My First Wedding

My First Wedding - would love your feedback! · November 3rd, 2014, 09:18 PM

Hi everyone,

I recently shot my first few weddings and have been busy editing. I've just completed the first film, and would love to get your feedback. Please be honest with your feedback (remembering it's my first ever wedding), as the only way I can progress is to learn from others who are more experienced.

I've kept video private as couple are yet to see it (allowing changes if needed), so please use the password 'dvinfo' to watch on Vimeo.

Look forward to your feedback!

Thanks,
Mitch

Adrian Tan · November 3rd, 2014, 10:59 PM

Charming video, Mitch. Wish I could consistently produce work like yours.

The things I particularly took note of -- loved what you did with the shoes, and thought your static portrait shots of the bridal party were really powerful. Both were original ideas. Liked your music choices also.

Main things I'd question -- some of the stabilisation, which seemed to make the image warp noticeably, and maybe some of the jump cuts at the reception.

Any other small imperfections, like shake in some shots, underexposure in the evening, I'm sure you're aware of yourself. And if you get a slider/steadicam, that would add more shot variety.

One more thought: looking at your reception coverage, and pulling focus from table decorations to dancers, I sometimes felt that maybe you didn't need to. Maybe just having one object in focus, and letting the background be blurry, isn't always a bad thing.

By the way, is that celebrant's name Fiona? I think she's in the video I posted as well.

Mitch Phillips · November 3rd, 2014, 11:26 PM

Hi Adrian,

Thanks so much for the feedback - really valuable being so new to this!

In terms of the reception, I found this really tough as I didn't have a B Cam to sit on a tripod for speeches, and therefore couldn't get live reactions shots. This lead to some jump cuts. Also, for the cake cutting and first dance, I dropped frames quite a lot to avoid the messy photography flash. Any advice on filters that can do this? I read that New Blue have a filter, but given I did this wedding FOC, I couldn't justify the cost.

As for rack focusing at reception, I DEFINITELY agree that less is more. It wasn't until I got into the edit that I saw how many shots I was doing this for, when I should just look at solid shooting which would give me more variety of shots. I found I was quite short on shots for the reception overall.

Celebrant's name was Sophie, but maybe she's got a twin who's also a celebrant! :)

November 3rd, 2014, 10:59 PM	#2
Adrian Tan Trustee Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 1,149	Re: My First Wedding - would love your feedback! Charming video, Mitch. Wish I could consistently produce work like yours. The things I particularly took note of -- loved what you did with the shoes, and thought your static portrait shots of the bridal party were really powerful. Both were original ideas. Liked your music choices also. Main things I'd question -- some of the stabilisation, which seemed to make the image warp noticeably, and maybe some of the jump cuts at the reception. Any other small imperfections, like shake in some shots, underexposure in the evening, I'm sure you're aware of yourself. And if you get a slider/steadicam, that would add more shot variety. One more thought: looking at your reception coverage, and pulling focus from table decorations to dancers, I sometimes felt that maybe you didn't need to. Maybe just having one object in focus, and letting the background be blurry, isn't always a bad thing. By the way, is that celebrant's name Fiona? I think she's in the video I posted as well.

November 3rd, 2014, 11:26 PM	#3
Mitch Phillips New Boot Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 23	Re: My First Wedding - would love your feedback! Hi Adrian, Thanks so much for the feedback - really valuable being so new to this! In terms of the reception, I found this really tough as I didn't have a B Cam to sit on a tripod for speeches, and therefore couldn't get live reactions shots. This lead to some jump cuts. Also, for the cake cutting and first dance, I dropped frames quite a lot to avoid the messy photography flash. Any advice on filters that can do this? I read that New Blue have a filter, but given I did this wedding FOC, I couldn't justify the cost. As for rack focusing at reception, I DEFINITELY agree that less is more. It wasn't until I got into the edit that I saw how many shots I was doing this for, when I should just look at solid shooting which would give me more variety of shots. I found I was quite short on shots for the reception overall. Celebrant's name was Sophie, but maybe she's got a twin who's also a celebrant! :)