wedding

vimeo.com/52078017

Thanks for sharing another lovely wedding, Andreas. You’re really becoming our resident master of matrimonial movies. It’s quite a talent you have to always keep them fresh & interesting, even though we know what’s going to happen, they’re still very enjoyable. You’ve captured emotions nicely in this one, we can’t help but feel happy watching it, & I see your shooter has introduced a jib & what looks like a wide angle lens almost a fisheye. These definitely add value.

There’s a key concept that comes to mind with the wedding video genre, that is of romantic idealism, if that’s our prime lens, then everything can be filtered thru it. Of course this still allows abundant leeway for individual styles, settings, & creative experimentation, but at the core there is a universal appeal to the romantic ideal. It’s beyond chemistry or physical things, we’re delving into the spiritual, something that appeals to all people throughout all time in every culture. Oh sure there are always the outspoken opponents of marriage, like comic turned cynic Bill Maher, but even he wouldn’t want to die alone.

So with the romantic ideal in focus, when I mention things like cutting flow, gentle transitions or presenting the bride in the best light, it is to make her, the event, everything, as beautiful as possible. Ideals aren’t always real, or they’re often polished in such a way so they appear better than real. Performers wear makeup, hair extensions, shoe lifts, etc, all to appear slightly more ideal. Then camera, lighting & editing further push this ideal, it’s the same for every genre even horror. As mentioned last time, the eye is drawn to imperfections, we’re tuned to perfection, this is a universal human trait. Our eyes & ears recognize beauty & perfect musical notes, & we are vexed by disfigurement & sour off key notes.

Opening shots with music I like. Not sure if it’s my vimeo connection, but the first shot pan of the field doesn’t look entirely smooth to me. Love the kitty, hehe, very cute. The next two are odd choices to me, ok we get it, things are placed where they’re not supposed to be, suit in a tree, shoes on a piano, but why? I mean if your director or shooter wants to be creative, there are better ways. What’s the point of those shots? What’s the message? Is he just trying to be clever? It doesn’t do anything for me. Or… perhaps it’s some Italian custom I’m unaware of? Please correct me so I can learn the foreign traditions.

Love the slow zoom to the dress, the music is building now, we’re drawing in, we’re engaged (no pun intended). First time we see the bride, she’s happy, but the eye is drawn to the yellowing tooth. Not her best light. Maybe a glamour filter or light-leak
can mask or distract us from that. Some of the next couple of shots seem a bit on the mundane side of the creative scale (back of the head for him, we don’t need the cat again, you can’t beat kitten’s super cute head tilt, so why bring him back? the second time is exponentially less), the dress shots work, fingers good. Focusing on the guy’s crotch as he sings “you desire me,” is way over the top, that’s the choice of a teenage boy, not suitable for a wedding video. I’d rather see her smiling eyes on that verse, dreamily gazing upwards while preparing. Remember, romantic ideal, not hormone driven teenage backseat mentality. The parents are going to watch this too.

Sunny dispositions match the lighting as fellow helps with tie, gentle breeze thru leaves in window, all bellisimo. Again you’ve got some audio from one of the participants, this time it’s clearer than earlier videos, maybe a better mic or less background noise. Though my Italian’s not fluent, I’m sure all he says is good. She looks positively radiant in this section. Really love the slow track & pull focus to the ring in the glass, sweet time to place her name too, perfect choice in post. Next we have some creativity from the eye of your shooter, up thru the glass table, great finish on groom.

Love the low shot with her gliding by, that looks like a wide lens, works wonderfully. Some charming impromptu interaction with family, we really feel the joy of the event here, it’s contagious. Not sure if the blonde testifying is his mother, but that scene works nicely too. There’s a lot more talking than you normally have, but it’s all so natural, easy & jovial, it contributes to the joy, even without translation.

Next shot we have my first real problem. Trying out the new jib? Well, bad timing. First of all it’s the most uninspiring view for us to have a panorama of, who wants to see a wide expanse of dried out dead weeds? The road doesn’t add anything. If the shooter wanted to play with the jib, instead of pointing down at the abandoned field, he should have angled upwards so as he craned upward over the kissing couple we could have seen a wide scope of a beautiful sky. A vast sky is another timeless iconic image, a spiritual connection with all people thru all time. It speaks of expectant optimism. A dead field is the opposite. A lush green verdant garden blooming flowers in front, rolling hills in back could fit with a wedding, whereas dried out brush doesn’t convey fertility, hope, future. Some might chime in here, “Hey, aren’t you always talking about contrast?” Sure, but a kissing couple is contrast enough against nature, they’ve come together, out of the world, we don’t need to surround them in dead weeds, it’s too much.

But the biggest problem I have with your mini crane shot, is that we join it too late! The ascension is the wonderful uplifting experience the jib provides, the couple are the focal point, if we had joined them at the waist & swept up & over them into the sky, we could feel the exaltation the camera move is meant to provide, an emotional experience fitting the genre. Coming into the rise late at the head, feels we missed it all. However, from watching this closely & seeing there is some sway at the apex, I suspect your guy’s new toy is a cheap one, lacking true stabilization, perhaps the lower part of the rise was also unusable footage. Not sure how FCPX’s stabilization feature handles jib jitter. You might want to experiment with that.

Now he’s got her dragging her white dress across burned out patches of that abandoned field… why? A better choice for him could have been to move them to that little hillock they’re approaching, he could shoot upwards as they climb towards the greenery, I wouldn’t even mind a jib there instead, up over them kissing thru the trees to the sky. Admittedly this set is really awful compared to some of the previous locales you’ve shared with us. We understand you’re only able to work with what you’ve got, but honestly, this field looks like death. If you want contrast, I can imagine zombies rising up thru that burned out soil to chase them up that hill.

There’s a shot that’s beautiful where we come out of the church doors up to the backs of the almost silhouetted mother & son waiting for his bride. The wind in the flags here, I love everything about this shot. The preceding scenes with wind in hair as people are walking or standing by cars, speak of the irritation one feels when dressed to the nines for something special & nature comes to mess things up. A slight discomfort is exacerbated as it appears dad is about to get a branch in the eye. The cars on the road a bit mundane, too much of the cars not enough of the people.

Bride arriving by car is classic, love her smile thru the glass, sky reflecting, perfect. Circling blushing bride & proud papa is epic with flags waving approval in gentle breeze. There is even a fortuitous subconscious implant here. A triangle shaped protuberance atop a pole, is in our periphery as we focus on dad & daughter while circling them. The movement, wind in flags, all contribute to the impression of the pole top shape being a bird like figure flapping out of the scene, as she also is leaving the nest. Of course it’s all an accidental optical illusion that works on a subconscious level & once you focus attention to it you’ve lost it. Another favorite shot as soon to be hubby kisses her forehead, your color grading here is gorgeous, she’s in her best light. Looks like magic hour, or you faked it flawlessly. Another creative expression of your shooter up thru the veil, he’s got the eye for it, when he’s not messing with crap cranes & potter’s fields. Fitting placement of the veil to reveal to fade shot by you for the musical strain. Interesting combination of circumstances during the father & daughter down the aisle shot. You’ve got another of my no-no’s with a shooter’s shadow on the subject, then a flash, but what also looks like perhaps a subtle use of light leaks to distract us from the shadow. If that’s what you did, it’s clever, if not, you should have, perhaps a tiny bit more light leaks to up the dreamy factor & diminish the shadow.

There’s a bit player we see early on as the bride is preparing, she looks very emotional then, we see her again here, in vertical striped rainbow dress. She’s got a wonderfully expressive face, her emotional involvement speaks volumes, I love it. She feels like the older sister to the bride, if not by blood, at least in spirit. All the women cheering is also lovely, the timeless celebration, throughout eons they’ve gathered exactly like this. The men dancing & hugging, here we see the beauty of Italian men, showing emotion on their faces like that fellow in the hug. Western men, eh.. not so much, foolishly fearing it maligns machismo.

Lots of our kissing couple, & the sweet kissing of the ring, all good. Coming out of the church we see a gorgeous domed cupola inside over the altar, why no shots of that earlier? Would have loved a rising sweep up over the bride’s dress, attentive couple, priest pontificating, to that lit dome overhead. Now that I think about it, your last few videos have shown nothing of the ceremony… is this due to restrictions against filming during the nuptials, perhaps some papal decree?

Again we’ve got the rice & petals, unfortunately more like pelting rather than floating. Rice always looks a bit hard, almost like it hurts, he appears to wince here. Thrown hard rice looks semi violent, let’s turn that into a caress. Have you tried my suggestion of speed-ramping that down even just 10%? I really feel it will add so much emotional content, the timelessness, the slowing down of the hectic pace, the softening of life’s blows, subtle change but deep meaning.

Excellent colorizing for your night shots. Love him perplexed at the disappearance of the champagne cork. Then we have another favorite shot, this one is truly spectacular, the tossing of the bouquet. At first I thought you guys used the jib again, but maybe there is no jib, it’s all hand held but it’s so smooth, either way it’s a fantastic action shot, very exciting. Being so enamored with this shot it took me several views to finally see who catches the bouquet. Wow, perfect, I pray that belief comes true for her…

More night tones great grading, romantic choices with the hands then the depth of field shot… they’re looking off together for whatever life may bring, track to gentle conceal, fade, perfect ending.

One last little touch, since most of the world reads from left to right, a basic film school technique is when things move or look from right to left they’re traveling backwards or gazing back in time. Whereas from left to right symbolizes moving or looking to the future. Thus if you had flipped those final three shots in FCPX they could have carried the subtle subtext of hope.

Another good one, Andreas. Thanks for sharing.








J. Matthew
Global•Watch•Media•Consulting
www.GWM2.com

like always your comments and critiques are just so detailed and appreciated and i learn from you everytime! just hope i'm not exaggerating with all of these wedding videos!

anyways i used the speed ramping in this video! vimeo.com/51607157 ! hope you enjoy! the couple isn't as beautiful as the others so i didn't feel like using a romantic song but made it more comical!

Apologies for taking so long in responding to your video, but it’s been on my mind, Andreas. Various projects have kept me entangled. I wanted to make sure I had a little time set aside to respond in the detail your art deserves. By the way, we’ve missed you in this forum lately, please keep sharing your videos. We never get tired of weddings, especially those with your applied finesse.

Today I want to talk about love. The other day on this site I asked a young filmmaker what he hoped to do? Allow me to ask you the same question. Do you aspire to feature films? Music videos? What is your dream in this form of creative expression?

The reason I ask, is that a couple of times you’ve been almost self deprecating in describing what you do, or saying something like “sorry, here’s another wedding video.” Please be encouraged, you really have mastered this genre & it’s not only an important one, but it has prepared you for loftier goals, should you choose to pursue them.

Yes, this time around the couple is not as glamorous as many of the others you’ve featured here, but that’s alright because the consistent theme in all your weddings is very strong here; joy & love. Your cameraman had the group perform some more playful antics than we’re used to in your Italian weddings, it works beautifully. Once again your song selection & creative sensitivity in timing images to musical sections is apropos.

This talent can’t be overstated. If I were to listen to that song by itself, it would be as you say, somewhat “comical.” Yet, once blended with your imagery it becomes quite emotionally moving in a joyous sense.

Before I delve too deeply into your eye for finding love in a scene, I’d be remiss to neglect there are a couple of shots I don’t like. The throwing of the ring, for me doesn’t work. It’s a choice of your cameraman, but a poor one in my book. In the past you’ve done some lovely focus work on this section, which draws us into a very powerful & symbolic, iconic image. Tossing the valued ring as if it were trash, on what appears to be a floor, is not the kind of contrast we’re seeking, it counters all the romantic idealism we need here & is thus a negative. A more powerful symbol could be the man’s ring laid flat, the woman’s standing inside it, or supported by it as if on a pedestal. A nice pulled focus to reveal this mini icon amongst some other wedding accouterments might be rather effective. Another iconic ring vision I’d love to see is two rings spinning in slow motion, close together like a dance, slowing down, ending up one rests first, then the other lands leaning on it. Not sure how many takes you’d need to make that shot, but just be thankful it’s not film. Or it could be synthesized with special effects, shoot the rings spinning, rotate the camera around them, overlay with fades of a similar shot, show one coming to rest, slow the other one down, fade to final position. Of course with all these kinds of visual experiments, there’s a fine line between achieving the subtle symbolism & crossing over into the trite, syrupy or maudlin.

The other negative shot, I think it’s taken inside the church & I hate to have to keep harping on this, but the shadow of the shooter passing over the two women is inexcusable & abhorrent.

One other technical note, nice to see you taking up my suggestion of some speed ramping. I’m still hoping to see a little slow-motion during the rice throwing at one of these weddings, but you’ve framed the couple nicely here by slowing down their time as the world flits past. Perfect use of the technology to imply deeper emotional & spiritual meaning.

So let’s talk about love. Beyond beauty, we all long for lasting love, this is the romantic ideal that bridges into the spiritual. It transcends beauty so that even as the bodies age & decay, the love can still grow stronger. Scripture says beauty fades, & indeed massive industries make well of that fact. An addiction to beauty can be destructive if carried into relationships because we’re all fading, so it can’t be sustained. Whereas the continual yearning for love is reciprocal & expresses exponentially thru time. As a filmmaker, Andreas, it appears you have a excellent eye for love. Not only do beautiful people fall in love, the rest of us ordinary folks do too. In some of your other weddings the couples were gorgeous, but that just makes your job easier, you can hardly go wrong. Who’s going to notice a shadow when the bride is glowing like a golden sunrise? Here you’ve captured or brought out something more appealing than outward appearance, the lasting beauty of the universal romantic ideal, love.

Being able to find it, draw it out of a scene, polish it subtly & present it ever so gently, never forcefully, is no mean feat. Look how many romantic films are flops. It’s very difficult to fake this depth of emotion. Of course you have an advantage with natural performers rather than actors, but I still insist you have a particular knack for finding & presenting love.

That’s why I asked what your filmmaking aspirations were. Your particular talent could serve you well in many aspects of the industry. As previously mentioned, good story telling & good stories are the facet of filmmaking that I’m most passionate about.

In a filmmaking forum there is often talk about Filters, either applied to lenses or in post, to soften, warm or cool an image. Directors sometimes use the term Emotional Filter when seeking to draw a particular type of performance from an actor. For instance, say the line is “It’s so great to see you.” Running the line thru various kinds of emotional filters can color the line with subtle nuances adding value to the scene. What if you were saying the line to the guy you’ve been searching for because he killed your brother years ago? Compare that to the mother saying it to arriving firemen as her daughter’s trapped down a well. Same line, different emotional filter.

If you examine a film & determine the various emotional filters actors are running their lines thru, you’ll find that many modern stories are motivated by, anger, revenge, avarice, fear, malice, etc. Of course Love is the greatest, yet probably one of the more difficult to fake.

A great little study in this is to watch two films that both came out in 1995, Casino & Heat. Both films are essentially about gangsters. The first is full of characters motivated, driven & filtering all their lines thru those negative emotions. Yes it’s a powerful film, but you’d be hard pressed to find a sympathetic or likable character. Contrast with Heat, written & directed by Michael Mann, & I really think it’s one of his best. Count how many characters & scenes are driven by love. Even in some of the most dire of circumstances, tiny little lines squeezed out excruciatingly thru the filter of love. Much more powerful.

You’ve got a talented creative eye for it, Andreas… now, what are you going to do with it?






J. Matthew
Global•Watch•Media•Consulting
www.GWM2.com

hey, it's a honor for me that you like my videos! i've been really busy these last two months but i will publish a video today! anyways I enjoy making wedding videos,i just didn't want to annoy anyone by linking all of my videos! it's really emotional to be part of a wedding and making the couple remember their day forever!
like always your comments are extraordinary and before i publish a video i review them every time!thank you for your support!

Glad you're back, buddy. Your work is always appreciated here. I suppose at some point in my life, I might have met someone who was "annoyed" by joy, love, weddings & babies, but I viewed their opinions as so insignificant & inconsequential, that they've faded into the mists of time.

Keep shining!

trixtrax said the 2 shots with the suit on the vine-fence were a little awkward. On the contrary, I thought they were awesome visualizations because I am thinking of my own wedding one day. On the other hand, this is a video about the bride and groom and not about me. So, its got its plusses and minuses.