View Full Version : An Aussie bush wedding highlights to share


Matt Barwick
June 5th, 2009, 01:01 AM
Hi all,

Am hoping to get some comments/feedback/constructive critique on this piece if possible. The couple hasn't seen this yet, so I'd love to get some fresh opinions before 'releasing it'! I'm pretty sure they don't frequent dvinfo. :P

It's the highlights from the teaser (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/wedding-event-videography-techniques/235696-brief-60-second-wedding-teaser-share.html) I posted a couple of weeks ago...you may recognise the title rack focus effect ;)

It was a VERY country wedding so some of the audio grabs have some major Aussie twang and are a bit 'rough around the edges' - I'm sure the OZtralians here will appreciate it...

This was shot 100% solo with the XH A1 using the stock lens and is a mix of sticks and handheld. With weddings where I'm the solo shooter (about 75%) I find it's always a fine line between being creative and also effectively documenting everything but I'm happy with the blend on this one.

Rather than throw a heap of filler or random clips together, I've really tried to tell the story of their day and feel the music in the edit so would love some comments on whether you think this has been effectively done or not.

This is one wedding in particular where in post I would've loved to have used a merlin or similar to have some flying visuals to match the sweeping audio. It's on the shopping list :)

Regarding the music...I love the track used for this one, but will preface it by mentioning that the music choice is far from traditional and might be a little edgy for some peoples taste.

A little basic colour done in post in a clunky & completely unintuitive NLE. Also on the never ending shopping list...

I'm very happy with the finished cut, but would love feedback on any aspect you think would improve it - footage, story telling, the edit, colouring...nothing's off limits.

Amee and Wayne magic moments (http://www.vimeo.com/5010866)

password is: barwick74

I've got my own thoughts on a few aspects of it, but will keep them to myself for the moment...

Sorry for the long post - just wanted to give a little background info on it...

Thanks in advance for watching!

Cheers,

Matt.

Paul Mailath
June 5th, 2009, 02:20 AM
no problem with the music and I absolutely loved the shot of the bridesmaid jumping out of the ute!

I'm not noticing any accent at all!

I have a personal dislike of jumping to B&W unless there's a reason to do it - the 2nd time there was.

I really liked it, very laid back, very country - I want to grab a beer and join in.

toward the end you had a shot which matched the intro shot, I wonder if you could have actually finished with that?

Matthew Ebenezer
June 5th, 2009, 05:26 AM
Hey Matt,

The bridesmaid on the back of a ute! That's awesome, can't get much more Aussie than that.

Great song choice. Very good quality audio as well.

The couple of black and white shots felt out of place to me. I don't think the piece needed them. It'd be interesting to see a non-linear edit of this footage - for example, at the start when the celebrant is saying nice things about the couple, it'd be good to see footage of the couple together rather than just the bridal prep.

The freeze-frame at the kiss felt a bit out of place as well.

Looks like you had some tough competition at the wedding - at the 1:33 mark :)

Overall, the video was very endearing and captured their day really well. Gotta love those Aussie accents too!

Cheers,

Matthew.

Susanto Widjaja
June 5th, 2009, 06:16 AM
OMG.. that bridesmaid rocks!! I have never seen a bridesmain who jumped like that.

Well done Matt!!

Santo

David Edwards
June 7th, 2009, 12:42 AM
G'day Matt, Strewth, Gotta love the great Aussie Wedding. Plenty of Vee Bee's and a great Outdoor Party to Boot.

Give it a title, "The Bridesmaid & The Great Aussie Ute"

She's a Ripper Mate.

Good Work.

Matt Barwick
June 8th, 2009, 12:01 AM
Hi all, thanks very much for taking the time to watch and offer your views! It's very valuable and much appreciated.

203 views and only 4 comments is a little disappointing, especially considering the amount of time & effort I've put into offering critique for others recently, but I guess we Aussies have to look after one another huh?

I absolutely loved the shot of the bridesmaid jumping out of the ute!

OMG.. that bridesmaid rocks!! I have never seen a bridesmain who jumped like that.

Give it a title, "The Bridesmaid & The Great Aussie Ute"

She's a Ripper Mate.

The bridesmaid on the back of a ute! That's awesome, can't get much more Aussie than that.

Thanks for the comments guys - seems like everybody loved the bridesmaid in the ute! A true Aussie gal. I was actually very fortunate to catch that moment as it was all unexpected and happened very quickly!

Great song choice. Very good quality audio as well.

Overall, the video was very endearing and captured their day really well. Gotta love those Aussie accents too!

Hey Matthew - thanks for taking the time to have a look and comment - really appreciated.

The couple of black and white shots felt out of place to me. I don't think the piece needed them.

Point taken on the B&W shots. I do like the look of the 2nd one with them walking across the road with the nice dark contrasty lines of the architecture, but the first was a little random in hindsight - I guess if I'm going to include any B&W it needs to be a bit more balanced.

It'd be interesting to see a non-linear edit of this footage - for example, at the start when the celebrant is saying nice things about the couple, it'd be good to see footage of the couple together rather than just the bridal prep.
Funny you should mention this...I'm probably a little gun shy with time shifting at the moment, after being guilty of using excessive random filler shots in a recent highlights.

I know it's been done before but I actually considered editing this one completely in reverse ie starting with their first dance and then working back to the prep. I've got the chance with a couple of upcoming weddings so might give it a shot if it's the right one.

Looks like you had some tough competition at the wedding - at the 1:33 mark :)

He could possibly actually be the elusive reliable 2nd shooter I've been searching for - if only he'd left me a business card :)

Anyone else care to chime in at all with any feedback? The 2 aspects I'd really like critiquing on are the colouring (both quality and consistency) and the effectiveness of the storytelling.

Cheers,

Matt.

Dean Morris
June 9th, 2009, 02:41 AM
Hi Matt,

Finally getting around to checking out DV.

Really liked this piece. The song is perfect for the feel and many golden moments. Also liked your mixture of audio, real time & slow mo moments. I can't add any more than to what has been said.

Doing time shifting is a huge experiment and may take time to get the hang of it. I think what can help is finding a match with the audio to some sort of visual. I've found that many creative moments can occur during a photo shoot and I guess it's about taking the chance to experiment with mixing them in a shift