WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO.

Hayes Peterson 10/3/17 Hayes Peterson 10/3/17

Filming Large Events for New Videographers

From the Perspective of a Still-Learning Film Assistant

I've been working with the studio for a few years now, and if I've taken away anything from all my experiences with Hayes, it's that there is always something new to learn. From assisting with lighting and equipment setup to taking your first solo position behind the video camera, you never want to lose track of what's most important for filling any role when shooting film or photos. Undeniably, the first and biggest rule of filming any event, and especially the larger they get, is that communication is key.

With so many details that go into the planning, setup, and running a ceremony that plays such a big part for so many people, it never hurts to double check start and end times on your schedule, keep updating with any planners or hosts, and express any concerns or questions you may have as soon as possible.

Especially regarding planning, it's imperative for photographers and videographers to acknowledge that everything might not happen according to schedule, and to stay on your toes for when they don't. You never want to miss a sentimental moment, so always stay prepared to shoot ahead of time.

When solo filming bigger events (like I happened to be for this one), bringing a little backup can go a long way. In the form of a wide angle lens such as a 24-70mm, a shoe mount LED on-camera light to help with low-light situations, and a sound recorder to help sync the audio for speeches, I encourage anyone shooting alone to pack those as well.

Last but not least, when there's lots of people enjoying the event, keep it rolling! It's always better to cut down footage you won't use than to miss something key to the event. Make sure to take advantage of your space, wide angle, and vantage points to get a solid variety of perspectives. And I can't say it enough, keep mobile!

Below is a video I put together from footage I filmed on my own at the same event shown in the pictures above. My goal is to demonstrate contrasting scenes based on lighting, space, focus and framing to convey all the opportunities available for videographers while shooting solo. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy!

Hayes Peterson 7/17/13 Hayes Peterson 7/17/13

Wedding Videography-hp studios

Portland Wedding Videography

With Cameras shooting next to movie quality video now, will it be the norm to pull stills out of video for clients' books and wall art?

Shooting wedding videography is challenging and very rewarding in itself, but being in the wedding party while doing video sets a whole new challenge. It being my brothers wedding, he wanted just casual video and for me mostly to relax and have a great time. That sounded great, but being asked to do the videography I of course wanted to do a good job and deliver a great edit for them to have. So I packed light and just brought my 60D and a few lenses. The lenses have stabilization in them so I felt good just doing some "run and gun" style shooting while still getting great shots.

Below are just some screen grabs of the day, but that brings up another thought I felt would create good discussion. Do you think, now that there are video cameras with gigantic image files coming out of them like the Black magic and the Red epic, that people will start shooting a wedding just with video? Then in post pull from the Raw footage, images that they would then make the client prints and books with.

Maybe?!? The raw 4k files are plenty big enough, and you use the same high end lenses that photographers use. What do you think? Peter Hurley tried this with one of his clients earlier this year. He had the opportunity to shoot with a Red Epic and he then pulled the stills from the video. He said they were completely useable but to look through all the frames to find the ones wanted to keep took too long for his style.

I think for just the sheer amount of storage and strain on your computer, running all that Raw footage and pulling out a couple hundred images would just be too much for your average wedding. I imagine the cost alone would be out of most people's reach.

Let me know what you think and enjoy some images for the wedding videography i did for my brother Andy and his new wife Tessa. Video out in the next few weeks.