Section 3.7. Weddings


3.7. Weddings

Ah, weddings! Everybody loves weddingsespecially camcorder manufacturers. Talk about once-in-a-lifetime (all right, very- few -times-in-a-lifetime) occasions! What bigger event could there be to drive somebody to buy a camcorder?

3.7.1. Where to Stand

If you're just a friend or family member in the audience, you've got no choice about where to position the camcorder. You'll have to shoot from your seat or stand in the back.

But suppose that you're a wedding videographeror becoming one. (That's an excellent idea, by the way, if you've been thinking about going into business for yourself. You, with your digital camcorder and iMovie, can advertise your superior equipment, lower costs, and greater editing flexibility when compared with all the poor slobs still lugging around older, analog equipment.)

From the videographer's standpoint, weddings are tricky. If you've only got one camcorder, where do you stand during the vows? From the spectators' side, where you can't capture the faces of the bride and groom? Or from the opposite side, where you get the bride and groom, but can't see the scene the way the spectators see it? Here are a few solutions:

  • Film the rehearsal. The idea is that later, in iMovie, you can splice in some of this footage as though it were captured with a second camera on the day of the wedding. The rehearsal isn't usually "in costume, "of course, so you won't fool anyone with your footage of the bride and groom in their sweatshirts and blue jeans . But the presiding official (minister, rabbi, justice of the peace ) may well be in official garb at rehearsal time. At the very least, you can grab some footage of him at the rehearsal. With his lines and reaction shots already in the can, you can spend your time during the actual ceremony standing and filming from behind him.

  • Really use a second camera. Videographers make about $1,000 per wedding, so after one wedding, you'll have made enough money to buy a second camcorder. If you have an assistant who can operate it, you've solved your "where should I stand?" dilemma.

    But if you don't have an assistant, you can set this second camcorder up in the back of the hall, in the balcony , or behind the presiding official, and just let it run unattended. Once again, iMovie will be your salvation; you'll be able to incorporate footage from the second camcorder whenever your editing instincts tell you that it's time for a refreshing new angle.

  • Shoot from behind the official. If none of these ideas work for you, film some of the wedding from the audience's point of view. But during the vows, get yourself up onto the dais and shoot over the official's shoulder. In the end, what everybody wants from your wedding video is to see the faces of the bride and groom as they pledge their love foreversomething they didn't get to see during the actual wedding.

3.7.2. Getting the Sound

This is the big one. If there was ever an event where recording the words was important, this is it. If you're just a friend shooting from the audience, the sound will probably be weak unless you use one of the tricks described on page 72.

If you're the hired videographer, however, your responsibility to get clearly audible sound is even greater. Maybe you bought one of the pro camcorders with a shotgun mike described in Chapter 1. It will do splendidly if you film from behind the presiding official, only a few feet from the bride and groom.

Otherwise, equip the groom with a wireless mike, if he'll permit it. This usually entails slipping a little transmitter into his pocket and running a tiny wire up to his lapel.

If he objects, well, it's his wedding. But remind him that his one wireless mike will also pick up the words of the bride and the official, too, thanks to their close proximity during the vows.

And for goodness' sake, wear Walkman headphones to monitor the sound when you shoot the actual ceremony. Your videography career will come to a quick and miserable end if you play back the footage and discover that the wireless mike wasn't transmitting.


Tip: Many professional videographers these days invest in a Sony MiniDisc recorder, which looks like a Walkman but contains a half- size , recordable CD. It records extremely high-quality sound, and serves as a great backup sound-recording unit at weddings. When you return to your Mac, you can transfer the audio into the computer and then import it into iMovie (as described in Chapter 8). The sound won't perfectly match the video for more than a few minutes at a time, but your clips are probably short enough that such "sync drift " won't be a problem.

3.7.3. Being Unobtrusive

Anyone who hires a wedding videographer has already swallowed hard and accepted that there's going to be somebody running around the ceremony with a bunch of electronics. Fortunately, your equipment is much smaller than non-DV equipmenta great feature at weddings.

FROM THE FIELD
22 Shots for Your Wedding Video

Take it from a wedding-video veteran, Doug Graham of Panda Video Productions: There's a certain set of shots you've got to include if you're the one who's been asked to film it. Here they are

  1. Bride and bridesmaids dressing. (Keep it G-rated!)

  2. Exterior of the church .

  3. Wedding party arriving at church.

  4. Continuous roll of the ceremony, from prior to bride's entrance to the couple's walk down the aisle at the end. Use two cameras , if you canplace one in the back third of the church. Using the handheld, position yourself on the bridesmaids' side of the aisle at the altar steps. Shoot the procession. After the bride arrives, move to a tripod placed behind the officiant and on the groom's side. This gives the best shot of the bride during the vows. (Coordinate and clear this with the officiant beforehand.)

    If you can, take a moment later to film a reenactment of the ring ceremony. Get a good closeup of rings being slipped onto fingers, which you can splice into iMovie later.

  5. Any special touches in the ceremony, like a solo song, unity- candle lighting, and so on.

  6. Reaction shots of bride's and groom's families.

  7. The photographer's formal posed shots.

  8. Wedding party leaving church.

  9. Wedding party arriving at reception . (This'll take some good planning and fast driving on your part!)

  10. Bride and groom entering reception.

  11. First dance .

  12. Mom's dance with the groom.

  13. Dad's dance with the bride.

  14. Best man's toast .

  15. Cake cutting.

  16. Garter toss.

  17. Guestbook signings.

  18. Special dances and ceremonies at the reception.

  19. Interviews with guests.

  20. Interview with the bride and groom.

  21. Footage for use as cutaways: cake, presents , decorations, flower arrangements, the DJ or band . Get a copy of the wedding announcement, and souvenirs (such as specially printed napkins), so that you can film them for closeups later.

  22. Guests saying goodbye .

Don't shoot: People eating . Backs of heads. People backlit by windows . Drunks.

Interviews at a wedding are a real art. I just have the guests pass around the mike and ask them to "say a few words to the happy couple. "Some good leading questions might be:

- What can you tell me about how Bill and Sue met?

- What did you feel when you learned they were engaged?

- What do you think Bill should do to keep Sue happy?

- Where do you think Bill and Sue will be years from now?

- What do you think Sue loves most about Bill?

When interviewing the bride and groom, I do it individually, rather than together. I ask each of them the same questions: How did you meet? Tell me how the relationship grew. When did you first know Tim was the "one"? Tell me about how he proposed? What are your plans for the future?

Then I cut the responses together when editing. The juxtaposition of the two viewpoints can be funny , touching, or poignant.

I always remind my on-camera folks to answer questions in complete sentences. For example, if I ask "What's your name?", I don't want, "Joe." I want, "My name is Joe." That way, I can edit out my questions later, and the response will be complete in itself.


Still, you should use as much tact and foresight as possible. Scope out the hall before the ceremony, and speak to the presiding official to discuss your plans. Use video lights if you can, but accept that your clients may object to the clutter. And use only battery power, as duct-taping extension cords to the carpeting doesn't always go over well in houses of worship.


Tip: If it's your responsibility to film a wedding or some other important event, take an extra fully charged battery and extra blank tapes. You may think that this is obvious advice, but there's absolutely nothing worse than forgetting it and missing half of the most important day of your client/friend/sister's life.


iMovie HD & iDVD 5. The Missing Manual
iMovie HD & iDVD 5: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596100337
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 209
Authors: David Pogue

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