DreamBIG Promo - Must Watch!!

I just finished up our brand new promo trailer (3 minutes & HD), and I think it's something special. Check it out and let me know what you think!

DreamBIG Promo Trailer on Vimeo

[Jose Dominguez]

Travis,
You did an excellent job. Congratulations

[Travis Cossel]

Thanks, Jose. I had a lot of fun putting it together. Thanks for watching.

[John De Rienzo]

Thats not bad at all, some nice shots there.


Cheers.

[Ger Griffin]

Very very nice stuff indeed.

'Im lincoln' is great to edit to eh.

[Randy Panado]

Awesome video, love the feel of it!

Just curious, what cameras are you shooting with again?

[Travis Cossel]

Thanks, guys. The cameras are Canon A1's, and the wide shot of the first dance from above was with a Canon HV30.

Oh, and I've been waiting a year to get to this project and use that track. I love the power behind it, but it has a quietness to it as well.

[Vito DeFilippo]

Hey Travis,

That was great! Some very nice stuff, well shot, blah, blah. You know you're good. I think there was one shot lacking contrast. I'll let you choose which one, hehe.

A few suggestions from what hit me:

I would slow down the zoom in of the titles. Too fast for the feel.

Opening four shots are awesome, except the end of the first steadicam shot, which is shakey. I find the cutting into the moving steadicam shots (:36-:40) a bit jarring.

The ring dropping at :53 happens too close to the start of the shot, so we don't really get it. Can you slip it over a bit?

The steadicam shot along the top of the wall is awesome.

I would slomo the dip at 1:18.

The low shot of the aisle at 1:41 doesn't work for me. Too much ugly rug and floor. Do you have a better frame? Cause it's a nice idea.

Unity candle shot is great.

Steadicam shot at 1:58 doesn't work. Not such a great shot. The preceding one is great (behind the bride). Could it go longer? It cuts away a little awkwardly during the boom down.

The dancing at 2:06 looks a bit lame cause of the room. Looks like an amateur band in some guy's basement. Do you have a better one?

The final shot is genius. Very jealous of that one...

In general, nice feel, looks great and high end, though you've been watching too much StillMotion. Well done.

[Travis Cossel]

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Hey Travis,

That was great! Some very nice stuff, well shot, blah, blah. You know you're good. I think there was one shot lacking contrast. I'll let you choose which one, hehe.

Already fixing it before you mentioned it. Thanks, though. The problem with that shot was the area where the bride was getting ready had no lighting (really odd for a salon), so the original shot is really flat and has little color to it. Difficult to match it with the other shots that have decent lighting and bright colors on the walls from the lighting. Adjusting the contrast did help, though.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

I would slow down the zoom in of the titles. Too fast for the feel.

I totally agree.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Opening four shots are awesome, except the end of the first steadicam shot, which is shakey. I find the cutting into the moving steadicam shots (:36-:40) a bit jarring.

Thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

The ring dropping at :53 happens too close to the start of the shot, so we don't really get it. Can you slip it over a bit?

I originally had it that way and then changed it. I'll change it back and see if that works better.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

The steadicam shot along the top of the wall is awesome.

Thanks. I was SOOO hoping I would pull that shot off. It had been raining that day so I had to walk quickly over uneven soggy terrain to get the shot. I couldn't believe I pulled it off.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

I would slomo the dip at 1:18.

I'll try it and see how it looks. A slo-mo version won't fit the entire dip in that time space, but it might look good. I was trying to minimize the use of slo-mo. Worth trying it, though.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

The low shot of the aisle at 1:41 doesn't work for me. Too much ugly rug and floor. Do you have a better frame? Cause it's a nice idea.

I have another shot where she is halfway down the aisle and fills the frame more, but I liked the idea of seeing the doors open. I can see your point, though.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Unity candle shot is great.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Steadicam shot at 1:58 doesn't work. Not such a great shot. The preceding one is great (behind the bride). Could it go longer? It cuts away a little awkwardly during the boom down.

I'm curious why this shot doesn't work. Is it too short? Is the scenery not impressive? I was trying to use it to bridge from the ceremony to the reception, and then use the dancing figures to bridge to the first dances of the couples. It's not needed, but when I used just the shot you mentioned it felt too long.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

The dancing at 2:06 looks a bit lame cause of the room. Looks like an amateur band in some guy's basement. Do you have a better one?

Unfortunately I don't. It just wasn't a great room to shoot in. Really low ceilings, lighting in all the wrong places. This was probably the best shot from the dance. On a side note, the band was really, really good.

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

The final shot is genius. Very jealous of that one...

Thanks. I shot it several ways, and the shot I used was actually a mistake at first. The desk was uneven, so the ring rolled out of frame when it stopped, but I thought that was cool. The shot right before it was the shot I originally planned to end the video on, but I liked how the ring shot gave me a seamless transition to black, and I liked how it ended the video by "leaving the screen", much like the first shot "opens" the video. Sometimes we just have to get unlucky to get lucky, eh?

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

In general, nice feel, looks great and high end, though you've been watching too much StillMotion. Well done.

It's true I draw a lot of inspiration from StillMotion, but I hope my trailer doesn't scream "StillMotion". I watch LOTS of other studios and draw inspiration from them as well, but I'm always trying to make things my own and put a different spin on what inspired me.

I think sometimes people see a steadicam shot and immediately think "StillMotion" simply because Patrick and his team are such a aces with the gear. But the truth is that there are many places around the world shooting the exact same steadicam shots and they know nothing about StillMotion. I'll take the comment as a compliment, though. d;-)

Thank you SO MUCH for the detailed response. I really appreciate it!

[Josh Laronge]

Looks great, nice job. I hope it finds you lots of future bookings.

[Travis Cossel]

Me too. Thanks, Josh.

[Warren Kawamoto]

In my opinion, the promo does scream "Stillmotion" but you have a lot of great shots! However, "The Island" soundtrack has been used too many times already.

There were two shots that made me go "whoa"....
The first was the dress hanging from the sprinkler/smoke detector above the doorway. I would never hang anything from the sprinklers! Imagine the disaster if it did go off by accident.

The second shot was at the end where you had a closeup of the groom's genitals in the foreground and the bride looks up and thinks... "am I going to dream big?"

Sorry, I couldn't stop giggling at that one....
But good job overall!

[Peter Chung]

Very nice promo, Travis! The only thing missing, for marketing purposes, is your contact information, particularly your URL so potential clients can see more of your work.

[Richard Wakefield]

Travis, i hope you don't mind me saying this but i was so pleasantly surprised by this...not seen work of THIS class from you...i mean this is just excellent! beautiful imagery and colouring and great camerawork (gliding, exposures, details etc). Nothing tacky, or forced, out of this.

shame to see so many copies of ring shots like this nowadays, but hey, you did it well so we'll let you off :)

[Travis Cossel]

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

In my opinion, the promo does scream "Stillmotion" but you have a lot of great shots! However, "The Island" soundtrack has been used too many times already.

There were two shots that made me go "whoa"....
The first was the dress hanging from the sprinkler/smoke detector above the doorway. I would never hang anything from the sprinklers! Imagine the disaster if it did go off by accident.

The second shot was at the end where you had a closeup of the groom's genitals in the foreground and the bride looks up and thinks... "am I going to dream big?"

Sorry, I couldn't stop giggling at that one....
But good job overall!

Why does it scream "StillMotion"? Is it the steadicam work or something else? I'm torn because it's an honor to be compared .. but at the same time it's not like I watch their stuff and try and go duplicate it. I want to make sure I'm on a different path, so if you could clarify what makes you feel this way I would really love to know. Thanks!

Regarding the music, I know it has been used a lot. I actually picked it out last year, but just didn't get the time to do the trailer until now. It's been used a lot since then but I had already fallen in love with the music. d:-(

About the dress shot, it was NOT my idea to hang it up there. It was the photographer's (my wife, lol) .. and I voiced my concern but on a stressful wedding day there's only so much I challenge her creativity ... d;-)

The other shot .. well ... I never even saw it that way ... funny how different minds/eyes can work. I just hope I can look at the shot in the future and not think of that, lol.

Thanks a lot for watching and for the comments.