How to make a 3 hour DVD interesting?

Noa Put · January 25th, 2013, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Knight

Are you suggesting people are actually interested in seeing uninterrupted footage of their own boring wedding and guests and stuff?

Yes they do exist, I have shot for them but I have to say I did do a occasional pan and a zoom (and moved locations) for creative purpose. :)

Chris Harding · January 25th, 2013, 06:39 AM

Hi Noa

John is delightfully sarcastic which is why I love reading his posts. I think we tend to elevate brides to a Steven Speilberg level cos we expect them to be as critical and as creative as us..when it comes down to the bottom line all the average bride wants to do is ooh and aah over how pretty her dress and the bridesmaid's dresses are and how handsome her husband looked. The normal bride is seldom a creative artist who expects perfection but a simple creature who simply wants to watch her special day again.

Yes most brides actually will savour every moment of a 2 hour DVD that we almost died of boredom editing but remember her wedding day memories mean a whole lot more to her than it means to us.

If a bride does ask for 3 hours of DVD then you can be sure that she will watch every minute of it and enjoy it too...the new hubby, of course, seldom will watch more than a few segments and only because he feels he has to.

Chris

Nicholas de Kock · January 25th, 2013, 07:46 AM

Lord of the Rings is 3 hours long & also has a lot of boring parts, that had a budget of a few hundred million. You're out of luck a 3 hour long wedding video is going to be boring to everyone else but at least the couple might enjoy it.

Roger Gunkel · February 1st, 2013, 07:45 PM

I am new to this forum, but have been filming weddings since 1986. One of the things that I learnt very early on, is that couples have absolutely no idea of how to construct a video to show their day. Most brides think that if their wedding runs from 2pm until midnight, that you will need to take 10 hours of footage to cover it. The concept of a watchable shot length is beyond the comprehension of most non video people and you can't easily explain it. I never let clients make editing decisions from raw footage and never take written instructions on what they want filmed unless there are special events planned.

I once paid the price of going against my better judgement when I filmed a wedding for a TV producer. She presented me with a shot list for her entire wedding with written instructions not to include anything that wasn't in her list. Upon delivering the finished work she was extremely upset to find that there were no shots of her brother who had given her away, no cake cutting, no bouquet throwing and various other missing shots. I had to explain quite carefully that they were all shots that I would normally take but were omitted from her comprehensive shot list, She reluctantly admitted that it was her fault, and is the only time I have diverted from my own judgement.

I get round client fears that we might miss something quite simply, by showing potential clients a typical wedding, and after they have watched several minutes, explain to them that the 5 minutes or so that they have watched covers about 30 minutes (or whatever) of real time. This usually causes genuine surprise and is an opportunity to explain that the art of the videographer is to capture everything important in a watchable way. I always capture the entire ceremony and speeches, and make sure that everybody at the wedding features somewhere, with more shots of close family members.

As has already been said, couples watching their wedding video want to see their vows, speeches, clothes, friends, family and venues. Providing the flow, high points and atmosphere of the wedding is captured, they will be very happy. Never forget that they will remember little of their day in reality and nearly every detail of the video will be something that would quite likely otherwise be forgotten.

Roger

Chris Harding · February 1st, 2013, 11:45 PM

Hi Roger

Absolutely!! Over a 10 or 12 hour wedding gig I probably do an hour and a bit (or a little more if it's a Catholic ceremony) on my A-Cam ...that is really the only camera that records the entire ceremony and each speech in full. My C-Cam is a high elevated static cam (usually on a stand or on a balacony) and that also does the ceremony from start to end and that's all.
My B-Cam which is on my shoulder does all the rest..bridal prep, ceremony wide shots and cutaways including arrivals and departures, photoshoot and the reception and again I seldom have more than an hour's footage on that camera ... a 10 hour wedding is usually around 100 minutes max on DVD and done in clips by menu so the bride can watch bits and pieces as she feels... It's a well known fact that the human brain loses concentration completely within 15 minutes so it's good to give the viewer a mental break to "reset" their mind prior to watching for this time....I will often split a longish ceremony into "the service", "the vows and rings" and then the "register and exit" That way brides (and especially family and friens" only are watching fairly short segments ... I normally also have speeches split into each speaker but on the rare occasion where the FOB relates a 30 minute episode of his daughters life there is not much you can do!!

This certainly helps making a wedding a lot more watchable and from an edit POV it's much easier to work with an 8 minute clip than have an hour or more on the timeline.

Chris

January 25th, 2013, 06:39 AM	#17
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: How to make a 3 hour DVD interesting? Hi Noa John is delightfully sarcastic which is why I love reading his posts. I think we tend to elevate brides to a Steven Speilberg level cos we expect them to be as critical and as creative as us..when it comes down to the bottom line all the average bride wants to do is ooh and aah over how pretty her dress and the bridesmaid's dresses are and how handsome her husband looked. The normal bride is seldom a creative artist who expects perfection but a simple creature who simply wants to watch her special day again. Yes most brides actually will savour every moment of a 2 hour DVD that we almost died of boredom editing but remember her wedding day memories mean a whole lot more to her than it means to us. If a bride does ask for 3 hours of DVD then you can be sure that she will watch every minute of it and enjoy it too...the new hubby, of course, seldom will watch more than a few segments and only because he feels he has to. Chris

January 25th, 2013, 07:46 AM	#18
Nicholas de Kock Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: KLD, South Africa Posts: 983	Re: How to make a 3 hour DVD interesting? Lord of the Rings is 3 hours long & also has a lot of boring parts, that had a budget of a few hundred million. You're out of luck a 3 hour long wedding video is going to be boring to everyone else but at least the couple might enjoy it.

February 1st, 2013, 07:45 PM	#19
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: How to make a 3 hour DVD interesting? I am new to this forum, but have been filming weddings since 1986. One of the things that I learnt very early on, is that couples have absolutely no idea of how to construct a video to show their day. Most brides think that if their wedding runs from 2pm until midnight, that you will need to take 10 hours of footage to cover it. The concept of a watchable shot length is beyond the comprehension of most non video people and you can't easily explain it. I never let clients make editing decisions from raw footage and never take written instructions on what they want filmed unless there are special events planned. I once paid the price of going against my better judgement when I filmed a wedding for a TV producer. She presented me with a shot list for her entire wedding with written instructions not to include anything that wasn't in her list. Upon delivering the finished work she was extremely upset to find that there were no shots of her brother who had given her away, no cake cutting, no bouquet throwing and various other missing shots. I had to explain quite carefully that they were all shots that I would normally take but were omitted from her comprehensive shot list, She reluctantly admitted that it was her fault, and is the only time I have diverted from my own judgement. I get round client fears that we might miss something quite simply, by showing potential clients a typical wedding, and after they have watched several minutes, explain to them that the 5 minutes or so that they have watched covers about 30 minutes (or whatever) of real time. This usually causes genuine surprise and is an opportunity to explain that the art of the videographer is to capture everything important in a watchable way. I always capture the entire ceremony and speeches, and make sure that everybody at the wedding features somewhere, with more shots of close family members. As has already been said, couples watching their wedding video want to see their vows, speeches, clothes, friends, family and venues. Providing the flow, high points and atmosphere of the wedding is captured, they will be very happy. Never forget that they will remember little of their day in reality and nearly every detail of the video will be something that would quite likely otherwise be forgotten. Roger

February 1st, 2013, 11:45 PM	#20
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: How to make a 3 hour DVD interesting? Hi Roger Absolutely!! Over a 10 or 12 hour wedding gig I probably do an hour and a bit (or a little more if it's a Catholic ceremony) on my A-Cam ...that is really the only camera that records the entire ceremony and each speech in full. My C-Cam is a high elevated static cam (usually on a stand or on a balacony) and that also does the ceremony from start to end and that's all. My B-Cam which is on my shoulder does all the rest..bridal prep, ceremony wide shots and cutaways including arrivals and departures, photoshoot and the reception and again I seldom have more than an hour's footage on that camera ... a 10 hour wedding is usually around 100 minutes max on DVD and done in clips by menu so the bride can watch bits and pieces as she feels... It's a well known fact that the human brain loses concentration completely within 15 minutes so it's good to give the viewer a mental break to "reset" their mind prior to watching for this time....I will often split a longish ceremony into "the service", "the vows and rings" and then the "register and exit" That way brides (and especially family and friens" only are watching fairly short segments ... I normally also have speeches split into each speaker but on the rare occasion where the FOB relates a 30 minute episode of his daughters life there is not much you can do!! This certainly helps making a wedding a lot more watchable and from an edit POV it's much easier to work with an 8 minute clip than have an hour or more on the timeline. Chris