Chrono-logic Highlights at DVinfo.net

Brendan Donohue · July 30th, 2009, 11:30 AM

Hey y'all, have been watching various highlight vids on this forum for a while now and I have always been thoroughly impressed by mostly all of them. Although I'm not really a wedding videographer at all, I do them every once in a while. I just shot one recently and am assembling a highlight for it at the moment. It truly is a tough task taking everything you shot and trying to narrow it down into a 4 min vid.

I notice a lot of highlight vids I see are not chronological in terms of wedding day events and it throws me off sometimes, but some are really well done in this manner, others just seem way to random and sometimes arbitrary...It's my logic to put together a highlight in chronological order, just cuz it's more true to the story and the day. Not to say I'm unable to think outside the box with my edits, because I really only feel this way when it comes to weddings.

I guess I just wanted to survey and see what y'alls outlook on this matter is and what the methods to your "madness" and philosophies are when approaching a highlight edit.

thanks,
brendan

Dennis Murphy · July 30th, 2009, 02:39 PM

For me, a highlights video is a compressed story of the day that attempts to communicate to the viewer an emotionally heightened and dramatised summation of what happened. It makes sense then that it is chronological for what I'm doing and my way of shooting (fly on the wall).
I would imagine that if you like doing those sweeping steadi-cam shots with bride & groom posing, you'd want to mix it up a bit.
The one thing that I personally dislike is those random black & white shots or random shots with a naff degraded film stock filter applied.

David Barnett · July 30th, 2009, 03:06 PM

I guess I haven't paid close enough attention, or memorized the wedding events order well enough. The only thing I recall that may be out of order was the pictures being done before the ceremony part. I think that's acceptable, I guess. Unless you want to stick with the "Groom doesn't see the bride" mantra in the 3 minute trailer. Or myb people chatting at cocktail hour in the beginning, but I wouldn't have much problem with that.

For the most part though, I would try to keep it in order.

Don Bloom · July 30th, 2009, 04:49 PM

certain things work better when time compressed, IE, cutting the cake and garter bouquet toss cut into the first dance BUT only IF it completes telling the story. Also a lot (at least
IMO) a lot depends on ones edit style. I do short form edit and feel quite comfortable time compressing not only the ceremony and reception but also the highlight.

Now having said that, it's really a matter of taste, personal preferances, style and what you're selling the client. Either way works as long as it's done well and tells the story of the day.

Richard Wakefield · July 31st, 2009, 01:17 AM

i used to think it completely bizarre to start a clip showing the bride, all made up with her dress...because it felt like you were ruining the 'surprise' (as with on the actual day)

now, i've completely changed that and discovered that some of my favourite clips can still tell a story, and sum up the day, by mixing up the chronological order. you also have to think about people's attention spans, so if you can capture viewers in the first 10-30 seconds, then you're on to a winner.

but on my latest clip, for example, i showed the bride and groom saying their vows, within the first 30 seconds, but i subtly showed them, by doing some colour-grading masking....so that was may way of drawing in the viewer, but without showing too much of the bride and groom. another way of subtly showing the B+G in the first few shots is by using face close-ups, or just the audio of the vows/speeches

Brendan Donohue · July 31st, 2009, 10:08 AM

Yeah, I guess I just view it in the traditional sense, like you said David, groom does not see bride before wedding, although I've used stills of the b/g kissing as a title card before, so that's kind of a contradiction.

Dennis, I am also of the "fly-on-the-wall" style. I don't really direct, get people to pose or set up any real epic shots, although it's something I'd like to strive for in time, but the weddings I've done have been completely solo, so it's tougher to do that kind of thing. I reckon this is why I feel limited to editing in chronological fashion.

Richard, your videos are a perfect example of how it's done RIGHT...very nice work man.
Your website is very slick too!

July 30th, 2009, 11:30 AM	#1
Brendan Donohue Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 161	Chrono-logic Highlights Hey y'all, have been watching various highlight vids on this forum for a while now and I have always been thoroughly impressed by mostly all of them. Although I'm not really a wedding videographer at all, I do them every once in a while. I just shot one recently and am assembling a highlight for it at the moment. It truly is a tough task taking everything you shot and trying to narrow it down into a 4 min vid. I notice a lot of highlight vids I see are not chronological in terms of wedding day events and it throws me off sometimes, but some are really well done in this manner, others just seem way to random and sometimes arbitrary...It's my logic to put together a highlight in chronological order, just cuz it's more true to the story and the day. Not to say I'm unable to think outside the box with my edits, because I really only feel this way when it comes to weddings. I guess I just wanted to survey and see what y'alls outlook on this matter is and what the methods to your "madness" and philosophies are when approaching a highlight edit. thanks, brendan

July 30th, 2009, 02:39 PM	#2
Dennis Murphy Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Whangarei, New Zealand Posts: 396	For me, a highlights video is a compressed story of the day that attempts to communicate to the viewer an emotionally heightened and dramatised summation of what happened. It makes sense then that it is chronological for what I'm doing and my way of shooting (fly on the wall). I would imagine that if you like doing those sweeping steadi-cam shots with bride & groom posing, you'd want to mix it up a bit. The one thing that I personally dislike is those random black & white shots or random shots with a naff degraded film stock filter applied. __________________ http://www.dmvideostuff.co.nz

July 30th, 2009, 04:49 PM	#4
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	certain things work better when time compressed, IE, cutting the cake and garter bouquet toss cut into the first dance BUT only IF it completes telling the story. Also a lot (at least IMO) a lot depends on ones edit style. I do short form edit and feel quite comfortable time compressing not only the ceremony and reception but also the highlight. Now having said that, it's really a matter of taste, personal preferances, style and what you're selling the client. Either way works as long as it's done well and tells the story of the day. __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

July 30th, 2009, 03:06 PM	#3
David Barnett Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 951	I guess I haven't paid close enough attention, or memorized the wedding events order well enough. The only thing I recall that may be out of order was the pictures being done before the ceremony part. I think that's acceptable, I guess. Unless you want to stick with the "Groom doesn't see the bride" mantra in the 3 minute trailer. Or myb people chatting at cocktail hour in the beginning, but I wouldn't have much problem with that. For the most part though, I would try to keep it in order.

July 31st, 2009, 01:17 AM	#5
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	i used to think it completely bizarre to start a clip showing the bride, all made up with her dress...because it felt like you were ruining the 'surprise' (as with on the actual day) now, i've completely changed that and discovered that some of my favourite clips can still tell a story, and sum up the day, by mixing up the chronological order. you also have to think about people's attention spans, so if you can capture viewers in the first 10-30 seconds, then you're on to a winner. but on my latest clip, for example, i showed the bride and groom saying their vows, within the first 30 seconds, but i subtly showed them, by doing some colour-grading masking....so that was may way of drawing in the viewer, but without showing too much of the bride and groom. another way of subtly showing the B+G in the first few shots is by using face close-ups, or just the audio of the vows/speeches

July 31st, 2009, 10:08 AM	#6
Brendan Donohue Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 161	Yeah, I guess I just view it in the traditional sense, like you said David, groom does not see bride before wedding, although I've used stills of the b/g kissing as a title card before, so that's kind of a contradiction. Dennis, I am also of the "fly-on-the-wall" style. I don't really direct, get people to pose or set up any real epic shots, although it's something I'd like to strive for in time, but the weddings I've done have been completely solo, so it's tougher to do that kind of thing. I reckon this is why I feel limited to editing in chronological fashion. Richard, your videos are a perfect example of how it's done RIGHT...very nice work man. Your website is very slick too!