Surprise, surprise!  (famous quote by Gomer Pyle!)  The room they showed us last night isn't the right room.  

I had a Shure mic on a stand for the quartet, another on a stand for the singer.  Since that second mic stand was right next to the quartet, I aimed that mic at the musicians and told the singer to replace it that way when she finished.  Both Shures were connected to a Marantz 660 digital recorder via XLR cables.  I made a big mistake here by not double-checking the recording format.  I always have it on mp3, but somehow it got changed to wav.  I didn't notice this until I was setting up, the next day, for the second wedding and got a "Memory card is full" error message, forcing me to get their scripture reader off of backup audio from the DJ.

I placed an FX1 (camera #4) at the rear to shoot the overview.  Camera #3 is angled to shoot both sets of parents and some of the guests.  Camera #5 was aimed at the quartet, but I fully expected this shot to be blocked when the groomsmen arrived and I had no idea whether I could get any usable video after that.  It also had a shotgun mic angled upward toward a ceiling speaker as a rought sort of backup to the house sound which was not tappable.

Jean couldn't find the bridesmaids she needed for her prep shots.  Neither could the photographer.  The coordinator, when asked at the rehearsal, had told Jean they would meet in room 602, but Jean only found two bridesmaids there. The others never got the word and were spread throughout the hotel.  It took considerable time and effor to round them up.

There was a medium-size table and a chair left where the bridesmaids were to stand.  The coordinator came by as I was setting things up.  I asked her about these items and she said the hotel staff would move them.  But ceremony time was drawing near, guests were begining to be seated and the table and chair remained.  The coordinator was nowhere to be found, so I moved them.

This room is smaller, more like the one the rehearsal was held in.  As previously noted, the far aisle is narrow and is blocked so the groomsmen cannot make their entry here as previously planned.  I'd gotten the word, through Jean, to the groom and he made sure the groomsmen knew to come down the center aisle.  Although we informed the coordinator that it would be impossible for the groomsmen to come down the far aisle, she failed to notify the ushers.  So there was considerable back and forth and confusion when it came time for the groomsmen to enter. They finally got it right, but not before one bridesmaid went first!  Apparently she didn't know to wait and let the groomsmen go first.

Further complications from this were that ushers made Jean move out of her area until after the groomsmen arrived, causing her to miss the unity candle shot.  But it was OK because there was no unity candle shot.  The coordinator had given instructions to the ushers that the mothers were not to light the unity candles.  One mother fairly struggled to free herself from an usher to light her candle, but he held fast to her arm and insisted she not light it.  The other mother merely looked on in utter confusion.  Finally, one of the ushers came up and lit the candles.

Jean had had a bit of difficulty with the Azden 500 wireless set that we use to mic officiants, in the previous wedding, but we'd attributed the problem to interference since tests at home failed to duplicate the issue.  But after just a couple of minutes into the ceremony, her minister's audio went dead, only to come back right before "the kiss".   We will have to rely on the groom's audio and/or camera #5's audio.  Thankfully, the small room helped to force the minister and the couple into close proximity, so the groom's audio may be fairly acceptable for the minister's part.

The ceremony shoot was fairly unremarkable from this point on except that Jean says my off-tripod exit shot was a bit shaky.  Oh well, a bit of slo-mo and coverage from cameras one and four will help with that.  Producing good wedding video isn't always about great shooting, often it's about "CYA" (cover your, uh, assets).

The photo shoot was plenty long enough to give me time to move cameras, tripods, mics, etc. from the fourteenth floor to the reception ballroom on the second floor.  I had time to setup camera three onto the jib (crane), place a Shure on a stand in front of a DJ loudspeaker and ready a wireless handheld for the toasts, in case they weren't on the DJ's mic.  

Then I went around and shot the tables, decorations, the entire room, etc. so the couple could see it untouched before their guests began "messing things up".  Hotel staff kept the room locked until after the photo session, so guests mingled in the hallways where, eventually, I weaved through them shooting the mingling.  

Finally, my Motorola crackled with Jean's voice telling me that the final stage of the photo session was about to begin at the stairway just below the ballroom.  I helped her cover this, shooting first from the balcony, then coming down the opposite stairs to shoot from ground level.  I told Jean, who always shoots from a tripod, to setup for the grand entrance while I would stay with the couple since I was more mobile with the shoulder mount.

Things went smoothly except that the best man forgot to get the wireless mic from me for the toasts.  In fact, he forgot to alert me at all about them but Jean radioed me while I was shooting guests and said to rush over quickly.  She switched from full shot with BM, MOH and couple to closer (mostly reaction) shots of the couple, while I held fast on the person toasting with my trusty Azden shotgun mic.

The party would go on until midnight but our time ended at ten-thirty.  Since the couple was just going to their room in the same hotel after the party, I gave them two choices for an exit scene.  Choice one would have the camera follow them from behind, walking hand-in-hand down a hallway, then they open their room door, enter and close the door.  Two seconds later, the door reopens and one or both of them (depending on personalities) sticks their head out and places the "Do not disturb" card on the door knob.  Choice two would just be the walk down the hallway, done twice - once full length and once with the camera close on just the hands, to be blended in post.  Groom chose choice #1, bride chose choice #2.  Bride was boss.

This coordinator had assured the couple that she had "lots" of experience.  This could not have been true.  Like every other service provider, brides should investigate, look for certifications or organization memberships and check references.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.