Forever Endeavor - Critique

[Forever Endeavor]

I thought it would be cool to put up a thread for critiques, to evaluate each others stuff (completely voluntary of course). I just uploaded the highlights montage from last weekends wedding (the rained out one). Its the one labeled "Wedding Highlights 1" under ---2007---. Whaddya' think?

http://www.coloradoweddingvideographer.com/samples.html

[HankCastello]

Adam,

I'm having some trouble with my monitor, so that could be what it is, but some of those shots looked kind of dark. I'll recheck on my editing computer when I have a chance.  You've got those Glidecam moves down!  Video looked great!  I might have liked some close-ups.  Video does closeups really well - that's where it shines.  A super-closeup or two might have been the "cherry on the top".

How'd you do that part where it looked like the camera was floating right above the floor?  That was cool!

Looks like most shots where on Glidecam through wide-angle lens.  I wonder if there are any WA lens adapters that don't crop the corners?  I have two different brands and they both crop unless I zoom almost to the point of negating the WA effect.

[HankCastello]

Also, as long as you're going to use a downloadable format (wmv), you probably should composit a "bug" in the lower right corner.  Otherwise, anyone can post your samples on THEIR site and use them as their own.

[Forever Endeavor]

It looks a bit dark to me too. I will try adjusting the output and re-encode it.

How'd you do that part where it looked like the camera was floating right above the floor? That was cool!

That is one of the cool things about the Glidecam. Just flip the camera over and shoot upside down. Then rotate the clip 180 degrees in post. That was the first time I tried that shot. I think I will try it again next time and maybe do something more creative at the end like a high crane shot at the end.

Looks like most shots where on Glidecam through wide-angle lens. I wonder if there are any WA lens adapters that don't crop the corners?

Actually, I added that in post. It was kind of an experiment. I was going for a film look. again, first time I've tried that. Do you think I should remove it?

Good point about the close-ups. I have a hard time noticing basic things like that that my stuff needs. That's why I love getting feedback.

Thanks!

[Forever Endeavor]

At the risk of monopolizing the critiques section, I would like an opinion on the "Motion Pictures" Montage that I have up on my site. If you saw it before, it has changed a bit. I wanted to get it just right because I will be including it in my demo DVD I am working on. It's the one labeled 'Growing up "Motion Pictures" Montage'. I would like to know if anybody has any ideas on other things I can do with this (unless it's perfect in every way already). I want to keep it simple and classy and set apart from the crowd (which I know it is already). That's why I haven't added photo click sfx and a mock photo border to any of it. Anyway, I'll quit rambling and just see what y'all think.

Oh, and I've updated the highlights montage from before. I toned down the contrast (will help the darkness alot) and kept the vignette effect (darkened corners) to a bare minimum. I still have to upload it though.