1st Wedding

[Cole]

For starters let me say that no crew, guests, participants or animals were harmed in the making of this video. Now there is no where to go but up!

I shot my first Wedding on Saturday June 14th 2008. It was an outdoor wedding taking place in the Grooms spacious back yard located in the rolling hills of Frederick, MD. At first the bride & groom seemed less than enthusiastic about having the video made. This was arranged by the parents of the bride who are previous customers of mine. The couple's original plan of eloping was replaced with a "simple" wedding celebration instead. They did however warm up to the cameras once the day arrived. The entire day was to take place outside including a 20-25 minute ceremony starting at 2:00 PM followed by a party with a live band that would stretch into the evening. My primary goal was to capture the ceremony and a little footage from the party including some interviews.

The forecast for the day was, you guessed it, 60% chance of afternoon thunder showers. The ceremony started at 2:20 PM with a lengthy processional set to the band playing "The Rain Song" by Led Zeppelin. The ceremony came out nice. I had 4 camera angles including mine (DVX), my assistant (2100), the trellis cam and one shooting the band. It was bright and sunny with no hint of storms and the ceremony came off without a hitch. From what I can tell so far I made 2 mistakes at the ceremony. I adjusted my exposure from my tripod before the ceremony but removed it from the tripod to shoot from the first row during the processional. The result was a slightly overexposed image due to the lack of shade on the party as the walked down the aisle. I thought it looked ok on the LCD but apparently my Zebra stripes were off. Once I returned to the tripod everything looked nice and clean. Mistake 2 was the audio from the minister. I did a sound check asking him to imitate his speaking level which ended up being a great deal softer than during the ceremony. My assistant was monitoring the audio form the Azden but didn't think it needed adjusting at the time. It clipped a little bit but it will be fixable in post. If not I have two other sources including the trellis cam which was right above their heads. All in all, not a disaster but still there was definite room for improvement.

30 minutes into the reception the sky opened up and poured. They had a few tents and tarps arranged to keep everyone dry. I ended up with about 30 minutes of footage including a few interviews but once the rain started everyone ran for cover. Since we were cut short I went to the bride’s parent’s home a few days later and conducted some interviews. The groom’s parent declined the visit due to camera shyness. If I were to do it again, I would have brought a 10X10 tent for bad weather to do the interviews and avoid missing anyone.

I will be splicing in a growing up montage to add to what was captured. Naturally it won't be as long as the standard video due to the short service and weather issues but it will come out great in the end. I doubt this will be one to send in for certification but the family will be more than pleased with the product. If any of it ends up online I will post a link.

Cole

[damian]

Sounds like an experience.  Got a question though.  You stated the parents were "former customers" but this was your first wedding.  You apparently have some equipment, so I assume you began doing weddings but have done other video related ventures prior?

I'm in for the highlights

[Cole]

Damian,

That is correct. This was my first wedding but I have done other video projects as well as worked on the crew for larger scale projects. My own video projects have been an acoustic performance in Easton, MD (Josh Joplin), a Jazz recital in Philadelphia, PA (Chris Aschman & friends) and a memorial service. The memorial service was for the brother of the bride from this wedding. The parents are members at my church and originally hired me to capture the service from the main chapel and relay it to the auditorium in the basement. The church itself only holds 110 people and the service was expected to have 150+ in attendance. I set up with 1 camera and ran the feed to 2 lcd monitors and a stereo receiver for any that needed to view from the auditorium. The day of the service the father requested I tape it for them to have. I was going to tape it anyway to critique my camera work after the fact so I was ready regardless.

I have worked on the crew of a few PSA's and I was recently able to work as a production assistant for a network TV show. That was a much larger scale than I plan to be for some time but the experience was incredible.

I also do video transfers and montage creation which is how I started. I have just recently felt capable to do Weddings but for now I am sticking to family and/or friends and possibly couples that were not going to have video, but will let me do it for experience. I feel more confident after this wedding, but I still have a ways to go before I can present my self as a pro in this market.

This forum has been of great value to my growth in video production. There is a wide variety of markets, opinions and characters and they are all after the same thing; to enhance the image, skills and attitude of those working in the wedding video industry. It is also a great source for the public to come and do research for their own events. I will work on the highlights soon.

Cole

[HankCastello]

Cole,

Congratulations on getting that first "notch" in your camera!

Officiants NEVER speak as loudly during the sound test as they do when sermonizing. 

There are "a few" things that can change shot-to-shot, moment-to-moment.  That is why I always say, "remember 'AFEW' things".

A = Audio
F = Focus
E = Exposure
W = Wt balance

It seems we'll "automatically" think about framing, composition and continuity.  That's the artist in us working.  Problem is, we need the "technician" in us to work also.  I actually put a label on the back of one of my cameras once that read "AFEW".

Thanks for a great "first wedding shoot" story!