opinions on my 2014 recap "why get video" Montage.

Ok so I'm definitely no Morgan Freeman and the video quality suffers from using already compressed h264 videos but, just want some strangers opinions if this is horrible or what lol

Why Wedding Video? on Vimeo

[Vince Pachiano]

The Video is fantastic, the camera movement is fluid, the editing is great, everyone is having a awesome time...
BUT, I think it fails on your basic premise - "why get video"
I need a better reason than: "Why get video? How could you not!"
To me, that is a very weak argument to start your presentation.
I'm a Bride, deciding whether to budget a great deal of money on a Video, there are tradeoffs to be made.
Convince me that I need a video. I've seen your montage of OTHER people, but why do I need a video?
How about preserving memories, documenting the day, sharing with loved ones that could not attend,
re-living the day on your anniversary, etc.

One other small nit-pick, I realize that the exterior shots are establishing shots in a Wedding Video,
but for a "why get video", I think they should come later in the video. You spend 30 seconds of the
video showing buildings that mean nothing for me, the Bride. Hit me hard with the B&G to start.

[Adrian Tan]

Hey James, stunning visuals, great music choice. great editing.

Here's some nit-pickings (apologies in advance):

Don't know about the shots of houses at the start. Church exteriors and interiors, sure. There's a grandeur and solemnity there. But why include shots of random houses, or do you feel it introduces the prep sequences that follow?

The guy talking (presumably yourself?) has nothing to identify him. Is he the business owner, a former groom? I think, as a viewer, I felt I wanted to know.

This is really nit-picking, but there's a mismatch between what he first says and what you first show. He talks about expressions, sound, emotion, but all we've seen so far is architecture, and I don't know if we ever do hear the sound.

Last thought... One thing that's slightly disturbing is the feeling that all weddings are the same. So, for instance, there's a series of shots of brides walking down the aisle where the shots look fairly similar. I'm not quite sure why I find the similarity disturbing, and I don't know if anyone else would feel the same way... Certainly there's a structural logic in editing it in the way you have -- "Now, I'm going to show a variety of shots of this part of a wedding. Now I'm going to show shots from the next part of a wedding." Etc.

[Mike Watson]

I would cut your on-camera parts, particularly your first "why video, why not" bit. The rest is ok (the VO) but you on camera comes off contrived.

Agree with the others, don't start with architecture, I can hear people clicking away after each empty church shot.

End the video at 3:00, fade to black. Stop while you're ahead.

It's good!

[James Palanza]

Hey thanks everyone. Yeah I find it really difficult to be objective when I'm looking at my own work sometimes so this is very helpful.

Good points about the exteriors as well as the speaking parts. I was thinking of just making it a V/O as well. I guess I'm not a very good actor eh? I thought it would be easy since I wasn't really trying to fake anything lol

Thanks again.

[Tim Paynter]

A beautiful job, brother! You make a VERY GOOD impression on air. Your role might be better shown (since you are short on words) by standing by one of your cameras or having it in your hands. I think the reason to get video is to capture moments for your lifebook, moments not even an attentive photographer can get. Who wants to miss this once in a life day, it goes by fast, but you can have a record of that memory to cherish.

The buildings at fist left me wondering, but then they set the scene for something more, something bigger, and then we see that grander part, the union of two beings. I am not as troubled by the fly over shots.

Keep doing what you have been doing, clearly great work.

[James Palanza]

Originally Posted by Tim Paynter

A beautiful job, brother! You make a VERY GOOD impression on air. Your role might be better shown (since you are short on words) by standing by one of your cameras or having it in your hands. I think the reason to get video is to capture moments for your lifebook, moments not even an attentive photographer can get. Who wants to miss this once in a life day, it goes by fast, but you can have a record of that memory to cherish.

The buildings at fist left me wondering, but then they set the scene for something more, something bigger, and then we see that grander part, the union of two beings. I am not as troubled by the fly over shots.

Keep doing what you have been doing, clearly great work.

Kind words! Thank you very much.
Yeah I certainly didn't want to make the video about me, and keep the focus on the clips.
Always great to have the internet to allow us to get a wide range of opinions.

[Tim Paynter]

The video is about you and your abilities. You show your abilities, but we are not sure if "you" in the video is a professional actor or the real deal. Of course, after your description here, we, the community know who the "you" is. The public would not know that from the video.

[Chris Harding]

Hi James

You had my attention, all of it, and then you stopped talking and you lost me! I know you like the exterior shots and spent a lot of time getting then BUT the words talk about emotions so show emotions ..you have plenty of footage there to use.

Serious if I was the bride I would have been VERY impressed if you had cut out the middle section with no narration and just joined the front and back together with appropriate shots ... the gurus say that you have 30 seconds to make an impression and if you link the two narrations/live audio together I think you will have a killer presentation ..... As already said make sure they know the good looking guy is actually you! Maybe hold a camera and then put it on your lap and tell them "I'm James Palanza and I could be your wedding videographer" then keep the narration running from start to end ... you can impress the pants off them in under 60 seconds actually and they won't be able to resist watching until the end cos they HAVE to hear the end of the story.

Stunning shots but simply too many for a busy bride! Wow them and get out of there and do it fast with high impact and you have a winner ... !!

Chris

[James Palanza]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi James

You had my attention, all of it, and then you stopped talking and you lost me! I know you like the exterior shots and spent a lot of time getting then BUT the words talk about emotions so show emotions ..you have plenty of footage there to use.

Serious if I was the bride I would have been VERY impressed if you had cut out the middle section with no narration and just joined the front and back together with appropriate shots ... the gurus say that you have 30 seconds to make an impression and if you link the two narrations/live audio together I think you will have a killer presentation ..... As already said make sure they know the good looking guy is actually you! Maybe hold a camera and then put it on your lap and tell them "I'm James Palanza and I could be your wedding videographer" then keep the narration running from start to end ... you can impress the pants off them in under 60 seconds actually and they won't be able to resist watching until the end cos they HAVE to hear the end of the story.

Stunning shots but simply too many for a busy bride! Wow them and get out of there and do it fast with high impact and you have a winner ... !!

Chris

Chris great insight. I'm going to make a cut like that and see how it looks.

Thanks again everyone. Your posts have provided me great feedback I'd have never gotten otherwise.

[Tim Paynter]

Please post your new cut when you get it. You are teaching us all with your questions and your humility.

Ohh, and I forgot to mention, I always thought weddings were boring...I am thinking, maybe I should punt on the run and gun stuff and look for pure bliss!


Tim

[Craig McKenna]

Apple meets Wedding Video.

Was this the idea? I laughed hard at the comparison, and the acting, which was fantastic in that sort of sense!

Reminded me of Johnny Ive, "Why a wedding video? Because we live and breathe weddings. We catch every seamless edge of your dress, every moment, every detail, and to do all this, we have to go back to the drawing board every, single, time."

I don't know, but the film is really good.

I think the others watched it with a more professional eye to that of my own. I just took a lot of inspiration from the tilt shot that you had of the bride at the window in silhouette. I thought that one second clip was epic. How she stood so still, and the pan moved up her dress, I thought that was a really vintage, classic pose that would be a timeless moment of video and something that I would look over again and again if it were my own wedding film. I also loved the movement that you created during the moment that the bride was walking down the aisle and how you captured everything in focus. Great work.

Thanks for sharing.

[Dave Partington]

Honestly James, it's easy to be critical, harder to do yourself.

I think you've done a great job with this and I really don't see anything that I'd want to change other than maybe (and only maybe) cut down the middle a little, but a bride watching for the first time will likely be glued to it at that point or have turned off already, so I'd probably leave it as-is.

Personally, I like the starting with the buildings. It sets the scene. I like the on-camera stuff, they are both at the right time in the video too.

Seriously, well done.

I'm shooting what is hopefully my very last wedding next weekend!

[James Palanza]

Dave, thanks a bunch. Yeah I'd like to do more business video work but that market seems a bit difficult to break into.