Preceremony Clip

[Chris M. Watson]

Hey Guys,

Here's a 3 act preceremony. The first part, I'm not the craziest about but after that it's pretty golden IMHO. Comments pro or con welcome.

http://www.dallasweddingfilms.net/marisa1-1.wmv

Chris W
Watson Videography
www.dallasweddingfilms.com

[Zach Stewart]

I liked the different feel. Having the actual audio with the scene makes it a bit more documentary and not a "production" which is cool. I felt like the beginning could be slow'd down while the bridal party is coming down the aisle. SlowMo during that portion and possibly a different camera angle or two instead of the same viewpoint. I personally don't get into the whole title look with "a Jack/Jill Production" and "Any Name Video Presents" I feel as if its their video and even though I shoot and edit'd the logo's and name drops need to come at the end. I know its good press but I'm not into the "hollywood trailer" type wedding videos.

I thought the audio was good at the beginning, but didn't understand the need for the ambient underneath it. I heard lots of clicks and coughing type sounds. During her actual prep possibly a change in music or something not so dramatic because it was light hearted and more upbeat footage to me.

At the same time though, I liked it. I thought its different than what most everyone else is producing and I like different. What NLE do you use? I liked the time remapping with the blowing out of the candles...nice touch.

[Jon Anderson]

Very nice footage all around. You're right it starts a little slow, but there it's hard to do much with processionals. You handled it well, though -- got everyone one in, but didn't waste a lot of time.

In the first part, at first I was distracted by what I thought was an ambient audio track. It sounded loud and distracting and often like footsteps, but it wasn't in synch with the the people walking. But liked the music track. Then I realized the two tracks were probably the same -- that you had recorded the music at the ceremony and just got a bit too much background noise.

Second act: I like the time shifting...beginning at the ceremony and then going back in time, but instead of a "few hours ago", I think it'd use "a few hours earlier."The shots throught other peoples' cameras are great. Edited very well to the music, which has nice uptempo quality to it. The split screen is nice, too, and you match the music and actual audio very nicely.

The elevator ride is a nice seguey. The speechlessness of the groom when he turns around is a little awkward, poor guy looks like a deer about to get run over by a semi, but you handle it nicely with the switch to slomo. I also like the audio of the priest but keeping the focus on the B&G. It might have been good, though, to have just a quick shot of the officiant, just so it wasn't a faceless voice...but it works the way you have it.

Very nice overall. Thanks for sharing.

[Ken Gilford]

What equipment are you using? Did you use two camera persons?

[John Moon]

Chris:
Good colors and compostion. I agree that the ambient noise needs taken out. As the wedding party enters I would do some transitional fades and might slow it down a bit. I liked the flashback.

John

[Travis Cossel]

My number one suggestion would be to get rid of all actual audio that isn't contributing to the story. I mean, at one point you are in the elevator by yourself getting a shot of a couple as you go up and I can hear the elevator and hear it beeping. To me, that's audio that I totally do not need to hear. Same for when the processional is happening. You can hear the rustle of clothing as they walk, and it just isn't helping the edit at all.

Now, for the processional part, I would consider going with black and white and slow motion. The reason I suggest this is that it will provide a nice contrast for when you switch to the getting ready and the faster music. I do like the time-remap on the candle blowing out, but you can still get creative with that too. I know you end with the processional going in slow motion too, so I'm not sure what is coming next and maybe my idea just won't work with that.

Also, there was a noticable difference between the footage from your different cameras during the processional. If possible, I would try to color correct them to look more similar. If that's not possible, then maybe that would be a good place to use black and white.


Finally, what the heck is with the photog? Is he in the Secret Service? I saw that earpiece thing and that's what it reminded me of. Maybe it was just a fancy hearing aid, I don't know, lol.

[Chris M. Watson]

Some good suggestions there. I still like the idea of having ambient sound underneath the processional. As to the volume and the sampling used, that might change.

From where I'm at these days, real time video without nat sound is just too sterile for my tastes. Even if nothing is being added as far as story, I think it adds an immediacy and atmosphere to the proceedings that would be absent if I took the ambient audio out.

I'm also very stingy with my slow motion these days. Not because I think it's a bad effect but rather I think it works best when rarely used. For instance, what's special about a bride's entrance in slow motion if the rest of the clip is slowed down as well? It would blend too much with the rest of the program, hence not being special at all. Same theory applies to filters.

Really appreciate the constructive criticism on this board and thanks for taking a look!

Chris W