Fast-ish Highlights, a little different at DVinfo.net

Patrick Moreau · September 29th, 2006, 02:48 PM

There was a thread posted not too long ago by Mark asking about the use of slow motion. Joel and Chris then posted faster highlights within the thread and I thought this one would fit well in that category, but the thread kinda died since then.

I also wanted to share this as there are a couple shots in there that I absolutely love. One is the shot of the camera across the front of the necklace with the bride out of focus in the background.

This clip is a little different from what I normally do, and the couple is also very unique, so I thought it would be interesting to share. The bride has a real model look to her and was very comfortable with the camera so I did a lot more actual directing shots where I asked her to look at the camera, which I normally don't do at all. They also had a very unique style- the bride had a stainless steal bouquet, black shoes with her white dress and much more. Other than that, I was also a little concerned with my song choice, so any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

Enjoy.

http://www.smcouples.com/demetri/highlights.mov

Patrick

Monday Isa · September 29th, 2006, 04:21 PM

Patrick that was very nice. Well done! Loved the glidecam work and nice touch on the selective coloring. The song was different but worked pretty well. The fonts at the end was very different. I was expecting something Script like, but then it looked like it was a font from a horror movie. Timing was very good and very easy to watch all the way through. I personally like editing more upbeat highlights but am limited by the clients preference alot. One thing I'm learning that Chris Watson said and I seen you did in this clip is to use slow-motion to help bring out a scene when dealing with this style. Thanks for sharing another clip.

Monday

Louis Maddalena · September 29th, 2006, 04:32 PM

I liked it alot, i like how you used the glidecam, and I like the directed look of it. Very nice looking.

May I ask what song that was, I have seen it used many times, and really like it!

Nate Schmidt · September 29th, 2006, 05:17 PM

Nice work Patrick!
The camera work was great and the fast motion looked good as well. I'm trying a similar approach in my current wedding - a little more upbeat. I agree with Monday, not the font I expected but great piece over all.

Mike F Smith · September 29th, 2006, 07:08 PM

Very Nice Camera work!

You cut timing was bad in my opinion. It is usually not a good idea to make the cuts at the same time as a peak music event. It makes the video very hard to watch and not flow well. The cuts should come several frames before or after the peak music event, in your case the base drum. This is a suttle thing but very important.

Mike Smith

Billy Mallari · September 29th, 2006, 07:13 PM

Nice work patrick..what were you using to fly the camera? glidecam? or steadicam? Amazing job

Dan Minor · September 29th, 2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike F Smith

Very Nice Camera work!

You cut timing was bad in my opinion. It is usually not a good idea to make the cuts at the same time as a peak music event. It makes the video very hard to watch and not flow well. The cuts should come several frames before or after the peak music event, in your case the base drum. This is a suttle thing but very important.

Mike Smith

With all do respect Mike, I disagree! It drives me nuts when the transition is a couple frames early or late.

Patrick, Absolutely loved most shots. You are really fluid with those stabilization shots. The only slight nit pick I have is about 1/3 of the way through it I noticed that almost every pan/movement was left to right. After several in a row with no right to left it got a tad monotonous. I only mention this because it is something I have been trying to work on myself. We get comfortable moving in one direction and forget to mix it up.

just my 2 cents

Dan

Don Bloom · September 29th, 2006, 09:16 PM

I agree with the last statement about music cuts. Cut ON the beat not before or after UNLESS you are trying to syncopate the rhythm. (This is from an old time drummer) There is a time and place for cutting off the beat but in 99% of cases you really want to cut on the beat. Watch most music videos and you'll see it there as well.

Don

Doug Bennett · September 29th, 2006, 10:33 PM

Don syncopating the rhythm is a much more advanced technique and often ends in a mess for inexperienced editors as well as musicians. When it works (in music or in video) the piece really pops out - but it's a lot to ask for in a wedding video. Staying on the beat is OK but you have to vary the length of the shots. If the cuts are occuring with predictatble regularity then a clip is going to lose its sparkle, its excitement. Its ok to build a relentless monotony as long as it resolves, but if it just continues until it loses impetus the net effect will tend to be somewhat dreary. I should say the clip wouldn't play for me so I'm not sure if that is the problem here, but it's certainly a problem I see in a lot of wedding video. A heavy handed editing style will inevitably focus too much attention on the editors "cleverness" which is very rarely what the client wants.

Just my .02, no biggie.

Peter Jefferson · September 29th, 2006, 11:32 PM

loved it.. the cuts were fine,
Predictable when synced cuts are used this often, but for the styling, i think it was fitting.

technically, I dont think half these pans and motions would be possible on a progressive scan camera or playback device, so if theyre runnign it trhough a plasma be aware that really fast shots and pans can sometimes be ruined or blurred with dodgy HW
deinterlacing...

I liked it.. i thought the steadicam shots were nice.. there were many of them but it wasnt done like "hey look, ive got a steadycam and look what it can help me do"
It was just nice and tight enough to not really notice that the cam was stabilised. Makes a difference to me anyway...

Marcus Marchesseault · September 30th, 2006, 07:48 AM

I really liked most of it. Good job and hats off to doing something against the flow of the pack.

Someone tell me if they agree or disagree that it looked like something out of National Geographic. For some reason, the colors of the church and the framing of the shots gave me that feeling. Consider that a compliment.

I only have two points to consider. I think I would like to have a more varying flow instead of all fast. Think of a piece of music that has different movements and tempos. Also, the font at the end looked "dirty" and hard to read.

Antonio Puente · September 30th, 2006, 12:27 PM

Loved it. I agree with editing the footage to the beat of the music. If I'm off by a frame or two, it just drives me crazy.

Patrick - What was the music?

Terry Esslinger · October 1st, 2006, 12:03 PM

Patrick,

I have a question. This is obviously a highlight film - and a great one. What else if anything did the you deliver to the bride and groom. Does anyone just deliver a well made highlight fillm, or does it just depend on what you contract for? Also, what stabilizing unit did you use so gracefully?

Patrick Moreau · October 1st, 2006, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monday Isa

Patrick that was very nice. Well done! Loved the glidecam work and nice touch on the selective coloring. The song was different but worked pretty well. The fonts at the end was very different. I was expecting something Script like, but then it looked like it was a font from a horror movie. Timing was very good and very easy to watch all the way through. I personally like editing more upbeat highlights but am limited by the clients preference alot. One thing I'm learning that Chris Watson said and I seen you did in this clip is to use slow-motion to help bring out a scene when dealing with this style. Thanks for sharing another clip.

Monday

Thanks for taking the time to watch the clip and post your thoughts. In the end, the font style was strcutly a reflection of the couple and their style. I had smething more traditional in there firs but it just wasn't them. I also really enjoy the effect of slow motion clips put among much faster ones.

Patrick Moreau · October 1st, 2006, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louis Maddalena

I liked it alot, i like how you used the glidecam, and I like the directed look of it. Very nice looking.

May I ask what song that was, I have seen it used many times, and really like it!

This was the first clip with a more directed feel that I have done in quite a while and I really like how it turned out. I'm not sure about the name of the song as it was provided to me to be used in a love story (which I posted here not too long ago as well).

September 29th, 2006, 02:48 PM	#1
Patrick Moreau Still Motion Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,186	Fast-ish Highlights, a little different There was a thread posted not too long ago by Mark asking about the use of slow motion. Joel and Chris then posted faster highlights within the thread and I thought this one would fit well in that category, but the thread kinda died since then. I also wanted to share this as there are a couple shots in there that I absolutely love. One is the shot of the camera across the front of the necklace with the bride out of focus in the background. This clip is a little different from what I normally do, and the couple is also very unique, so I thought it would be interesting to share. The bride has a real model look to her and was very comfortable with the camera so I did a lot more actual directing shots where I asked her to look at the camera, which I normally don't do at all. They also had a very unique style- the bride had a stainless steal bouquet, black shoes with her white dress and much more. Other than that, I was also a little concerned with my song choice, so any thoughts on that would be appreciated. Enjoy. http://www.smcouples.com/demetri/highlights.mov Patrick

September 29th, 2006, 05:17 PM	#4
Nate Schmidt Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Welland ON Posts: 515	Nice work Patrick! The camera work was great and the fast motion looked good as well. I'm trying a similar approach in my current wedding - a little more upbeat. I agree with Monday, not the font I expected but great piece over all. __________________ "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

October 1st, 2006, 12:03 PM	#13
Terry Esslinger Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sacramento, Elk Grove. Calif Posts: 306	Patrick, I have a question. This is obviously a highlight film - and a great one. What else if anything did the you deliver to the bride and groom. Does anyone just deliver a well made highlight fillm, or does it just depend on what you contract for? Also, what stabilizing unit did you use so gracefully? __________________ Puttin the wet stuff on the red stuff!

September 29th, 2006, 04:21 PM	#2
Monday Isa Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: College Park, Maryland Posts: 913	Patrick that was very nice. Well done! Loved the glidecam work and nice touch on the selective coloring. The song was different but worked pretty well. The fonts at the end was very different. I was expecting something Script like, but then it looked like it was a font from a horror movie. Timing was very good and very easy to watch all the way through. I personally like editing more upbeat highlights but am limited by the clients preference alot. One thing I'm learning that Chris Watson said and I seen you did in this clip is to use slow-motion to help bring out a scene when dealing with this style. Thanks for sharing another clip. Monday

September 29th, 2006, 04:32 PM	#3
Louis Maddalena Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NYC Area. Posts: 550	I liked it alot, i like how you used the glidecam, and I like the directed look of it. Very nice looking. May I ask what song that was, I have seen it used many times, and really like it!

September 29th, 2006, 07:08 PM	#5
Mike F Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 156	Very Nice Camera work! You cut timing was bad in my opinion. It is usually not a good idea to make the cuts at the same time as a peak music event. It makes the video very hard to watch and not flow well. The cuts should come several frames before or after the peak music event, in your case the base drum. This is a suttle thing but very important. Mike Smith

September 29th, 2006, 07:13 PM	#6
Billy Mallari Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 84	Nice work patrick..what were you using to fly the camera? glidecam? or steadicam? Amazing job

September 29th, 2006, 09:16 PM	#8
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	I agree with the last statement about music cuts. Cut ON the beat not before or after UNLESS you are trying to syncopate the rhythm. (This is from an old time drummer) There is a time and place for cutting off the beat but in 99% of cases you really want to cut on the beat. Watch most music videos and you'll see it there as well. Don

September 29th, 2006, 10:33 PM	#9
Doug Bennett Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NYC Posts: 260	Don syncopating the rhythm is a much more advanced technique and often ends in a mess for inexperienced editors as well as musicians. When it works (in music or in video) the piece really pops out - but it's a lot to ask for in a wedding video. Staying on the beat is OK but you have to vary the length of the shots. If the cuts are occuring with predictatble regularity then a clip is going to lose its sparkle, its excitement. Its ok to build a relentless monotony as long as it resolves, but if it just continues until it loses impetus the net effect will tend to be somewhat dreary. I should say the clip wouldn't play for me so I'm not sure if that is the problem here, but it's certainly a problem I see in a lot of wedding video. A heavy handed editing style will inevitably focus too much attention on the editors "cleverness" which is very rarely what the client wants. Just my .02, no biggie.

September 29th, 2006, 11:32 PM	#10
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	loved it.. the cuts were fine, Predictable when synced cuts are used this often, but for the styling, i think it was fitting. technically, I dont think half these pans and motions would be possible on a progressive scan camera or playback device, so if theyre runnign it trhough a plasma be aware that really fast shots and pans can sometimes be ruined or blurred with dodgy HW deinterlacing... I liked it.. i thought the steadicam shots were nice.. there were many of them but it wasnt done like "hey look, ive got a steadycam and look what it can help me do" It was just nice and tight enough to not really notice that the cam was stabilised. Makes a difference to me anyway...

September 30th, 2006, 07:48 AM	#11
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	I really liked most of it. Good job and hats off to doing something against the flow of the pack. Someone tell me if they agree or disagree that it looked like something out of National Geographic. For some reason, the colors of the church and the framing of the shots gave me that feeling. Consider that a compliment. I only have two points to consider. I think I would like to have a more varying flow instead of all fast. Think of a piece of music that has different movements and tempos. Also, the font at the end looked "dirty" and hard to read.

September 30th, 2006, 12:27 PM	#12
Antonio Puente Tourist Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1	Loved it. I agree with editing the footage to the beat of the music. If I'm off by a frame or two, it just drives me crazy. Patrick - What was the music?