Thanks Youtube?

[Eric Gan]

Are any of you guys sensing a shift in attitude towards video? I'm starting to see couples putting video as priority over photo. I had a couple of shoots this year where they have chosen their friends to be the photographers. I can't help but think Youtube has done a great deal to bring video to the forefront of people's minds when they have an event worth capturing. I guess you can consider wedding videography as a professional blog of a day in life. I don't think video blogging is a passing fad - looks like it's here to stay. It might become even more of a factor for us as the tweeners become of marrying age.

I'm sure you guys have seen wedding guests these days toting some serious dSLR equipment (I'm talking 5Ds and even 1Ds here). Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to take anything away from professional photography - as we all know, it's the person behind the camera that counts. On the other hand, I think getting some good photographs is much more within the reach of amateurs/enthusiasts, compared to churning out a decent wedding video. Hence, we see a lot of high-end stills equipment, but I've never seen anything more than a handycam at a reception.

Those are my random thoughts to mark the end of my first full-time season. I'm looking forward to clearing out the edits and getting back to shooting some narrative stuff before it starts all over again.

I'll end by sharing a clip from a while back. This was my 777 wedding.
http://www.vividmotion.net/blog/?postid=13

Thanks to everybody on this forum who share their work - it's such a fantastic community. I've learned a lot here and hope I've given some back as well.

Best Regards,

[Vince Lucena]

Very nice, the music set and complimented the tone of the event gracefully.
I really liked the sunset shot off the stern of the boat, also your flash compression is right on, clear and crisp. Since I consider myself a novice in this field amongst my peers, I learn a great deal from observing quality work as yours.

Thanks for sharing..

.

[Daniel Ross]

I don't think it's youtube, per se, but related.
Simply, we're moving toward a media centric age, where people don't just want pictures; they want moving pictures.
Soon we can expect weddings to be webcast, podcast and the like.
No big surprise, right?

Give it 30 years and people will want their weddings recorded in 3D holographic technology of some sort.

[Michael Y Wong]

Hi Eric,

It's been a awhile, agreed with all your points. Especially those regarding how it is easier to get 'pro stills' vs a pro video. I have definately seen a been to a few weddings where the pro video was the priority, but that only in cases where the video samples is of high production value; which is still rare IMO.

Your video was awesome, the post (didnt look like stock mb filters to me) I thought was a little toooooo much for my tastes but the sequencing and pacing were as you would say, 'top notch'. No doubt that your clients will be thrilled with this one; definately looks like your best highlight reel thus far this season!

Will be in Vancouver likely next summer (with Pat), it would be awesome if we can meet & even shoot together then (and/or beyond).

Michael

[Ethan Cooper]

Nice work! I would normally say that the color might have been a bit much, but your use of the film frame and (film burn?) transitions at the outset made the over the top color ok with me. I thought this thing was very well edited. I've long considered myself a better videographer than editor and when I see pieces edited like this one I find myself envious. I watched the whole thing. I never do that anymore.
If I had to get picky, there's a stedicam shot where you're coming around a tree and the camera begins to bounce on the rig a bit. It looked like what my old VX and to a lesser degree my FX7 do on my Merlin when I dont use the G-platz (just a bolt that goes from the top of the merlin to the bottom of the lens barrel) to add a little rigidity to the front of the rig. Thats it. You nailed this one. It didn't even bother me that I've heard that music a hundred times before, you did more with that music than anyone else I've seen, and that's saying something.
Great edit.

Study this one children.

[Ken Gilford]

I will echo Ethan "Study this one children."

Thanks for sharing.

[Giroud Francois]

but strangely, the link you give for the clip ist not on youtube....

[Ethan Cooper]

Ok, ok, I really need to do some editing of my own today, but I just watched it again and I might even like it more the second time around. Wonderful.
You sir have my respect.

[Vito DeFilippo]

You made me cry, you big jerk.

I loved it. Beautiful shooting, editing, post treatment. You hit the nail on the head with the understated use of natural sound.

Don't know what to say...

[Chris M. Watson]

I think Youtube is making video far more accessable than ever. In fact, I think I might make Youtube versions of some of my fave clips and see what happens. Couldn't hurt. Great work btw!

Chris W

[Bert Smyth]

Looks fantastic! Eric, could you talk a little about the production/post-production process? What did you shoot on, how much of the look was in camera/post and what processing/editing platform did you use? In other words, SPILL YER GUTS!!! Why can't my videos look like that? Why?? Whaaaaaa!

[Michael Nistler]

Hi Eric,

Great choreography - everything came together to compliment the story.

Congratulations, Michael

[Eric Gan]

Whoa, okay, I was just hoping to spur a little discussion on the rising prominence of wedding videography, but it looks like you guys are more interested in the clip I posted.

First, thanks for the comments - especially when it comes from many of the same people here whose work I admire. When the number of weddings start to go up, it's hard to stay original and creative, and this forum is a great place from which to draw some inspiration. The industry really needs more high quality work in order to shake the stigma of "Uncle Bob's wedding video", and the work I've seen here shows that we are pushing the market in the right direction.

So a bit more info about this particular clip. I was working on it the week before I was to do a wedding fair. I wanted something a little bit more powerful that will grab some attention, hence the choice in this admittedly overused soundtrack. This was also the first time I had brought out the M2 adapter on a wedding shoot. A few shots from the beginning segment are adapter footage. (28mm f2 and 55mm f1.2). Cameras are FX1s, shot in HDV with no image processing in-camera.

I think the raw images out of these cameras are pretty cold, so I try to warm things up considerably in post with a combination of FCP's color correction and Magic Bullet. I took some additional time to create the film frames in After Effects. I also gave the piece two different looks because of the non-linear style of the edit. I'm usually afraid to edit this way because I'm not sure if the client can accept that creative leap - the last thing I want to hear is "why is this video going backwards"?

The Glidecam shot coming around the tree was marginal. I rarely use a vest anymore, so the tighter shots become that much more difficult to achieve without some "jitter". But don't let that deter you from trying a tracking/spinning shot zoomed in on a stabilizer! I see a lot of people are stuck on full wide when flying a rig. Don't forget that in the editing room, you only need a second or two of usable footage to pull off a great tracking tight shot.

I'll end by reminding everyone of some of the advantages we have over photography. Feel free to chime in with others.

- Camera movement
- Subject movement
- Audio
- The ability to tell a story (they say a good photograph tells a story, but I don't buy that. It may suggest something, but it's up to the viewer to fill in the blanks. With video, you are the storyteller and you dictate how the story goes)
- The ability to stir emotion with a combination of location audio, music and moving images. (a photo slideshow comes close, but it's not the same)

This is not a crusade against photographers...I swear, but it does hurt whenever I'm reminded of the money photogs can charge and have work turned over in a week with all the images on a DVD barely touched. Ugh.

Best Regards,

[Patrick Moreau]

Originally Posted by Eric Gan

The Glidecam shot coming around the tree was marginal. I rarely use a vest anymore, so the tighter shots become that much more difficult to achieve without some "jitter". But don't let that deter you from trying a tracking/spinning shot zoomed in on a stabilizer! I see a lot of people are stuck on full wide when flying a rig. Don't forget that in the editing room, you only need a second or two of usable footage to pull off a great tracking tight shot.

Interesting comments. I have gone the opposite way and ted to use the vest with my Flyer more and more (as opposed to just a glidecam or merlin). I don't think you can achieve nearly the same results with a handheld unit that you can with a full body-mounted rig.

Now I read the comments before posting the clip and I looked specifically at the motion. To me, some of it seemed almost borderline as to whether I would cut it due to the shakes or slow it down at the very leat to make it look smoother. I may have higher standards than most when it comes to motion in my shots, and whether clients would notice the difference is a different question, but being that I'm a fan of your work, I can say that it looks like the motion took a step back. Hope you don't mind the honesty- sometimes these comments can relly help us moving forward- or so I've found.

On the other hand, I thought your effects were pretty cool. I thought it fit well and didn't seem over done. Color work looked good as always too. I can't say I noticed much of the M2 footage though. Once you get that thing in there more, it sure is hard to put it down.

Patrick

[Harry Lender]

Eric:
Very nice video. BtW what was the name of the song you used in the video.

Harry