Hey everyone, I finally completed my first wedding summary video and was hoping to get some feedback from my peers. It can be viewed on my website under the videos section (Eternity Productions: Wedding Videos, Special Event Videos, D.C., MD, VA (http://eternityproductions.net)) or directly on vimeo at Liz Weds Brian Summary on Vimeo. The video is available in HD, in case anyone would like to view it like that.

Any constructive feedback is much appreciated. With that said, I know there is shaky footage, but some of this was caused due to lack of practice (obviously it will improve), and the fact that nobody actually notified us that the procession was about to begin. We found out only as the parties began to walk, which rattled us for a good 5 minutes or so.

We shot with Xh-A1s' and editing was done in FCP 7.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Vishal,

I'd have to say for a first effort it's great. Some areas to consider are using all of the elements that are available to you however keep it simple. Try throwing in some Captured Audio, explore using manual settings especially in backlit shots where either the iris, gain or shutter is changing noticeably during panning. Look for detail and capitalise on it, some of the slow footage jittered a little experiment with it for a smoother result, do a bit of beat matching but not too much. Look at what other videographers are doing, treat it like a banquet, take what you like and use it for your self, leave what you dont like, its the best way to learn. I'm still relatively new at all this but I find if I spend a little time observing other work, my work improves much quicker.

Most importantly, Love your Work and it will evolve naturally.

Well Done.

Dave Edwards
Drumroll Productions - Sydney
www.drumroll.com.au

Heya, nice first work! Just 2 things that could help you get better as you film more. These were problems that I dealt with starting out as well.

Auto focus has its place, but sometimes it causes some unwanted effects, especially when zoomed in. The focus seems to go on and off your subject in a lot of shots. I know some people like to use it as an 'effect' but most times it just looks wrong. Get your shot in focus, set it on manual and record. Using a wider depth of field or zooming out and getting closer helps with any minor focus issues when on manual.

Also, when you shoot someone or something that is back lit (in front of a bright window, etc), set your camera to manual exposure and expose fro the subject, not the background (unless you want the silhouette effect). Keeping it on manual helps so that when you pan from a dark to bright area, the exposure doesn't change and your subject stays in proper brightness.

Hope that helps. Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the input David and Eric. I really appreciate the advice.

David - I have been looking at work of other videographers to see how they do things, and like you said try to pick and choose what fits to my style.

Eric - Thanks for the advice for the back light information. I will definitely try that technique and work on getting it to look clearer.

As for the auto focus, I am still working on figuring out how to get the clearest possible image on manual focus. when I have tried so far, I get a lot of graininess for indoor and low light situations. I guess that will just take practice as well.