise. So... How'd you do that?

[Young Lee]

"One video I personally wanted to recommend is the Stage Event Production Segment Diamond Winner by Peter Boardman of Lifestory Video Productions on the 4EG site. It's amazing."

Wow, you're right about that! Very creative.

[Michael Padilla]

I just watched it too.. that is very cool; quite an unusual bit. I loved the emotion that was transfered to film; great subjects; lighting; and I love the birds eye shots. They also have great camera movement.

[Glen Elliott]

See... Walt and Dave's work is a testament to the fact you can't choose a "best". Wedding videography comes in so many shapes and sizes- their work is an exemplorary example of cutting edge style that is light hearted and fun. How can you compare that against a slow and dramatic Joel Peregrine piece? You can't. They are both great in their own right, both in very different ways.

[Michael Padilla]

Yeah, that's cool... isn't it great!!! I'm a fan :-)

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Michael Padilla

Do you think a GL2 would be ok to use alongside an XL2? I have been actually dreaming of using a GL alongside our XL's, as I've hoped that canon make something (GL3) of equal caliber to the XL2. Here's the delema, let me know if its just "hot smoke"; we shoot and deliver in 16x9, the xl2 chips are quite different, Also (so far) we have been shooting all our weddings in 24p & 30p (even for slo-mo) and I know that the GL only shoots in 60i.

You do have 'frame movie mode' that will give a 30P type of output but no 24P. You also have a pseudo widescreen mode. Should work for brief shots of kids intercut with the main video. You could also just shoot 60i and let the NLE, a plug-in, or a standalone app do a de-interlace and pull-down to 24P. The main reason it intercuts well is because the Canons all have a similar picture quality in terms of color rendition. You might find a friend to rent or borrow a GL-2 from and do some tests before making the final decision.

-gb-

[Michael Padilla]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

You do have 'frame movie mode' that will give a 30P type of output but no 24P. You also have a pseudo widescreen mode. Should work for brief shots of kids intercut with the main video. You could also just shoot 60i and let the NLE, a plug-in, or a standalone app do a de-interlace and pull-down to 24P. The main reason it intercuts well is because the Canons all have a similar picture quality in terms of color rendition. You might find a friend to rent or borrow a GL-2 from and do some tests before making the final decision.

-gb-

Thanks, so your answer is "yes" it should do the trick... that would be great. I'll just buy one at b&h and if it doesn't work out.. off to ebay it goes; or maybe i'll check ebay first. So how does the "pseudo widescreen mode" work?