Now that our 2015 wedding season is coming to an end (stateside at least), it would be fun to post our single favorite/best wedding film from this year. Not to compare/contrast, but simply show off our single favorite film to an audience who will appreciate it in ways different and perhaps better than our traditional audience.

It may also be helpful to include a brief description on the camera/equipment used.

This is purely meant for fun, but it could also be a way for all of us to improve and pickup tips/tricks/methods for next year :)

I think the threadstarter should post his and then I"m sure the rest will follow :)

Mines sorta easy, in a way. In the spring, I read this arcile, Her childhood snatched, a teen girl looks forward to her quinceañera - philly-archives (http://articles.philly.com/2015-03-18/entertainment/60216708_1_brutal-home-invasion-6-year-old-brother-birthday) , which was quite moving. In short, a family in Camden NJ (itself one of the worst cities in the US), had a break in where the intruder attacked the girl, and when the 6 year old brother came out he was killed. Beyond tragic. I remember the story to some extent, but 3 years later news stories tend to fade from my memory. Anyway, in reading the followup article I offered to shoot her quinceanera for them, pro-bono.

It went great, stylistically myb not my best, but I captured alot & got the chance to experiment a bit. This was a week after Kyle Root posted about his first attempt at a cinematic look and I thought to myself(that morning in fact), try using the Sony VG900 more on this, with its interchangable lenses. Typically its my backup to my Z5U. So I went for it. It came out great (relatively speaking), the Mom totally appreciated it, as did the family. The kids are incredibly strong, taking after their mother. I know it looks like whes happy and laughing alot early on, but she really wasnt. Her Mom said she was glad she was happy and laughing a bit as she wasnt sure how she we be that day, so I made sure to include all the footage of it I had. The 1:09 clip is mostly how it was, understandably. At the Blessed Mary scene, the girl broke down for a full 3:15, one of the most tragic things Ive seen, definitely the saddest Ive shot.

Ambers Quinceanera on Vimeo
Ambers Quinceanera Reception on Vimeo


Gave me a whole new perspective on what we have in life, and how the little things brides can be upset about are petty (I had one very upset with the DJ uplights were blue not amber. Oh the irony). That said, a true wedding favorite would be this one:

Laura & Jonathan Wedding on Vimeo

Worked with a great photog who was nice in giving me a quick moment for a shot before/after getting his (he respected the slider:)

Sure I'll play. Here's one of my favorites this year. I like that they had a donut truck to at their wedding and the readings during the ceremony were unique.

Church Landing // Erin + Pete // Meredith, NH // Water Side Wedding on Vimeo

It's interesting seeing different shooting styles, I am following a weddingchannel on vimeo and it's flooded every day with new videos, if I have time I always watch a few which is good to get new ideas.

About my favorite wedding video, when do you know you have good material for a video? That's when you have a awesome location, meaningful speeches, a second shooter and a American tradition wedding :) I had one this year from a American/Belgian couple in a beautiful city and shot it together with a member from this forum, I normally always shoot alone. I wish I could do US tradition weddings every week, they are so much easier to shoot, especially the ceremony and their speeches sound epic, even the way they speak sounds like in a movie. :)

Here it is, has been posted here before and was shot on a ax100, rx10, gh3, gh4, a blackbird, some tripods and a monopod.

https://vimeo.com/136085870

^^^ My favourite wedding film of this year too, as a second shooter!

I'll play. Here's a re-edit of my 5th wedding film. This wedding was shot in the Lake District at a beautiful venue, and was a private affair with close friends and family.

I re-edited the film with commercially licensed music for my website, and I am pleased with how the re-edit went.

Laura + Aaron on Vimeo

Hoping to have steadicam shots in my next wedding film of the year in 2016... I think it'll really raise the production value... here's to 2016!

I can't wait to be able to watch all of these (and more, hopefully).

My favorite isn't perfect, but, I'm pleased with the quality (other than the first dance, which should have been better). I shot most of the day by myself - which is going to be very important going forward. Last wedding I checked and I used about 90 seconds of the 15 minutes that wasn't my two cameras I run.

I was also pretty happy with the music/pacing/edit.

15 minute "wedding film" (I sell it as the one for the B&G to watch over and over)
Dawson and Morgan's wedding film on Vimeo

And the 5'er

Morgan and Dawson's Highlights on Vimeo

OK, I'm faily behind - I've still 18 edits from this seasons to do, and another 5 weddings before the year is over.
Don't think this will be the best of 2015, but it's up there as best so far.

My edits are all chronological - I refuse to throw in the 'shot of the day' from the first frame to hook people - so you may need to bare with it and let the day unfold as it unfolded for the B&G themselves.

David and Amy Wedding Highlights on Vimeo

Every time I make a wedding film, I try to make it better than the last. I am never fully happy and am always balancing deadlines with creative satisfaction. But the challenge and desire of wanting to striving to improve is what keeps me fully invested and interested in wedding videography.

My most recent video is therefore my favorite. I was waiting on the Bride's approval before I could post it, which is why I didn't include a link in my OP. I shoot on the GH3/4 and use a slider and Ronin and various monopods. Most of my lenses are primes in this video.

Chloe and Elliot: Zing on Vimeo

I haven't watched everyone's yet, but I really like how Daniel avoids some of the stereotypical and oftentimes obligatory wedding shots and yet still manages to tell a very great story. I also have enjoyed the image quality of Noa's and some of the "swish" transitions. Noa: since we shoot on much of the same gear, I'm curious what shots in this video are from the ax100.

Thanks for posting these! Can't wait to see more.

Well, here's my favorite of this year..Had a blast with them....reception was a bit of a challenge because of the djs lights, but I think it worked out at the end.
Gianluca & Francesca -July 11, 2015 on Vimeo

Shot all on canon 7d...slider,steadicam, with some twixtor.

P.S Noa, how did you get your company name in the vimeo player box? Thanks

how did you get your company name in the vimeo player box?

That's an option you have with the pro account on vimeo, I switch to a plus account recently because I couldn't see the value of the pro account for 3 times the cost of plus and it looks that the videos where my logo was included still have the logo now, it's only not possible anymore to add that on new videos I upload.

I'm curious what shots in this video are from the ax100.

3 clips from the ax100 in there, at 03:33, then at 03:57 (the zoom you see was done in post) and 05:18

My edits are all chronological - I refuse to throw in the 'shot of the day' from the first frame to hook people - so you may need to bare with it and let the day unfold as it unfolded for the B&G themselves.



Out of curiosity, is there a big reason why you refuse to throw in the shot of the day?

My favorite of 2015 is this one.

https://vimeo.com/143167357

Well, here's my favorite of this year..Had a blast with them....reception was a bit of a challenge because of the djs lights, but I think it worked out at the end.




I love that veil shot! I'm guessing you had some help with someone dropping it as you did a slider shot and then reversed the clip?

Hi all. Ian - great thread, thanks for starting.

I've been shooting weddings for about 12 months in Australia, and my favourite so far this year is below. Our season is obviously reversed and coming into summer here, so lots more to edit.

I tend to shoot solo and I found this wedding was a really solid advancement on my earlier films, most noticeably because it's the first where I used a slider. Any thoughts/feedback obviously welcome.

Sarah + Joel / Gunners Barracks on Vimeo

I love that veil shot! I'm guessing you had some help with someone dropping it as you did a slider shot and then reversed the clip?

Hi Ian,

Yes exactly! But I was on a steadicam.

Out of curiosity, is there a big reason why you refuse to throw in the shot of the day?

I guess I've always felt that this was a tactic - and a marketing technique to grab attention of potential new clients.

I always tried not to follow that trend for the sake of getting more business, but preferred to give my clients a copy of the day unfolding as it actually unfolded.

When you see the bride in the dress for the first time should be th same as the first time on the day.

Why show the finished article, and then show the clips of getting ready.

It just never made sense to me.

But perhaps it's just preference.

I guess I've always felt that this was a tactic - and a marketing technique to grab attention of potential new clients.

I always tried not to follow that trend for the sake of getting more business, but preferred to give my clients a copy of the day unfolding as it actually unfolded.

When you see the bride in the dress for the first time should be th same as the first time on the day.

Why show the finished article, and then show the clips of getting ready.

It just never made sense to me.

But perhaps it's just preference.

Great! Thanks for giving some insight in to how you work!

This is one of my favorites from this year:

Kirsten and Hunter's Wedding Film on Vimeo

It was raining most of the day so we didn't get too many exterior shots, but we were able to find some interesting shots inside the church. The reception was held in an art museum which was a great place to shoot.

Nice work, Michael! You definitely captured the spirit of their day, and I appreciated their vows at the start of the film too!

Looking forward to seeing more films from everyone!

This is my favourite... Jaryd + Sophie - Highlight Film on Vimeo

I enjoyed it because not a lot about this day was "typical".

I shoot solo, I keep gear to a minimum, this is my 5th year I believe, hopefully not too many to go! :)

Stevan, I ilke that one a lot. Nice job!

Stevan, great job! What did you use to grade your footage?

Yeah nice job on the color grading. Pretty ballsy edit, do you know the couple, or do you edit all your weddings that way, or did you talk with them & they were ok with letting you do what you wanted with it? Seemed like a bit of an eclectic wedding so it fit pretty well.

Out of curiosity, why did you say " hopefully not too many to go! :)". Are you not all that into wedding videography?

Thank you Daniel!

Michael Silverman, it was graded using the Premiere CC15 Lumetri Panel, I tweaked one of the film stocks from memory. Grading is one of those things I'm not very comfortable with and feel like I could spend months learning to do properly.

David, what about it do you find ballsy, out of curiousity? It was one of those fortunate occasions where the couple let me have free reign with it, we talked about some of the elements prior - ie their wedding was going to be a suprise (to most of the guests), it was going to be upbeat and fun, she was going to wear a black dress, venues were going to be somewhat industrial. They wanted it to be "them" and they didn't want it to be formal. So we agreed early on that the edit would be upbeat and fast paced.

I have my days where I would like to move on to something else. I enjoy it less and less as time goes on, I work more hours then I would like, so it's a constant battle between business and family life. Perhaps I'm overdue for a break to re-charge, another topic for another day :)

Didn't mean it in a bad way, just the style & moreso the use of multi-scene edits, if I'm describing that right. Having the lower half one shot, with the upper half split 50/50 of two other scenes. It's a really cool effect, and way to edit, I was just wondering if the couple was expecting the edit that way. Maybe all your videos are that way so they knew it going in, although in your post you seem to mention they were pretty chill about letting you do your thing. It was meant as a term of endearment nonetheless.

Yeah, I can imagine how much time in editing you must do with coloring/editing on just that video alone. That's something that bugs me in that couples never seem to understand the hours spent on the back end, Try and enjoy the wintertime off & offseason, and get right back at it next year if you want. Cool video tho.

Thanks David. Yeah I know you didn't mean it in a negative way, I was just wondering which bit you thought was ballsy, I thougth perhaps you meant the pacing :) The split screens etc, it's something I've been doing for a while so they expect it, good way for me to cram more stuff into a short video, crop particular shots and make them usable, etc :)

My favorite this season:


Amanda and Mark on Vimeo

Honorable mention goes to one where we got to go up in a helicopter for photos. Perks of the job!

This is my favourite... Jaryd + Sophie - Highlight Film on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/143229386)

I enjoyed it because not a lot about this day was "typical".

I shoot solo, I keep gear to a minimum, this is my 5th year I believe, hopefully not too many to go! :)

Enjoyed it good job there, may I ask what your gear is as you say you keep it to a minimum

Hello everyone!

Can't recall the last time i was here but its nice to see some familiar names still here.

Here is our favorite film via Canada!

Cheers!

Anne + Kiel | Feature Wedding Film on Vimeo