a few questions!!

Fionn

Hi everyone,
I've been asked to video a wedding for a person i know -( sort of as a favour!)
anyway he gave me his camcorder - NEX-VG10E with tripod (i've never had a camcorder in my hands before :eek: ) although i'm sure i'll get the hang of it, would this be a good cam for shooting something like a wedding?

also i'm going to download a trial of cyberlink Power Director (if he likes it he'll pay for the full version so his vid will not have any restrictions imposed by the software)
would this be a capable video editor?

He says he doesn't want anything fancy but of course I presume something that will look good would be appreciated i guess.

Oh! and if anyone has any tips for videoing events like this that'd be great too!!



thanks

Freddie59

Fionn wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I've been asked to video a wedding for a person i know -( sort of as a favour!)
anyway he gave me his camcorder - NEX-VG10E with tripod (i've never had a camcorder in my hands before :eek: ) although i'm sure i'll get the hang of it, would this be a good cam for shooting something like a wedding?

also i'm going to download a trial of cyberlink Power Director (if he likes it he'll pay for the full version so his vid will not have any restrictions imposed by the software)
would this be a capable video editor?

He says he doesn't want anything fancy but of course I presume something that will look good would be appreciated i guess.

Oh! and if anyone has any tips for videoing events like this that'd be great too!!



thanks

I've done several wedding videos/DVDs for family and friends over the past 18 years. It is not for the faint-hearted! Do you have ANY prior experience of videoing an event like this?

redstarmark

Just a few tips that I can think of from me as an editor. if you have never shot stuff before I presume it will be in auto.

You should prob go to the church the day before to get to know the place, find good positions for the camera.

Never film someone that is standing infront of a window with outside light coming in...it will cause silluette, it looks ****e unless done right.

Keep the camera on the tripod, shaky handheld shots look terrible.

Get the shot of the bride arriving outside then after the photos run in and film her walking up the isle from the alter!

Dont move the camera around too much during the ceremony, just set up a good shot at a side of the alter and stick to it.

The primary shot that you will move for is the vows and exchanging the rings...dont mess that up, they will kill you lol

Get LOTS and LOTS of shots of flowers, candles, fancy hats etc. These can be used later during the edit

When there is interval change your shot if you need to.
Don't forget film of the punters!

Get all the soppy reactions

make sure you get decent sound also...bring head phones!

Look up the rule of thirds and frame your shots using this
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds.

When getting all the extra shots get on average 20 seconds of footage then move on and get another one...just remember the rule of thirds and use the tripod.

Best of luck!

Average-Ro

Usually there's no point in putting the prayers at the ceremony in the final edit; so at that point, zoom into a guests face and get a 10 second shot of that. Then zoom into another guest's face and get another 10 second shot and so on and so forth. If there's a big camera shake or something during the ceremony, you can use these shots to patch it up.

Get a hold of another camera, even if it's just a handheld camcorder, and set it up pointing at the altar. Turn this on at the beginning of the ceremony and you'll have that shot to cut to in case you mess something up. It'll also be a secondary audio source. A back-up camera has saved my ass many times when shooting weddings.

Pay very close attention to audio. The pictures could look great but if the audio is crap, then it's no good. If you can, get a hold of a mic and put it up against one of the speakers at the church. Run the mic into the back up camera and you can sync it later in post. Don't run it to your main camera as you'll have to move a few times (when they're lighting candles at the start and after the vows, the vows themselves etc.)

If you can, try to get the church music recorded clearly. Bride's have paid for and chosen that music, so they like hearing it in the DVD.

Getting the audio of the vows is extremely important. I usually put a wireless lapel mic on the groom for this, but I doubt you have that kind of equipment? You'll have to come up with something.

Make sure your batteries are fully charged and that you have plenty of tape. Put a new tape into the camera right before the ceremony starts, you don't want it running out at an important point!

I know all that advice is just for the ceremony, but it's the most complicated part of shooting a wedding. If I had to give you just one piece of advice, it would be to have lots of back-up. Back up camera, back-up audio etc. When I shoot weddings, I have 3 camera on the go during the ceremony, and 5 audio sources recording. Might seem excessive to some people, but it needs to be done.

Freddie59

Average-Ro wrote: »

Usually there's no point in putting the prayers at the ceremony in the final edit; so at that point, zoom into a guests face and get a 10 second shot of that. Then zoom into another guest's face and get another 10 second shot and so on and so forth. If there's a big camera shake or something during the ceremony, you can use these shots to patch it up.

Get a hold of another camera, even if it's just a handheld camcorder, and set it up pointing at the altar. Turn this on at the beginning of the ceremony and you'll have that shot to cut to in case you mess something up. It'll also be a secondary audio source. A back-up camera has saved my ass many times when shooting weddings.

Pay very close attention to audio. The pictures could look great but if the audio is crap, then it's no good. If you can, get a hold of a mic and put it up against one of the speakers at the church. Run the mic into the back up camera and you can sync it later in post. Don't run it to your main camera as you'll have to move a few times (when they're lighting candles at the start and after the vows, the vows themselves etc.)

If you can, try to get the church music recorded clearly. Bride's have paid for and chosen that music, so they like hearing it in the DVD.

Getting the audio of the vows is extremely important. I usually put a wireless lapel mic on the groom for this, but I doubt you have that kind of equipment? You'll have to come up with something.

Make sure your batteries are fully charged and that you have plenty of tape. Put a new tape into the camera right before the ceremony starts, you don't want it running out at an important point!

I know all that advice is just for the ceremony, but it's the most complicated part of shooting a wedding. If I had to give you just one piece of advice, it would be to have lots of back-up. Back up camera, back-up audio etc. When I shoot weddings, I have 3 camera on the go during the ceremony, and 5 audio sources recording. Might seem excessive to some people, but it needs to be done.

+1 to all of the above. At the very least have a second camera (gallery if available). Gives you great leeway when editing afterwards. Also catches the back of the dresses on the way up the aisle.

Fionn

Freddie59 wrote: »

It is not for the faint-hearted! Do you have ANY prior experience of videoing an event like this?

no
not at video, but have a good few stills wedding photography under my belt!!
I understand video is different tho!! but i've been reading up on it and i think i've got some of the concepts like scenes and b-roll and stuff like that!

I'm guessing the * Money Shots* are the same as for still photography so no worries there.
Luckily enough the Sony NEX-VG10E takes SD or SDH cards of which i've loads of so thats covered also. The guy who wants this done, does have another cam so i might be able to get this one and record from one location and pick up audio too (good advice there, thanks)

the editing will be fun - havent a clue about that either but i'm reading up on it like mad!! but i reckon as ye've pointed out if i've managed to capture most of the important stuff i should be able to figure something out that'll be presentable

thanks again everyone

reece

all of the above + Watch out for zooming. alot of crappy videos you see the guy zooming in and out and wait a minute....back in again. if it's a hot day, don't wear you jacket when videoing - you'll probably melt (just like me when I shot my first wedding video). As mentioned above - lots of cut away shots will help you fix problems (logical transitions etc..., shakey shot). When the religious stuff is on take opportunity to take shots of the bride and and groom, and their families. I like to get shots of guests arriving.

Freddie59

Fionn wrote: »

no
not at video, but have a good few stills wedding photography under my belt!!
I understand video is different tho!! but i've been reading up on it and i think i've got some of the concepts like scenes and b-roll and stuff like that!

I'm guessing the * Money Shots* are the same as for still photography so no worries there.
Luckily enough the Sony NEX-VG10E takes SD or SDH cards of which i've loads of so thats covered also. The guy who wants this done, does have another cam so i might be able to get this one and record from one location and pick up audio too (good advice there, thanks)

the editing will be fun - havent a clue about that either but i'm reading up on it like mad!! but i reckon as ye've pointed out if i've managed to capture most of the important stuff i should be able to figure something out that'll be presentable

thanks again everyone

Just one more thing - if you're editing in AVCHD then you'll need a serious computer for post-editing. Don't forget you'll also need an on-cam light for the hotel.