New Demo

Mike Oveson · September 28th, 2007, 03:02 PM

Bill, good point. Any thoughts on how to do that in terms of the actual wedding day? Let me give you a quick rundown on how a "typical" LDS wedding day goes. The bride and groom usually have their ceremony in the morning, if they schedule far enough ahead. They come out of the temple, spend an hour/hour and a half on pictures and video (similar to my demo). Then they go have a wedding lunch. Then they'll go to the reception location, have another photo shoot, have the reception, leave. There's probably a few other Utah videographers on here, but if you can think of any way to spice that up and make it story driven I'm all ears. I have done love stories before with the bride and groom, and those are fun and can be really great. But I've not thought of how I could change up the actual wedding day.

Steven, the terrain here is awesome. Just one of the great reasons to live here.

Cara Starr · September 28th, 2007, 03:44 PM

I realize the ceremony is private, but is there any way to incorporate a few of these things:

1. Bride getting ready/arriving at the church.
2. Groom getting ready/arriving at church.
3. Bride and or groom and family or attendants entering the church for the private ceremony.
4. Crowd reaction as couple exits the church.
5. Caravan leaving church/arriving at lunch and/or reception.
6. Recording special messages/promises/prayers (that sound vow-ish) from bride and groom to use as voice over later.

I also assume that your regular length video includes reception coverage or is this also kept private?

Mike Oveson · September 28th, 2007, 05:07 PM

Cara,

Thanks for your suggestions/questions. The reception isn't private, just the actual ceremony inside the temple. Let me address a few of your other suggestions.

1-2: The bride and groom don't get in their full dress apparel as they change into completely white clothing inside the temple. But you could get some shots of the bride getting her makeup and hair done, as those are done before the ceremony.

3: Yes, you could get shots of them entering the temple. Only trick with this is that they usually don't all arrive at the same time (not even the wedding party). But it'd be relatively easy to station yourself outside and get shots of them coming in. It just doesn't have the same emotional impact of the entire wedding party arriving at a church.

4: Crowd reaction, definitely possible. In the full length form of this video (shortened for demo purposes) there were more shots of the family as the couple exited the temple.

5: Again, there's usually not much of a "caravan" as typical in other types of weddings. Most extended family members leave as their role in the photo shoot ends.

6: This suggestion would work and is a great idea. I should try to incorporate something more like this into it. Thanks.

Bill Grant · September 28th, 2007, 09:44 PM

Mike, I would also add that some natural audio goes a long way to drawing you into the couple and what they're up to. I don't come away from this knowing the couple at all. One of the benefits to capturing the preperation stuff would be to get the natural audio, comments, understanding of their situation and what the day means to them. I would almost say that in this situation that the "love story" might have to be a requirement for me. Imagine along with these great images, if you even just had them telling their story. Beforehand in the studio, nice & controlled and just overly that at the appopriate times in this video. It would be much stronger "story" wise. Good stuff. This is what we should all be doing (including me) focussing more on the B & G and their day, and what we're there for.
Bill

Adam Hoggatt · September 29th, 2007, 09:54 AM

PBS did a great docu on Mormons that may be good to use for research for those who have a high volume of mormons in their market. It gives great insight on why and how they do things like weddings. Given that it may be alot more info than you need but it's a good watch anyway. It can be seen online here:

http://www.pbs.org/mormons/

Mike Oveson · September 29th, 2007, 05:03 PM

While the intent of posting that documentary is great, I don't think it's the most objective documentary out there. Nothing wrong with doing research, it's just nice to find the best sources. If you want information about "Mormons" and how they view things I'd recommend LDS.org as a better source of information.

Bill, you're idea of having a love story intro is one I hadn't considered before. That could be a cool lead-in/expansion of the traditional video. Thanks for all of suggestions everyone. I really appreciate them.

Alan Waters · September 30th, 2007, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Over critical? Mike is changing his business name, setting up a new website, posting a new demo and asking for critique. He is being smart to ask what the demo says to others, especially his peers who might have valuable feedback for him.

Do you think he wants us all to come here to stroke his ego?

I don't know anything about Mormon weddings, or the material he has, but I know video. I'm telling him how the video reads to me when I watch it. He can either ignore my feedback, or use it as he wishes.

Cool your jets Vito.....I'm from Ireland and here we do not "stroke" egos....we tell it like it is and if his video was rubbish and I didn't like it then I would have told him so.

Weddings are mushy.....they are the Brides Day.....she is your audience and whose wishes you seek to please......what was happening was a wedding....it's about the two people.

Adam Hoggatt · September 30th, 2007, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Oveson

While the intent of posting that documentary is great, I don't think it's the most objective documentary out there. Nothing wrong with doing research, it's just nice to find the best sources. If you want information about "Mormons" and how they view things I'd recommend LDS.org as a better source of information.

I just posted that because I thought the documentary was quite good. But you're right that you could also find alot of good on their own web site.

Joshua Fernandez · September 30th, 2007, 08:03 PM

I just wanted to comment on the webpage itself. It is, and I do not mean to be condacending because my own needs so much work, rather thrown together at the last minute looking. I understand it is just started, but I'm just going to tell you my first impression. I use a T1 line, and the video did not buffer well at all. It could be due to too many hits on your site at once, I don't know, but I would recommend a pre-loader on the flash clip. The site itself just needs asthetics, I'm sure you could find yourself a graphic artist/webmaster among your friends or aqquaintances who would help you out. (We are everywhere, and we multiply if you offer to pay.) Check out some free font websites and get away from the Windows fonts. The photos you use are awesome, especially the one on the contacts page. Maybe more photos of a smaller size? A collage of them for a background, slightly alpha washed? Small things like that would bring not only the site itself, but your visitors and clientell way up.

Mike Oveson · October 1st, 2007, 08:29 AM

Josh, thanks for the comments on the site. I'll be the first to admit that I'm no graphic designer. I know it's nothing cutting edge, and I'll be changing things (or having someone else change them) when I get the chance. For the moment I just wanted to get something up for my prospective clients to see. That's not good that the video didn't buffer well for you. I haven't had any problems on my connection, though it is a 7Mbps connection. How would I go about adding a pre-loader for the Flash video? I'm sure I can research it but any help would be appreciated.

Joshua Fernandez · October 1st, 2007, 10:28 AM

It's really a simple process, on your first two keyframes of flash you will put in some script and a few graphics to be your loading animations. I can't remember the "proper" way to do it, you can find that easily enough on www.actionscript.org. My code for pre-loading was made custom for a specific loading system, and I never had luck with buffering the video. The standard preloader should work on the video, again check out www.actionscript.org (no, I am not a member, it is just a gold mine of flash info)
On a side note, how are you on a 7mbps connection? Isn't that close to T3? Non-consumer if I remember my webmastering correctly.

Mike Oveson · October 1st, 2007, 11:05 AM

Thanks for the info Josh. I'll check into that pre-loader information. As far as my connection, it isn't a consumer connection. It's two DSL lines combined and it's through my day job's business. So you are correct.

Joshua Fernandez · October 1st, 2007, 09:54 PM

Very nice way to get high speed. If you do need some fonts or graphic work for your site email me and I'll give it a try, not so good with photos but I can do the text and other graphics. Keep posting updates to the site, I'd like to see it grow.

September 28th, 2007, 03:02 PM	#16
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	Bill, good point. Any thoughts on how to do that in terms of the actual wedding day? Let me give you a quick rundown on how a "typical" LDS wedding day goes. The bride and groom usually have their ceremony in the morning, if they schedule far enough ahead. They come out of the temple, spend an hour/hour and a half on pictures and video (similar to my demo). Then they go have a wedding lunch. Then they'll go to the reception location, have another photo shoot, have the reception, leave. There's probably a few other Utah videographers on here, but if you can think of any way to spice that up and make it story driven I'm all ears. I have done love stories before with the bride and groom, and those are fun and can be really great. But I've not thought of how I could change up the actual wedding day. Steven, the terrain here is awesome. Just one of the great reasons to live here. __________________ Endless Images

September 28th, 2007, 05:07 PM	#18
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	Cara, Thanks for your suggestions/questions. The reception isn't private, just the actual ceremony inside the temple. Let me address a few of your other suggestions. 1-2: The bride and groom don't get in their full dress apparel as they change into completely white clothing inside the temple. But you could get some shots of the bride getting her makeup and hair done, as those are done before the ceremony. 3: Yes, you could get shots of them entering the temple. Only trick with this is that they usually don't all arrive at the same time (not even the wedding party). But it'd be relatively easy to station yourself outside and get shots of them coming in. It just doesn't have the same emotional impact of the entire wedding party arriving at a church. 4: Crowd reaction, definitely possible. In the full length form of this video (shortened for demo purposes) there were more shots of the family as the couple exited the temple. 5: Again, there's usually not much of a "caravan" as typical in other types of weddings. Most extended family members leave as their role in the photo shoot ends. 6: This suggestion would work and is a great idea. I should try to incorporate something more like this into it. Thanks. __________________ Endless Images

September 29th, 2007, 05:03 PM	#21
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	While the intent of posting that documentary is great, I don't think it's the most objective documentary out there. Nothing wrong with doing research, it's just nice to find the best sources. If you want information about "Mormons" and how they view things I'd recommend LDS.org as a better source of information. Bill, you're idea of having a love story intro is one I hadn't considered before. That could be a cool lead-in/expansion of the traditional video. Thanks for all of suggestions everyone. I really appreciate them. __________________ Endless Images

October 1st, 2007, 08:29 AM	#25
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	Josh, thanks for the comments on the site. I'll be the first to admit that I'm no graphic designer. I know it's nothing cutting edge, and I'll be changing things (or having someone else change them) when I get the chance. For the moment I just wanted to get something up for my prospective clients to see. That's not good that the video didn't buffer well for you. I haven't had any problems on my connection, though it is a 7Mbps connection. How would I go about adding a pre-loader for the Flash video? I'm sure I can research it but any help would be appreciated. __________________ Endless Images

October 1st, 2007, 11:05 AM	#27
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	Thanks for the info Josh. I'll check into that pre-loader information. As far as my connection, it isn't a consumer connection. It's two DSL lines combined and it's through my day job's business. So you are correct. __________________ Endless Images

September 28th, 2007, 03:44 PM	#17
Cara Starr Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Riverbank, California Posts: 32	I realize the ceremony is private, but is there any way to incorporate a few of these things: 1. Bride getting ready/arriving at the church. 2. Groom getting ready/arriving at church. 3. Bride and or groom and family or attendants entering the church for the private ceremony. 4. Crowd reaction as couple exits the church. 5. Caravan leaving church/arriving at lunch and/or reception. 6. Recording special messages/promises/prayers (that sound vow-ish) from bride and groom to use as voice over later. I also assume that your regular length video includes reception coverage or is this also kept private?

September 28th, 2007, 09:44 PM	#19
Bill Grant Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Columbia,SC Posts: 806	Mike, I would also add that some natural audio goes a long way to drawing you into the couple and what they're up to. I don't come away from this knowing the couple at all. One of the benefits to capturing the preperation stuff would be to get the natural audio, comments, understanding of their situation and what the day means to them. I would almost say that in this situation that the "love story" might have to be a requirement for me. Imagine along with these great images, if you even just had them telling their story. Beforehand in the studio, nice & controlled and just overly that at the appopriate times in this video. It would be much stronger "story" wise. Good stuff. This is what we should all be doing (including me) focussing more on the B & G and their day, and what we're there for. Bill

September 29th, 2007, 09:54 AM	#20
Adam Hoggatt Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Posts: 126	PBS did a great docu on Mormons that may be good to use for research for those who have a high volume of mormons in their market. It gives great insight on why and how they do things like weddings. Given that it may be alot more info than you need but it's a good watch anyway. It can be seen online here: http://www.pbs.org/mormons/

September 30th, 2007, 08:03 PM	#24
Joshua Fernandez Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 39	I just wanted to comment on the webpage itself. It is, and I do not mean to be condacending because my own needs so much work, rather thrown together at the last minute looking. I understand it is just started, but I'm just going to tell you my first impression. I use a T1 line, and the video did not buffer well at all. It could be due to too many hits on your site at once, I don't know, but I would recommend a pre-loader on the flash clip. The site itself just needs asthetics, I'm sure you could find yourself a graphic artist/webmaster among your friends or aqquaintances who would help you out. (We are everywhere, and we multiply if you offer to pay.) Check out some free font websites and get away from the Windows fonts. The photos you use are awesome, especially the one on the contacts page. Maybe more photos of a smaller size? A collage of them for a background, slightly alpha washed? Small things like that would bring not only the site itself, but your visitors and clientell way up.

October 1st, 2007, 10:28 AM	#26
Joshua Fernandez Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 39	It's really a simple process, on your first two keyframes of flash you will put in some script and a few graphics to be your loading animations. I can't remember the "proper" way to do it, you can find that easily enough on www.actionscript.org. My code for pre-loading was made custom for a specific loading system, and I never had luck with buffering the video. The standard preloader should work on the video, again check out www.actionscript.org (no, I am not a member, it is just a gold mine of flash info) On a side note, how are you on a 7mbps connection? Isn't that close to T3? Non-consumer if I remember my webmastering correctly.

October 1st, 2007, 09:54 PM	#28
Joshua Fernandez Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 39	Very nice way to get high speed. If you do need some fonts or graphic work for your site email me and I'll give it a try, not so good with photos but I can do the text and other graphics. Keep posting updates to the site, I'd like to see it grow.