Ebony and Jason

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A complete newbie trying to learn something I enjoy doing for the church and make it something I can put my own mark on with weddings. I have learned almost all of it from you here with the amazing video's you all produce here. I hope I have at least gotten the basic steps down. thanks for looking. I am a 2x retiree and I do slideshows as a gig. got to keep the mind at work. video is a very interesting world and learning camera's well lets just say it is not an easy task, so my hats off to you guys for such amazing video. this was not a paying gig I simply need the experience and to build a portfolio.

Ebony&Jason on Vimeo

[Clive McLaughlin]

Hi Godfrey,

You won't enjoy this. Basically theres not even much point in talking about technigue and editing etc until you address the quality issue. Either your renders settings or your camera - or maybe both. This quality is well below par.

Maybe after that, there won't be TOO much else to talk about. But seriously, come back with better quality and we can take it from there.

But hey, considering your circumstances - just keep enjoying it. I can see you are being creative and I'm sure you will enjoy the learning process as we all have don e before you!

[Godfrey Rose]

Thanks. your comment is exactly what I am looking for. learning from scratch has its advantages and since I am not under the gun I can go at a pace where I can learn properly and from those who can teach me correctly. I will also check the settings of both to see where I may have gone wrong. thanks again Clive

[Adrian Tan]

Hey Godfrey, thanks for posting.

Opening butterfly shot was jaw-dropping. I don't think I've ever captured that sort of shot under wedding conditions.

Here's some feedback. Please don't let it dishearten you; we're all in the same boat here (well, most of us) in terms of just trying to improve our filming. Please feel free to ask questions if there's anything you're curious about.

* Opening montage: nice images, but some distracting shake, especially when tilting up was involved. It might be that you were fighting your gear. So sooner or later, to increase your game in this respect, you may have to invest in a proper video tripod. I've got a feeling you were using a monopod or a photography tripod.

* Similar sort of comment applies to something like the chandelier shot at 4:05. Nice shot, and nice idea to capture this sort of detail. The only minor criticism is the way you panned across left to right, then readjusted right-to-left at the end because you'd overshot. Again, this might be a gear issue. Good tripods have very responsive heads that will stop when you want them to stop. But I guess there's also a lesson to just be particular about this sort of thing if you weren't already conscious of it.

* 2:46: doing up dress: missed focus on this shot. This might be partly a state of mind thing. I can empathize with filming a wedding for the first time, and being stressed, and everything feeling like it's happening all at the same time, and your mind being everywhere. But sometimes you just have to calm yourself and make sure you get the shot right. In this case, I think you had enough time to check that focus was correct. And, incidentally, if you're not already in the habit of adjusting focus manually, it's definitely better to use manual focus than rely on auto, so that you rather than the camera is directing the audience's attention.

* 3:09: white pillars. Okay, people have different ways of judging what is "correct" exposure, and you had very difficult conditions. Dark skintones, and bright white objects, and probably an older camera that didn't allow for capturing a wide range of contrast.

One way to think about exposure is in terms of detail; something is overexposed or underexposed when you've lost detail, and you ideally want detail in all parts of the image, or else a setting that maximally captures relevant detail. Another way is more subjective, paying attention to what "just looks right", or to what blown-out whites or crushed blacks feel too distracting, or to what skintones look natural.

Sometimes, you have to try to adjust the environment to make the contrast acceptable (closing window blinds, or taking bride and groom out of direct sunlight into the shade). And sometimes you just can't fix it, and it might be better not to take the shot at all!

In this particular shot, I've got the feeling you could have salvaged more detail in the pillars without crushing out the skintones (if not, perhaps better not to take the shot). I've also got the feeling you might have used your camera's autoexposure. But you can't always rely on your camera's to judge correct exposure, since it'll just take an average reading of everything that is in frame. So if you weren't already doing this, it's better to get into the habit of adjusting exposure yourself, according to your own sense of what looks right.

Anyway, hope some of that was helpful. Thanks again for posting!


Edit: One more random thought. Godfrey, sometimes, on a wedding day, you have to be a little bit pushy, to get the job done properly. This may include: if you miss a bride's dress being done up, asking them to "re-enact" it. Or fighting for best position to shoot from. Eg: if guests block you, giving them a polite tap on the shoulder. Obviously, you'll want to be as discreet as possible and inconvenience people as little as possible, but at the end of the day you're doing a job the couple have asked you to do, you're preserving precious memories, and you're seeing not just for yourself, but for all family/friends who can't be there, and for future family yet to come.

[Roger Gunkel]

+1 Adrian, great informative post!

Roger

[Godfrey Rose]

Thanks Adrian
I am encouraged by your comments. I have much to learn but I do have a passion for it. I am sure it will not be an easy road but anything worth doing never is. I am working with older equipment but don't wish to purchase new until I am certain that I can do the job as it requires. 2 dvx100b camera's couple tripods shoulder rig and mono pod and yes you are correct at the pillars I was on a monopod. it was a nerve racking day but I got through it. cant take credit for the opening shot it was a graphic I purchased. I do also think my rendering is off as the footage is pretty clear and crisp. working with Vegas pro 11. I have cs5 but that program has a very steep learning curve I'm sure I will tackle that one of these days. I must say I was a bit overwhelmed but in time I will be able to over come that as well. thanks for the encouraging thoughts

[Greg Wilson]

Godfrey. Actually, I thought what you did was really nice. Yes, it could have been a better rendered format, but you had a wonderful shot at about 1:40 with the bride to be crying, and the slow-mo was perfect. One thing I would mention is concerning the pans and tilts...and it's already been addressed. If you pan or tilt and then have to correct the movement, edit it out. Don't show a left-right movement, and then a correction back to the left. Cut to something else before the correction. The other point would be that you don't have to always have to move the camera. Hold the shot steady and let people move in and out of it, or just have a static shot. Constant pans get old after awhile. That said, I've seen a lot worse (and have no doubt done it myself! :}). Keep up the good work and the enthusiasm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm shooting a friend's daughter's wedding (alas, no money and luckily I have a day job) in a few weeks, using 2 Panasonic X920s, and will post some of it after the editing. Once again, you've got some good stuff, so keep on keepin' on!
Also, I've used Vegas and Premiere Pro, and, to be honest, I thought the learning curve was steeper with Vegas. Dive into PP for awhile, and I think you'll find that it's pretty intuitive and straight-forward. At least you have a couple of NLEs to play with.

[Godfrey Rose]

Thanks Greg, learning the equipment and learning the software is quite a task but one that I am honestly enjoying. long road ahead of me but I am confident I can get it right one of these days. As I review it I completely agree with everyone's comments on it. I am working on it and will try my best to get it right. I will give pp a try and see where it leads me. But I still thank all for the comments and pointing me in the right direction. I have learned so much here. thanks again