New wedding highlight clip - care to comment?

[Nick Weeks]

This was shot with 2 Canon XH-A1 cameras, one on a Glidecam smooth shooter with the 2000 pro. I'm still trying to learn the Glidecam and its coming along pretty well, but its not perfect. Used a circular polarizer and UV Haze 0 for all the outdoor shots, and some minor color correction was applied in post using Final Cut. The polarizer is not coated, so you can see some reflections, but its not terrible.

No custom presets were used on either camera, both are "stock" Canon color settings. Unfortunately one camera was set to auto white balance and some of the color got a little awkward as the sun set, and I just can't get it to match the other camera perfectly using Final Cut's tools.

I'm editing it all in HD 1080i and downconverting it using Compressor to SD DVD for delivery. Also tried my hand at a little roto work on the text using Apple Shake, and I think it turned out pretty well. I still have a couple more text effects to add, and a tweak here and there with color, audio, etc., but this is a preview I'm going to let them see as a "teaser" and thought I would stick it on here for some criticism as-is. The final DVD will be complete of course :)

http://www.superiumpro.com/media/DavisSample.xdm

Exported from Final Cut 5 using Quicktime H.264, High quality, multi-pass, 720x405 deinterlaced in Compressor. Converted with Flash video using On2 VP6 at 1000kbps/128kbps MP3 audio. Converts a 112MB QT file into about 33MB still looks and sounds great for Web.

Music: Prom Kings - The One

[Elliot Lee]

Just a few points I noticed:

. It started rather slowly - you could cut off the whole first part before "November 4, 2007" comes on the screen, and we wouldn't be missing much.
. That shot of the car driving out of the parking lot with an industrial chain-link fence... Way too ghetto :)
. Having the "November 4, 2007" text swimming around was a bit distracting
. I noticed some good editing to work around camera shake and such. Nice job.
. If you're aiming for perfection, could use color grading in many of the shots. The shot of the cake was one I thought that looked the best - great contrast and lush colors. But overall, the shots didn't seem like there were enough blacks and that things were a little bit too washed out.
. It was nice that you tried to include live audio occasionally over top of the song.
. If you have good video & audio of the vows, then I would suggest featuring those in this highlights thing (hopefully with the live audio included), because right now it's not obvious in the video when the actual wedding ceremony is happening.

Hope this helps. Keep up the good work...

[Brian Luce]

What I loved: The music
What I liked: The steady cam work
What I didn't like: The quick zooms and graphics.
What I hated: That girl at the beginning putting on zit cream.

Comment: I felt kind of sad watching this video because it seemed like this couple has no friends and no family. It seemed so damn lonely! Maybe they want that to come across in the video, maybe they don't. If they don't, you might consider reimagining this one.

[Mark Sudfeldt]

I liked the steady cam shots and music and you did have some very nice shots in there. . . . .however:
Some of the shots of the girls getting ready probably didn't show them in there best light. . . . .and that is something we should be trying to do at all times.
I don't feel it is necessary to include the date but if you do then keep the graphic simple as it was too distracting. Maybe show a bit more of the actual service as the first time I viewed it I missed it. . . .had to go back to check it was even in there!
I found the natural soundtrack that you brought in occasionally, distracting. It would be OK if it was something spoken from the vows,etc but all I could ever hear was lots of giggling which didn't work for me.

[Rene Brunken]

You have to finetune some of the clips where you have to remove the small quick zoom motion. I missed the actual wedding ceremony.

[Jeff Emery]

Nick,

Personally, I don't think what anyone here says really matters. It's nice to get a pat on the back from so-called peers but unless they are the ones putting cash in your pocket, their opinions are pretty much Monday morning quarter-backing.

The opinions that count are yours and your client's. Are your clients pleased with the results? Are you pleased?

Jeff

[Ethan Cooper]

Originally Posted by Jeff Emery

Nick,

Personally, I don't think what anyone here says really matters. It's nice to get a pat on the back from so-called peers but unless they are the ones putting cash in your pocket, their opinions are pretty much Monday morning quarter-backing.

The opinions that count are yours and your client's. Are your clients pleased with the results? Are you pleased?

Jeff

Jeff,
It would seem appropriate to post something like this if there was a personal attack or if the comments were just way off base, but it wasn't, all I see are good natured comments that are intended to help the guy out. There are some problem areas in the piece he posted and I'd like to know what's wrong with pointing them out? He's asked for critiques

thought I would stick it on here for some criticism

Nick clearly wanted feedback and that's what people are giving him.

I personally thought the comments given about the pacing, titles, and content are spot on.

It might not be a good idea to show a bride applying blemish reducing cream, it just leaves the viewer (me) with a not-so-good feeling.

The titles didn't seem to fit the piece. They're cool, but a good rule to remember is that just because you can do an effect doesn't mean you should. Different song, different style of edit, and I could see these titles working, but they don't seem right here.

The color could use some sprucing up in my opinion.

Look, I understand that having people pick apart your work isn't fun, but it's how we get better. One "artist" generally doesn't have all the answers, but a community of "artists" who have different styles, eyes, and talents can give you new perspective and help you flesh out your style. DO listen to others who know a thing or two about what they're talking about. You don't have to fall into line with everything said, but you certainly could pull a little from here or there and apply it to your style.

[Brian Luce]

Originally Posted by Jeff Emery

Nick,

Personally, I don't think what anyone here says really matters. It's nice to get a pat on the back from so-called peers but unless they are the ones putting cash in your pocket, their opinions are pretty much Monday morning quarter-backing.

The opinions that count are yours and your client's. Are your clients pleased with the results? Are you pleased?

Jeff

Well he *did* ask for opinions.

If it was me, I'd take to heart comments repeated by several members. For example a couple of us have commented on the zit cream, so that's a more credible criticism so far as compared to the ambient audio which works for some and not for others.

[Jeff Emery]

My opinion was not given and intended as a way to offend other posters and put them in a position of feeling it necessary to defend their comments.

My comments were directed to Nick. Nick did write "... this is a preview I'm going to let them see as a "teaser".

I believe Nick did a fine job of capturing and demonstrating the "reality" of life, the day and the event. I like the docu-reality style of wedding videos much better than the fantasy-film style I see so many trying to do.

I don't expect or feel the need to have anyone agree with my philosophy.

Jeff

[Nick Weeks]

It might not be a good idea to show a bride applying blemish reducing cream, it just leaves the viewer (me) with a not-so-good feeling.

Great comments by everyone, I really like them. When putting something together, I tend to get blind sometimes to obvious details that I just don't notice, because I catch myself looking more at the video angles, etc. than the actual content, hence the zit cream piece; the fact that she was putting on blemish cream didn't even cross my mind, rather I was looking at the angle of the video, and it seemed to fit.

It started rather slowly - you could cut off the whole first part before "November 4, 2007" comes on the screen, and we wouldn't be missing much..... Having the "November 4, 2007" text swimming around was a bit distracting

The video started slow because the song started slow, but it does tend to seem a little drawn out. I also agree on the text; at first I liked it because it was something new, but I need to leave that to my sample videos where I play with features and effects and not something I present.

I found the natural soundtrack that you brought in occasionally, distracting. It would be OK if it was something spoken from the vows,etc but all I could ever hear was lots of giggling which didn't work for me.

The bride and groom liked to laugh a lot, they have a good sense of humor, so having the audio of the laughing throughout works with their personality, but I may have overdone it just a tad. They honestly didn't have much input on what they wanted out of their Wedding video, I think someone just said "you need a video" so they got one, which works well for me, because just about anything will make them happy.

If you're aiming for perfection, could use color grading in many of the shots. The shot of the cake was one I thought that looked the best - great contrast and lush colors. But overall, the shots didn't seem like there were enough blacks and that things were a little bit too washed out.

On the color, something about the H264 codec really flattens out some of the color, but not all. Very strange, but they look a lot more vibrant before I compress it.

What I didn't like: The quick zooms and graphics.

You have to finetune some of the clips where you have to remove the small quick zoom motion.

The quick zooms and adjustments was something I was aiming for in my shooting style. I don't like the contemporary slow paced lovey-dovey wedding videos. They work for some, but for me... not so much. I will make one of someone asks, but in the demos I show clients, they include a lot of fast paced video that's not so tear jerky, and its more "fun" to watch. So far I haven't received any negative comments.

I noticed some good editing to work around camera shake and such. Nice job.

Again, the camera shake is just part of being handheld, something that adds a certian feel to the movie, I think it works well to intermix some handheld shots with the glidecam work, but that's my opinion of course, some may not like it.

I enjoy criticism to an extent as long as you don't get downright rude, which is the only reason I post any video on here, it's the only way to get an honest opinion. To ask friends and family, you get biased opinions, but presenting your material to a very outside audience, many of who do such videos and editing work for a living, you get very honest unbiased answers.

I'm definitely going to take those opinions into consideration, and a few of them I'd like to change myself, such as the absence of the entire ceremony (boy, what an oversight!)

Anyway, I'm going for a second clip now, and I hope to have it posted here by the end of my long weekend.

Originally Posted by Jeff Emery

My opinion was not given and intended as a way to offend other posters and put them in a position of feeling it necessary to defend their comments.

My comments were directed to Nick. Nick did write "... this is a preview I'm going to let them see as a "teaser".

I believe Nick did a fine job of capturing and demonstrating the "reality" of life, the day and the event. I like the docu-reality style of wedding videos much better than the fantasy-film style I see so many trying to do.

I don't expect or feel the need to have anyone agree with my philosophy.

Jeff

Jeff, I noticed your reply when I previewed this post. I see where you're coming from, and is exactly the way I do business. If the client is happy, I'm happy. I always try to exceed their expectations, and I have done that already, so I already consider myself a winner on this wedding.

I also like the documentary style; what happens happens, the wedding day is what it is, that's why you get a video to capture every last second with audio and video. No sense in blinding the day with the fantasy work as you mentioned, I completely agree.

[Bill Grant]

For my taste Nick, I thought the colors in the reception like around the cake, etc. were amazing. Almost tipped my hat towards the canon A1. I have had alot of these type of posts over the years, so I know how you feel. Grateful for the advice, but still disappointed. I thought all of those same things when I was watching it that I feel watching mine. I wish several shots had been slightly different (like the zit cream etc) the only things I feel like I can point out to you here are this...
1. in the beginning, I feel like there were too many shots with the same focal length run together. 2 mediums to 2 close-ups, etc
2. There seemed to be no attempt to build anything here, just to dislpay the footage. I would love to see more intereaction witht he music. THis is simply a personal taste thing.
3. The glidecam shots were too long They were good, but outlived their usefulness in some cases.

Good luck Nick. I am where you are, believe me.

Bill

[Ernest Freeman]

Nick,

Give them the dream. If a courthouse and judge can do the job, then why do people pay large sums of money for wedding ceremonies? Why, because they do indeed want that “fantasy wedding dream-day.” They want this day to be set apart from the doldrums of everyday life. Keep up the hard work.
Just my 2 cents for what it’s worth, that and $5.00 will get you a quad venti cappuccino at Starbucks!

[Randy Panado]

I'm used to the "fantasy-film" style, as Jeff puts it, because that's the style our company produces and lots of our peers do as well. It's refreshing to see a different take on weddings. I personally prefer the "love story" than the story :) though.

I wouldn't even know where to start editing if I had to use the footage you provided. That's not a negative towards you but a compliment on knowing how to work with your style of shooting in post.

Overall, nice video.

[Randy Panado]

Originally Posted by Nick Weeks

Exported from Final Cut 5 using Quicktime H.264, High quality, multi-pass, 720x405 deinterlaced in Compressor. Converted with Flash video using On2 VP6 at 1000kbps/128kbps MP3 audio. Converts a 112MB QT file into about 33MB still looks and sounds great for Web.

Hey Nick,

I was looking at your video again and really liked the quality of the footage for the web. Do you have a tutorial you followed or perhaps some sort of write up for getting it from exported QT to final web product you posted? I googled on2 VP6 but it says its only for windows?

Thanks

[Nick Weeks]

I export from final cut as quicktime over to my PC where Flash is installed, then export to the web from there at 1000kbps, I guess it is only on windows :) I don't use my Mac for flash encoding.

Here are details on the quicktime settings I use:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....68&postcount=5