Michael Padilla, The Becky and Chris video looks great. How are you achieving the rotating shots? What type of cam and support do you use?

Where I work they do not offer a music video like this. We only give a documentary wedding video.

I like your style. It is inspirational. Bravo.

I use Vegas. I find it to be the fastest most intuitive editor I have ever worked with.

I edit more than I shoot so editing is priority.

This is why I edit weddings in two weeks and a majority are completed even faster.

Want to edit my documentary stuff :)

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About Vegas, my friend David Perry uses Vegas; he gets it done quick and vegas seems very fast & intuitive for wedding stuff. Much more so than FCP; I'm an Apple guy so no vegas for me. But even his contract says no sooner than 6 months; plus he has an in-house editor plus himself editing.
When I first got into this business I though, ok no more than two months. That was drastically altered when I got busy, and I found out that my peers that were doing some of the best work I'd ever seen were saying 6 months. Do we all know of Jenny Leaman? She has on her contract 4-6 months, so I adopted that, and appropriately so. She is quite friendly about her advice.

Michael Padilla, The Becky and Chris video looks great. How are you achieving the rotating shots? What type of cam and support do you use?

Where I work they do not offer a music video like this. We only give a documentary wedding video.

I like your style. It is inspirational. Bravo.

Thank you, much appreciated....
(so I take it you could infact view the film without any video clipping?)

Believe it or not I am a "real" stedicam operator; a little overblown for weddings, but it gives a great cinematic/professional feel.
We are using the Canon XL2 shooting in 24P (I don't slo-mo past 60%).
And I am using the Aviator rig from Varizoom www.varizoom.com an awesome tool!!
If you check the testimonials off of the stedicam section there is a pic of my wife and I working :)

6 to 12 weeks

(I also have a blurb in my contract that says those are best efforts - should it be longer I will inform them - haven't had to yet *knock on wood*)

Believe it or not I am a "real" stedicam operator; a little overblown for weddings, but it gives a great cinematic/professional feel.
We are using the Canon XL2 shooting in 24P (I don't slo-mo past 60%).
And I am using the Aviator rig from Varizoom www.varizoom.com an awesome tool!!

I wouldn't normally want to drop 45 large on something like that but it's under consideration. I expect the answer to be yes but I'll ask anyway ...is there much shock absorption between the arms, and is it adjustable shock absorption?

I wouldn't normally want to drop 45 large on something like that but it's under consideration. I expect the answer to be yes but I'll ask anyway ...is there much shock absorption between the arms, and is it adjustable shock absorption?

Ok, between the arms... I'll answer several different ways;

1. There are two arms on this rig, they are both shock adjustable - not for shock's sake, but rather as support for the weight of the camera.

2. If you are asking about stability then I'll just say that when perfectly balanced I can run & jump and the end result is perfectly stable.

3. Lastly, if you are concerned for yourself wearing the rig; I can go 8hrs with very little fatigue; I actually prefer to use this system for ceremony coverage rather than over the shoulder... less fatigue and I can move around freely and never stop filming. Plus I have a lanc remote attached for start/stop, zooming etc. Not to mention the 7" LCD sure beats looking through the 2.5" viewfinder for framing.

Hope that helps. Also, it would be my recommendation to visit NAB this April and check out all of the rigs & stedicam gear available... talk to the owners etc... This is what we did, and we found Varizoom to be absolutly the best all-around! If you do go with Varizoom, speak to Tom Mckay (owner). Tell him Michael & Rebecka sent you... its possible he'd cut you a better deal than what you see online for this rig or something else; but don't expect too much as this equipment is the best available; expensive high grade metals, electronics & design. None-the-less you'll get amazing service that way! Good luck!

Well ...Mike. I'm a man of action. Forget NAB. I took your recommendation and bought the Aviator. I got the lanc remote and an Anton Bouer power supply.

The only thing I worry about is attracting attention. I know if I wasn't a videographer and I saw someone with one of these rigs I'd probably want to get a closer look. Have you had to deal with this problem at all?

Craig, you've nailed an important point. As the filmmaker at the wedding I feel my job is to interact with the guests, catch everything they do in a spontaneous, natural way yet be totally invisible at the same time. I'm there to record the day - not to make it happen in a certain way and certainly not to change things by being there. I'll not ask for them to 'walk this way' or to cut into the cake another time 'for a better close-up'.

Of course in the real world it doesn't always pan out like this, but the beauty of the modern DVCAM or HDV unit is it's shear capability vs its size, and it's only the attachment of a video light (so often necessary at this time of year) that blows your cover.

The B & G need assessing up front. I knew one couple that were film mad - each table was adorned with the name of favourite films, and I knew they would understand the importance of letting me quickly change position for an alternative shot, re-do that shot with the video light on this time and ask them to hold that kiss while I track around them.

But this is not the norm I find. Most couples write in utter surprise having seen the DVD. I want amazement to be uppermost in their thoughts - that tom got these shots without them even noticing he was there, or remembering him going about his business. Fig-Rigs, cranes, lights and Steadycams make this harder to pull off in a real-time event such as a wedding day.

Just my view. I love reading all yours as well.

tom.

Well ...Mike. I'm a man of action. Forget NAB. I took your recommendation and bought the Aviator. I got the lanc remote and an Anton Bouer power supply.

The only thing I worry about is attracting attention. I know if I wasn't a videographer and I saw someone with one of these rigs I'd probably want to get a closer look. Have you had to deal with this problem at all?

Craig.. Congratulations, im going to tell you something I don't tell everyone... This rig honestly helped define us a videographers; it helped separated us from everyone else. And we get unreal footage.

As far as being noticed, you'd be suprised... First of all, everyone notices... and thats fine, people come up to me all the time, and say "wow thats awesome!" or "how does it work?", and then I'll get the people at the end of the day that come up to me when I'm packing up and say "I've been watching you all day and just wanted to tell you how proffessional you are", usually when I first put on the rig, i'll here someone wisper "hey thats stedicam gear!" in excitment. It has never NEVER been a problem, people love that you are there, keep a smile on your face, interact with them & when its time to shoot, believe me they will let you do your thing.

Here's the funny thing, when you ask the bride and goom if they remember the gear that I was using, they honestly wont remember it at all. And besides, they are your clients. Same goes for shot "take overs" and having them do stuff. Look here is how I see it, the photographer gets their artistic shots, well I am an artist, I am a photographer with a motion picture camera, I want my artistic shots too. So I let them know that I want at least 5 minuets alone with the bride and groom to put to the music video. I also let them & the photographer know that I will be filming for artistic shots when he does his poses and that I might interject posing as well. This us usually acknowledged with a grunt of sorts with the photographer, but when it comes down to it, they are happy I helped out because I improved their shots (they usually, say.. Hey hold that I want a shot of that too!) Most photographers at the end of the day say to us "wow you guys were great to work with", as long as your both 'being' proffessional, you will respect each other. I have only ever had one seriously unpleasent experiance with a photographer. Anyway, If you are struggling with this and can't get your shots just move on to something else and grab the bride and groom later. Oh another great shot that you'll see well done in "linda & gil" is durring the reception, grab a waiter have him take you into the back room where they are grabbing plates, and film him as he walks from the kitchen to where he's going to serve it.

Anyhow if you have more questions i'd love to help out!

BTW, did you get the Aviator through Tom? or did you speak with Tom and mention us? Let me know how it went.