OK, critique my Save The Date

I'm holding my breath and ready to receive the blows. Aside from my focusing issues please help me get better by telling me what you might do differently, and lo and behold if there's anything that is likable, let me know that too! : )

Note: everyone was about an hour late so the sun was much lower than I would have preferred, and I forgot I had an ND filter on my Glidecam. I'm ordering a loupe today, if only I can decide which one will work best for weddings...I don't want to glue anything to my cam, and I don't want to spend as much as the Zacuto runs for.

password: SR2011

This is a password protected video on Vimeo

[Lisa Maxwell]

ISO 160

It was cuz I had iris wide open. So many "duhs" for me.

But honestly, the one telling me to "go to the library" seems quite rude. There are many of us out here who aren't super heroes. When things like that are said, it just discourages others to show their work and to improve.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Listen if you get everything right! you will not learn! you have to make mistakes to move on! so you said yourself you know whats wrong so move aside any fear of doubt! get out there and film. Passion comes in many ways and i filmed today for a wedding saturday and still got something wrong after 5 years of filming. Now i made a note it wont happen again.. or will it... go get em Lisa

[Noa Put]

I warned you in a previous post that a DSLR is not an easy tool to work with, it's actually much harder to get right then with a "real" videocamera. It does not forgive and your clients will not forget if you get it wrong, it's that simple.

It's like Jeff said, it's the basic filmmaker rules that make it all come together, right focus, exposure, whitebalance, sound and good framing are the most important ones. Once you can master all these with your camera, then you can start doing the fancy stuff. A story is ofcourse equally or sometimes even more important but you need to get the basics right to support that story.

First off all: focus, that you MUST get right, pratcise, practise, practise. Don't even think about focus pulling in the beginning, just set the focus right and start filming, use the camera zoom function to see if you have it right.

If you are on a tripod, always check if it's level.

Exposure: like Stephen said, film in a lot in different circumstances (dark or light places) and compare right after that on your lcd screen to see how your exposure looks like, after a while you will know when you are right. A dslr doesn't have the right tools to verify your exposure like a real videocamera so you need to learn by experience.

Whitebalance: use the presets from the camera, I use those presets when there is no time for a real white balance and i use a expodisc now which gives me good results but on a rear occasion I get a totally off whitebalance with very green images and I"m sure i"m doing something wrong which I haven't figured out yet, but all the other times I get accurate color. So if everybody looks like the hulk I use the presets :)

Framing; only thing i can say about this, look at a lot of videos from known videographers, that's the best learningschool. But even there you sometimes find guys bending the rules and applying weird framing on purpose; f.i. showing people from the shoulders up in the right lower corner with a lot of "air" in the rest of the frame. That can work if you do very creative stuff and forces you to look at the image in another way, just look at the latest work from still-motion and you know what I mean. that's something you only can think of after you managed to get all basics right. Fancy stuff comes last :)

And most important, don't give up, even if these comments don't sound very positive, eventually you get there, (we all had to crawl first before we could walk, even guys like still-motion :)

[Noa Put]

the story and flow wasnt bad at all

I never said that the story was bad Steve, I said that all the material was there to make a fun story. In that part I don't have to tell Lisa what to do better because I"m sure she can teach me more then I her.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Noa that comment was not for you!!! It meant cheers for the link to view the video demo!!! steve

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Lisa Maxwell

But honestly, the one telling me to "go to the library" seems quite rude. There are many of us out here who aren't super heroes. When things like that are said, it just discourages others to show their work and to improve.

I"m sure Jeff doesn't mean to be rude but I can understand what he means. I can see you have passion for your work and that's all you need to get started in this business, showing your work to a larger community always requires a lot of courage and is the first step to succes, (you also know what they say about opinions, their like ***, everyone has got one. :)) but it is you who has to take with you what you find important.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Steve Bleasdale

Noa that comment was not for you!!! It meant cheers for the link to view the video demo!!! steve

oops, sorry :)

[Steve Bleasdale]

No worries pal....

[Jeff Harper]

"The one" who mentioned the library? My name is Jeff.

Lisa, you can't learn everything you need to know about video in this forum. In another thread it was suggested, albeit a bit less direct, that you should start doing more of your own legwork, and I second that.

Posting videos is fine, and asking for feedback is great, we all do it, but why were you holding your breath if you didn't expect direct responses?

Steve, she needs honesty at this point. Otherwise she'll go nowhere.

[Johannes Soetandi]

Hey Lisa,

Can't see the video somehow (it's set to private).. so I can't comment :)

A lot of useful feedbacks in this forum. I learn a lot myself from this forum. And I agree you can get a lot more from other places too.. consider workshops around the area or shoot a film with a friend who understands basic of DSLR. Or even watch some DSLR movie basic that you can get (eg. Don Bloom's).

Hope you dont get discouraged. We all learn from mistakes. Everyone has and always will make mistakes.. its all part of the hard learning process. And DSLR its not an easy tool to work with anyway.

But its not something impossible. All the comments here are something you can definitely work on. And if you find DSLR is too difficult for your style of shooting.. its not the end of the world.. you can still use standard video camera like many in this forum do. And you can still produce a great movie.

I'm sure your next one will be better! :)

[Chris Bryan]

Jeff, it seems to me that you always criticize on this board pretty harshly. The rule I try to go by is to point out one positive element of someone's work for every two negatives. You out and out slammed Lisa's work and all but suggested that she think about a different career path. There's a place for criticism and it can be helpful, but its also helpful to encourage others.

[Adam Gold]

Jeff's right. The thread title asks for a critique. Lisa says she's ready to take the blows. Not knowing something as basic as framing is fine if you're in sixth grade but not if you are charging money. Imagine if you are going in for plastic surgery and the surgeon picks up the scalpel and says, "What's this?" No matter how much enthusiasm the surgeon has or how much she just knows how you should look when she's done, you're outta there.

Going to the library doesn't mean you're a superhero. It means you're an adult and a professional.

If you ask for criticism you should be able to take it. It is not rude when people give you what you ask for. And they are not required to "encourage" you to deliver bad work. This forum is not a basic film making course. And smiley faces and exclamation points do not substitute for knowledge and thought.

And none of this means we do not wish you well. We do. This is not something you learn overnight. Keep working at it, learn the tools of your craft, keep trying and posting and develop a thick skin like everyone else. Passion is a requirement but it's not the only requirement -- it is most assuredly not "all you need." You must learn the tools and skills and basics. It's fun to just jump in a buy a lot of cool gear -- we've all been there. But it's not the most productive way to master your craft.

People used to do apprenticeships for years before they went out on their own. Maybe there is something to be said for that.

[Jeff Harper]

Adam, I'm glad you showed up.

Chris, if you did not notice her video was not a personal video. It was a save the date trailer. You realize this will be shown to possibly hundreds of people and likely many potential clients, right? Do we lie to her? Did you see the video? A save the date trailer has huge potential to hurt or help her future prospects. This is crunch time for her, more than she may know.

When I started out in the business, I took my first wedding to the best, highest priced studio in the area (at the time) and asked them to critique it. They did, and I was devastated. But I got over it.

When people ask for feedback, it's usually praise they want, and that is how it has always been. I listened, applied what I was told, and then I read everything I could get my hands on about filmmaking. This is how I learned to frame shots for example. I am not a high-end or even an exceptional videographer, I shoot average, decent videos, that is all. And I have made more than my share of mistakes.

If the original poster is being paid for this work, what should we tell her? What does she tell her clients someday when things go wrong and footage of the vows is bad? That they hurt her feelings? Have you never had an unhappy customer? I have. They can be downright nasty.

I sent a film school graduate out to do a wedding last year and he screwed it up so badly that it has cost me multiple bookings and the friendship of two photographers. Has that happened to you? This is the idea behind my comments. If Lisa were sharing a cute video sample of ducks at the lake, asking for feedback, my response would have been markedly different, if I had even bothered to comment at all.

Lisa will be fine. She has a huge desire and persistence. She may be offended if I was a bit direct, but she will get over it. She will start reading up, hopefully, on some basics, she will watch movies and televison with a more critical eye, and start to understand those things we all need to do to make a watchable wedding video.

[Johannes Soetandi]

Thumbs up Jeff. Well said. :)

Not all judges are nice in Masterchef, US Idol, Britain Got Talent (Okay I watch too many reality shows). But the key is not to take it personally and take what you think will benefit you.

Back to topic.... Lisa, you're there? :)

[Garrett Low]

Lisa,

Don't get discouraged if you hear comments that you feel are harsh. Just remember that the opinions that really count are those of your clients. That's not saying that there aren't good comments that you're getting. Just don't take anything too personally.

On that, here's a couple of things to think about. Keep in mind that I do not shoot weddings so I'm coming from more of a movie perspective but a lot of what I've been seeing from wedding videos is that they are going toward more of a movie direction at least of late.

So of course the basics of focus and exposure are the first things to get down. Those are a function of a couple of things. Understanding the operation and limits of your camera, and understanding basic physics of light. Basically remember that it's better to underexpose than over expose. Once a picture is blown out there's no going back. Set up your camera so that it doesn't crush the blacks in the camera. I know it's always fun and impressive to shoot something then plug your cam into your TV and see those dark over saturated colors. But for what you're doing, which is creating an overall viewing experience, you want to retain as much information as possible so that you can create the look you want in post. If you are doing a Same Day Edit then you need to adjust to minimize your workflow, but for most situations you'll want to shoot to give you the most latitude. And here's the harsh reality part, if you can't figure out how to focus and set exposure correctly in about a month you're not practicing enough. Yes I did say practicing. You should be shooting everything at this point to get all the practice you can get.

Framing basics - The rule of thirds is a good starting point. Generally you want your talent's eyes or any other main feature to be in one of the intersections of the lines created by the thirds. For beginners, don't leave too much head space or negative space above the subject's head. Also, leave more room in front of the subject or the direction they are looking or moving. If you watch movies you'll notice that this is how most scenes are framed and almost every scene that is happy or light (in feel) is framed this way. Leaving less room in front of the person gives an anxious feeling and is usually used to build suspense. Watch a thriller or scary movie. On those tight close ups it's better to cut off the top of the head than the chin. Just an industry standard. Also, try to watch for strange frame lines. Cutting off women at their breasts is usually not done unless you're making an adult movie, and it usually feels odd when you cut a subject right at their crotch. There are a bunch of other strange frame line that you'll pickup as you go along.

Once you get that, there is a lot more to framing than just the rule of thirds. The main thing is to always frame your shots to portray the subtext that you want to present. Use angles, placement of the main subject(s), and the background features to tell your story. An example would be your shots of the two outside when they were blowing bubbles. What message did you want the bubbles to to tell. Are they to give the impression that the couple are very playful? Rather than just shoot them wide playing in the bubbles, maybe have them framed to show the features of their faces as he blows the bubbles, Showing her smile as he blows the bubbles might portray him blowing kisses to her and the bubbles represent each of his kisses. I know it may sound funny but those are the things that separate a good story told from just a bunch of pictures stuck together.

Your editing could also be tightened up. There are a lot of times where you cut to them getting ready to move, then they start moving after you see them. It creates a break in the flow and feels off. You can see this in the first scene outside when the are walking toward each other. They're standing for a split second before they start walking towards each other. Try cutting to the scene after they've started walking and see how much difference that makes. Believe it or not, moving your cut 1 or 2 frames makes a huge difference. Read In the Blink of An Eye for a good primer to editing theory.

That's just a couple of things to look at. As has been mentioned already learning this takes time and if you tackle a couple of things every time you shoot, you'll get around to all of it in about 20 years. Like others have suggested, go read some books, start with the basics of cinematography and lighting. Then move on to editing and more artistic theory. Watch a ton of movies. And not the crap that's usually put out by Hollywood that you see in the theaters. Watch Citizen Kane, 8 1/2, City of God, those are just some movies with great camera work and there's a lot of shots you can steal from and use in your projects.

And, IMHO the best way to learn is to shadow someone who has the skills you want. Work as their assistant, then go out and practice what you're trying to learn. Don't wait until the day of the shoot to try to achieve a shot you've never done before.

So there's no magic formula, only a lot of studying, hard work, and fun as you perfect your craft. Most importantly, make sure you keep having fun. There are a lot of easier ways to make money so if your not having fun go find another thing to do. For every person who thinks you've created a master piece, there will be two who think you've just created the worst thing since Plan 9 from Outer Space (if you don't know that one don't watch it!).

-Garrett