Wedding Video Intro - Needs Critique

[Travis Cossel]

In my quest for constant improvement (much like Patrick), I've done something different with the intro segment of the wedding I'm working on. The clip is only a minute long, and features the intro for the main feature. At the end the intro transitions into the rehearsal segment and ends abruptly there.

Here is the link to download the Quicktime file:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/19gwjp


The download link is at the very bottom of the page that loads (right next to the flashing red arrow).


I really, REALLY want some honest and hard evaluation from you guys, so please don't hold back. Thanks!

[Simon Denny]

I really liked it.

Maybe the intro credits could have been cut down.
Just go with DreamBIG productions Presents and then into the movie.

But this is only my opinon, i like short intros.

The pan to reveal i liked and was looking forward to what was comming next.

Keep up the good work

[Chris Harris]

Yeah, I agree with Simon, I think the two DreamBIG titles are redundant. Also, I think the names fly by a little too fast. With those minor issues out of the way, I like the music, the graphics, and I really like how you transitioned to the actual video. I thought that was great how the building was used in the background graphic without being too noticeable, I had to go back and watch it a couple of times to see how cool it was. Overall it looks great!

[Noa Put]

I would use one intro line like " a....production" and skip the "present" part.
I did like the way you used an existing background which you couldn't recognize at first, it was surprising to see it was all windows from a building when you started moving the camera.
The pink overlay colour you used did cover the photo's as well, I think it looks nicer if you could make a mask so the pink colour would not cover the photo's and feather the edges so it doesn't look like the photo's just have been put on top of the pink background. Hope you understand what I mean, I don't know what program you used but in after effects for instance it would be fairly easy to make these masks.
Only I didn't like the pink you used because it was quite hard, I would have gone for a softer colour. Maybe using a vignette to darken the corners would be nice as well so the attention would be drawn to the centre of the picture.

[Travis Cossel]

Thanks for the comments guys. The intro was edited using Motion and Final Cut Pro, but mostly Motion.

I had the two opening titles mostly because there are three soft parts to the opening music, and I wanted the 'real' intro to start with the more dramatic part of the music. I didn't want to much music at the beginning with nothing happening onscreen. However, I do see the redundancy in the titles. Maybe there's another way to approach the softer section.

The 'photos' were actually just screen grabs from video. I did mask them with feathered oval masks, and set the video layer effect to "hard light" and reduced the overall opacity as well. My goal was to have the image blend into the background and feel like it was part of it. From what you said I'm not sure I accomplished that.

I'm glad you liked the building as the background. Music aside, that shot was my first decision on the opening, because it leads right into the rehearsal. The tricky part was finding a way to make it blend but not get totally lost. Way too many hours trying things out, lol!

I'd love to hear any additional comments, as well as more comments from others. Thanks everyone!

[Jon Anderson]

I thought it was very nice Travis.

I liked the screen grabs you used for the B and G. The left-to-right, right-to-left thing was a nice touch as well. And I didn't think it started slow at all. I thought it nice and evenly paced and built on itself well.

From the Constructive Criticism Department: I'm not as big a fan of the opening shot with the building. Coming from the flowery imagry you transitioned from, it seemed like a harsh juxtapsition -- a shift from soft and colorful, almost dreamy, to a big ugly monocrome building panning down to a not-so-pretty row of chairs with a POW flag in the background.

Maybe if you put some kind of gradually decreasing sofening filter on that shot, so it doesn't seems so stark...? Or, perhaps, used a more organic shot, some flowers perhaps, to transition and then go to your establishing shot right after that?

I love this shift towards opening credits...I've started doing it myself and it's a lot harder than I imagined it would be to pull it off in a creative interesting way. Hats off to you for a great stab at it.

[Travis Cossel]

Thanks for the comments, John. I agree that the building shot is an abrupt change in tone. However, there really wasn't that much to film up there. It's basically a roof patio at a hotel. You had chairs, umbrellas, a few trees, and the flags.

Speaking of which, that's not a POW flag. It's the Idaho state flag. I don't know whether to laugh or . . . well, laugh I guess at that one.

As much as I wanted to hear the brutal truth from you guys, it's a bit of a relief to get fairly positive reviews. I showed the clip to my wife last night and she didn't like it at all. I'd been working on it for about 12 straight hours, and I genuinely thought it was working pretty well, so that was quite a shock.

Any females out there want to take a shot at this and tell me what the other side thinks?

[Lisa Shofner]

From my point of view. I liked the intro itself. I have to say that I did not like the the whole first 30sec of black with the music and your two logos. I think that part could just be removed. Keep a few seconds of the music before you fly in "Hitched" and fly in your logo first.

I also thought that the bridesmaids and groomsmen pictures were just too small. Are there any photos/frames of them in groups of 2 or 3 that you could stack vertically next to the names? That would give them a bit more face time.

I like the concept and the music though. I thought the pink was nice, maybe a bit too bright though. That could be unsaturated a smidge and look a lot more plesant, i think.

I like the tilt down off the building, was a little jumpy but that could have been my player doing that.

Hope this "girl perspective" helps.

[Travis Cossel]

Thanks, Lisa!

I'm still debating what to do with the first 30 seconds. I like the music for the tone it sets, but I'm not set on having my logo or name in there. I really just used that text because it's similar to what you usually see at the start of a movie.

The smaller pics of the girls and guys have been bugging me as well, since the B&G pics were larger. I think I'm going to play with their size some more. The wedding party wasn't happy during the photoshoot, so I didn't get much from them.

I already toned down the pink, so thanks for confirming that it was a bit too hot (even if her garter was that vibrant).

There is a jitter when I panned down from the building, so it's not your player. That shot was meant for a tripod, but my tripod had a malfunction and I couldn't use it that night. I had to go handheld for the shots. Bleh. I tried to start the clip a few frames after the jitter, but then the building image didn't quite match with the freeze frame I sent to Motion originally. I chose the lesser of two evils. Some of the jump you see will actually be masked by the letterbox too, so that should help.


Thank you so much for your "girl perspective". Usually I rely on my wife and I was just really thrown off this time because she didn't like ANY of it. Thanks again.

Any other girls out there???

[Lisa Shofner]

RE the jitter: here's an idea that has worked for me in the past.

Slice the clip right at the jitter, then drop a dissolve between the two new clips. This may help with the jitter jump to smooth it out a bit. It has worked for me at times where something got bumped or a frame was bad and had to be cut out.

[Travis Cossel]

Great tip, and that's what I've already done there. I'm using a transition from the freeze frame to the video clip to hide as much of the jitter as possible without it going funky looking with the dissolve. Thanks again!

[John Moon]

Travis:
I liked the intro...good work!
John