What DVD Sample Format is Best? at DVinfo.net

Chris Harding · February 3rd, 2010, 05:57 AM

Hi All

I was wondering what success rate different people have with brides who request wedding samples on DVD and which format works best???

I tend to make up a DVD with a shortened Church Ceremony, a Civil Ceremony, Photoshoot clip, a few Event Clips (Bouquet Toss/Cake Cut) and maybe one short speech. This is in a DVD menu and the prospective bride can select what she wants to watch (I use clips from say, my last 4 weddings for variety)

Is this an overkill and will it just make the bride unlikely to watch 40 mins of clips???

What do you use??? Would you think that just a showreel running a few minutes of your work is enough ???

Your input would be appreciated as I'm sure everyone is different???

Chris

Ken Diewert · February 3rd, 2010, 11:20 AM

Chris,

This is what I'm using this year. I made up sample dvd's for a recent show and hanaded out a bunch (I asked that they only take them if they were'nt going to use them for beer glass coasters). I also put the clip up on my new site. It's as you suggest, a bit from each segment (prep, dress, ceremony, photo shoot etc), but I have it down to 7:36 or so.

As I look at it now I could refine it some more, but... I was still very new to the 5d2 when most of this was shot so I've been practicing with it a lot more and have added some variable ND filters.

Love Stories On Film

Michael Dontigney · February 3rd, 2010, 01:41 PM

I recently changed mine. Now I have titles before each segment telling the potential client exactly what they can expect to get, then show example and so on.

The Demo is intended to #1 sell yourself, and #2 keep them interested.

Asvaldur Kristjansson · February 3rd, 2010, 01:57 PM

I have a similar question regarding what to show during bridal shows. I was thinking about to do 2-3 min montage with text in between. This would be played in a loop, my guess is people will not dwell too long to watch the screen. Do you have the sound on? The demo DVD that is handed out can be much longer in length and split into chapters and possibly with your self in it to introduce your self.

Kelly Langerak · February 3rd, 2010, 05:28 PM

I've given brides a copy of one wedding I did in Big Sur, California. It lets them see from beginning to end what their DVD will look like. Clips and Montages can be put on your site. Plus, I'm too lazy to make a cool montage DVD menu. I've had a 100% bookings for every dvd I've given out. That equals 3 total! I'm not ready to do bridal shows, so I'm not familiar with that aspect of promotion. I'm 15 weddings deep so far this year and don't pay for any advertising.

Noel Lising · February 3rd, 2010, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi All

I tend to make up a DVD with a shortened Church Ceremony, a Civil Ceremony, Photoshoot clip, a few Event Clips (Bouquet Toss/Cake Cut) and maybe one short speech. This is in a DVD menu and the prospective bride can select what she wants to watch (I use clips from say, my last 4 weddings for variety)

Chris

I read one of your post regarding the contents of your demo DVD in the past and personally what you are doing make sense to me. I haven't had the time to edit one yet but I like how you present it and I will be doing one for myself. Brides need to make an educated decision and seeing different clips of different weddings encompassing the speeches, toss/cake, ceremony basically covers her Main areas of concern.

Chris Harding · February 3rd, 2010, 06:18 PM

Thanks Guys

What I have swirling around in my head is giving the bride maybe 6 different wedding showreels in a DVD menu ..each showreel being around 3 -4 minutes at the most and just having highlites of each wedding to make up each showreel. That way, the bride can watch snippets of 6 different weddings and not take up too much of their time.

Would a solution as above be more effective than giving them a full wedding DVD?????
I have still stuck with the complete wedding sample concept so at least they know what they will get.

Any more comments would be greatly appreciated

Chris

Rochelle Morris · February 6th, 2010, 11:14 PM

Hi Chris,

On our sample DVD, we have a selection of our trailers, short (1 song) and longer highlights (2 songs). The main aim for us is to entice the B&G to watch them - esp the guys who sometimes would rather do anything but watch this. I have created a motion menu for the front page, and will need to change this over winter...time for a fresh lot of clips.

When we see our clients is when we show them parts of a full wedding.
I find that having our blog has reduced the amount of DVDs being sent out and although that may sound like a negative, for us its a positive. We try and keep our blog reasonably up to date as we continue to improve or diversify after each edit...actually, Dean (hubby) is the smart cookie.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer and one of the reasons that I don't send a full ceremony etc anymore, is that really, it's someone's personal account of the day...even though I have copyright and can do it, I'd rather not.

Chris Harding · February 7th, 2010, 03:19 AM

Hi Rochelle

Many thanks for your input. The "business sensible" idea is to wow the bride with creative samples so she books you straight away ..What I try to do is provide samples of pieces of the whole ceremony so when you "turn-in" your work what they get is going to be pretty close to what they have already seen in the sample DVD.
Naturally I prefer them to book straight off my website after looking at the online clips as from a business POV it's quicker and easier and no DVD is required.

It does worry me that a creative highlights video of 2 minutes might not give them the full picture??? but then again they say that the client usually makes a purchasing decision in the first 30 secs of the video so maybe an ideal DVD would be a 120 sec highlights clip and then also offer then longer clips of various parts of weddings.

Chris

Danny O'Neill · February 7th, 2010, 10:57 AM

Demo disk has our showreel, an upbeat piece with some of our top footage.
4 highlights from our fav weddings
And a full, short form edit which is a real selling point. Unlike others who show you a few select clips were proud enough of our work to show them what they will actually get.

The couples are then taking less of a chance than if they just go with the person not willing to show a full edit and its a pretty gripping edit.

Rochelle Morris · February 7th, 2010, 02:25 PM

Agree that people take less of a risk if they see what they are going to get in a full edit. We don't offer short forms, b/c we offer a full length edit which could go from anywhere b/w 90-120 mins...hence why we encouarge anyone who is interested in us to come in and see what we do (fast forward lots of things). By doing this, we have the opportunity to talk about what & how we film, plan their day & see if we connect.

Danny, I'm curious how long your short forms go for? We have toyed with the idea but then it seems in our area, people also give the raw footage. I discourage this b/c we use multiplecameras and let them know the raw footage would be disjointed otherwwise.

Michael Simons · February 13th, 2010, 10:51 AM

I show them actual videos that brides have received. I quickly show the "live ceremony" and "Live reception" just so they get the idea that they will hear the readers at the ceremony and the intros at the reception. I then show them the highlights and once I know they get a feel for my what I do, I fast forward a lot. As we talk and discuss their day, I'll show them different samples of other weddings. If they are having a rolls royce, from my memory banks I'll show a wedding that has a rolls royce.

Chris Harding · February 13th, 2010, 06:40 PM

Hi Michael

Thanks..I like the way you do things!!

I do find that if I send the couple a sample DVD in the mail many don't ever come back to me BUT if, as you do, watch the samples with the couple, my success rate is virtually guaranteed!! I wonder why??? Surely brides are not that ignorant that they have issues with navigating a simple menu with the remote and end up thinking that my samples dvd doesn't work???

If I can, I rather try and meet the couple personally and let them watch the DVD with me instead of sending it ahead!! Seems to make better sales sense!!

Chris

February 6th, 2010, 11:14 PM	#8
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Hi Chris, On our sample DVD, we have a selection of our trailers, short (1 song) and longer highlights (2 songs). The main aim for us is to entice the B&G to watch them - esp the guys who sometimes would rather do anything but watch this. I have created a motion menu for the front page, and will need to change this over winter...time for a fresh lot of clips. When we see our clients is when we show them parts of a full wedding. I find that having our blog has reduced the amount of DVDs being sent out and although that may sound like a negative, for us its a positive. We try and keep our blog reasonably up to date as we continue to improve or diversify after each edit...actually, Dean (hubby) is the smart cookie. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer and one of the reasons that I don't send a full ceremony etc anymore, is that really, it's someone's personal account of the day...even though I have copyright and can do it, I'd rather not. __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

February 7th, 2010, 10:57 AM	#10
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	Demo disk has our showreel, an upbeat piece with some of our top footage. 4 highlights from our fav weddings And a full, short form edit which is a real selling point. Unlike others who show you a few select clips were proud enough of our work to show them what they will actually get. The couples are then taking less of a chance than if they just go with the person not willing to show a full edit and its a pretty gripping edit. __________________ mintyslippers.com

February 7th, 2010, 02:25 PM	#11
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Agree that people take less of a risk if they see what they are going to get in a full edit. We don't offer short forms, b/c we offer a full length edit which could go from anywhere b/w 90-120 mins...hence why we encouarge anyone who is interested in us to come in and see what we do (fast forward lots of things). By doing this, we have the opportunity to talk about what & how we film, plan their day & see if we connect. Danny, I'm curious how long your short forms go for? We have toyed with the idea but then it seems in our area, people also give the raw footage. I discourage this b/c we use multiplecameras and let them know the raw footage would be disjointed otherwwise. __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

February 3rd, 2010, 05:57 AM	#1
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	What DVD Sample Format is Best? Hi All I was wondering what success rate different people have with brides who request wedding samples on DVD and which format works best??? I tend to make up a DVD with a shortened Church Ceremony, a Civil Ceremony, Photoshoot clip, a few Event Clips (Bouquet Toss/Cake Cut) and maybe one short speech. This is in a DVD menu and the prospective bride can select what she wants to watch (I use clips from say, my last 4 weddings for variety) Is this an overkill and will it just make the bride unlikely to watch 40 mins of clips??? What do you use??? Would you think that just a showreel running a few minutes of your work is enough ??? Your input would be appreciated as I'm sure everyone is different??? Chris

February 3rd, 2010, 11:20 AM	#2
Ken Diewert Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Vancouver Island, Canada Posts: 1,200	Chris, This is what I'm using this year. I made up sample dvd's for a recent show and hanaded out a bunch (I asked that they only take them if they were'nt going to use them for beer glass coasters). I also put the clip up on my new site. It's as you suggest, a bit from each segment (prep, dress, ceremony, photo shoot etc), but I have it down to 7:36 or so. As I look at it now I could refine it some more, but... I was still very new to the 5d2 when most of this was shot so I've been practicing with it a lot more and have added some variable ND filters. Love Stories On Film __________________ C100, 5DMk2, FCPX

February 3rd, 2010, 01:41 PM	#3
Michael Dontigney Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Atlanta, Ga. Posts: 103	I recently changed mine. Now I have titles before each segment telling the potential client exactly what they can expect to get, then show example and so on. The Demo is intended to #1 sell yourself, and #2 keep them interested.

February 3rd, 2010, 01:57 PM	#4
Asvaldur Kristjansson Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Reykjavik, Iceland Posts: 95	I have a similar question regarding what to show during bridal shows. I was thinking about to do 2-3 min montage with text in between. This would be played in a loop, my guess is people will not dwell too long to watch the screen. Do you have the sound on? The demo DVD that is handed out can be much longer in length and split into chapters and possibly with your self in it to introduce your self.

February 3rd, 2010, 05:28 PM	#5
Kelly Langerak Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bay Area Posts: 522	I've given brides a copy of one wedding I did in Big Sur, California. It lets them see from beginning to end what their DVD will look like. Clips and Montages can be put on your site. Plus, I'm too lazy to make a cool montage DVD menu. I've had a 100% bookings for every dvd I've given out. That equals 3 total! I'm not ready to do bridal shows, so I'm not familiar with that aspect of promotion. I'm 15 weddings deep so far this year and don't pay for any advertising.

February 3rd, 2010, 06:18 PM	#7
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Thanks Guys What I have swirling around in my head is giving the bride maybe 6 different wedding showreels in a DVD menu ..each showreel being around 3 -4 minutes at the most and just having highlites of each wedding to make up each showreel. That way, the bride can watch snippets of 6 different weddings and not take up too much of their time. Would a solution as above be more effective than giving them a full wedding DVD????? I have still stuck with the complete wedding sample concept so at least they know what they will get. Any more comments would be greatly appreciated Chris

February 7th, 2010, 03:19 AM	#9
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Rochelle Many thanks for your input. The "business sensible" idea is to wow the bride with creative samples so she books you straight away ..What I try to do is provide samples of pieces of the whole ceremony so when you "turn-in" your work what they get is going to be pretty close to what they have already seen in the sample DVD. Naturally I prefer them to book straight off my website after looking at the online clips as from a business POV it's quicker and easier and no DVD is required. It does worry me that a creative highlights video of 2 minutes might not give them the full picture??? but then again they say that the client usually makes a purchasing decision in the first 30 secs of the video so maybe an ideal DVD would be a 120 sec highlights clip and then also offer then longer clips of various parts of weddings. Chris

February 13th, 2010, 10:51 AM	#12
Michael Simons Major Player Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Red Bank, NJ Posts: 553	I show them actual videos that brides have received. I quickly show the "live ceremony" and "Live reception" just so they get the idea that they will hear the readers at the ceremony and the intros at the reception. I then show them the highlights and once I know they get a feel for my what I do, I fast forward a lot. As we talk and discuss their day, I'll show them different samples of other weddings. If they are having a rolls royce, from my memory banks I'll show a wedding that has a rolls royce.

February 13th, 2010, 06:40 PM	#13
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Michael Thanks..I like the way you do things!! I do find that if I send the couple a sample DVD in the mail many don't ever come back to me BUT if, as you do, watch the samples with the couple, my success rate is virtually guaranteed!! I wonder why??? Surely brides are not that ignorant that they have issues with navigating a simple menu with the remote and end up thinking that my samples dvd doesn't work??? If I can, I rather try and meet the couple personally and let them watch the DVD with me instead of sending it ahead!! Seems to make better sales sense!! Chris