[Vincent Simoneau]

Hi Roger,

Thank you for sharing your comments and thoughts. Your advice speaks the truth. I gave this a lot of thought in the past couple of weeks and with the comments others have shared in this thread, it made lots of sense. And more specifically, you nailed it.

I basically have to decide on whether I join in the fun of shooting weddings as most do and over time find creative ways to further enhance it or stick with the unorthodox style that might only appeal to 10-15% of the market. It comes down to a business decision. Which means that if I decide to venture into the realm of event videography, I will need to invest time and equipment as the film gear I already own just won’t cut it or make it easy to use for a such a quick pace event format.

This is something that I will need to think about and see if it makes sense as you once had to do yourself.

I certainly appreciate your help in this matter. Thanks for sharing Roger.

[Vincent Simoneau]

Mark, please don’t take it the wrong way and I didn’t mean any disrespect in any way. In fact, I know what and how I shoot is quite unorthodox hence why I’m asking for suggestions from people that have been doing it longer then I have.

You bring up very interesting points about tradition and rituals and I certainly agree with you.

I know all weddings are not the same, but the videos follow all the same structure regardless of how similar or different the wedding may be. The story telling hasn’t changed and with all the videos that I’ve seen from the two dozen companies I’ve watched, as a whole, all follow the same structure. Is that bad? Not at all. It’s the wedding industry and what most of married couples ask for as you pointed out. Because it’s tradition. Do I plan on making waves with my style? Probably not, the majority aren’t looking for that. I am simply asking other professionals where I can improve. But if style does not speak to them, I would not label that piece of work amateur because it is undesirable. It simply is subjective.

So coming back to my original question, is it because it is non-traditional that some may see it as amateur or is there other elements at play?

[Vincent Simoneau]

Here is a video of my first wedding (shot alone). Many have based themselves for hiring me based on this one and the above as I am still getting requests:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrBmUXiXTCc

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[Vincent Simoneau]

Hey Chris, Thank you for that and absolutely, I personally appreciate one type of criticism and it’s exactly what you provided – very constructive.

So basically what I understood as a whole was mostly post work (grading). Stabilization as mentioned before for me was almost impossible as I could not see myself maneuver a Ronin with a BMCC all night without having a wireless FF..lol So I know I would have to change my rig and go for something lighter (DSLR with stabilizer).

Lots of work to be done.

BTW, you didn’t dig the Kaleidoscope shot…lol?

[Vincent Simoneau]

I understand your point Mark.

I personally know that most of the videos out there are some what traditional and the standard for composure and story telling seems to be the same across the board. Personally, that’s not my cup of tea. If someone were to ask me if I can shoot that for them, I would probably decline because it’s too predictable and in my view, is too fake. Posed positions etc seem less organic and don’t show the true characters of whomever I am shooting hence why I shoot the way I do.

Technically, I certainly realize that the venue was very challenging due to the low light. The Blackmagic certainly helped a lot with the multitude of dynamic range and fast lenses however it is not an ideal setup. There are many things I would do to help correct this as you mentioned above with some of the tips you provided.

Back to my initial question, the feedback I’ve been getting from regular folk (non-professionals) has been 50/50. Half love the footage and find it to capture the realism of the event without any staging. It captures all the best and subtle moments that might forget or not even say in a day. This type of video also offers the ability to the groom and bride to show their friends without having them fall asleep or get bored of the lengthy video.

On the other hand, I have the other 50% that say the video is nice and well shot however they prefer the more traditional elements such as the pre-wedding prep, vocalized vowels etc… But by any means, they admit that it does not look amateur in any way.

It;s one thing if my shot composure, angles and more need work. My angles are different and more of a voyeuristic where I tend to stay in the shadows and capture unscripted moments throughout the night. I’m just at a crossroad as I don’t know what gives off the impression of amateur if it’s the technique or style I convey, or if its the technical aspects.

[Vincent Simoneau]

Great Feedback Mark. Much appreciated. That’s the feedback I was looking for.

One question to you though would be, does the video convey an amateurish project or does it seem professional?

[Vincent Simoneau]

Hi Ricardo,

I would suggest the following:

4K: https://gefen.com/kvm/ext-uhd-cat5-elrpol.jsp?prod_id=15119

1080p: https://gefen.com/kvm/gtb-hdbt-pol-blk.jsp?prod_id=11041

Just make sure that the sampling rate is to your liking, however if it’s for viewing, Gefen is one of the best in the biz.

Hope this helps
Cheers

[Vincent Simoneau]

Hey Jeremy, I appreciate your help so far. I really need to finish this project and I can’t seem to find the place where I can use the original media. I checked and I have Optimized Media checked. It’s weird but when I remove the LUT Utility filter, the artifact disappears. I worked so hard on colour correcting every single clip, I really want to try to keep the effect on there.

How would I go about using the original media?

[Vincent Simoneau]

No I haven’t yet. I will try.

Denver from Color Grading Central made me open up my Terminal screen after applying the LUT Utility and noticed an OpenGL Error. Here is what it said exactly:

2014-10-27 8:47:35.098 PM Final Cut Pro[2460]: *** OpenGL error 0x0506 (invalid framebuffer operation) in function “GL_CHECK_CURRENT_ERROR”

If that helps at all :S

[Vincent Simoneau]

I’m using ProRes 422 HQ from Blackmagic Cinema Camera. I have to check tonight, but I’m pretty sure I clicked on Proxy Media in FCPX.