OK, so this is the photo session from the current project and takes place at the reception hall. I remember this day well because it was so hot that day that all I could think about the entire time was having a drink of water. It’s easy to get dehydrated hauling everything around, so you have to be careful.
I just did this tonight and not sure if it’s done or not. And if not, how much work this part needs to be complete. It takes a minimalist approach, but I think it works and is effective. Super heavy documentary style. Maybe I’ll let some kind of soft music start to creep in at some point and raise it towards the end in order to get out of it and into the next section, but not sure.
You have to keep in mind that this all comes after the church and ceremony, so the change in pace and style will fit better than it will by just watching the clip on the computer.
The photos were taken in front of a waterfall, so you can hear it the entire time. There is no way to get rid of it without getting rid of all the other audio as well. How will any kind of music sound if it has to fight with the sound from the waterfall? I’ll find out tomorrow.
And maybe I’ll take out a few shots here and there to tighten it up, but maybe not. I guess you can say it’s still a work in progress.
One of the main reason I did it like this is because this was really hard to shoot. There were 3 photographers and each one was taking pictures at the same time, so what do you focus on? And they were all kind of shooting in a circle, so there weren’t too many places to get a shot from. Plus, since they were all shooting everything at the same time, it meant that the session lasted probably 1/2 as long as if they all focused on the same thing, so the amount of footage I got to shoot and work with was cut in 1/2 as well. I didn’t turn off the camera for even a second the entire time, just let it roll non-stop because I knew there wasn’t much time.
Since I also knew it wasn’t going to be easy editing this together, I just tried to get as many good shots as possible and build everything from there. As you can tell there’s a lot of long shots- really tried to get nice framing from a distance. I really like long shots with a strong image sticking out in the foreground, like the shot with the valet sign.
Also, in order to tighten things up and speed up the pace I’ll use the directions the photographers give and edit to that, but the photographers didn’t give much to work with, so there goes that idea.
And they say editing is easy…
UPDATE: I went back and decided it was too minimal, so I added some music under it, a bit of Spanish guitar, and a some transitions between a few shots here and there to smooth it out. Also shortened a few shots to make it a bit tighter. It’s still the same basic thing, but made it a bit lighter in feel.
As promised, I have returned and here is the latest wedding. This wedding was really tough to shoot. First- it was really hot the day of the wedding. Second- there were three photographers. The more photographers, the harder it is to get a good shot because you have less angles to work with and they got in very close a lot of the time.
This was a traditional church wedding, which you don’t really see too often any more, so it’s always nice when you come across one because most people seem to get married at the reception location now. Since the day began at church, the video starts there.
This is the bride’s arrival to church. She took a couple of pictures when she came out of the limo, then the ceremony started, so I did not get a chance to shoot much footage of her prior to the ceremony beginning. Maybe about a minute or so.
I wanted to do something interesting, so I cross-cut her arrival with the groom walking out to his place in front of aisle. It’s kind of short, because like I said, there was not a chance to get much of the bride. I kept the groom’s part just long takes and the bride’s short, quick shots to help differentiate between them and give some sort of contrast.
I found out today that people (well, at least one person) actually read what I write and find my thoughts about the editing process to be informative and interesting, so here’s another post for all those fans…
OK, so when I put up the extended clip of Jessica and Leo’s recap the other day, I mentioned in that post that I like to use a lot of camera moves to try to create something visually pleasing from what would normally be considered wasted footage.
Here is an example of what I mean…
This first clip is raw footage of the bride and groom dancing during the reception. It’s not always that you get the couple alone on the dance floor to shoot, so when I saw it I made a b-line to them and started shooting right away. This is what I shot…
It doesn’t look pretty, but I purposely shot it this way because if I just shot it cleanly to be watched back easily, then I wouldn’t be able to do anything with it later on when I edited it. So I did a bunch of odd framing, pulls and pushes, fast pans, different distances, etc. You can’t just keep the camera in one spot the entire time and expect to do much with it in post. This is also what I mean when I tell people raw footage is not meant to be watched back later.
This is what I wound up doing with the footage when I used it in the recap section of the video…
I took what normally would be thrown aside by most people and made something usefully and visually interesting with it. I think what makes it work here is the short amount of time each shot is up for and like I always say, a lot of simple, fast, short fades helps make things move along quickly. I used 15 frame dissolves instead of 30, which is what I ordinarily use.
This isn’t normally something most wedding videos would do because a lot don’t edit to music- they just put music under a string of shots and call it a day. Sort of like a poor brides version of a bad Sergei Eisenstein wedding video.
So I now have another recap clip from Jessica and Leo’s wedding. It’s actually an extended version of the clip I posted last night. It starts the same but it continues on past where the previous post left off.
Once this section of the recap ends, the black & white ends as well and it goes off in a different kind of old processed film look. Keeping it b&w the entire time is just too much because you would eventually get sick of watching it. The shot changes and fades/dips match with the music that will play underneath.
This has a lot of jerky camera moves within it, which I like because it gives it a more modern feel and approach despite the fact that it’s made to look like old film. Camera moves like that are kind of my thing I guess because I use them a lot when editing. Most of those moves is just the camera re-adjusting between shots.
The last wedding I did had an entire sequence full of just what most people would consider either “bad” or wasted shots, but when I asked the bride what she thought of the shot selection she said she didn’t even notice it. When you do something like that and nobody notices it it means that what the person watched was properly edited.
I can’t stand weddings where the person shooting it just keeps the camera still the entire time and doesn’t bother to move it once they are recording. It’s the most boring thing in the world. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… How about some creativity in the camera work? If you don’t take chances when you’re shooting then what’s the point?
Have a clip to show before I finally call it for the night.
This clip is from Jessica and Leo’s recap and has no music under it. I just want to show what direction I am going with it. The wedding was pretty laid back most of the day, so I’m trying to go with something that reflects that.
I really like film damage and film processing effects, so it’s heavy on that. It’s also going to be heavy with black and white. I really don’t like using black and white- it’s a cliche with weddings and everyone uses it so much it has no impact when they do. But in this case it works well with the tone and music that will play underneath.
As usual, the recap is the only part of Jessica’s wedding that I really get heavy with the effects. That flicker that you see is actually an additional layer of video that I keyed over what was shot, so it doesn’t look like it, but two pieces of video playing at the same time.
OK, so it’s midnight and I still have a bit of work left to do tonight/this morning before I call it a wrap, therefore I will try to keep this one short…
This clip I am posting now is another ceremony clip. It’s Jessica saying her vows. I just want to put it up because you can tell how happy and lost in the moment she is.
Sometimes a great shot isn’t based on where you put the camera, but in the emotion that the people in front of it express.
On an unrelated topic, the officiant performing the ceremony is great. He projects his voice so well that I hardly have to do any audio adjustments when the speaker changes. You have no idea how happy something like that makes an editor.
So I am finally at the ceremony section of Jessica and Leo’s wedding. I haven’t actually finished this section, but posting the first kiss now anyway, which always speaks for itself. It’s more low key than usual, which is the approach I am trying to take with the wedding overall.
I think the location looks great with the stones in back, but the ceremony was actually somewhat more difficult to shoot than usual. The chapel was very small, so the photographers didn’t have a lot of space to move around to shoot, meaning they were always in front around the bride and groom. Had to adjust a lot to try to keep them out of frame and am going to have to edit the ceremony around their movement, but I think it came out well despite the fact.
It’s going to be one of those things that when you watch it don’t realize how much work went into getting it right.
*You can kind of see the photographer poking in and out on the edges of the shots. When the clip plays on a regular TV screen and not a computer monitor, stuff like that won’t show up.
I have another clip from Jessica and Leo’s wedding at Bonnet Island in New Jersey. This is the first time they meet after Jessica puts on her dress and leaves the bridal suite.
These first meetings are always kind of difficult to shoot and edit because they are staged more for the photographer than anyone else. Therefore there is always a bunch of starting and stopping before the bride meets the groom. Plus the photographer is always giving the couple directions about what to do, so you can always hear the photographer as the bride and groom are kissing. Sometimes you need to add music just to drown the person taking the pictures out.
I am taking more of a documentary, laid back approach to this wedding than usual, and it kind of shows here a bit, though not as much as in the previous clips. The music kind of dies out in the end because that’s where it will transition into the next part.
I really like the writing in the back that says “And they lived happily ever after…”. I am going to end the video on a shot of it. Don’t know how yet, but know I will. I really made it a point to shoot it whenever I was in the chapel and like how it works in the shot as they walk out.
The sun just came up and another clip arrives! I am not going to be around to post anything this weekend and I was awaken at 6 AM, so I decided to continue working on the Fonzetti affair and posting what I have done now.
This is the continuation of the opening clip that I posted last night, so if you have not clicked on that one yet, it might to a good idea to scroll down a bit to watch it first before playing this one. It’s the bridal suite before Jessica puts the dress on.
I like how it came out and just have a pretty good feeling about this wedding in general. Like most weddings, when I sat down to start it I didn’t know what I was going to do. I usually just search around for some music that I think might work, look at what I shot and just go from there.
You know that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George are writing the pilot for the show and they’re siting around and trying to figure out what to write and just keep on going to each other, “OK, now something has to go here”? I always think of that when I’m editing.
The two parts I really like…
Jessica taking the sneakers off, just a nice contrast to the traditional wedding attire. And the last shot where she says she is going to be an aunt in about two hours. In that last shot there is some movement in it which makes it a bit jittery, but I really want what she says to be in there, so it’s acceptable.
Just put up the last clip 30 seconds ago and already have another one to share.
It’s just a few seconds of some raw footage from the photo shoot in the bridal suite after Jessica put the dress on. Putting it up because I just think it’s a nice shot. I love the curtain blowing in the back and how she’s looking down and away. Anyway, here you go…
I haven’t started on this part of the video yet, so the music is just there because it’s what I have underneath my sequence at the moment.
As mentioned in the post from last week, I haven’t been posting as much the past two weeks or so because I have been putting the finishing touches on two weddings. I feel bad about it, but will hopefully be able to start posting more regularly again at the end of the week.
But to tide everyone over until then, I’ll put up a quick clip from Jessica and Leo’s wedding. It’s the cake cutting and pretty much speaks for itself. Just another fun clip.
Since I started the blog the thing that I have been most surprised about the feedback people have given is that almost everyone likes the raw footage clips from the traditional parts of the wedding (flower toss, first dance, first kiss, etc.) more than they do the edited stuff. Thought it would be the other way around.
Have some still images from Jessica and Leo’s wedding yesterday at Bonnet Island in New Jersey.
Jessica is the bride who’s designs I posted a few weeks back and everything went really well (click on Jessica’s Design Shop on the right). I have never seen a bride on the dance floor as much as she was. This was just a really fun wedding at a great location along the water. She really knows how to strike a pose and it felt like the kind of wedding they would have a spread of in In Style magazine.
