I haven't posted a clip here for quite a while, so I thought I would share a recent Highlight. We are still working through our SD weddings, so it was shot with a Sony DSR-250 and Sony's PD150 and PD170.

The song is from the movie August Rush.

http://tulsaweddingvideos.com/video/MJHighlight.wmv

I thought the shot where you followed them out of the church with the people throwing petals was very cool.
What speed did you slow that down to?

Wow. All I can say.

Hey Mark,
Great use of the ministers homily to carry along the piece. You really cut that well, as well as the other audio sound bites. You also had some great shots in there and it seemed a few glide cam shots as well (specifically the limo spin around). Lots of great emotions from the parts of the entire wedding party and family and great piece. Thanks for Sharing

Monday

Very nice Mark. I liked it all...good score...great VO. I like using the sun and lights so my favorite parts are the B&G walking out and the kiss in the spotlight.

Thanks,
John

OMG! this is just awesome work! I love those pan shots!

btw, I was being pointed out once.. it should be "highlights" not highlight.

Is it a multi camera job?

I thought the shot where you followed them out of the church with the people throwing petals was very cool.
What speed did you slow that down to?

Hi Dennis,

I'm glad you liked that shot. It was at 50%. If I'm going to slow down a clip I start at 50%. I usually don't go below 30%. I sould say about 95% of my speed altered clips are at 50%. On my Shuttle Pro I have a shortcut for 50% so it makes it easy.

That was wonderful.

Wow. All I can say.

Hi Victor. Thanks for watching.

Hey Mark,
Great use of the ministers homily to carry along the piece. You really cut that well, as well as the other audio sound bites. You also had some great shots in there and it seemed a few glide cam shots as well (specifically the limo spin around). Lots of great emotions from the parts of the entire wedding party and family and great piece. Thanks for Sharing

Monday

Hi Monday,

Thanks for the kind words. We had more soundbites from the Groom and the MOB that we used in the Wedding Day Edit, but I didn't want to repeat them for the Highlight. It's always a challenge of finding the right balance for a couple the booked the Wedding Day Edit.

When the couple has a formal exit from the church and it is during the daytime, I like to use the Glidecam. Both of the scenarios just don't happen that often.

Mark how much of a challenge would you say it is? I struggle doing short forms and having to create a highlight. For me I'm drained of my creativity and excitement for the project when I finish the short form. I have nothing left for the Highlight so that suffers quite a bit. Then I tried doing the highlight first and that helped a lot. But you do a wedding day edit and also a highlight. That as you say must be very difficult to do. I remember Patrick was saying it was difficult to do as they can be very similar.

Monday

Very nice Mark. I liked it all...good score...great VO. I like using the sun and lights so my favorite parts are the B&G walking out and the kiss in the spotlight.

Thanks,
John


Hi John,

Thanks for the kind words. I generally shoot the couple from the back as they leave the church or reception while Trisha shoots them from the front. In their Transition To Reception clip, you see the front shot as well. It's a great shot as well, but for the Highlight, I chose to use just the back shot. It looks more artistic.

I usually ask the B&G to kiss just before walking out. It just happened that the doors of the church were facing West and it was the perfect time of day. Sometimes you just get lucky.

OMG! this is just awesome work! I love those pan shots!

btw, I was being pointed out once.. it should be "highlights" not highlight.

Is it a multi camera job?

Hi Taky. Thanks. We used three cameras for the Ceremony and First Dance.

That was wonderful.


Hi Jenna. Thanks for watching.

Mark how much of a challenge would you say it is? I struggle doing short forms and having to create a highlight. For me I'm drained of my creativity and excitement for the project when I finish the short form. I have nothing left for the Highlight so that suffers quite a bit. Then I tried doing the highlight first and that helped a lot. But you do a wedding day edit and also a highlight. That as you say must be very difficult to do. I remember Patrick was saying it was difficult to do as they can be very similar.

Monday

Hi Monday,

How short are your short forms? Most of our DVDs are 45 to 60 minutes, so a Highlight works nicely. I know several who make a short form of 25-30 minutes and they do not include a Highlight.

A WDE is a Highlight, but a Highlight made in the fastlane. We make our WDEs to be as good as possible. On occasion we will reserve shots with the Highlight in mind, but generally we use our best shots in the WDE.

With this particular project, we got some great soundbites from the Groom and MOB, but I didn't want to re use them, even though the DVD starts with the Highlight and ends with the WDE. If the Highlight and WDE are too much alike, why would the B&G want to spend the money to have a Highlight produced?

Your logic is absolutely correct Mark. I wasn't talking from their vantage point as being a product to purchase or not, but the angle as a creator of the project. I was just trying to see how much of a challenge it was for you as you stated it was a challenge finding the right balance for the couple as they booked the wedding day edit as well as the highlights (you were referring to the audio bites). I know it is a subjective question, but just wanted your opinion as peer to peer. I film Quinceanera videos, those short forms are different than weddings by little. If it is not cut down the videos can exceed 3 hrs easily. Most of my friends in this market do it long form 2-3hrs on dvd/tape. I do em at 45mins to just over a hour. They are longer than a wedding as during the reception there is usually 3 different dances they do as a entire court that is usually 4mins a piece. It's pretty much as short as you can get them, and I really put a lot of energy in creating the main video as good as it can be that I'm left dry for the highlights if they have one. I appreciate you sharing your talents once again, it is a clip I know they will cherish forever.

Monday

Hi Monday,

I have only done one Quinceanera. It was several years ago and most of it was in Spanish, so it was a challenge for me. I can see how a 45 minute short form would be so much more enjoyable to watch than 3 hours.

It was at 50%.

It had the smoothness of 50% but seemed slower... must be me getting older.

Cheers.

Hi Mark, did you take the link down? I tried to view your highlight and got a page not found. I love to see your work.

It had the smoothness of 50% but seemed slower... must be me getting older.

Cheers.


Hi Dennis,

I'm sorry for the delay in responding to you. We were in the middle of launching 2 new websites as well as preparing for a Bridal Show.

I just checked the project, and yes, it was at 50%.

Hi Mark, did you take the link down? I tried to view your highlight and got a page not found. I love to see your work.

Hi Janice,

The link is still up and I just checked it. If you still cannot see it, try viewing it from our other site. We just got the new site up, so it's not complete yet, but you can view the clip there.
www.VonWeddingFilms.com

Awsome job, I really like it.

Are some of the pans done in post processing, or are they all done in camera?

I love the soft steady pans and am very new to this.

Hi Denny,

Thanks. All of the apparent camera work really is camera work and not done in post, but good question.

Hi Denny,

Thanks. All of the apparent camera work really is camera work and not done in post, but good question.

Thanks, Very Very good camera work then some of the smoothest panning I have seen.

I love video, not that I dont still love photography, that is my bread and butter and provides my living but really want to breat into video too, I feel very few will be able to become true videographers.

Hey Mark. I really like the look and feel of the new site.
John

Thanks, Very Very good camera work then some of the smoothest panning I have seen.

I love video, not that I dont still love photography, that is my bread and butter and provides my living but really want to breat into video too, I feel very few will be able to become true videographers.

Hi Denny,

Thanks. So I take it that you are a photographer that is getting into wedding videography? If so, I would like to learn from your insight.

What do you consider to be a true videographer? Are you referring to a skill set or an ability to provide for your family or even something else?

If you think it would be better to start a new thread on this subject, feel free to. It is an interesting subject for me.

Hey Mark. I really like the look and feel of the new site.
John

Hi John,

Thanks. We had to go live with it before it was really ready. We had a big bridal show last weekend and all of our marketing materials used our new name, VonWeddingFilms.com instead of our old name TulsaWeddingFilms.com.

We are looking forward to getting it a little more ready for prime time. We have a big conference in less than two weeks, so I'm not sure how much time Trisha will be able to spend on it. When it's all done it will be a big improvement over our previous site, which is three years old.

Very nicely done. I was glad to hear you were using a Glidecam for some of those shots. I just couldn't see how you were managing the shots without one. You had me stumped!!

Hello Mark,

great work!

I am just getting into wedding videography, I think I see a Glidecam in my future : )
may I ask what model you use?

Hi Denny,

Thanks. So I take it that you are a photographer that is getting into wedding videography? If so, I would like to learn from your insight.

What do you consider to be a true videographer? Are you referring to a skill set or an ability to provide for your family or even something else?

If you think it would be better to start a new thread on this subject, feel free to. It is an interesting subject for me.

I started a new thread here

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=805210#post805210

Very nicely done. I was glad to hear you were using a Glidecam for some of those shots. I just couldn't see how you were managing the shots without one. You had me stumped!!

Hi Travis,

Thanks. Yes, I had three Glidecam shots. The couples exit from the church, the wrap around of the Bentley and the cake shot.

Hello Mark,

great work!

I am just getting into wedding videography, I think I see a Glidecam in my future : )
may I ask what model you use?

Hi John,

Thank you. I use the Glidecam 2000. The 2000 is okay with smaller SD camera like the Sony 2100/170, but if you shoot with a larger camera like a Sony FX1/Z1 or Canon XH-A1, you really need to step up to the Glidecam 4000.

I see that you live in Orlando. There is going to be a really good video conference there on Jan 21-24. We will be doing a 6 hour pre-conference session as well as speaking during the regular conference. You should check it out and if you can make it, look us up.

http://4evergroup.org/convention08/home.shtml

http://4evergroup.org/convention08/08super_sessions.shtml

Hi John,

Thank you. I use the Glidecam 2000. The 2000 is okay with smaller SD camera like the Sony 2100/170, but if you shoot with a larger camera like a Sony FX1/Z1 or Canon XH-A1, you really need to step up to the Glidecam 4000.



Ok I can see I will have to get one of those, I looked up a pic, but would love to see how they are used.

Maybe you can have someone video you using one.

I would love to get some formal training with video, and am sure I will when I did that with photography took me to a new level, am sure video is even more important.

Just ordered the glidecam 4000
Mark you need a commission off this one, your work is inspiring enough to make me order it. I realize will take a lot more than this tool to do what you do, but a good place to start.

wow. you win.

Ok I can see I will have to get one of those, I looked up a pic, but would love to see how they are used.

Maybe you can have someone video you using one.

I would love to get some formal training with video, and am sure I will when I did that with photography took me to a new level, am sure video is even more important.

Hi Denny,

I don't have any video online of me using a Glidecam. To get training on the Glidecam I highly recommend Dave Williams Smooth Moves I. His website is www.DVideography.com .

If you are looking for formal training that is not focused on Glidecam, we have four workshops scheduled for 2008. Checkout schedule on the videographers page of our website.

Just ordered the glidecam 4000
Mark you need a commission off this one, your work is inspiring enough to make me order it. I realize will take a lot more than this tool to do what you do, but a good place to start.


Just when I was going to tell you that the Glidecam is not a magic wand for cool shots I see that you bought one. As I said in my previous post, get Dave Williams Smooth Moves One and practice. If you are not particularly strong in your upper body, start lifting some weights to help build up your endurance.

Oh, and get a quick release plate that matches your tripod so you can get on and off the Glidecam quickly without having to rebalance it. Have fun!

Thanks for sharing your work yet again Mark.

Love the pace ad the music used.

I've learned a lot watching different styles from different people all over the world (yours in the forefront).

happy New Year!

Just cause I like giving my $.02,

Your use of audio adds a lot to the finished product. It must be really nice to have a great sermon to work with. Many times I find that preachers sound too stern, or emotionless, but the guy in that piece did a wonderful job of actually sounding like he enjoys marrying people.
For my money, the best wedding "sermon" I've ever heard was in one of Glen Elliott's from about 2 or 3 years ago. (I think **EDIT** HE (not we, what's wrong with my typing today?) won some kinda award for that piece if anyone knows the one I'm talking about) It was so good you'd almost thought someone wrote it for the guy. I wish they were all like that one and the one you just shared.

The only thing that bothered me was when you hear the bride's voice over, but see a slowmo shot of her delivering her vows and the audio and lips don't match. For some reason that bugs me.

The only thing that bothered me was when you hear the bride's voice over, but see a slowmo shot of her delivering her vows and the audio and lips don't match. For some reason that bugs me.

I have to agree on that shot. It was the one moment in the video that felt a bit awkward.

Mark, as always really great stuffs. It's really great to see all solid this solid work in all these different styles from those on this forum.

I've been a huge fan of your work for years now (since I started watching wedding videos), and still am.

Thanks for sharing your work yet again Mark.

Love the pace ad the music used.

I've learned a lot watching different styles from different people all over the world (yours in the forefront).

happy New Year!

Hi Jason,

Thanks. Isn't the internet wonderful. Back in the 90s we had to wait until conferences to see great work from others.

Just cause I like giving my $.02,

Your use of audio adds a lot to the finished product. It must be really nice to have a great sermon to work with...I wish they were all like that one and the one you just shared.

The only thing that bothered me was when you hear the bride's voice over, but see a slowmo shot of her delivering her vows and the audio and lips don't match. For some reason that bugs me.

Hi Ethan,

Thanks. They don't all sound like that, but we get our fair share of good ministers.

It used to bug me too, but I got over it. ;-) The thing I stay away from is showing the Bride say her vows in real time and then seeing her in more of a VO mode with slo mo vows. I go with one or the other, but not both in the highlight.

I have to agree on that shot. It was the one moment in the video that felt a bit awkward.

Hi Travis,

Thanks for your input.

When I was going through her vows, I loved the shot of her that I used first. That shot was actually from the end of her vows. When I'm going through their vows, I'm looking for great emotional looks. I watch for the Brides reaction to the Grooms vows. This Bride almost looked in pain as the Groom said his vows. She was trying very hard not to cry and it just wasn't a good look for her, so I had to settle with the shot you saw.

Mark, as always really great stuffs. It's really great to see all solid this solid work in all these different styles from those on this forum.

I've been a huge fan of your work for years now (since I started watching wedding videos), and still am.

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your kind words. I agree. This forum is a great place to see really good work in many different styles.

Hi Travis,

Thanks for your input.

When I was going through her vows, I loved the shot of her that I used first. That shot was actually from the end of her vows. When I'm going through their vows, I'm looking for great emotional looks. I watch for the Brides reaction to the Grooms vows. This Bride almost looked in pain as the Groom said his vows. She was trying very hard not to cry and it just wasn't a good look for her, so I had to settle with the shot you saw.

Totally understand. Sometimes going with what's best isn't apparently obvious to anyone who hasn't seen the footage. Sounds like you made the right call.