One of our first artistic demo clips.

[Patrick Moreau]

Hello everybody

This is our third or fourth wedding and we did a couple different edits for the preparations to show clients different styles. We recently finished the more artistic clip, it is only about 1 min, and I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

As I mentioned, we are very new to both editing and shooting, so any good points as well as bad points would be great value to us right now.

We really appreciate any feedback. Thanks to anybody who has the time.


You can find the demo here. Shot with an XL1-s and a GL2. Edited on FCP4.

http://www.still-motion.ca/demoartistic.html

Thanks again

[Jimmy McKenzie]

Très bon Patrick!

Stick to wipes and fades ... the gradient wipes are ok, the nle supplied infommercial ones should be limited.

Enya is over-rated. But for this it works. Not my first choice.

The shaky cam footage of the highly saturated forest could be replaced with something else.

The piece flows very well.

Jimmy.

[Patrick Moreau]

Thanks Jimmy

The shaky cam footage was an attempt to simulate the brides walking through the path. She was on her way to the ceremony, so I thought a shot like that could remind her of that moment better. Not sure if that was conveyed, or if it just looked like shaky footage. I'de appreciate knowing what you got out of that clip.

Thanks again.

[Jimmy McKenzie]

Gotcha. I seemed to think that the idea was the pov of the group in the forest. A cutaway or 2nd cam technique.
For my interlude shots, I tend not to tell a story, but to show random pretty shots in succession to show the interaction among guests and the important people.

One thing I did leave out from my initial reaction (you did say criticize) was the opening pull back. Too fast and too much like the 6 o'clock news. Omit or use a lens controller at the slowest setting. Fade in while the ultra slow zoom is going on and fade out prior to the zoom reaching it's finality.

But that is just me! You and your clients might like the zooms! For alot of people, it sets the stage that this is a story about them on video. Folks are used to seeing it alot, so the assimilation is instant. You just don't see camcorder techniques used where cinematic elements are blended in.
For my 2 cents, you are well set to deliver a terrific product to your clients.
Bon chance!

[Patrick Moreau]

Thanks for the thoughts again. I understand totally what your saying. I wasn't overly impressed with that piece. What I did like was how it started on the flowers in the archway and went back through the empty seats. I am going to swicth that around and see how it looks. I am going to play with the forest shot as well and see about some options.

Any other feedback from anybody would be greatly appreciated before I open this one back up.

Thank to everybody.

[Patrick Moreau]

I updated the clip with a couple suggestions.

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to know what other people who are checking it out think.

Thanks
Patrick

[Waldemar Winkler]

The challenge to any kind of transition (cut, effect, whatever) is that it must look/feel right. It can not give the viewer the feeling of a visual/emotional rattle. Film makers carefully plan their shots and shoot plenty of takes. We have to shoot real time and work with what we get and somehow make it look like we really thought it through. It is really rather unfair. However, unless we are completely and totally inept, our clients will probably like just about anything we do. Hmmm.
I start my projects with the intention of making every transition a cut. I won't use a dissolve unless I can't get a cut to look "right". Having established a precedent with the dissolve I will continue using it for every transition until I can find a logical stopping point. Any other kind of effect, whether it be wipe, soft focus, iris, barn door open/close, or whatever "tra-la!", has to feel absolutely correct (which means many, many reviews).

That said, anyone who has the courage to post clips for critique has thought their process through, and are not subject to judgement...only reactions. My reactions follow:

Strangely enough, I felt the opening flower image was not on the screen long enough. I sort of missed the association between it and the following Zoom out of the ceremony site. I didn't have any difficulty with the speed of the Zoom out, although I felt the end transition to groom/groomsman(?) less than natural. Something didn't look quite right. Timing to the rhythm of the song was good. Effect transitions were a bit of a bother, but I really liked the one from groom/groomsman to woman placing rose on lapel (even though I really didn't like the transition fom reduced image to full screen) . Felt really right. The next ransition to tying the shoe was even better.

I didn't really notice any shakey camera in the forest...didn't notice it (other than to recognize it as hand held camera). My difficulty was in intuitively understanding that an integral part of the wedding procession was getting to the ceremony site in a canoe.

Lastly, arrival at the cermony site. Audio was gobbeldygook. Gotta clear that up. In regard to audio, I find myself really wanting to hear what the people were saying at key points throughout the video. Melodramatic as Enya is, that was not enough for me. I really wanted to get a sense of who these people were by what they were saying. Would you consider including on camera audio as part of your next presentation?

One final lastly: Very thoughtful work. I wish I could say the same for my fourth wedding video.