Ok, my turn at DVinfo.net

Heather Darling · March 20th, 2006, 05:20 PM

Here's a short clip from my very first wedding that I filmed last last month. I haven't got the compression right yet for viewing on the web so some of the scenes are a little herky jerky - mostly in the beginning. I would love any feedback you may have. I learned ALOT filming this wedding that will come in very handy in the future - like how to turn down the gain - very important! Some of the shots were a little grainy but it's not too noticable. Also, I was very impressed by the IRiver/Giant Squid combo. The audio was wonderful! Anxious to hear what you all think!

http://myforeverfilm.com/gallery-chrisSteph.htm

Mike F Smith · March 20th, 2006, 11:20 PM

This is your first shoot? That should be illegal!!! Very very illegal. I found it exquisite, just the right amount of ethereal and just the right amount of feminine touch that brides will love. It's not right, please take up golf on the weekends so the rest of us can keep working.

Mike

Edward Slonaker · March 21st, 2006, 10:07 AM

Sheesh! A winner right out of the box. This is great. The video appeared to run fine on my system/connection. I'm jealous. Really must get with the program here.....

Thanks for sharing!

Ryan DesRoches · March 21st, 2006, 12:42 PM

Wow - really impressive!

Nice job - excellent work :)

Ryan

Heather Darling · March 21st, 2006, 04:39 PM

Thanks to everyone for their comments... you're going to give me a big head! I'm still working on the longform video for this wedding - that's much more work than the highlight video! I'm not yet at the skill level I would like to be, hopefully by the end of the year.

Jason Robinson · March 22nd, 2006, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heather Darling

Thanks to everyone for their comments... you're going to give me a big head! I'm still working on the longform video for this wedding - that's much more work than the highlight video! I'm not yet at the skill level I would like to be, hopefully by the end of the year.

That brings to mind a common question I have for other editors..... how must time does it take to crank out a finished minute of video. Complete with all sound levels, video color corrections, cuts, fades, etc. My first 60min finished production took about 3 hours per minute, but that is because I mostly myself Vegas using that video as my playground. The most recent production seems to be hitting <1hr per minute.

What should a good target rate be? Is there even such a thing?

jason

Don Bloom · March 22nd, 2006, 07:04 AM

For me a typical wedding-4-5 hours of RAW footage takes about 50-60 hours to produce the finished product. That includes-loading the tapes into the computer thru burning the DVDs-not counting the covers I do but they're pretty much done while the machine is rendering or burning.
That time includes, digitizing, color correction,audio sweetening, menus and of course staring at the screen images to decide should I cut it here or 2 frames over :-)
I also do a short form edit and give the client the "unedited" long version of the ceremony and reception for archive purposes-no editing of any kind is done here-its pretty much a RAW footage to DVD type of thing but thats just render time. The footage is all on the computer anyway. BTW my short form edits run about 40-55 minutes start to finish-Prep to Retrospective so perhaps 50-60 hours is too much but thats how long it takes me.

Don

Tim Borek · March 22nd, 2006, 08:17 AM

With a name like Darling, brides will love you.

Very nice work.

Patrick Moreau · March 22nd, 2006, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

That brings to mind a common question I have for other editors.....

I haven't viewed Heather's clip yet, so no comments on that yet.

Just a reminder that other questions not in line with the thread ashould be posed as a new thread. It is not fair to Heather to take over her thread and it is very easy to post that as a new question, which I believe is in the forum rules. I realize we all do it but maybe we could try and stay a little more on topic or start a new one.

Patrick Moreau · March 22nd, 2006, 08:26 AM

I enjoyed the clip. I think you had good use of zooming which is not commonly done, and so I think it makes your work stronger, but I would agree with others that perhaps the fade to white transition could be used slightly less. For me it seemed to disrupt the flow and prevent the piece from building as well as it could have, but that could also be related to the music selection. Good use of the tripod (I'm assumming...) at the beginning to get nice fluid detail shots to start the video off. A great piece overall, in my opinion.

Craig Terott · March 22nd, 2006, 08:26 AM

Fantastic job if this was your wedding.

The thing that jumped out at me is the color. I realise I'm just looking at a compressed version but even in this small version what I see appears to be to be off quite a bit. Not sure if this is a color correction issue or if you purposely applied a glow using a purple-ish hue or something?

Heather Darling · March 22nd, 2006, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Terott

Fantastic job if this was your wedding.

I hope that I am reading this wrong and that you are not accusing me of anything.

Yes, the color is off a bit, that is another thing I hope to improve on in the future. I have also decided to get rid of my soft fx filters. I don't like what they do with the video and are sometimes very noticable.

Patrick -
Yes, I did use a tripod. I am extremely anal about shakiness in video. It seems that there are alot of videographers who tend to use a monopod or handhold the cameras through most of the video. Even with a monopod, I notice a lot of shake and unsmooth shots. I am a very shaky person, so I love my tripod and wouldn't dream of shooting without it, otherwise my video would look like I had parkinsons.

Mike - Sorry, I tried golf once, I couldn't even hit the ball!

Thanks again for everyone's comments and critique. It's much appreciated!

Patrick Moreau · March 22nd, 2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heather Darling

I hope that I am reading this wrong and that you are not accusing me of anything.

I can't speak for Craig, but I believe he was getting at the fact that the video may be a little slower and not build enough to grab the average person who doesn't know the couple. But for the bride and people who know her, it was a fantastic job.

Brandon Wood · March 23rd, 2006, 12:06 AM

Heather,

I thought it was really wonderful montage, almost unbelievably good for your first. Good original music. One question: I wasn't sure
what the two guys were actually doing in the clip; were they hugging each other or was the small guy trying to lift the bigger guy? I watched that a few times and just couldn't figure it out because of the point of view.

Also, are you speaking of yourself on the 'about us' page with 12 years video experience, and if so, what did you do before this?

Heather Darling · March 23rd, 2006, 08:20 AM

Hi Brandon -
The two guys are hugging and the one is lifting the other. The smaller guy is the grooms brother. A little too much love there!

Yes, I was talking about myself on the about page. I have worked on a talk show type show in Dallas doing video, editing and producing. I have also worked at a television news station doing camera work, editing, directing, and creating PSA's. I have worked for the past 6 years at an advertising agency doing television commercials among millions of other things. I have also done music videos for some local bands here in town.

March 20th, 2006, 05:20 PM	#1
Heather Darling Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 37	Ok, my turn Here's a short clip from my very first wedding that I filmed last last month. I haven't got the compression right yet for viewing on the web so some of the scenes are a little herky jerky - mostly in the beginning. I would love any feedback you may have. I learned ALOT filming this wedding that will come in very handy in the future - like how to turn down the gain - very important! Some of the shots were a little grainy but it's not too noticable. Also, I was very impressed by the IRiver/Giant Squid combo. The audio was wonderful! Anxious to hear what you all think! http://myforeverfilm.com/gallery-chrisSteph.htm

March 21st, 2006, 10:07 AM	#3
Edward Slonaker Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hell's 6 acres in S. Texas Posts: 203	Sheesh! A winner right out of the box. This is great. The video appeared to run fine on my system/connection. I'm jealous. Really must get with the program here..... Thanks for sharing! __________________ Edward Slonaker El Pilon Productions San Patricio, Texas www.elpilon.com

March 20th, 2006, 11:20 PM	#2
Mike F Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 156	This is your first shoot? That should be illegal!!! Very very illegal. I found it exquisite, just the right amount of ethereal and just the right amount of feminine touch that brides will love. It's not right, please take up golf on the weekends so the rest of us can keep working. Mike

March 21st, 2006, 12:42 PM	#4
Ryan DesRoches Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Worcester, Mass USA Posts: 125	Wow - really impressive! Nice job - excellent work :) Ryan

March 21st, 2006, 04:39 PM	#5
Heather Darling Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 37	Thanks to everyone for their comments... you're going to give me a big head! I'm still working on the longform video for this wedding - that's much more work than the highlight video! I'm not yet at the skill level I would like to be, hopefully by the end of the year.

March 22nd, 2006, 07:04 AM	#7
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	For me a typical wedding-4-5 hours of RAW footage takes about 50-60 hours to produce the finished product. That includes-loading the tapes into the computer thru burning the DVDs-not counting the covers I do but they're pretty much done while the machine is rendering or burning. That time includes, digitizing, color correction,audio sweetening, menus and of course staring at the screen images to decide should I cut it here or 2 frames over :-) I also do a short form edit and give the client the "unedited" long version of the ceremony and reception for archive purposes-no editing of any kind is done here-its pretty much a RAW footage to DVD type of thing but thats just render time. The footage is all on the computer anyway. BTW my short form edits run about 40-55 minutes start to finish-Prep to Retrospective so perhaps 50-60 hours is too much but thats how long it takes me. Don

March 22nd, 2006, 08:17 AM	#8
Tim Borek Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Westfield, IN Posts: 353	With a name like Darling, brides will love you. Very nice work.

March 22nd, 2006, 08:26 AM	#10
Patrick Moreau Still Motion Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,186	I enjoyed the clip. I think you had good use of zooming which is not commonly done, and so I think it makes your work stronger, but I would agree with others that perhaps the fade to white transition could be used slightly less. For me it seemed to disrupt the flow and prevent the piece from building as well as it could have, but that could also be related to the music selection. Good use of the tripod (I'm assumming...) at the beginning to get nice fluid detail shots to start the video off. A great piece overall, in my opinion.

March 22nd, 2006, 08:26 AM	#11
Craig Terott Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 691	Fantastic job if this was your wedding. The thing that jumped out at me is the color. I realise I'm just looking at a compressed version but even in this small version what I see appears to be to be off quite a bit. Not sure if this is a color correction issue or if you purposely applied a glow using a purple-ish hue or something?

March 23rd, 2006, 12:06 AM	#14
Brandon Wood Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Mauriceville, TX Posts: 146	Heather, I thought it was really wonderful montage, almost unbelievably good for your first. Good original music. One question: I wasn't sure what the two guys were actually doing in the clip; were they hugging each other or was the small guy trying to lift the bigger guy? I watched that a few times and just couldn't figure it out because of the point of view. Also, are you speaking of yourself on the 'about us' page with 12 years video experience, and if so, what did you do before this?

March 23rd, 2006, 08:20 AM	#15
Heather Darling Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 37	Hi Brandon - The two guys are hugging and the one is lifting the other. The smaller guy is the grooms brother. A little too much love there! Yes, I was talking about myself on the about page. I have worked on a talk show type show in Dallas doing video, editing and producing. I have also worked at a television news station doing camera work, editing, directing, and creating PSA's. I have worked for the past 6 years at an advertising agency doing television commercials among millions of other things. I have also done music videos for some local bands here in town.