First wedding Friday...I NEED HELP!!!

[Jon Neely]

I have been using with my Dvx100b, the Fs4, Works great, it is now 3 years old, and the battery is weak, I run an extension cord to my main position and run it off of 110, Then only use the battery when i need it(reception, pre shots, after shots) only getting about 45-50 min max out of my battery, allways shooting with tape for back up. I have yet to ever lose any clip, but you can never re-do a wedding so better safe than sorry. I run 2 cams the DVX and a pany gs320. The 320 is usually set up for an alter shot only during cerimony, un manned. I use that for the audio, geting it from the PA, If not i will run my sure wireless from the Groom, to a mini disc recorder. Now that i have a more fluid tripod head and legs Libec LS55, I will have alot more usable Big Camera shots vs. When i shot everything on a mono pod. Hope that helped out. The Fire Store is a dream to use though, Bring it on all my jobs, and is worth every penny.

[Joseph Hutson]

Anybody else have any input on the FS-4 Pro HD? Thanks!

nearsightedproductions.com

[George Mentzer]

I agree with attending the rehearsal. I had a wedding last month, and found a great spot to place my tripod mounted camera, only to find a candelbra with lit candles there the day of the wedding. I ended up sitting on the first row, they had nobody sitting in either first row. It made for some interesting wedding angles, but it turned out great. You need to always be looking for a plan "B", "C" and maybe "D" when filming weddings.

[Mark Von Lanken]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hutson

...what camera angles have proven to be best? The bride has got what I think, a pretty good idea. She thought of having 1 camera(a Z1U) on the backside of a stage inside a church, and have the other camera(an identical Z1U) on myself moving around.

For sound, what would be the best approach? Plan A.) I had thought of having the wireless mic clipped on the pastor, to pick up audio from the Pastor, Bride, and Groom. While having a shotgun mic on the camera moving around...what do you guys think? Plan B) Should the shotgun mic be on the camera close by the threesome and the wireless mic on the camera moving around? If I did take the approach of "Plan B," I would have two choices of audio of the threesome to choose from. Also do I really need a "crowd mic" anyway? I don't see why...

Any other things you wish you knew before your first wedding?

Hi Joseph,

I watched some of your online clips. You have a lot together, especially for your age. The biggest difference with weddings and the other projects I have seen you produce is this. At weddings you have one chance to get it right. You don't get a second take. You also don't have total control of the lighting, surroundings and talent. At weddings you have to go with the flow and think on your feet.

Is the wedding going to be at your church? When moving around during the ceremony you must consider of the rules of the church. If it's your church and they do not have any "rules" then it gives you some creative freedom, which is great, but at the same time you do not want to be a distraction during the ceremony.

If the ceremony is at your church you probably have a good soundman. They probably have a CD recorder for the sermons. Bring along a blank CD and ask the soundman to burn a CD of the ceremony. That way you will have an audio track to mix in with your edit. This will be especially beneficial since you don't have all of the audio gear you need.

If you plan on doing weddings on an ongoing basis, you really need to invest in some of the audio gear that has been talked about on this thread. Getting a CD of the ceremony can bail you out this time, but for the future, you do not want to rely on having a good soundman with a soundbooth equiped with a CD burner.

If it's not at a church with an good soundbooth and soundman, then you really need to consider using at least two wireless mics, one for the Groom and one for the minister. Then if there will be any readers or musicians you need an auxilary recorder for them. If all of the music is from CDs, then just get the CD once the ceremony is over.

I'm down in Tulsa and if you want to use one of my backup wireless mics and a mini disc recorder, I'm not using them Friday. I have a wedding on Saturday in Catoosa at the Skelly Lodge, which isn't too far from Claremore. You could just return them then.

As far as portable hard drives, I use the nNovia. It is larger than the firestore, but it has a six hour battery and it also lets you mark scenes, which is a huge time saver.

For weddings, I would invest in more audio gear first, but for the church and sports videos, the nNovia is the way to go.

If you want to use some audio gear or check out the nNovia, just send me an email or give me a call.
Mark@TulsaWeddingFilms.com
918-258-0258

[Joseph Hutson]

You are SO kind as to offer me the Wireless Mics!!!

I would take advantage of the offer if I didn't have a couple of wireless mics myself. Thanks for your generosity!!!

What is the model number of the nNovia product?

nearsightedproductions.com

[Mark Von Lanken]

Hi Joseph,

I assumed you only had one wireless system when you said you were going to use one wireless for the minister and groom.

The nNovia I have is the QC40. I have had it for three years. In April I had it upgraded to handle HDV. If I were buying an nNovia today, I would buy the QC120 because HDV files are so much larger than DV files.

Let me know if you would like to try it out.

[Joseph Hutson]

Mark,
I checked out your website, and it looks like your business is going really well.
I wish I could get some training from you, but I think it is a little out of my budget right now.

Possibly in the future I will afford it. Looked very good! I watched almost all of the videos.

nearsightedproductions.com

[Mark Von Lanken]

Hi Joseph,

I'm sorry for the delay in responding to you. We had an out of town wedding.

Thanks for the kind words. You and your Dad should come by our office some day and talk shop.