Hi All, long time reader, first time poster.
Before I get to the good stuff I think I'll justify the quality of the camera work as its still pretty basic and no where near the likes of Diamond Films (somone we particularly admire). Were new, totally new. Hobby turned hobby with money.
We filmed our friends wedding, edited it, did some fancy bits and they loved it.
So we looked into it more, found out all the legal bits. Then decided to do some freebies to get impartial views. Friends and family is one thing but random members of the public are another. So we did it, they loved it, their freinds loved it, their friends wanted us to film theirs etc etc.
So here we are, very new to the market, cheap as were new and need the word of mouth but think we offer pretty high creativity so offer pretty good value (believe me, weve seen some of the value suppliers here in Beds and some are amazing, some are.... well).
So here we go. You have a choice of SD or HD quality.
http://www.mintyslippers.com/wedding_video.htm
Feedback is welcome, constructive of course. I know what forums are like, theres always somone who will say "Its poo and Im better than you" ;) . We know were not the best, but we think were better than some.
Products used:
Sony Vegas 7
Sony Sound Forge 9
Photoshop CS3
Sony VX2100e Camera
All the best
Danny and Julie
Hi and welcome.
Its poo and Im better than you.
Seriously - demo reel looks good - slower paced than we do, but not bad - overlong titles - bit of handheld uber-wobble that jarred as she got out of the car. Never sure why people suddenly change to B&W and slomo, but again, that's us and our hobby-horse, not you. The entire wedding video industry can't be wrong, can they? Can they?
Rather a long time spent on the stills for a video - I realise you do some still work (restoration) but I felt it looked more like a photographer's montage for much of the time. No real sound from the day? :( Not much footage of the location or other people for scene setting/atmosphere - more of a portrait of the couple than a record of the event. Again - not necessarily a bad thing, just a comment. Dip to black between clips is OK, but there actually seems to be a black slug in-between the clips there, for a couple of seconds?
Might be worth making the online demo smaller, to download/start quickly. I'm convinced browsing brides won't want to wait long.
You should charge more: many out there charge more than you do, for worse results. Great looking website.
HI and welcome aboard, another Vegas user....
I taught Diamond all he knew and then he fled to the IOW.
When you do your own video for the first time and then add all the fancy bits you are normally very proud of yourself and its the best thing since sliced bread.
With the above comments in mind, this first shot I know w it wants to say, (here's the brides dress and the bride) but unfortunately the it wanders/dithers without direction and so loses what it is about. I try and avoid people speaking in re-caps (not always possible) as I am sure like me you want to hear they are saying.
Second shot, excellent full of emotion and what its all about, then a serious shot, nicely framed.
Getting out the car is a very poor shot, wobbly and looks as though your are spying on them, don't be shy get in there, Walking down the aisle I would have waited till the vicar has gone. First dance shot good but then you see the brides back for some time, perhaps a cut away and then come back to this shot.
As for the B/W and stills that's your style and is nether here or there
Cheema,
I heard that Diamond fled to the IOW to get away from you and live nearby some real pros......
And soon as he finds some he said he would let me know, it's been a few years now and still no word from him.
Send me a show reel DVD Flame, looks like I could learn a trick or two.
See you at the awards!
Hi J & Z!
I use manual 99% of the time. But on a shoot like a wedding sometimes you can't pull the focus ring quick enough after changing your compesition. I do use a lot of pull focus shots , shallow and deep.
I don't come on these forums ever as I am too busy. Someone mailed this thread to me.
No offence taken though, I just laugh and quip back.
Jeremy. How's Redick?:)
I liked watching your little promo, though for me the long waits in the blackouts between scenes seemed excessive. And why include the confetti that wasn't, when the latter part of the same scene looked so good? Also seemed odd to me that chronological time was mixed up, but that's probably that I'm a fuddy-duddy.
Nice mix of colour, b & w and spot effects. The hand-held at the car was unbelievably wobbly, so I can only conclude that it was intentional. Any reason why?
Liked the layout and colours of your website but it's FAQs, not FAQ's. Nice idea about the pricing too.
tom.
Thanks for all your comments.
As I said we filmed our friends wedding and did this one as a freebie just to see what people thought, somone impartial. We learned so much on the day like... ASK FOR A DAMN PLAN OF THE DAY! It will also be different if they are paying, we did this one for free, the bride was all for the filming but the groom did not want us there one bit and just wouldnt work with us. The moment the camera went near him he just froze or turned away. He then continued to drink from 10am to 10pm and was very red, hence black and white.
That was the reason the car shot was jumpy, we had the tripod all setup inside which was in a pig of a place and no hope in hell of moving, we had a second tripod but she just turned up, got out and pretty much ran straight up the aisle. Seriously, she was straight in and up that isle like a rabbit being chased. Tried to work with it later but just couldnt. So we rushed out to film her, then rushed in while the handy cam caught her walking up. We have learned a few things though and no doubt will continue to.
The dress shot was handheld too as the house was a bit small and full of everyone. Had the tripod setup but time after time a child would run into it and... well you can guess what happend.
The way we price is a little low at the moment but we are totally new and didnt want to price it too high, and as we only plan on doing one a month we dont qualify for charging VAT or most of that yet. Hopefully we will have an order book full, or it may just end up being a weekend thing.
The pricing was something new, give the basic package for those that dont want to spend much and let them choose what they pay for. Ive always hated forced bundles, who here bought a Playstation 3 and was forced to also buy 2 games, joypad, insurance and a new car. Let me choose!
We also learnt another valuable lesson, check your gear. We went to the church the day before to get some location shots, spent hours there doing the whole panning around, up down and all that. Got home and the tape was blank :eek: turned out the heads were dirty so were just thankful that wasnt on the day. Also as we didnt have a plan of what was happening that day we didnt want to take the camera off the couple incase they did something. Much to learn.
The wife also sees things differently to myself. She likes the videos which stir emotion and show the couple. I like the cool ones with special effects and thumping music. Suppose we have to decide whos the driving force in selecting a video company, the hubby or wife?
Thanks again for your comments. We certainly will be including more of the venue and guests.
chronological time was mixed up
I agree with Tom, a little mixed up IMHO. Too much use of stills, transitions were too slow for me & colour changes were a little annoying.
Overall though good start & keep it going
Cheers Caryjoy, the transitions were supposed to be timed with some of the music.
On another note, just tried to view your samples using Firefox and it doesnt play. Dont know if there is anything you can do as Firefox is a pretty popular browser now, infact 30% of my visitors are using FF according to Analytics.
Now I wonder who that could be....:rolleyes:Not someone from this forum surely...or this very thread!!!!!!
Flame.
hands up it was me, but before your comments were i up, I think and the real reason was that the original post was using Diamond as a showpiece.
just tried to view your samples using Firefox and it doesnt play
Danny, thanks for that! I've fixed this once (damn that webman!!!):o
Hi
I agree in large with Mooblie’s comments on this
The stills were good (but a tad long)
Good site, etc
Regarding the little wobble – what camera are you using?
I ask this as you may benefit from using a monopod with a quick release head for some of the longer shots (removes the wobble, is portable and easy to remove discard)
Keep up the good work and charge more
(the more of us who charge a reasonable rate the more accepted that rate will be and remember your rate is not just for the shoot but for the whole editing process to, which takes the loins share of the time)
We used a VX2100 for that one. The camera was all setup inside ready for her but she suddenly arrived and it was a rush to get out. Still trying to find a decent shot to replace it with.
Would love to charge more and to be honest need to. £500 really should cover our time on the day only, let alone the week or 2 it takes to edit and test screen and polish but it seems very few people actually want a vid and some have even scoffed at how expensive our package is as it stands :eek: and thats only fiming till 6pm!.
Once we get the reputation and some orders we will be putting the prices up for sure. Also our competition here in Luton charge about the same and are equally as good (well, some of them). Damn the competition :p