Clip to share.... Feedback is appreciated.
 

So i normally like to do some kind of "pre wedding shoot" before the wedding. I noticed that some people are interested by are to shy to go out in public.

I bought a background screen and a very basic light kit with future hopes of being able to shoot some couples inside the comfort of their home.

Here's my first attempt... Shot with friends for some practice. Please let me have some feedback. I already have pointed out a few issues.

1) I did my best to fight the shadows and expose for the person, but sometimes it didn't work. I used to 500W lights on both sides of the screen and a 250W with umbrella for the subject.
2) My white-balance was off in some clips. Since I was exposing for the subject I had to adjust my iris as such. Never kept it constant. I had to hide the shots with a filter so it didn't look to off.
Justin and Jeanette on Vimeo

Steve

Hi Stephen,

I like your creativity on this clip. Quite original. I thought it was a little long and maybe that's only because of the couple, they didn't seem to really want to talk about their relationship.

Thanks for sharing..nice cutting!

This was great because it was entertaining. It didn't really reveal much honest information about the couple, but it did show their personalities well .. and also showed off how they enjoy having fun with each other. Lighting was pretty good and editing was great. Thanks for posting!

Than was fun to watch, I am sure fun to make. Liked the angles, tightness of some shots, editing, it's a bit long I thought, cutting it shorter would help, IMO.
Thanks for sharing, great idea to work with B&G in a studio!
Also looks like is a great product for for a wedding anniversary to offer.

I'll echo the "a bit long" thoughts, but I really liked watching that. The lighting was very good and the fun shots of the couple (especially them dancing in the BG of the other person) were hilarious.

Hey Stephen,

I'd also suggest that shortening this clip will make it punchier. With the funky cutting you've done already if you could get it to about 1 or 1.5 minutes it'd really rock.

Pull out the great soundbites and ditch the rest - go for less is more. Not sure if it's just my headphones but the talking only seemed to be in the left channel.

If you really want to rock this clip up, a band called Quietdrive does a cool version of 'Time After Time' - the version you've used is a bit too musak.

With a bit of improvement and refinement you'd really be onto something here, it's a great idea to offer to couples.

Cheers,

Matthew.

I asked them as friends to help me out and they stepped up to the plate. I'm not sure exactly if they knew what they were getting themselves into. They had a great time. But they were a little different to work with than newly-weds. I plan on making it shorter based on the suggestions on this thread. Thanks...

I guess when your dealing with a couple that has been married for a few years the same kind of "spark" that were used to seeing with B&G's just isn't there. They did have great time though, and thats one of my goals.

Plan on going shorter. I already had a few shots that I put in there while I was "scrapping the bottom of the barrel". Never thought of offer something like this for a wedding anniversary. Thats a good idea. These two are my friends and filmed it right in my living room (not much of a studio :-) but it works....

It's funny.. I showed this video to a friend who is in marketing and he said it was a bit to long as well... I thought he might of been full of it. other's eye's are a crucial step to creating a great product.

Matthew... thanks for sharing a different version. My goal is to go back in and cut it a little shorter to the song you provided and see how it goes. I used a condenser mic on a stand and it was plugged into one channel on my camera. I couldn't really notice with my speakers. I'll try to fix that as well

Ok... as everyone mentioned I shortened the video by about a minute and some change... Please let me know if it's better then the original. I was trying my best to keep the flow. not sure if i was able to accomplish my goal though.

Justin and Jeanette on Vimeo

matthew... I loved the song you mentioned and wish I would have known of it sooner. To keep on timely schedule I had to reuse the other version :-(

Hey Stephen,

It's definitely better so well done. I still think you could cut another 30 seconds or so out of it. I'd suggest going through it again with an eye towards being absolutely ruthless. Cut out any unnecessary pauses and lines in the talking. i.e. When the guy says "It was a hot day <pause> but I was in love" or something like that. Cut the "hot day" line and just keep the "in love" line. There's a few other lines like that that could be tightened up.

The last 'strangling' bit, for me, takes away from the love a bit.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Matthew.