Shooting my first wedding....

BolderPro

BolderPro

Member
So I live in the midwest but am going to go out to colorado next week to shoot my photog. teachers friends wedding. My teacher was hired to shoot pictures and he invited me to come and take care of video. I am really excited to do this because the setting is going to be really beautiful, but Im a little nervous as to how I am going to make it.

I have been watching alot of wedding videos and am starting to pick up on some dos and donts (dos: depth of field, moving shots, glidecam shots, close-ups, soft lighting, Donts: bad audio, shaky footage, dark footy, over/underexposed)

But I am still looking for some help

My equipment that i will take will be:

7d

t2i

rode videomic

softbox lighting (for interviews)

Glidecam

redrock shoulder rig w/ counterweights

701 head w/ 055xprob legs

Headphones for monitoring

tokina 11-16

tamron 17-50

canon 70-200 f/2.8

and misc. batteries and cards

(and im sure there are things that im forgetting)

but with what I've got, does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I am really looking for help on what I should fill up on footage wise before the wedding and also what I should do with the bride and groom before the wedding. and how I should shoot the main wedding (run one cam. on tripod stationary while using glidecam or shoulder rig with the other?)

I'm sorry this is so long but I just need to gain some confidence in what i want to shoot before I try and do it. Thanks for the help +k
 
i don't have much wedding experience or input. But I'd really suggest staying away from wide angle shots, even if it's on a glidecam the widest i'd go is 35ish on crops. I'd also def. pick up the 50mm 1.8, there's really no excuse to not have this lens. It's 90 bucks new and it's one of my favorites
 
I think your at a real advantage with two bodies. Setup one of your bodies with your 70-200 on your tripod(potential for time-lapses here) and then use your tamron or tokina on your glidecam. Use your tripod in certain situations so you can experiment with your glidecam/shoulder rig and if you screw the glide shot up then you can fall back on the static shot from your other camera.

if that makes sense haha
 
you'll want a fast lens for sure!

I'm off to bed, threads to help/read more. Just skimmed the setup and that was the fist thing I noticed
 
ok ill give you a low down on what i think since i was in your exact spot over the summer.

1. Equipment:

it sounds like you have it all pretty well covered as far as stabilization and what not. having two bodies is a great idea. get a fast 50!!! the 50mm 1.8 for only 100 bucks is going to be your life saver. during the reception i was filming, it got dark outside pretty quick and it just so happened the photog who got me the job, a buddy i skied with, let me use his 50mm 1.4 and it was a life saver! so pick up a fast lens. 50mm is perfect for the video side of weddings and it will be a must during the reception or if anytime you may be indoors.

make sure all of your batteries are charged and cards are empty! i ran out of card space just before my battery died in the last few minutes of filming i needed so i was lucky, but not risking a 1 card and 1 battery time ever again.

also, weddings happen very fast in terms of the big main events (ie. cake cutting, toasts, boquet toss, etc.) so its not a bad idea to have a zoom lens on in case you need to make some quick adjustments, or above all, know when and where things are happening so you are ready, which brings me to my next point.

2. Be Prepared

its a good idea (a must if you can) to talk to the bride and groom during the rehearsal dinner the night before so you know exactly how things are going to roll, how much time they will take, and whereabouts they will be happening. that way you can plan things out in advance and see the venue and get an idea of how lighting may be, angles you can use, and lenses to use so that way when you are in between major events, you waste no time fiddling or looking for what will be the best shot. its like storyboarding a movie, but keeping in mind you only get one take.

3. The Ceremony

this is where it can get tricky because everything else you can shoot several times. the ceremony however, only happens once and will be surprisingly fast if you aren't ready. after you talk with the bride and groom and find out how its all going down, you might want to set up one stationary camera to cover the whole ceremony on the bride and groom (could be medium or tight shot down the isle), while using the other camera either on the glidecam or for close ups of them and various angles of random stuff to cut back and forth in between. this way you keep it interesting when you are editing that part of the video.

the audio will be key. if there is a dj, you might be able to get a recording straight from the microphone of the pastor or whoever marrying the two so that way its super clean and you dont have the kids in the back screaming ruining your rode mic sound from your stationary camera. that sound will be important tho if you can layer it behind a clean track of the actual ceremony. another good idea would be to rent or borrow some lav mics to put on the minister or i have considered using like a h4n zoom recorder and placing it somewhere to pick up all the alter audio but somewhere where no one will see it. lavs will be your best bet tho because audio is important.

4. Have Fun

lastly, weddings are happy times and there is no need to stress over anything. don't take advantage of the open bar until you have all of the important shots covered and don't be afraid to film everything and get friends and family having a good time as well (especially parents and close family members).

weddings are fun as hell to shoot i think and if you get more footage than you think you need, editing will be very easy. good luck man, hope this long ass post helps a little bit

 
Thanks! Im off to a good start here, I am going to look into the 50mm and possibly get that before the wedding. Alot of helpful tips in here!

I do plan on meeting with the bride and groom and talking about where everything is at and I want to figure out a way to get some good audio (may have to ask around for a tascam) Im sure the rode will do good but I'm a lil nervous about background noise like juicedrummer said.

Im getting close to an idea in my head haha

 
So it turns out I have a little bit of money I can spend, Im thinking of getting a tascam dr-40 and a 50mm f/1.4. After this I should be good on gear.

One question tho, On the dr-40 It works just as a tape recorder right? I know there are ports to connect into the cameras xlr ports (which i dont have) but I can just set it up on the alter and leave it with an sd in it and then go get it and plug the sd into my computor and sync audio up in premiere right? I also looked at the zoom h4n and decided i could save some money going with the tascam the audio sounded VERY similar and I wont be using it for music so I dont think I will need all the deluxe features.

As for shots, I have a pretty good idea on what i need to talk to the bride and groom about and have a rough plan mapped out in my head. But watching more of these videos there is always alot of like "fill" shots of the bride/groom walking together, dancing, kissing, etc. Do you organize this or specify a time to get some of these shots or do they naturally come?

Again thanks for the help and ill make sure to post the final project when I'm done! very excited
 
yeah you can do that w the dr40. but not monitoring your audio live is a really bad idea. if for any reason it stops recording you'll have no idea and left without any usable audio
 
a lot of candid shots of bride and groom of them dancing and kissing will come naturally, but you could probably do a little "directing" and ask them to get some of the walking-together-holding-hands-by-the-cool-scenery type stuff and what not
 
Hey guys, just an update with the wedding coming up so quick here. (saturday) I just got my tascam and 50mm 1.4 in today and am liking them so far.

But just a few questions on the tascam...

1) Do I need a fast sd card or will a "regular" 30mb/sec card work?

2) What should I record with (.mp3 at 320k, sampling at 44.1k is what i have right now I'm not sure what this means so I could use some help)

3) for the wedding should i put the mics in or facing out?

4) any other tips on setting it up would be appreciated.

 
1) 30mbps will be plenty

2) Record in WAV, 48k. I'm not sure about bits in audio so someone should follow up on this

3) Is the tascam for the ceremony?
 
Ok thanks and yes its for the ceremony I will be placing it right on the stage next to the alter

and what is the benefit to WAV? Can I still edit it in premier cause It only gave me the option to play it in itunes and audition.
 
you might wanna check up on the ideal format for the frame rate you are recording in because i know that sometimes if its the wrong frequency it won't quite line up just right when you put it with the video. and wav is a lot smaller file and you should be able to bring it into premiere but you might just want to double check with google to make sure
 
always record in wav. mp3 is precompressed for you. If you have any issues with editing the wav let me know and ill convert it over or show you how to do it ! the tascam DR-40 is great buy man .

Good luck, and let us know how it went!

PS level 1 uses the 50mm F/1.4 also. youre in good company.
 
24-bit is overkill unless you're a sound engineer. 16-bit WAV @ 48.000 will set you right.

Also if you want to plug into the PA, sometimes the sound guy will offer to record it for you. ALWAYS refuse because they will record at 44.100, and it's a pain in the ass to convert to 48.000 without issues when it comes to long, continuous audio files.
 
Ok I think Im getting it...im gonna shoot 1080p @ 30fps, so I should set the tascam up to record a 16 bit .WAV, with a sample of 48k, and the mics in y position? Is this correct?

Thanks again guys I'm getting so pumped! cant wait!
 
So Stoked!!!!!!

For an update the wedding was super awesome!!! It was an awesome experiance and from what i can tell so far the video is gonna be really good!!!

I have gotten decently far with editing the highlight reel and I finished the DVD cover sleeve, DVD sticker, and DVD menu.

Here they are very stoked so far!!! (all the photos on them are stills from video and im no photographer so dont bust my balls to hard about it haha):

DVD Cover Sleeve:

593210.jpeg

DVD Sticker:

593211.jpeg

DVD Menu:

593212.jpeg

 
glad it went well man! you'll have to throw up the highlight vid when your done with that too. the covers and menus all look pretty good
 
Hey guys its been a while but heres an update:

I have created 2 versions of the video for the bride and groom one is a 3 minute Highlight reel and the other is a "Full length" Version that is 20 minutes. I really like how the highlight reel turned out! I know not all the shots are perfect and their are some that I really dont like but Overall I think it went pretty good for a first wedding!!

Without further a do:

J + M | Highlights 2012 from TJ Garrett on Vimeo.

/images/flash_video_placeholder.png

Password: wedding
 
I have shot one wedding my whole life( im only in high school), not a professional, just did it for my cousin for free to help out and get experience.

Remember to include in your video

flowers, rings together, or separate, walking down to the front, entering and leaving the church, the tables set up with no one sitting there so they remember what they setup, and them doing something cute with out them noticing your filming, most of that would be to set up and film before it all even happens.

also do not be afraid to move around and switch angles, you may get in some peoples way but its important to get multiple angles , it felt awkward standing up close to them while everyone's looking at me but you gotta do what you gotta do!

read through my old thread there's ton of good advice in there.

https://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/701897/

hope this helps a little , good luck!
 
Thanks! I got them printed through http://www.thepaperworker.com I did a matt finish and they turned out looking really nice I was very happy and so were my clients. If you go to that site they have .psd templates so you just download the template and design in photoshop.
 
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