Okay so everybody here seems to be putting up trailers and I just couldn't resist sharing this one. Great couple to work with, gorgeous locations, and we had a steadicam, super 8 cam, brevis 35mm adapter and three videographers to top it all off.

http://stillmotionblog.com/?p=94

Comments are always appreciated.

Patrick
www.still-motion.ca

Wow! Made my proud to be Canadian!

I didn't like the music though. I think I wedding should have a brighter, more uplifting soundtrack. I would also like to hear something different, rather than something recycled. There are some pretty good tracks out there for very little money.

Good job.

Patrick, that focus rack from 8mm to the bride was rather ironic as I'm guessing that's an adapter shot :-) It's pretty easy to see why your services are in such high demand there. Is there a name for a travelling, low angle, steadicam (up the aisle) dutch shot?

Looked good Patrick! I can tell you're loving your stedicam! My only suggestion... slow down! You'll find that you'll get better shots if you move more slowly with the stedicam.

Looks good man.

Wow! Made my proud to be Canadian!
I didn't like the music though. I think I wedding should have a brighter, more uplifting soundtrack. I would also like to hear something different, rather than something recycled. There are some pretty good tracks out there for very little money.
Good job.

Thanks Curt.

I agree the music may not be the best choice but I'm a little backlogged so I only had 30 min to put this together, so I had to be quick to pick the footage, pick the soundtrack then do the color work and what not. While it isn't my fav, I do think it works.

Patrick

Patrick, that focus rack from 8mm to the bride was rather ironic as I'm guessing that's an adapter shot :-) It's pretty easy to see why your services are in such high demand there. Is there a name for a travelling, low angle, steadicam (up the aisle) dutch shot?

Dennis,

I had a couple adapter shots in there. The one was from the super 8 cam like you suggested, and the other was the tight shot of the rings with the light going across them. Interestingly, those seem to be the uninanimous favorite shots from our crew. With three guys I was able to have Tony using the brevis all morning so there is some wild stuff there and quite a bit as well.

As for the steadicam shot, not sure if it has a name, but I have been working quite a bit on perfecting that shot as I really like the feel of the different angle while sweeping across the couple.

Patrick

Looked good Patrick! I can tell you're loving your stedicam! My only suggestion... slow down! You'll find that you'll get better shots if you move more slowly with the stedicam.
Looks good man.

Thanks for the comments Darrell, and yes, I am absolutely loving the steadicam. While some of the longer tracking shots can be tough, the small reveals, pans and other artistic filler is really so easy with such a nice setup and a proper balance. It really does half the work itself, the rest is just seeing the shot.

I'm curious what you mean by 'better shots' by slowing down. I mention that because I have always heard from experienced steadicam ops that slower is actually much tougher to shoot, and from what I have found, going faster seems to be quite smooth. Do you mean, the actual look of the footage is better when moving slower or do you find your shots smoother when going slow?

Patrick

I'm curious what you mean by 'better shots' by slowing down. I mention that because I have always heard from experienced steadicam ops that slower is actually much tougher to shoot, and from what I have found, going faster seems to be quite smooth. Do you mean, the actual look of the footage is better when moving slower or do you find your shots smoother when going slow?

Slower shots are a lot harder to get but the actual footage is a lot better looking IMO. Panning around a couple during their first dance at a slow speed produces a lot better video that an really fast circle for example. Try it out next tim you're on a shoot.

Ah, I see what you mean. To add to the challenge, zooming in two thirds of the way plus walking around them slowly, preventing any bounce and keeping your framing- its a tought thing to do but gorgeous when it works. There is a shot near the end of the trailer where I cut across the dance floor while keeping the cam on them and half zoomed in. For that type of dance, I think the speed worked, but for a slow dance, I think the slower shot would really be killer.

ahh... lovely..
loved it..

Pat email me when u get a chance and i'll send u some info on tweaking the camera to suit the pace for any particular shot

Seems people are focusing on the shots, and not the camera settings which are as important as the shot itself. In turn, when u get into post, those settings should make light work of your ideas

This is particularly important for "steady" type shots or slowmotion.
Also with steadicams, there are many more types of shots possible than just the standard reveals and chasess.. consider a steadicam being a dolly on a track... consider what is possible with a dolly...

Pat your work shines, but it seems many viewers arent seeing the possibilitis of these units.
I dont use a steadicam because the market here doesnt call for it, but drop me a line and we can chat

cheers
P

yep, seriously amazing as usual Patrick! i feel like taking my trailer off a previous thread now :)

i'm a big fan of dramatic, moody music BUT i can see why alot of people wouldn't go with it for a wedding, i guess the client has seen your previous demos and if they like it, do it again!

good glide-work...i did my first glidecam-heavy wedding yesterday, but no great shots like that...oh well, i'll keep trying!

also, loved the light falling on the rings shot, very nice.

Thanks for the comments Richard.

We seem to get clients who absolutely love the slow dramatic feel (lots of Thomas Newman) or they prefer something slightly faster, but it is probably a 4:1 ratio in favor of the dramatic. I think the steadicam lends itelf well to that slow moving style, but at the same time, it also works well for the faster clips too. These slow ones seem easier for me to find and put together for some reason, it is more of a natural edit for me- whatever that means.

I've got a couple same-day edits coming up where I get to use some faster music, so it will be a challenege to see what we can do with that.

Patrick

wow that is one heck of a video! Well done. Patrick, was your steadycam handheld? It should be but I was figuring out how u did the dutch angle along the church aisle.. Did u balance the camera with a tilt or ...??

Hi Sean,

Most moving shots were done with a steadicam flyer, which has a large sled plus an arm and vest.

For some shots where I move with a tilt or go in low mode, I will quickly rebalance and the steadicam is awesome because of the precise adjustments that you can do quicky. However, everything in this clip was done with a normal balance as the bridal entrance and first dance didn't leave me time to adjust. The tilt as she is coming down the aisle was more because the photographer was beside me and wouldn't stop following the bride, so I had to quickly find a way to cut her out. I'm happy with how smooth it came out given that the balance was off and it was atilted shot though.

Patrick

Hi Patrick,
As always bravo!!! The sweeping shot of the feet on the dance floor? How did you do this? Do you have a low mode for the flyer. Also how many cameras did you shoot with and how many were manned or womanned not to offend anyone ;)

Jason

AWESOME, great stuff.... Thanks for sharing!

Jason,

The feet shot while they were dancing was done with the steadicam upside down, in other words the cheap low mode. As the balance is so good on the unit, doing tilts while moving or going upside down is pretty smooth as well. If I take the time to rebalance it a bit, it gets even better.

Thanks for the comments Jon and Jason.

Gosh I love to see good work.

When I watch an emotional video like that I really like to see shots of the brides face with different expressions. I used to be a portrait artist (oil-pastel) and am amazed at how powerful the face is as a visual element.

Patrick I tend to agree about the comment on the music. While I personally like that track the bride was so happy and smiling it didn't feel like the best fit. That said- this trailer has some of the most visually impressive shots I've ever seen in a wedding video, and I'm not easily impressed.

PS Was that the A1 (60i)

Thanks Dana and Glen.

Point taken about the music. I basically went through my iTunes playlist for highlights music and lookd for something short and that would fit, this was the first thing I came across so I went with it. Now that have seen it many times, I do think a lighter track could have helped. Now for the highlights, since there is so much great footage, I am carefully weighing my options in terms of a song choice.

Everything for this was shot with the A1 (60i), I think we had four different ones that day. The brevis and A1 is a killer combo. I'm starting to use that for preps more than anything else. I have a plan to try 24F on the brevis shortly, just haven't got there yet.

Patrick

Patrick
Did you take the flyer off the arm and handhold it to get that low? Also did you hold the sled at the same time>

Jason,

Barring the wedding that I forgot the steadicam arm at home, I always use the unit with the arm. Boy did I pay the price in terms of fatigue when I forot the arm though.

I'm not too sure about your other question. Are you asking if I had my hand on the post while moving? If so, thats a tough one to answer. Ideally, I stay away from the post as much as posisble and often when balanced right it needs very little guidance.

By turning the unit upside down one hand is on the handle and the other holds what? i use the glidecam 4000 so to turn it upside down my other hand would need to be on the sled which would be at the top now. With the smooth shooter I would not be able to get low enough to do a feet shot so it would have to be done handheld without the arm. I hope this explains more? I really like that shot!

MAN! Those shots are so nice looking! Very powerful stuff. The coloring is amazing.

Thank u for sharing the tricks Patrick. Many of us here will really benefit from your willingness to share. I have to try that low mode shot sometime.. like Jason said, I'm also wondering how to keep theleft hand steady on the post of the stabiliser.

Ryan,
Thanks for the comments. I've been spending more time on my color work and I have 6 or 7 batches of filters (like a photoshop action) which seem to be working very well. All of the color work was done in Final cut with native filters too.

Sean,
For me it seems to be a matter of getting that near perfect balance and getting some constant speed/inertia going with your moves. For the aisle shot, and all of the first dance shots, once I take the first couple steps and get going, I can almost fly the unit with one hand and that is where it gets really smooth. The arm on the steadicam is unbelievable too.

I guess I don't understand the dislike of that music choice. I thought it fit very well with the shots and the edit. Must be a case of personal preference.

I was wondering how you got the shot of the ring with the light passing across it. Was that an accident or did you have someone pass a light over the shot?

My favorite shot I think was when you glided past the couple as they were dancing. That shot seriously looks like it came out of a movie.

Great work, Patrick!

I for one thought the trailer music was 100% kick a$$ & suitable, different; albiet suitable nonetheless; gotta love Hanz Zimmer!

The music fits this perfectly (IMO) as a wedding should be dramatic.. Similar to movies when they capture those heart felt moments, the scences choosen work perfectly with the track.

Great work and great inspiration.