FresHDV Review
Wedding Videographer’s Resource Series
By Matthew Jeppsen
February 16, 2006

$90
EventVideographer
www.eventvideographer.com

I had opportunity recently to review the Wedding Videographer’s Resource Series, produced by Joel Peregrine of Wedding Films. Joel has been involved in the wedding and event industry for over 10+ years and widely respected by his peers as an artist, businessman, and requisite professional. As expected, this training series is no exception. The series is aimed directly at wedding videographers, but there also a ton of excellent information inside that carries over to event shooting and videography in general. The Wedding Videographer’s Resource Series is available at www.eventvideographer.com.

David Chandler-Gick wrote a review of the WVRS back in August, for EventDV magazine. It’s a fantastic overview of the series, and in my opinion very accurately represents the training material, so I’ll try not to double up too much on that information here. As a matter of fact, I suggest that you read it first. The main reason for my review is that there have been recent updates the WVRS series, updates that address a few minor concerns in the EventDV review.

The Resource Series is split up into two DVD’s. Volume One covers the Highlights Montage, Same-Day Edit, Photo Montages and Preparations. Volume Two covers the Ceremony, Post-Ceremony, Reception, Bloopers, and Opening/Recap Montages.

Hit Play Movie on Volume 1, and you are presented with several examples of client Highlights Montages, all played in sequence. Next, you’ll see several Same-Day Edit presentations, again all played in sequence. In this latest iteration of the series, Joel has revamped the main DVD menus, adding detailed chapter menus with previews to make finding a specific segment or clip much easier. These changes have simplified navigation greatly.

Watching the excellent shooting and editing work is training enough, but the real strength of this series is the audio commentary. I’d recommend that one watch the series beginning to end first, then watch it again with the audio commentary enabled. You’ll have a great appreciation and grasp of the material from your first viewing, and will be better able to absorb all the little tricks and tips that Joel talks about. There is a ton of wisdom and experience in the commentary, from both a shooting and editing standpoint. I found it very informative to see a certain effect onscreen while Joel explains and highlights the specific filters and techniques he used to accomplish it.

Volume 2 also has the updated DVD navigation improvements. One of the main things this volume delves into is shooting a 4 camera wedding ceremony with a single videographer. If you’ve ever shot a wedding ceremony, you’ll know how difficult they can be to capture properly, even with a backup cameraperson. This section will give you many insights into making your next shoot progress without issues, whether you shoot alone or not.

Again, the audio commentary track is the real meat of the training here. You’ll hear a thorough explanation of how audio is captured, how cameras are configured, setup and positioned, how specific key scenes are captured, and much more. Amazingly, you’ll find that Joel will move certain cameras during the course of a ceremony to take advantage of better angles and viewpoints. Wow.
The editing insights that are offered in the commentary are very helpful. You should come away from this DVD series with a better understanding of what shots you need to make an edit flow more quickly, smoothly and with a minimum of effort and pain.

In closing…there is a veritable plethora of material presented in these two DVD’s. Joel’s commentary is easy to listen to, and very informative. Editors, shooters, and producers alike will glean many insights from the WVRS DVD’s, and I cannot recommend the series highly enough.

It’s worth mentioning that Joel has a new DVD coming out soon entitled Wedding Films 2005. It’s described as “A new collection of Preparation sequences, Highlights Montages and Same-Day Edits. Includes a commentary track with insights into the production techniques and editing process.� If it’s anything like the WVRS series, it should prove to be an excellent addition to your training collection. But don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself…

The Wedding Videographer’s Resource Series can be purchased online at www.eventvideographer.com. You may contact Joel Peregrine directly at joel@weddingfilms.com
Read David Chandler-Gick’s EventDV review of WVRS at http://www.eventdv.net/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=10360