i need your opinion

[Buba Kastorski]

I know that all people are different, and so their likes and dislikes, but i am starting to think that i am 'loosing it'
i give to all my clients free pre-wedding video, something like an engagement photo shoot, but i do this free, it takes me just a few hours, all my clients like that and it makes good selling point.
my last couple got a big discount from me as they were referred by one of my friends; so i did one for them too, but they didn't like it, and they told me that was a mistake choosing me as their wedding cinematographer;
i don't know what to think, am i completely out of reality or what?
so please take a look, and please be brutally honest in telling me if this really that bad?
thanks guys.

I needed to remove the link, sorry and thank you again!

[Peter Rush]

Buba I like it - Nice piece of work - and you provided this for free!!

I would be suspicious that they are angling for some money back or (if they haven't paid yet) withholding some. Also IMO the people that drive the hardest bargain (I don't ever do discounts any more under any circumstances) are the hardest to please and always come up with a transparently thin excuse for some sort of refund.

Do they like the rest of the wedding video - does it reflect the samples of previous work you showed them?

Pete

[Buba Kastorski]

thanks,
the wedding is on Nov 10th, they don't like how i film, so i am not doing it,
and they were happy and saying that they loved all the samples i showed them,
before they saw this video

[Nigel Barker]

Just my opinion but that jumping from slow mo to speeded up back to slow mo really jars & I didn't like it at all. I thought that Vimeo was playing up but realised that it was deliberate. Apart from that it looks fine.

Maybe they are short on money & looking for an excuse to get out of paying or get a refund if they already paid.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Buba Kastorski

i give to all my clients free pre-wedding video

You shoot a pre-wedding for free on a red camera? Well if they don't like it, don't give it to them, they didn't pay for it... :)

To be honest, ditch the song, it's really that bad and doesn't do your otherwise stunning looking footage any good. I would try something more uplifting, something fun to listen at. Also the way you edited it at the beginning with the silence and the fake sounding footsteps in slomo, then fast with streetnoise, then silent with slowmo again etc didn't work for me.

I think it's mainly the song that kills it.

[James Manford]

I just don't understand some peoples mentality. What was it they expected?

I thought the video was good.

They have either decided your too pricey for them (for the actual wedding film) or genuinely don't think your filming style will suit their wedding.

[Peter Riding]

Hard to fault the technical or the content so I can only speculate.

Its very heavily scripted and directed - they may feel that it shows nothing of their personalities or individuality; they might just as well have been actors. The story could have been "painting by numbers" and repeated for any other clients. It does look good though :- )

I came across this short recently and thought it is rather nice. Its a wedding day rather than an engagement shoot so its easier to inject some personality. There is no mistaking that this is the couple that it is:

Kerry + Ollie's Wedding FIlm on Vimeo

And the execution of your short - what they had to go through as it were to achieve this short - may well have put them off if they imagined rightly or wrongly that their wedding day would be dominated by filming.

As a photographer I dislike doing engagement shoots - which are much more common with stills. There's just none of the buzz and excitement of the actual wedding day. Instead its all contrived and the photos are a succession of "this is when the photographer asked us to do this, and this is when the photographer asked us to do that".

They probably wouldn't have cottoned on to any of the above no matter how many samples they viewed because they would not know the story of the sample couples and they would not know what went into the actual shooting of the samples in terms of time, equipment, retakes, etc.

But if its a USP that gets you bookings you wouldn't otherwise achieve then don't stop doing it just on account of one couple. Sometimes you just have to remember "some do, some don't, so what, next".

Pete

[Rob Cantwell]

Perhaps they cant afford you and used that response as an excuse!

Did you ask them what they didn't like about it? because I'd be puzzled too.

Personally i didn't like the music much too much twittering etc.

Excellent work, superb quality video.



oh! and to nitpick you should have worn a dark hat instead of a white one! just kidding :-)

[Steve Bleasdale]

Buba I thought you did great, colours lovely decent editing. Just my two pence worth, the full on twittering with the birds and quick slow jar noisy movements was slightly of putting but I could see where you where coming from. Maybe a different song, more fun. I have done some a few years back similar to yours only to find pre weddings need to be fun as such. Here is one I did recently, not saying its the best but for what I charge and top package they get it for free also.

Danny & Niki // Pre wedding film.. on Vimeo

[Paul Mailath]

I can't see the video but I think there's definitely something else going on - walk away. I'd even give them their deposit back and wish them well.

It's not going to get better - if they are genuinely unhappy with your work & style - that's life, there's no point in changing what you do to, the chances of 'reinventing' yours style and getting it right for them are minimal - and why should you. If the majority of people like what you do and most importantly YOU like what you do - stick to it.

if you go ahead you're just pushing crap uphill, they are setting you up for a fall. There is another reason - the real reason but it really doesn't matter what it is, you may never find out and if you do it will be the hard way.

Walk Away

[Andrew Maclaurin]

These people exist everywhere. They'll never be happy with what they get or they are always looking for a discount or a reason to complain.
i have another business with my girlfriend. We rent flats to tourists in the centre of Madrid. We had a guest the other day that we went out of our way to help. Check-in is after 3pm. They signed a contract and agreed to that. They arrived in Madrid at 10am and as they had a disabled child they asked us if it would be possible to have a place to change the child's nappys. We arranged for a clean private place for them to change the nappys on their arrival, which they claimed they were very grateful for. They stayed for four days without complaints. Then a few days later they wrote a review of the flat and gave it a terrible 4.2 out of 10 and said the flat was disgusting, dirty etc. I assure you that the flats, whilst not 5 star, are spotless and are exceptional value for money. Some people are just ignorant shits. Forget about them.
Another thing is to always re-evaluate your product. That's good practice. Keep up the good work.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Good points Andrew well said mate...

[Buba Kastorski]

Big thank you everyone!
i truly appreciate everyone's comments, it was really nice to have a fresh look at my work, hear different opinions, and the main thing - i believe i still have it:)
thank you!
i didn't tell the whole story, was so puzzled with their feedback :)
the couple actually canceled some video guy they already booked for their wedding after they saw my demos, but after this video - they told me they don't like my work, but there's more :))
Yesterday they call me back saying that the bride is so stressed and all that, and they sorry, and they still want me to film their wedding, bride told me she hated how fake her smile was looking in the video, well, i didn't tell her to smile, i always tell my couples try to look natural, try to be yourself, i create situations for my videos, but i don't ask, and i don't let them to 'act', cuz they're not actors, and i know it's gonna look bad.
i get this, sometimes people get so shocked when they see themselves on video, we'll how it goes :)
And another big thank you - no more white skull caps , he he

[Steve Bleasdale]

Whatever you do! Don't film this wedding! Trouble all over it! Steve

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Buba Kastorski

and they still want me to film their wedding, bride told me she hated how fake her smile was looking in the video

That's the worst kind, she will blame you afterwards if you will not make her look at her best, even your red at 4k won't be able to make that happen. :)