Wedding shoot advice please

[JAG1]

hi, im about to do my first ever wedding shoot, and could do with some advice! Do's / Dont's....

The bride has asked for all the wedding guests to make a human heart shape with the bride/groom in the middle...now the problem is, how do I make the perfect heart shape?? is it done with a template? string?..

any wedding drone advice would be great

many thanks

 

[The Editor]

hi, im about to do my first ever wedding shoot, and could do with some advice! Do's / Dont's....

The bride has asked for all the wedding guests to make a human heart shape with the bride/groom in the middle...now the problem is, how do I make the perfect heart shape?? is it done with a template? string?..

any wedding drone advice would be great

many thanks

Make a rough heart shape on the ground, then go airborne and have your spotters/2nd person adjust from your directions from looking at the FPV feed!
Weddings can be tricky since you will need to brief everyone collectively on safety precautions and ensure children are kept under control etc.
It also a good idea to cordon off your take off/landing area and have a couple of emergency ditch sites identified.

 

[JAG1]

good advice mate.

ive only just my PFAW and im very nervous about doing a wedding! Anyway have you had a go at doing the heart shape yourself? looks tricky!

 

[The Editor]

good advice mate.

ive only just my PFAW and im very nervous about doing a wedding! Anyway have you had a go at doing the heart shape yourself? looks tricky!

I haven't done a heart shape - I hate doing weddings to be honest and I try to avoid them if I can.
Too many people, too many kids running around, alcohol everywhere and everyone in a happy/stupid mood with a UAV in the air with razor sharp props.
You can see why I avoid them.

 

[Plingboot]

I've done a few of these and my advice would be to get to practise at the location (if you can) to get your proposed framing right (altitude/position etc) - one the day it'll be like herding cats and you'll only have a small window of opportunity without it becoming an imposition on the event.

If there's a regular wedding photographer there, have a chat with him/her to co-ordinate things so the whole photos bit happens in one go. They can help organise the people too.

Work quickly once in the air and if you're doing stills take LOADS at each view point, as you'll probably need to photoshop in/out people who aren't looking/doing odd stuff/pulling faces/etc.

Plan your shots and have your assistant read/check them off - saves trying to remember while flying.

If you're using the X3 camera, you're going to need to be pretty close to the people to get stills worth using - so you'll need to be on the ball with your risk assessment.

Next time I do this I'm going to try with a 45mm on the X5.

 

[Buck Steed]

You need to bring something to clearly mark the outline of the heart. String, candy, golf balls, something. Last one I did was an outdoor wedding with snow on the ground so I just walked the heart several times to outline the boundaries. Even then, getting that many people to stand on the lines, put down their phones, stop talking and look up was a challenge.

Also, the bride wanted aerial footage of the whole outdoor wedding. Luckily I refused due to the noise which ended up being a smart call. I filmed the guests coming out, the groom then the bride with the UAV. Landed, shot ground video with the DSLR then went airborne again and filmed the bride and groom kiss and walk out. Came out great and the couple was very happy with the result.

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

I've done them as well. All of the above advise is great, draw the outline out then place people on the outline. Your bride and groom will be in the center. I have (lets say camera left) people hold there right arms high and do the opposite (camera right) left hands. The the other arms (right and left) to the Bride and Groom. I have them look at the camera with big smiles. Let them have fun with it The Awww factor. See chicken scratch attached, you'll get the idea.

 

[DesertWindAero]

I've done them as well. All of the above advise is great, draw the outline out then place people on the outline. Your bride and groom will be in the center. I have (lets say camera left) people hold there right arms high and do the opposite (camera right) left hands. The the other arms (right and left) to the Bride and Groom. I have them look at the camera with big smiles. Let them have fun with it The Awww factor. See chicken scratch attached, you'll get the idea.

Just out of curiosity...are any of the ones you have done online, for instance, at YouTube?

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

Just out of curiosity...are any of the ones you have done online, for instance, at YouTube?

Nope, not that I'm aware of. Once given files to Bride and Groom its their property to use as they wish.

 

[InspiredOne]

Nope, not that I'm aware of. Once given files to Bride and Groom its their property to use as they wish.

You may want to seriously rethink your policy on who "owns" the material you create. Seldom does a videographer entirely relinquish his rights on IPs. When he does, there is a high price to be paid!

 

[Tim Cameron]

You may want to seriously rethink your policy on who "owns" the material you create. Seldom does a videographer entirely relinquish his rights on IPs. When he does, there is a high price to be paid!

Agreed! I like the way you think man.

 

[InspiredOne]

The Copyright Act of 1976, states that the creator of a work is the owner of the copyright to that work, unless other explicit, written legal arrangements have been made.

The "work made for hire" rule states that although a work is created by an individual, the copyright to that work, such as the right to show it and copy it, may be owned by another, such as the client.

If you do video work for anyone else, USE AN AGREEMENT or CONTRACT that clearly states it is NOT a work for hire and that you retain all copyrights to the finished piece.

If it’s a big client, like a major corporation, they may insist on it being “work made for hire.” In that event, you stipulate they own the finished piece, you own the raw footage. If they press for everything, you charge them accordingly.

Google is your friend. Use it!

P.S. There were rare occasions where I made sure it was work for hire simply because I didn't want to mess with the client and/or material any loner than necessary.

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

That's one dog Im not going to chase in this forum. Orginial post was wedding shoot advise. Advise JAG1 to have 100% of the rights...that's fine with me. If it's a corp YES, that's another story... but, it's a wedding... I don't want to mess with it. JAG1, I guess you got more than you bargain for, carry on folks!

 

[InspiredOne]

That's one dog Im not going to chase in this forum. Orginial post was wedding shoot advise. Advise JAG1 to have 100% of the rights...that's fine with me. If it's a corp YES, that's another story... but, it's a wedding... I don't want to mess with it. JAG1, I guess you got more than you bargain for, carry on folks!

Early on in my career, as a maker of images, I did three maybe four weddings. They were such a royal pain in the neck (brides and mother-in-laws), I swore off them.

Made life so much easier.

 

[sturgisphoto]

I have some experience with group photos. Owning a good bullhorn is helpful. In your situation I'd get the people all arranged before going airborne. Two helpers who know what they're doing would be good. The angle of view with the heart may determine the shape of the heart, and this would be determined in advance. You will be amazed at how difficult it is to keep everyone's attention for more than a second. And don't fly over the people.

 

[cyberkatis]

All great advice! I shoot many a year and have this advice for you. (I use an Inspire 1 Pro and an OSMO Pro)

1. Multi battery charger a MUST HAVE. Keep the rotation of batteries going to the charger
2. Fly all of your venue shots well before the event to maximize your time
3. DON'T fly during ceremony
4. As tempting as it may be please try NOT to fly over guests and around the reception hall (it outside) as it maximizes your safety window
5. Review all of your safety procedures (ie. how to cancel an unwanted low battery RTH to avoid an incident or worse) best to blow a battery then crash your drone into a crowd
6. Keep plenty of DISK in your pocket. There is nothing like having to run to your case for more disk and miss the shot because you filled your card up
7. Complete a shot list with your client so you get the MUST HAVE shots before you just random shot
8. Make sure your insurance is in order

Examples:

- opening video coverage and end fade away

Hope this helps.

-chris

 

[SkipTV]

My advice, get a professional to do the wedding. The very very very very worst thing you can do in the entire world, is mess up the video on the most important day of a brides life. Trust I have friends in the Wedding Video Business and friends that used to be in the wedding Video Business and if you are nervous now, wait till the drone is in the air and you actually have to get the shot....

 

[AeroMirage]

All great advice! I shoot many a year and have this advice for you. (I use an Inspire 1 Pro and an OSMO Pro)

1. Multi battery charger a MUST HAVE. Keep the rotation of batteries going to the charger
2. Fly all of your venue shots well before the event to maximize your time
3. DON'T fly during ceremony
4. As tempting as it may be please try NOT to fly over guests and around the reception hall (it outside) as it maximizes your safety window
5. Review all of your safety procedures (ie. how to cancel an unwanted low battery RTH to avoid an incident or worse) best to blow a battery then crash your drone into a crowd
6. Keep plenty of DISK in your pocket. There is nothing like having to run to your case for more disk and miss the shot because you filled your card up
7. Complete a shot list with your client so you get the MUST HAVE shots before you just random shot
8. Make sure your insurance is in order

Examples:

- opening video coverage and end fade away

Hope this helps.

-chris

Absolutely superb!! You know your craft well.

 

[Zap222]

JAG be careful make sure you understand the rules of CAA The PFAW is now PFCO - permission for commercial operations as CAP 393 changed on August 25th See ANO CAP 393 articles 94 and 95.

If you're flying a 0-7 kg MTOM multi rota then:

You can fly over people but no closer than 30 metres if they are not under your control or 7 meters if they are under your control

If the wedding is 1000+ people then you cannot fly over them or within 150 metres

You also need land owners permission for take off and landing.

Get there some time before the first guest and fly all the outside shots. This will enable you to do multi takes at your leisure which will help calm your nerves.

Make sure you have either multiple batteries or multi charger as you will eat the power.

See attached image. We used rope to lay out the shape well before the guests got there. Climb to a good height and make sure it looks ok. Then when the guests get there get them to stand on the rope and face the UAV. then just before the shoot get your spotter or someone to remove the rope.

Visit the venue before the day in question so you can plan and create a shooting plan so you don't forget stuff on the day. Someone else mentioned an OSMO - get one buddy they rock the inside scenes.

Also, most people cannot view 4k very well or even 2.7k - Converting 4k to 1080p is often problematic when mixing frame rates etc. So think hard about your formats

Take stills too as a screenshot of your video is much less quality.

Post your results buddy, have a great day and safe flight mate - good luck mate

 

[The Editor]

JAG be careful make sure you understand the rules of CAA The PFAW is now PFCO - permission for commercial operations as CAP 393 changed on August 25th See ANO CAP 393 articles 94 and 95.

If you're flying a 0-7 kg MTOM multi rota then:

You can fly over people but no closer than 30 metres if they are not under your control or 7 meters if they are under your control

If the wedding is 1000+ people then you cannot fly over them or within 150 metres

You also need land owners permission for take off and landing.

Get there some time before the first guest and fly all the outside shots. This will enable you to do multi takes at your leisure which will help calm your nerves.

Make sure you have either multiple batteries or multi charger as you will eat the power.

See attached image. We used rope to lay out the shape well before the guests got there. Climb to a good height and make sure it looks ok. Then when the guests get there get them to stand on the rope and face the UAV. then just before the shoot get your spotter or someone to remove the rope.

Visit the venue before the day in question so you can plan and create a shooting plan so you don't forget stuff on the day. Someone else mentioned an OSMO - get one buddy they rock the inside scenes.

Also, most people cannot view 4k very well or even 2.7k - Converting 4k to 1080p is often problematic when mixing frame rates etc. So think hard about your formats

Take stills too as a screenshot of your video is much less quality.

Post your results buddy, have a great day and safe flight mate - good luck mateView attachment 9661

Can you please cite your source as to where you get 7 meters from for persons under your control?