OT: HELP!(Unintentional) First Wedding...

kentwolf wrote on 6/20/2005, 5:49 AM
Subject: OT: (Unintentional) First (&Last) Wedding; Really need some pointers…

I could really use some help here.

The situation: There is a bad situation in that a (young) couple I know “had” to get married. That’s that.

They have no money. They could not even hire a wedding photographer. When I heard of this, I essentially “farmed out” taking pictures with the intention of putting them in an album and giving it to the couple. I have a very good Panasonic FZ-20 digital camera that takes excellent pictures.

What actually happened: I had to work and could not be there. The designated picture taker took it upon themselves to delegate the taking of pictures to a Junior Higher. This person was really trying to do a good job, but about 1/3 of the pictures are blurred; many of these, good poses. About 1/6 are silly pictures. The rest are workable. I have about 217 pictures total.

The person who was supposed to take pictures decided to take video. I did not want this. I know they are not very good at taking video. I only wanted pictures. I have not yet seen the footage, but I am expecting the worst. I believe it is about 20 minutes of footage; about 5 minutes before the ceremony, 10 minutes of the ceremony, and about 5 minutes after the ceremony.

That is with what I have to work.

I have never done a wedding. I have done many event-themed DVDs for our church and they have all turned out very, very good. They were well received and I have been slated to do more. I have no problem with these, but to me, a wedding is on a whole different level; a level to which I do not think I am ready. I have seen some of the examples of you guys here in this forum and I do not have the hardware, nor the experience to get even close. I have a number of times made “something out of nothing.” I have to really do it now.

I would like to know:

1.) How long is the “average” wedding DVD? Again, I have limited resources (footage) with which to work. What is a reasonable duration.

2.) I have in mind to take my limited video and intersperse it with the good pictures I have. Does this seem like a good approach?

3.) I have all the software one could desire. I am pretty proficient in Photoshop (CS2) and plan to use that extensively. Would any photo-only montages be recommended? I like doing much masking and using these in various effects.

4.) Do you have any other pointers that would prove helpful to me?

I would greatly appreciate any, and I mean any, input on this.

Thank you very much for your help!

Comments

farss wrote on 6/20/2005, 6:12 AM
1) Anything from around 15 minutes to 4 hours. The shortest ones are the best.
2) I've seen everything used as a wedding video, from what looked like a fully scripted and rehearsed production number to just a phot o montage, anything goes and this is a freebie, right?
3) Wait till you see the footage.
4) Good music.
Wolfgang S. wrote on 6/20/2005, 6:34 AM
If you do not have enough footage - maybe an old trick could help you: start the video with a photoshow, where you show pictures. Beginning with some baby photos - up to now where they are now.

The advantage: looks nice and professional, and is a good introduction.

And yes: good musik is a great hint, too.

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Laurence wrote on 6/20/2005, 6:46 AM
Not too long ago I had a similar situation with a non-profit organization video I did for my wife. I asked for help on this board and received some great advice which helped me tremendously. I ended up using Deshaker on almost every shot, Spot's trick to fix focus problems on a couple of shots, and used still photo animations quite a bit as well. Check out the following links:

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=362179

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=393708

A low res version of the final video is posted here:

http://vegasusers.com/vidshare/textdisp?laurence-backpacks

Good luck!
PierreB wrote on 6/20/2005, 6:54 AM
If you run short of material, interview some of the principals, like in a documentary? Go out and get additional footage?

Good luck!

Pierre
kentwolf wrote on 6/20/2005, 11:53 AM
You guys have offered some terrific advice.

Thank you very, very much!
rdolishny wrote on 6/20/2005, 1:59 PM
Two words: slo mo.

I liked the suggestion about going back and interviewing the prinicals. Do you ever wonder how they do those kind-of exposé things on Survivor. It looks real time but they are shot hour or days later...

- R