On 20 Feb 2003 04:37:14 -0800, anita1766@yahoo.com (anita) wrote:

An interesting post - most brides have no interest in

the "nuts and bolts" of their wedding video production...;-)

>I have mangaged to narrow down my choice of a equipment for my wedding

>video- to two. One of the videographers is offering to do it in

>Betacam and the other is leaning towards DV.

>1. If I go with Betacam (the guy does television shoots...), can I get

>copies in DVD format and will it suffer in quality, can I play it on

>my computer or edit it later(if I got the master too) ?

DVD copies are practical, and potentially quite good

(depending on the quality of the gear used, and the skill

and "artistry" of the people involved in production), though

the masters may not be in a form that you can easily handle

for later personal editing...

>2. What questions should I ask the video person about the Betacam, are

>there different kinds ?

It can vary from sub-decent-3-chip Mini-DV, to wonderful,

depending on several things... Also, be aware that the

"presence" at your wedding will likely be quite different,

since most Betacam cameras are HUGE and intimidating, while

many excellent 3-CCD Mini-DV cameras are quite small, and

a few have really excellent low-light shooting capability,

making extra lighting unnecessary (and less intrusive and

annoying). A lot depends on the approach you are looking

for, with the "directed, controlled, lighted" approach at

one end, and the "fly-on-the-wall observer/recorder"

approach at the other (I favor the second - you can find

about 50 frame-grabs from a wedding shot this way, at:

www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/wedding9.html ).

>I've noticed that most of the wedding videos here look very garish and

>all the beautiful coffee colored people look kind of grey. I am also

>concerned that my white guests will look washed out.

Lighting (though intrusive) can help with this, as can

selecting gear with inherently lower contrast images

(or with gamma adjustments possible) and with better

low-light range (avoiding gain-up loss of color and

image smoothness) - and suitable compensating

tone-adjustments can also be made during editing (many

do not bother [it is time-consuming], but I do it...;-).

>3. What kind of tips should I give the videographer to make this

>problem go away ?

Express concern about this, and listen to the resulting

suggestions, perhaps choosing the solution(s) that are

least intrusive to the event...

>4. In general is lighting a good thing or a bad thing ? I am not so

>concerned about the video appearing natural as I am about how nice

>everyone looks!

Then you may prefer added lighting...

I find that brides fall between two extremes:

- those who do not want ANY presence to show of those

recording the event (as it happens, undirected, and

undisturbed).

- those who will do ANYTHING for the result (including

restaging, closely-directing "casual occurrences",

intrusively lighting, intrusively-placing shooters, etc.

In other words, for some, the event is most important;

for others, the "record" (even if largely staged and/or

faked) is most important...;-)

>Nobody in my city seems to have shot such wide differences in

>skin-tone. I remember seeing videos of weddings in the US and they

>look dreamy and beautiful. But the ones that I have seen here so far

>are very disapppointing.

>What kind of lighting arrangements would you recommend ?

>I realize these are hightly specific questions that cannot be answered

>precisely without seeing the venue etc., But any generic pointers will

>be greatly appreciated.

It looks like you favor the "production" type of approach,

and have not yet found someone you can trust to cover your

wedding the way you want...

>Will I be able to get set up a webcast if we used a betacam?

All this may be a bit much to accomplish on your wedding

day, and if done, should cost rather vast amounts of

money - it appears you are looking for a film production,

all shot in one day, mostly "live" - this takes a large,

skilled crew to accomplish...

>If anyone can direct me to a source of info I could read up.

>Thanks for helping

>Anita