would love some feedback at DVinfo.net

Louis Maddalena · August 7th, 2010, 10:48 AM

Hey guys,

I haven't posted a video on here in a long time, but I decided that I really should start upping my game, and get some feedback from the best of the best. I'd appreciate any feedback but would prefer negative / constructive feedback so I know what I'm doing wrong and what I should improve on. I'd also love to hear what you liked about the video so I know what not to change in my next draft.

Thanks so much in advanced for watching and giving me feedback :)
Louis

The password is Draft3

Eric Pasarin · August 7th, 2010, 12:58 PM

Nice work! I'm loving the punchy colors! Music is good too, very upbeat and engaging. 2 cameras makes a difference, especially during the vows and such. Makes the linear scene more interesting.

I'm thinking the intro of the speech might be too long. To keep the speech, I would cut some other angles, maybe the bride and groom reactions so that it's not one long speech shot. Especially as an intro shot into your video, which kicks up nicely after that.

Also, I'm a fan of shallow depth of field when it works, but parts near the end where they are dancing, they dance beyond the field and go out of focus. For something that special, they should be sharp, especially during their turns. Elsewhere it's used nicely.

Overall very nice. I'm digging the reception colors which is something I still can't nail down. Too dark and/or too many lighting changes. You've made it look very even and consistent. Nice!

Chip Thome · August 7th, 2010, 11:28 PM

Louis....loved the audio !!!! The only thing I would have liked was something from the celebrant.It wouldn't had to have been much, but I thought I did see his lips moving at one point but heard zero.

Tom Bostick · August 8th, 2010, 12:39 AM

opening guy's audio sounded pretty bad ,after that was good except that the priest (not sure of proper title)
didn't seem to be audible ,quite a few shots out of focus as well ,i think if you fix those things on your next vid you'll have a real winner :)

Louis Maddalena · August 8th, 2010, 08:42 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys! I know about the focus problem, didn't happen too often, but I decided the shots that it did happen with should go in the highlights because even though they drifted focus I still liked them... It was my first wedding with no real video camera, it was all done with canon SLR's. The audio at the reception sucks because it was all on camera mics because the board sent out some kind of horrible signal 10 minutes into the reception which I am going to try to fix but for now its gone.

I hope to improve everything before the next wedding, and hopefully start gaining more and higher end clients. :)

Susanto Widjaja · August 8th, 2010, 09:50 PM

Negatives

- celebrant at the start = too much head room, audio problem with wireless

- soo many blown out highlights on the prep

- there is a shot that we can see how u change the aperture 01:24

- 01:26 slider shot a bit tilted

- then the establishing shots exterior didn't say much variation over the different shots. i think one shot of the exterior is enough. especially the first exterior and the second. they are almost exactly the same thing. when you pull back to the mid shot, we don't see much new. just more green grass..

- again too much head room on the bride walking down the isle

- the bride was looking back at her dress tail. i think its better to cut that out.

- bride vow is not sync

- bride angle is crossing the line with the master shot. Maybe the situation didn't allow you to get the right angle but I thought I'd mention it cause it is a big thing.

- grand entrance has wrong white balance, too much headroom, shaky panning.

- all of the reception has wrong white balance.

Positives:

- some nice shots during the prep. i particularly like the pull focus shot 01:04

Overall:

I think you have to work on your composition (headroom and the like), camera movement (stability/monopod), work on your manual setting (white balance and aperture setting) and work on your editing (cleaning up those bad stuff out like changing aperture, bride looking back on her tail, shaky footage as well as try to tell a story through your editing as opposed to only showing beautiful pictures and people having fun and romantic times)

I hope this makes sense :)

Santo

Louis Maddalena · August 8th, 2010, 10:48 PM

Susanto,

Thanks for your feedback. Already fixed the white balance problem, just have not uploaded the newest version yet. Thanks for all your other comments, anything that I can fix, I will, if not I'll keep it in mind for future jobs! It was very helpful.

Wished there were more positives though.. but I guess I'll get there right? :) Want to get this down so that next summer I can make good money doing it since I will have just graduated from school.

Louis

New video:

Its not done yet again, but is the latest... this one is not password protected...

Art Varga · August 11th, 2010, 10:29 AM

Louis - I'd echo most of the comments mentioned. Additionally I'd recommend more variation on the length of the clips. Needed some quicker cuts in there. The slider shots are cool but use more sparingly ( table slide at 3:10 too long). I've found it almost impossible to get an acceptable handheld shot from a 5D so for the vows, toasts, etc, I always lock it down on a tripod. Pretty noticeable jello effect at 1:42. You had some good shots in there though and overall nice highlight. I'm sure your client will love it.

August 7th, 2010, 10:48 AM	#1
Louis Maddalena Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NYC Area. Posts: 550	would love some feedback Hey guys, I haven't posted a video on here in a long time, but I decided that I really should start upping my game, and get some feedback from the best of the best. I'd appreciate any feedback but would prefer negative / constructive feedback so I know what I'm doing wrong and what I should improve on. I'd also love to hear what you liked about the video so I know what not to change in my next draft. Thanks so much in advanced for watching and giving me feedback :) Louis The password is Draft3 This is a password protected video on Vimeo __________________ Red Epic available for rent, starting at $500 per day, Scarlets, and Lenses available too. rentals.maddalenamedia.com

August 8th, 2010, 08:42 PM	#5
Louis Maddalena Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NYC Area. Posts: 550	Thanks for the feedback guys! I know about the focus problem, didn't happen too often, but I decided the shots that it did happen with should go in the highlights because even though they drifted focus I still liked them... It was my first wedding with no real video camera, it was all done with canon SLR's. The audio at the reception sucks because it was all on camera mics because the board sent out some kind of horrible signal 10 minutes into the reception which I am going to try to fix but for now its gone. I hope to improve everything before the next wedding, and hopefully start gaining more and higher end clients. :) __________________ Red Epic available for rent, starting at $500 per day, Scarlets, and Lenses available too. rentals.maddalenamedia.com

August 8th, 2010, 09:50 PM	#6
Susanto Widjaja Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 622	Negatives - celebrant at the start = too much head room, audio problem with wireless - soo many blown out highlights on the prep - there is a shot that we can see how u change the aperture 01:24 - 01:26 slider shot a bit tilted - then the establishing shots exterior didn't say much variation over the different shots. i think one shot of the exterior is enough. especially the first exterior and the second. they are almost exactly the same thing. when you pull back to the mid shot, we don't see much new. just more green grass.. - again too much head room on the bride walking down the isle - the bride was looking back at her dress tail. i think its better to cut that out. - bride vow is not sync - bride angle is crossing the line with the master shot. Maybe the situation didn't allow you to get the right angle but I thought I'd mention it cause it is a big thing. - grand entrance has wrong white balance, too much headroom, shaky panning. - all of the reception has wrong white balance. Positives: - some nice shots during the prep. i particularly like the pull focus shot 01:04 Overall: I think you have to work on your composition (headroom and the like), camera movement (stability/monopod), work on your manual setting (white balance and aperture setting) and work on your editing (cleaning up those bad stuff out like changing aperture, bride looking back on her tail, shaky footage as well as try to tell a story through your editing as opposed to only showing beautiful pictures and people having fun and romantic times) I hope this makes sense :) Santo __________________ If a picture is worth a thousand words, what about motion picture? website: www.papercranes.com.au \| blog: www.weddingvideosydney.net

August 8th, 2010, 10:48 PM	#7
Louis Maddalena Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NYC Area. Posts: 550	Susanto, Thanks for your feedback. Already fixed the white balance problem, just have not uploaded the newest version yet. Thanks for all your other comments, anything that I can fix, I will, if not I'll keep it in mind for future jobs! It was very helpful. Wished there were more positives though.. but I guess I'll get there right? :) Want to get this down so that next summer I can make good money doing it since I will have just graduated from school. Louis New video: Allie + Rob on Vimeo Its not done yet again, but is the latest... this one is not password protected... __________________ Red Epic available for rent, starting at $500 per day, Scarlets, and Lenses available too. rentals.maddalenamedia.com Last edited by Louis Maddalena; August 8th, 2010 at 11:31 PM.

August 11th, 2010, 10:29 AM	#8
Art Varga Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Belle Mead, NJ Posts: 552	Louis - I'd echo most of the comments mentioned. Additionally I'd recommend more variation on the length of the clips. Needed some quicker cuts in there. The slider shots are cool but use more sparingly ( table slide at 3:10 too long). I've found it almost impossible to get an acceptable handheld shot from a 5D so for the vows, toasts, etc, I always lock it down on a tripod. Pretty noticeable jello effect at 1:42. You had some good shots in there though and overall nice highlight. I'm sure your client will love it. __________________ __________________________________ - Art Varga www.vargaproductions.com

August 7th, 2010, 12:58 PM	#2
Eric Pasarin Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: city, ST Posts: 27	Nice work! I'm loving the punchy colors! Music is good too, very upbeat and engaging. 2 cameras makes a difference, especially during the vows and such. Makes the linear scene more interesting. I'm thinking the intro of the speech might be too long. To keep the speech, I would cut some other angles, maybe the bride and groom reactions so that it's not one long speech shot. Especially as an intro shot into your video, which kicks up nicely after that. Also, I'm a fan of shallow depth of field when it works, but parts near the end where they are dancing, they dance beyond the field and go out of focus. For something that special, they should be sharp, especially during their turns. Elsewhere it's used nicely. Overall very nice. I'm digging the reception colors which is something I still can't nail down. Too dark and/or too many lighting changes. You've made it look very even and consistent. Nice!

August 7th, 2010, 11:28 PM	#3
Chip Thome Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Green Bay Wisconsin Posts: 553	Louis....loved the audio !!!! The only thing I would have liked was something from the celebrant.It wouldn't had to have been much, but I thought I did see his lips moving at one point but heard zero.

August 8th, 2010, 12:39 AM	#4
Tom Bostick Major Player Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Austin TX Posts: 292	opening guy's audio sounded pretty bad ,after that was good except that the priest (not sure of proper title) didn't seem to be audible ,quite a few shots out of focus as well ,i think if you fix those things on your next vid you'll have a real winner :)