Posting my first clip

[Eric Gan]

Hi all,

This forum has been and continues to be a tremendous resource
for me in all production areas. A big thanks to those who post
examples of their work here in the wedding forum. It's always
great to see members' work and read the constructive criticism
provided.

This is the 3rd wedding under out belts. It's amazing how much
you learn with each new one. I've posted links in Quicktime and
Flash format (not my favorite, but gaining popularity recently
with Flash 8's use of the VP6 encoder).

Flash 8 version:
http://www.brainzstorm.com/weddings/...rekandlin.html

Quicktime 7 version (H.264):
http://www.brainzstorm.com/weddings/...erekandlin.mov

We used an FX1 and a PD170. We shot HDV on the FX1 and down-
converted to SD during capture. The PD170 was set to 16:9 mode.
Many factors led to this rather non-optimized solution, but it's what
worked best for us cost-wise and workflow-wise.

Matching footage from the two cameras was no problem. Just
remember to white balance when using multiple cameras! Somehow
our settings didn't match up during the banquet and that resulted in
extra time spent color correcting in post.

An effort was made to be as efficient in the edit as possible. I was
trying to work out the economics of wedding videography and it
really doesn't add up. I was was shooting for the following numbers:

2 shooters x 16 hrs = 32 hrs
Highlight Edit = 10 hrs
Full length Edit = 10 hrs
DVD design / authoring / burning = 2 hrs
Package design / printing = 3 hrs
* I don't count the 8 hrs of capture because that's not really work!

The highlight video took me about twice the amount of time I was
shooting for. Not good enough. Divide the price by the total
man-hours worked and the wage is pretty abysmal.
I'm interested in the average time you guys spend in post until you
are satisfied each "masterpiece". Should I just go and get a job
at McDonald's instead?

The couple wanted at least a 10-minute highlight. We think the
ideal length is around 7 or 8 minutes. It was probably a mistake to
promise them the 10-minute cut because I had to stretch for footage
and it became a bit repetitive. However, it's hard to say no to
something like that when you're just starting out.

Thanks for your comments and feedback.

Cheers

[Terry Esslinger]

Nice job!
I can't see how wedding videographers can make a living with the hours that it takes to do decent work. People don't understand that. I have done a couple of weddings for free for friends - basically as a wedding present. But I sure didn't get to enjoy the ceremonies! My basic video direction is with the local fire department - training and educational videos.

Question: Why did you use both HD and SD and mix them together? I can see doing HD and downconverting to SD for delivery currently (saving the HD version for when there is a practical delivery method) or shooting all SD (widescreen) (does the FX1 do that?). But with the mix you can't go back to HD with the program and I'm sure that it complicated the editing. Just wondered?

[Brian Farris]

I thought it was great. I did notice a few things though.

1) How was the sepia tone /w color flowers effect achieved?

2) I'm not sure using modern music in the wedding video is a good idea. For now it works great, but in 20 years, I'd probably throw up listening to it. I normally for timeless stuff, (Nora Jones of course).

3) I liked a lot of the shots you used and I'll have to use some of those the next time I do a wedding. I especially liked the short shot of them in the reflection of the car.

[Eric Gan]

Terry: There were several reasons I went with the HDV/SD mix. I own an FX-1, and we rented a PD170 because a) a Z1 costs more, and b) we were a bit worried about unexpected low-light situations, since we didn't have a camera light. The PD170 is still king of low light. So since the FX1 is native 16:9, we shot 16:9 on the PD170 and downconverted the HDV during capture (gives a slightly nicer picture I think). The resulting footage can all be dropped into a 16:9 SD timeline. We don't have the hardware to edit HDV yet, so that was never a consideration.

One thing that jumps out at me is the native 16:9 footage compared to the PD170. I can pick out every shot that originated from FX1. What a difference.

Brian: The sepia tone with the color flowers is a simple 2-minute job in After Effects. Sepia the clip and drop it on the timeline. Drop the same clip on the next layer and draw a quick mask around the flower. Since it's a static locked off shot (the flowers don't move), this was an easy job.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Cole McDonald]

Originally Posted by Eric Gan

* I don't count the 8 hrs of capture because that's not really work!

This is billable time as it is time you can't use your deck/camera for other projects...and wear and tear on the heads. The person is not the only cost component in the equation.

[Leo Pepingco]

Hey, great work! I know the location well. I did someshort films there.

Just a few questions, howd you record the vows? I didnt see any mics on them. just curious.

And I've never heard this rendition of Canon in D. Did you get someone to perform it for you? Its really good considering its only a single piano.

Other than that, good stuff.

[Cole McDonald]

That's a great looking vid! Nicely done.

[Clarence S. Walker]

Hi Eric:

Great job. Can you tell me what the name of the first piece of music in your video is.

Thanks,

Clarence

[Armin DeFiesta]

Nice job! Nice cars they had too :) The backdrop was awesome.

Were some of your tracking shots handheld or did you use a stabilizer?

[Jose Luis Alcaraz]

Hi all!
An excellent clip... ill try to achieve something like this in my next work :P

Did you notice the vigneting on the FX1 takes??
When i buyed my FX1, spent a lot of time speaking with the technical service about that... everybody from Sony didnt see the problem and try to explain me that there isnt vigneting at all. They changed my first camera, but the new one has the same vigneting. I see this problem happens to all FX1.

[Eric Gan]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the comments so far. I'll try to answer all the questions that have been asked.

Audio for the vows: we miked the officiant, had the stock PD170 mike onboard, and also tapped into the officiant's wireless system. The result? Let's just say it was less than optimal. It was very windy outside, the wireless system kept dropping out, the bride was a bit nervous and forgot some of her vows and had to be prompted. Basically, only the people right in front of the altar could hear what was going on. Our solution? ADR! The couple was totally cool about it, so we just met up afterwards and recorded a clean version of the vows. I think it made the resulting video much more polished, although not a true representation of what happened that day.

The tracking shots were done with a Glidecam 2000. I basically shot with it all day long. Boy, was my arm tired at the end - I did not have a forearm brace.

Jose - regarding the vignetting. I can assure you that my FX1 does not vignette at all. The effect you see was added in post using Magic Bullet misfire vignette. I chose to give it that look. I have not heard of the FX1 vignetting on the stock lens - I doubt Sony would allow something like that to happen.

You can't go wrong with the backdrop in Sydney - everywhere is just spectacular. It also doesn't hurt that you get a 95% chance of sunny weather! Now I'm back in rainy Vancouver, BC, and I really miss that.

I'll reply privately to those who asked about song selection.

Thanks,

Eric

[Armin DeFiesta]

Wow, using the G2K all day w/no forearm brace must've been painful! The shots looked pretty good though.

[Billy Mallari]

Originally Posted by Eric Gan

The tracking shots were done with a Glidecam 2000. I basically shot with it all day long. Boy, was my arm tired at the end - I did not have a forearm brace.

Eric

Hey Eric nice work by the way, did you literally shoot with the glidecam the whole day or only used it for specific shots?

Im planning to buy the glidecam but might only use it for specific parts of weddings. Did you use any other support?

[Oleg Kalyan]

""Should I just go and get a job
at McDonald's instead?""

May I ask you what was the budget for the project?

[Eric Gan]

Billy: Yes, I literally did shoot with the Glidecam all day. Not because I chose to, but because I had just gotten my Glidecam and haven't had a chance to pick up a quick release adapter yet. Since you don't really have time to try to balance a rig during the day, it was all or nothing. I chose to shoot with it because who can resist playing with a new toy? It actually isn't as bad as it sounds because when you're not flying the rig, you can just hold it with your other hand and it's just like going handheld. The lesson here is to definitely have a quick release adapter so you can pop your camera on/off quickly. If possible, get an adapter with a plate that fits your tripod head. (e.g. I now own a 503 head with a Manfrotto 577 QR adapter).

The second cam was either handheld or on the Miller DS-10 tripod.

Oleg: I'm embarrased to say the price for this one. We basically did it just to get another one for the showreel (it was only our 3rd wedding ever). But in the future, we plan to charge $1500-2000 (CDN) for a standard package: 2-camera shoot, highlight video, full-day edit, DVD extras (slideshows, etc).