Sharing a clip from a girls 21st birthday.. first 7 minutes

[Albert Baier]

Always love to hear your thoughts/opinions/suggestions...

http://www.digitaldreamzstudios.com/...Gabbys21st.wmv

Thanks
Albert

[Peter Jefferson]

is she hot?

[Leo Pepingco]

I hope its just me, but I really disliked the first 30 seconds... Cheesy was the word that kept popping up.

the slide show was very nice.... As well as the overall reception party.

however, I didnt like it overly well..

[Leo Pepingco]

By the way... where was the birthday girl in the film? If she made a showing, there was no way as an audience to know if she did.... Unless youre family, or you remember the photo slideshow scene really well...

[Peter Jefferson]

oh yea.. she not too bad.. did u get her fone number?? ;)

not bad for a party video.. this seems to be something like a longform edit, but i would cut as much as possible.. no longer than 10 seconds per cut bro.. even that might be a little long.. throw afew things around.. mess it up.. chop and change, but also dont forget whos Bday it is...

Another major major major point is lighting.. dunmatta wat camera u got and what the "low light performance" might be, get a light and use it.. even 25w in this case would do wonders for ur colour and focus

[Monday Isa]

Hey Albert,
1 thing came to mind. When you had on the screen lets go way back. Take the entire slideshow reverse it and speed it up like 10 times. While the letters are there and do a hard white to dissolve to start off in regular motion. Over all, you did good. You'll need to boost the over all brightness in alot of areas. Cool concept in the beginning with Gabby and going back to time. Thanks for sharing

[Denis Danatzko]

Overall, a good job.

Ideas to consider:
I've done similar things for friends and family, running the slide show DURING the party as a kind of tribute to the guest of honor and "entertainment highlight" for the guests. While I always include photos of the honoree, I try to get photos of them with anyone who's attending the party. It makes for a sort of "audience participation" and holds their attention a little longer. (While many folks are camera shy, most love seeing themselves on the screen in photos from years gone by).

The video OF the party would later be added for the immediate family, e.g. parents and guest of honor.

I agree with the point about too little lighting during the party: not enough for the video.

Also the length would be a concern of mine. I majored in Speech Comm. and have done a lot of training and presentations over the years. Research has proven that audience attention can drift after just a few minutes, almost always by 8 mins, usually less. IMO the slide show was a good length, and the video, while short, (and not knowing the folks being shot), was confusing. I presume anyone who got a copy of the DVD would recognize who was who. For situations like that, I sometimes add text/callouts to identify people.

BTW, I see you're not far from me. I now live in Essex but grew up in Monmouth Cty, and really wish I were closer to the shore.

[Cara Starr]

I like the idea of going "back in time". Cute.
As for the party footage a few too many establishing shots for me... and i got a little bored with the shots of the tables, food, etc. That's about the point i began fast forwarding.
The energetic music doesn't go too well with almost static shots of tables and plates.
It's a great idea and a good start. What kind of footage comes after the first 7 minutes?

[Charlie Katz]

I especially liked the photo section; you varied the movement so
well, it was always interesting and finally when you did the blur
effect - wow - it was so cool.
The music was wonderful.
The food looked so special.

thanks for sharing -
what software did you use ?

[Albert Baier]

I agree the lighting was a bit dim and I actually had my light on in several shots. I'm using a 50 watt though I usually dim it down a bit. However I did notice one thing afterwards - I had my shutter at 1/250th. Once I later set it to closed the image really lit up. Still not sure when I last used 1/250th..??!?!? But thats something I've got to keep an eye on next time.. you live you learn..

Regarding the shots of the people... naturally, the owners/recipients of the video know everyone in there so I don't have to 'pop up' names in this case.

After the 7 minutes, I cut into the action of people mingling & eating with the actual audio, chatter, the usual dinnerware sounds, etc. I do that for a bit then I continue with a 'Now..where were we...' and she resumes walking in and people greet her, hugs, kisses, etc.

Then I added a little eurodance track called 'friends' and did shots of her friends cutting and mixing the various shots.

The thing about party videos is that there is no real substance.. i.e. ceremony to kill like 30 minutes or so.. So basically it starts as the flashback to childhood then party starts then picks up some pace then the live entertainment/dancing begins (which will be the bulk of the video) then the interviews.. and maybe some 'things we should've left on the editing floor' segment which will include some wild moments I caught following them outside for a smoke.

I tried to mix it up between food, flowers, scenery in the early part and get that outta the way.

I love the idea of the reversal of the montage in high speed.. cool one. may try next time.

I use Vegas 6.. theres nuttin better (IMHO of course)

Monmouth kicks ass.. great place.. and not that far from the shore.

And now for you Pete...

-Her folks hired me... I got a number... The whole family's number :)
-Shes hot indeed as are all her friends (they stick together)
-Shhhhhh! What, you want my wife escorting me on these things now??!? ;)