OH NO!!! Another wedding

[Tom W]

Just when I thought it was safe....

My Niece is getting married this weekend, and as expected, I'm packing light for a happy weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. The happy couple-to-be has hired a pro photographer, so ol' Uncle Tom W figured that he was off the hook for one of those "family" wedding shoots.

Things were going well until I got "the call". Tuesday, my niece called and asked if I would videotape their wedding. As in motion pictures. As in home movies - and I don't even have a working video camera. "That's OK" says the niece - you can borrow your brother-in-law's video camera (I didn't bother to ask, but why couldn't the bro-in-law shoot the video?). I've got a sneaking suspicion that the family concocted this idea to keep uncle Tom W from getting too sloshed and falling into the Hors de' Oeuvre table.

Anyway, family carries a big stick, so here I am, expected to deliver acceptable movies of a wedding with equipment that I've never even seen before. It looks like another crash-course, this time in wedding videography, using totally unfamiliar equipment (at least with my 10D wedding last year, I had a camera that operated similarly to my Elan).

I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face the first time I accidently turn on that gawd-awful headlight on the front of the camera just as the bride starts prancing up the aisle.

"Here comes the bride..." <click> WaaaaaahhhHHH!!!!!

The pro photographer should be equally pleased at that point.

Oh well, I'll get through it. Any good advice is welcome. Suicide has already been considered and rejected as I can't stand the thought of these people inheriting my Canon stuff. :)

[martook]

Well, you could send all your gear to me before committing suicide, that way we'll both be happy! I'll PM you my address.

:P

[AjP]

Tom, good luck.. you are good photographer, video is not harder, mo haedache to edit it but the capturing idea prety much the same... you will have fun, just relax, no matter what happen this is your relatives and they should ralize that you do them a favour, ir they don't like it, let them hire Pro :)

can wait to hear your story

[Tom W]

Well, you could send all your gear to me before committing suicide, that way we'll both be happy! I'll PM you my address.

:P

Heh Heh - I was really looking for a better solution than that. :)

[Tom W]

Tom, good luck.. you are good photographer, video is not harder, mo haedache to edit it but the capturing idea prety much the same... you will have fun, just relax, no matter what happen this is your relatives and they should ralize that you do them a favour, ir they don't like it, let them hire Pro :)

can wait to hear your story

I'm still going to carry the XT with me - I'd much rather shoot stills, since I have a bit of a clue as to what I'm doing there. In other words, I'd much rather play with my own toys.

Yes, I'm going to have fun (or as much fun as one can have with a room full of relatives), but I really honestly want to provide the best that I can for them as well - and stay out of the way of the photographer (from whom I can hopefully extract some video tips as well) at the same time.

I suspect that there'll be a story, but it won't be up to Bloo Dog's calibre. :)

[Spoonford]

May have spotted this thread too late! I teach TV & Video production skills at a University, here are a few tips:

Avoid lots of zooming in and out whilst recording it looks like "home movies" and makes the viewer feel sea sick.

Don't go hand held if you can avoid it, always use a tripod.

Use manual focus if the camera has it. Auto focus with moving images can be really dumb and pick the wrong focal point.

If you can, manually set the white balance. Do this by getting someone to hold up a white piece of paper in the area you are going to shot, zoom in and press the WB button.

Think about your shot sizes, if you are going to shot people full frame don't cut their heads or ankles off! (Sounds obvious but so many video students only look at the middle of the picture!)

Often the key to good moving pictures is movenment! Don't be affraid to pan or tilt to follow movenment as static shots can get really boring!

Good Luck!

[RichardtheSane]

Just to add, good call taking your XT... if yo do the post producton on the computer you can use some of your stills in it too :)

[Keiffer]

Tom, I say get sloshed before the wedding this way no one ask you to do it anymore:-)

[Mocking-DX]

i was in the same situation last month--5 days notice to shoot a milestone birthday of my coworker's husband

anyway in addition to the excellent advice:

use external mic(to avoind in camera noise) and use earphone(to monitor actual audio being captured)
TRIPOD, TRIPOD TRIPOD, with good fluid head--i brought the wrong tripod during my first video shoot, my panning was horrible

Do not stay in one spot--move around with your tripod
As mentioned earlier--zoom in/out when not recording--end in wide then start the next recording in close zoom, vice versa to make more interesting

keep the eye level shooting to minimum--either go higher or lower than subject's eye level

Using 2 cameras woud be nice--but issue of white balance from different brand can arise and pain in editing

Lots of lights if possible
extra batteries and tapes--use tripod and close the lcd screen to conserve battery

these are not expert opinions, just what i learned from my 1 time experience

[Jackal]

Buy a 1DmkII and put it on burst and hold down the trigger for the whole wedding. Then take the photos and make a .gif out of it and email it to your niece. =)

[Tom W]

May have spotted this thread too late! I teach TV & Video production skills at a University, here are a few tips:

Avoid lots of zooming in and out whilst recording it looks like "home movies" and makes the viewer feel sea sick.

Srike One!! There will be some sick viewers. :)
It's OK - I told her in no uncertain terms that she was going to get home-video quality. That is what she wanted - and that is what she got.

Don't go hand held if you can avoid it, always use a tripod.

Strike two!! It became apparent after a short period of hand-holding that I wasn't going to be as steady as a tripod. Unfortunately, I was in the balcony and the tripod was downstairs. :)

Use manual focus if the camera has it. Auto focus with moving images can be really dumb and pick the wrong focal point.

Foul ball!! The camera that I used had no manual focus, which was probably just as well. I likely would not have used it anyway.

If you can, manually set the white balance. Do this by getting someone to hold up a white piece of paper in the area you are going to shot, zoom in and press the WB button.

That may or may not have been possible. I got hold of the video camera about 40 minutes before the wedding started. I found the essential controls (zoom, record, backlight compensation, etc.) quickly and winged it. Home movies - R - Us. :)

Think about your shot sizes, if you are going to shot people full frame don't cut their heads or ankles off! (Sounds obvious but so many video students only look at the middle of the picture!)

That might be one of the only things I did right. Kind-of matches stills in that respect. Framing is important.

Often the key to good moving pictures is movenment! Don't be affraid to pan or tilt to follow movenment as static shots can get really boring!

I actually did some of that, especially during the (lengthy) sermon (which seemed even longer as I handheld the camera for the entire talk). I would slowly zoom out from the Pastor until I got the bride and groom into the scene, then zoom in on their faces to show the expressions as the Pastor discussed the religous aspects of the wedding. It might even have been effective.

I did the same thing during the exchanging of the vows, trying my best to draw attention to each individual as they spoke. It was a bit difficult when my arm started falling asleep from holding the camera steady (sort-of) for so long. :D

Good Luck!

Thank you. Lots of lessons that could be learned in this experience, but probably the most important one is that once all my relatives see this video, the will never try to talk me into taking videos of any family events ever again.

Actually, I got a lot of fun stuff from the reception, until the battery wore out in the video camera. Then I went out to the car and grabbed the XT and got some more images, including several shots of relatives in compromising positions on the dance floor. That should come in handy for the next family event. :)

[Tom W]

Just to add, good call taking your XT... if yo do the post producton on the computer you can use some of your stills in it too :)

Sadly, (or fortunately), the video camera used 8 mm tape. No chance that those movies will ever occupy my hard drive. :)

[Tom W]

i was in the same situation last month--5 days notice to shoot a milestone birthday of my coworker's husband

anyway in addition to the excellent advice:

use external mic(to avoind in camera noise) and use earphone(to monitor actual audio being captured)

Two situations come to mind concerning the external mike (which I did NOT use). One involved my neice's new husband during the dance with the mother of the groom. The other involves my panning of a couple of my niece's college friends in their dresses. I think I may have panned and zoomed a bit too long on one of them (and I might have gotten away with it, had I not muttered "oh baby" a bit too loud). :)

TRIPOD, TRIPOD TRIPOD, with good fluid head--i brought the wrong tripod during my first video shoot, my panning was horrible.

I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW - but I didn't know until I realized that the longest that I could possibly hold a video camera steady, even when leaning on a wall, was about a minute and a half. Or, about 1/10 of the sermon. :)

Do not stay in one spot--move around with your tripod
As mentioned earlier--zoom in/out when not recording--end in wide then start the next recording in close zoom, vice versa to make more interesting

I did do quite a bit of that, perhaps from my still experience. The zooming just seemed necessary to avoid the dullness that I've seen before in home video.

keep the eye level shooting to minimum--either go higher or lower than subject's eye level

Interesting idea.

Using 2 cameras woud be nice--but issue of white balance from different brand can arise and pain in editing.

Not a chance - had 40 minutes to learn how this one operated.

Lots of lights if possible
extra batteries and tapes--use tripod and close the lcd screen to conserve battery.

Lighting was lacking. I used the headlight on the camera during the dancing since the dance floor was poorly lit. That's probably what saved me by wearing the battery down quicker (and the new spare was uncharged - darn the luck)

these are not expert opinions, just what i learned from my 1 time experience

I've learned a bit as well - probably the most important thing is to never buy a video camera. People get wind of that and they'll expect me to use it again. Unless they see this weekend's movies. :D

Thanks, all, for the advice.

[Tom W]

Tom, I say get sloshed before the wedding this way no one ask you to do it anymore:-)

I didn't get sloshed before the wedding, but my Brother in law and I got pretty sloshed after the wedding & reception, back at the hotel. Actually, my sister, who rarely drinks, had a few glasses of wine. She needed to unwind anyway, as did all of us.

Wedding was great - Reception was great, though not the typical drunk-fest that I used to attend in my younger years. It started and ended rather early, but it was very, very nice.

[martook]

Haha, a good read!
I hope you learned your lesson here... always post your question as soon as you are told about your unfortunate destiny, so people get a chance to reply before you go ;)

Have you had a look at the tapes to see how you did? Or have you not heard from that part of your family again? Then you know they have seen it... :P

[Tom W]

Haha, a good read!
I hope you learned your lesson here... always post your question as soon as you are told about your unfortunate destiny, so people get a chance to reply before you go ;)

Probably would have worked out better if I had been assigned my destiny a little sooner as well. Not to worry - I am not sure that too much information in a short period of time would have helped anyway. :)

Have you had a look at the tapes to see how you did? Or have you not heard from that part of your family again? Then you know they have seen it... :P

I haven't seen the tape. I don't think I have anything that will actually play the tape. Hopefully, my resourceful nephew can do something with it, so that it looks presentable.

[Clint]

I got it Figured out!! Go ahead and get wasted before you get to the wedding and they will surely ask someone else to video for them. HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Merle]

Tom,
To your family YOU, are the family photographer. I beleive that is a compliment. You are blessed to belong to a family like yours.
;) :) :D

Good Shooting to Ya !!
Merle