So I am back from all the way up in Poughkeepsie and Kelsa and John’s wedding. All I can say is thank God for GPS technology. I probably listened to Chinese Democracy five times on the way there and back. Not that I’m complaining, Guns N’ Roses are my favorite band ever and it’s an awesome album.
If you want a good song that’s different to play at your reception, “Think About You” from their first album is a great track. I hear “Sweet Child O’ Mine” at weddings a lot, but “Think About You” is a better song. Trust me, I’m really good at things like this.
Anyway, Kelsa and John are a really nice couple. Great location, photographer was really easy to work with, everything came out well I think.
As the custom, I am now posting a quick preview of what was shot the day before. Usually I do freeze frames, but freeze frames never look as good as the original video they are derived from, so I’m going to post some video instead.
This clip is just some shots from the photoshoot at the hall that I strung together quickly because I don’t really have much time today for posting. Showing it because I just think the view looks great with the river and bridge in the background.
Despite the impression that I may give when I post stuff, I really do not like tooting my own horn, however I must say that the last three shots look awesome!
I think it looks great, but this was actually hard to shoot. I had to point the camera right into the sun almost the entire time, so the exposure levels were through the roof, meaning a lot of adjusting on the fly. Part of the reason I chose to put this up is also because I knew this was going to be a main highlight of the video, so I wanted to go back and see if it came out well. The little screen on the camera is not really all the best way to judge how well something is coming out. It’s more of a preview really.
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.
I have finished all other projects and now concentrating on Jessica and Leo’s wedding, meaning I now have something edited to show.
This clip is the opening of the video. It’s pretty simple and just establishing shots of the location before everyone arrives. The music helps set the mood with how I want to go with the overall direction of the video (that didn’t sound too pretentious, did it?). I like the overhead shot inside the chapel and how it shows the wreaths laying on the benches and that there still needs work to be done before the wedding can start. Hopefully people will be able to pick up on that.
I used a slightly different font than usual for the text. Jessica, the bride, designed the monograms and cards for her wedding, so I used the same font she did for all that in order to keep a consistency. I also tried to use the color she did, but unfortunately it didn’t show up well on monitor, so I had to go with another.
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.
I think it gets boring doing the same thing all the time over and over, so with Jenn and Matt’s recap part, I decided to go in a different direction. And also, like I said before, I think it’s important to distinguish your work from others or else what’s the point?
Instead of all the usual slow motion and slow music and romantic shots, I went the other direction and did the opposite. I sped up the shots and layered some film damage effects to give it an old time movie kind of feel. I also threw in some random blurs and glows here and there to add to the damaged film idea. It makes it go by a lot quicker and since it’s the last part of the video, leaves the person watching it with a more upbeat feeling. Plus Jenn and Matt are more of a fun couple and I think it fits better with how the day went.
I think effects and graphics are a crutch to hide poor editing skills, so this is the only time during the entire wedding where I really get heavy and use a lot of effects.
Again, no music under this one because I just want to focus on the look and feel of the clip.
Another Jenn and Matt clip. This is right before the ceremony starts. I have the really great footage of Jenn getting the finishing touches from the bridesmaids before the ceremony and wanted to do something good with it, so I came up with this.
Rather than just showing everyone going to their seats, then cue the bridal party to start walking down, I instead cross cut between the guests arriving and the preps going on in the next room with the wedding party. It captures the commotion and emotion going on just 50 feet away, and juxtaposes well with the calmness of the guests.
It’s not the typical clip you would find in a wedding video, but I really like it and think it works very well. This is a good example of the fashion approach I keep on mentioning. Not final, but pretty close.
Fast late night post. Again, this is just another fun clip of some raw footage.
Jenn and Matt live in LA, but since they got married in NY, instead of hiring a limo, they just hailed a cab to get to the ceremony site. So instead of the traditional shot of the bride arriving in glory by white limo, you get a shot of the bride coming out of a shiny yellow cab. Very New York. You will never see anything like this anywhere else.
I left the hotel early to get this shot. It will only last like 4 or 5 seconds in the video and probably not something a lot of people will notice, but I think it was worth it.
I am all about the clips this week. Another from Jenn and Matt’s wedding, since that is what I am working on as of three days ago. It’s 11:30, too late to start anything new, so here you go.
This is more from the preps at the hotel after Jenn puts on the dress, after which she then goes to the rooftop to see Matt for the first time. The part with her I used an effect in Magic Bullet called “basic”, which gives it a nice warm look, but does not overdo it. It then fades into Matt waiting for her to arrive. I am happy with this part because I think the music goes well with the action of him pacing around anticipating her arrival. It’s short shots and the fades between then really add to the feel of anticipation.
It’s not super fancy, ten million effects, it’s just properly edited. There is a time to get fancy and a time to be subtle. This is when you need to be subtle.
When shooting/editing bridal preps, I think it’s really important to focus in on the eyes. If you make it a point to highlight them, you will always get a great shot regardless of where the location is. And because it’s going to be such a close shot, it will give you a great contrast when you go to a wide shot. I think that is why most videos are so poorly done, because they are not really focusing on anything during the preps part. They just wanna slap some music under it and get it over with.
Everyone always plays up the dress, which I understand, but there is only so much you can do with a piece of clothing hanging on the door.
The following clip is the next part of the preps when Jennifer is getting her makeup done and very heavy on the eyes. I am not including the music with this clip, but I don’t think it’s necessary because the shots of the eyes are so dramatic they pretty much speak for themselves.
