New Demo Complete

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hey all,

I posted a early version of a demo I did for a company I do work for here in Montreal. It's complete now. Thanks to all for the feedback.

Feel free to beat me up about the final version. I can't change it now, but comments are always helpful for my work in general.

http://tinyurl.com/37e4d9

Cheers,
Vito

[Elliot Lee]

+ Original style overall. Funky & fun but not irreverent. Definitely not run-of-the-mill "cinematic wedding". :)

- I think it was the very first shot that had the bride coming down the aisle or through the lobby or something (offset 1:34). It looked like it could use color correction - it just didn't seem to match with the look of the rest of the demo, and didn't contrast enough to seem like it was intentional.

- There were also a few transitions where a flash of golden color was used to transition between shots that were both using the slightly desaturated look. I just thought it looked a bit odd to see a face fade in as goldish yellow and then desaturate... Offset 02:25 or so.

Hope this helps,
-- Elliot

[Alan Doheny]

Hey Vito,

To be honest, I didn't like the split screens, personally I just don't like them in general on wedding videos, although many guys use them.

However, overall I loved it, great sense of flow to it, very, very nice. Keep up the good work!

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hey Guys

Thanks for the feedback. It's always nice to get some reactions from fellow videographers to get a sense of what does and doesn't work.

Alan, while I actually don't mind split screens, though I don't use them much, in this demo they were used purposely to emphasize that we were using two cameras. Our clientele finds two cameras a tough sell, and we're trying to move there more and more.

Apparently, it's working, according to the response, which is great.

Thanks,
Vito

[John Moon]

Vito:
Great work! Looks good. I like the overall feel of the video. What were your settings for the playback for window size. I shoot in 16x9 but cant seem to get the right size for playback.
Thanks,
John

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hi John,

Thanks for checking it out.

I used a calculator to give me a quick frame size. From 1920X1080 I divided down by four to get 480X270. I used Sorenson Squeeze v.4.3 to encode to wmv files.

Cheers,
Vito

[Sean Walsh]

Really enjoyed it Vito...

How refreshing....and you had a great bride to work with too!

It would be really interesting if you could give a quick run through of the various techniques you've used in post...I for one would learn a lot.

As a showcase of the range of things you can do, and the value of a two-camera shoot, it works really well.

Has it been a good tool yet to persuade other couples to say 'yes' to a two-camera set-up?

I'm sure the couple featured are delighted with the end product - and that's what's important!

Sean

[Vito DeFilippo]

Originally Posted by Sean Walsh

Really enjoyed it Vito...

How refreshing....and you had a great bride to work with too!

Thanks, Sean. And yeah, she was great. Really happy. Easy to get nice footage for a demo from her.

It would be really interesting if you could give a quick run through of the various techniques you've used in post...I for one would learn a lot.

Do you mean what type of effects? Or how do I approach the edit? Give me an idea of what you are asking, and I'd be happy to respond.

Has it been a good tool yet to persuade other couples to say 'yes' to a two-camera set-up?

Absolutely. The response to this demo has been incredible. Bookings are up in general, and two-camera bookings are happening now, when before, we could never talk anyone into it.

Cheers,
Vito

[Sean Walsh]

That's great news...a happy couple and you've got extra bookings - that's what I call a result.

The answer is 'seeing is believing' - once a couple can 'see' the value that a second camera gives - then how can they settle for second best?

I (and I'm sure others) would be interested in both - a. the effects you've applied and b. how you've approached the edit.

It's quality work - and you've clearly put a great deal of time and effort into it. And that shows.

Cheers, Sean

[Justine Haupt]

Looooooved that demo!

[Vito DeFilippo]

Okay, Sean. Here we go.

First, we knew that we wanted to use this video for a demo. I shoot with a Z1, and we got a second shooter with an FX1. We ended up with a fair amount of footage, perhaps 7 hours, which was plenty.

Since the couple had ordered a video, I started by first editing that for them. I always capture complete tapes. I don't log clips beforehand, as I find it unnecessary in this age of cheap hard drives, and I don't like the extra wear and tear on our decks/cameras. I put the full clips on the timeline, and start cutting down. This technique works very well for projects that are generally chronological, such as a wedding.

As I rough cut, I try to put aside clips to use for a highlights section. I like to include a good portion of clips in the highlights that won't be seen in the main video, so that it's not a straight repeat.

After the rough cut is done, I add music to sections that demand it (groom and bride's preparations, photo shoot, etc), then do a fine edit to the music. I also make the ceremony a complete section, audio mix, etc, and do the same to the reception.

Then I colour correct the entire video as needed.

Finally, I copy my sequence, remove all the audio, and put the song in for the highlights. I remove all clips that I don't want to have in the highlights, and add in the ones that I had put aside earlier. I edit that to the music. Then choose a group of transitions that I think might work well for the music and footage. I add those where needed.

Finally, I try to find a 'look' that could look nice to set the highlights off from the rest of the video. A colour effect (B&W, Sepia), or Bleach Bypass, Film Effect, whatever. Sometimes, as in the demo you looked at, this will be a stack of four or five layers to get a desired look.

For example, the demo used a stack of (for much of it):

1. Colour correction
2. Bleach bypass
3. Film Grain
4. Film damage
5. Vignette

from bottom to top.

Whew! That's a quick description of what I do. I've left a lot out, as the edit process is quick a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea.

The whole edit takes me about 25 hours.

For this demo, I took the highlights that I had done as a starting point, then rearraged/added/removed material to suit the purpose of the demo.

I have no idea if this process resembles what others do, but it works for me!

Cheers,
Vito

[Vito DeFilippo]

Originally Posted by Justine Haupt

Looooooved that demo!

Thanks, Justine! Means a lot to get nice feedback.

[John Moon]

Vito:
Another question. You have what appears to be a quick cut of film leader in the video. I have been looking for something like this as a plug in. Is this a plug in you used?

Thanks,
John

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hi John,

Actually, it's small pieces of an academy leader that I downloaded from archive.org.

You can download the same leader in various formats here:

http://www.archive.org/details/Countdow1960

The archives there are amazing. Tons of movies, clips, whatever, much of it public domain or royalty free. I've found some great stuff there.

[John Moon]

Vito:

Fantastic! Just what I was looking for.

Thanks,
John