Leave a Comment

Fernando Colaço: (11.22.11-12:21pm) Great films. Why the grooms in America cries so much?
here in Portugal they d´ont. Congrats. very good work.

William Hoffman: (11.22.11-1:32pm) Absolutely amazing videos, wedding, and couple!

John: (11.22.11-7:47pm) Looks like the following were optional: Color Correction, Length, Clear Audio from H4 and Sequence of Events?
I'm sorry but it doesn't look like these videos represent CinemaCake very well.

Frank: (11.22.11-8:40pm) Agreed with John, and you can add use of copyrighted music to the list too.

Dave W: (11.22.11-9:13pm) Im actually a different Dave w, haha - sorry for the confusion

stacy h: (11.22.11-9:33pm) i have only one word Beautiful!!!!

Heather: (11.23.11-12:03am) #10, no question! Really a beautiful, emotional narrative!

Diana: (11.23.11-12:40am) Maybe I'm biased, but I thought they all rocked!

Jim S: (11.23.11-1:43am) All of these videos are beautiful to me. Some I liked more than others, but the memories they leave behind will last forever. They bring me to tears every time I watch them. It brings me back to that beautiful night. Yes I'm biased, I was there, and if the experience regenerates each time I watch them, then they have done a great job. Thank you for the memories.

John M.: (11.23.11-3:46am) Not one of you gave us a list of Wawas in my general vicinity. Shame.

dave: (11.23.11-3:53am) Hello guys, this is the REAL Dave Williams. Thanks for the comments. The contest generated so many great edits, it was hard to choose. John, it's not a bad thing that the videos don't represent CinemaCake right out of the box. This is because we are looking for that raw talent which is still moldable. These edits entertained us the most out of the bunch and it's a great start. Now we begin the interview process and find our next 2 or 3 editors. We already have appointments with some of the winners.

BTW, non-finalists may still be interviewed. We look at the entire package.

dave: (11.23.11-4:11am) Frank - We asked ourselves one question every time someone made mistakes; "Is it coachable?" I am very excited over a couple of these editors and if they fit into our culture and can deliver the goods, they could soon join the team.

Dad S: (11.23.11-4:12am) While the original trailer of Jimmy Shelton just blew us away, and we are anxiously waiting for the unveiling of Jimmy's grand finale, we welcome the work of these 6 fine artists. All were enjoyable and we we've watched them a heck of a lot (yes, Mike, you were right. We just couldn't stop replaying them all). We have a favorite but darn, we're just not tellin'! We figure Cinema Cake is just so good - they know the winner and they don't need us to say it too. Although our winner wasn't there to film he knew the emotions of the day were exceptional and he captured it well - look closer and you'll know who was the favorite. However, the others were truly exceptional too - Thanks to you all for a wonderful effort.

dave: (11.23.11-4:14am) Craig. I know you are eager, but be patient. I plan to post them all. I have to wait until my Vimeo upload limit resets on Sunday. Did you have a horse in this race, Craig?

David Wa.: (11.23.11-4:18am) Sorry for that confusion before, haha - I am NOT Dave Williams haha.

Dave - thanks for all of the insight on the judging, it was a pleasure taking part in this showdown.

Joanna Sellers: (11.23.11-4:39am) All are so beautiful and each contestant clearly put so much detailed work into these finished products. I'd have to say that my number one favorite is video number 5, control number 034. The music is so perfect and delicately beautiful and it all ties in so nicely in an emotional way. The variety of clips are well chosen, with the music tied in just right. My second runner up would be video number two, control numbern 010. The music is deeply emotional and dramatic and the clips are well spread out with variety and also tied nicely with the music. Thank you all so much for all of your efforts, every one of these videos truly are memories both our families will hold onto.

dave: (11.23.11-4:57am) Thanks Joanna (and Dad S). Editors: there you have it, straight from the parents!

Jaime: (11.23.11-5:11am) As somebody who works in video, I agree with Joanna. Video 5/control number 34 definitely tells the best story. I connected with it on an emotional level even after watching the previous four and already being familiar with the footage.

Joanna Sellers: (11.23.11-5:33am) additional comment: The more I watch both video #2 and #5 (control numbers 010 and 034), I have to say I want to tie them. Both are so amazing!!

Mike V: (11.23.11-12:47pm) Watching these for entertainment value was so enjoyable. But, having to choose favorites among these, I'd have to say 21 was my/our favorite with 10, 22, and 34 very close runners up. The thing that stood out most to us with these were their pace. They took their time in each scene to let it develop. We liked how 21 was the only one of these to have the priest announcing us as husband and wife, which we liked seeing. We liked how 10 had a great flow to it (the music may have helped) and he/she was the only one to use any of the dedicated voiceover material of my mom (and happened to use it while her and I were dancing). 22 was really good, but the beginning with me crying on the alter didn't really fit with the rest of the video. Yes, it was entertaining, but the rest just had a different feel to it. The standout part of 34 was how he/she cut together the outdoor and indoor parts of our choreographed dance. He/she got it just right. In 02, we thought the audio started off in an odd spot. And near the end, he/she did some fast cuts of us walking outside that didn't seem to flow with the rest of the video. I that's what we found most different with 40 was the pace. Each scene seemed to cut quickly before you could absorb it. Even with all that, I still plan on watching all of these over and over again. Great great job!

Mike V: (11.23.11-12:49pm) And to John M - there was a Dunkin Donuts directly across the street from the church. I would have suspected that would have been an acceptable alternative

John S.: (11.23.11-5:26pm) I would like to first thank Cinemacake for giving the opportunity to enter the contest. I realize now I did not tell the story of their wedding. What I did was make a music video of how they found happiness over the rainbow, after having difficulty finding their soul mate. I would like to congratulate all the finalists for their exceptional work. However, there is one video which is what a refer to as Cinemacake like, and that is Video #34.

Aaron: (11.23.11-7:36pm) What a cool idea for finding new employees! And congrats to the finalists! I like all the videos, but I think 034 is the best.

Kenneth: (11.30.11-10:47pm) Maybe I'm just partial because he worked with me for 5 years, but I preferred Jimmy Hartey's more than any of them by far. Whenever I have learned something new from ReFrame or InFocus I have always shared that with Jimmy so he would improve, and it's clear that he has become an extremely talented editor. As Jimmy gets ready to move to Hollywood and pursuit a career in motion pictures I feel like a proud papa who always encouraged and nurtured his son's talents. Jimmy was extremely talented when he came to me and now he's found his own style and voice as an editor.

What he did different and better than the others is obvious in so many places. The first example is the cold opening, which I didn't see anybody else use. Sometimes there are great moments that require their own space in the video, or are too long to fit into the context of a song. Maybe the groom doesn't appreciate a cold opening because it was slightly embarrassing, but when he gets older and shows his wedding to his children, this will be the edit that will stand out. Setting aside that one special moment is what makes it all real, and not just people in a music video.

Jimmy was one of the few that told mini-stories though the video. Some of the others, including the first place winner tried to do time shifting and weren't very successful, in my opinion. Going from the toast to the bridesmaids flowers to the photo shoot to her first look at dad? I don't see a cohesive story at all. It's just random shots placed in a random order.

I especially like the way he used the couple practicing their first dance with the actual event. Very creative and genius. I thought his music selection was great. The beginning of the song was low and gave lots of room for natural audio and then it built up to a climactic ending.

And he definitely did the best color correcting of the top 3 entries. If you stop all 3 at the outdoor dancing scene it is clear that number 2 didn't color correct at all and number 1 had the blacks crushed too much, the skin tones were off a bit and it was under saturated.

Great Job, Jimmy!

And I hope the couple loves seeing their wedding thru the eyes of so many talented artists.

joe: (12.05.11-3:29am) kenneth - audio is, most of the time, more important than video...use the h4n field recorder audio for the best mans speech before you even begin to talk about color correction. i think the audio editing in 'jimmys' film was sub par he told a good story which was the top thing in judging is my guess only reason why he was a finalist. these are the finalists by telling the best stories not necessarily the audio editing and color correction. so i think color correction would be at the bottom.

dave: (12.05.11-4:23am) We had a mix of judges - some in the business, and some not. We took all scoring into consideration, even those who gave a high score on technical, even though there were obvious technical flaws in most entries. For example, I was surprised how many people never used the audio from the recorders and used camera audio instead. Also many who did use the correct audio used it only in one channel (usually the left channel). Regarding color correction and grading, some did it well but most either ignored it or really messed it up. The non-professionals did not penalize for these technical mistakes because it was all about the story-telling for them. We looked at some of the technical issues as 'teachable' so it did not disuade us from looking at those candidates.

By the way, almost all of the interviewing is complete and our new editors will be offered positions this week. The contest was an amazing success! Thanks to all who participated!

Kevin: (12.06.11-6:21pm) Joe:

Isn't learning how audio should be set up equally, if not more easily, as coachable as color-correction?

Also, I would have liked to have seen a suggestion in the post saying something to the effect of, "make your video like ours." I know my video would have been completely different as I would not have intended to show them something different than what everyone else might be showing. To be penalized for not following rules that were never posted I think is a little unfair. I also wrongly assumed that this was an editing competition to be judged by editors. This assumption also determines the type of video you cut.

As for narrative, I agree that it is important. This makes me question, then, how on earth could one of the finalists be allowed for putting the shot of the kid playing with the iPad in his video? To me, that says, "Here's how boring your wedding was. This kid was playing with an iPad." That's not a very good narrative in my opinion. But then, a non-professional judge might not pick that up.

Bill: (12.06.11-11:29pm) Hi!

How can we watch Jimmy Hartey's video ?
What is his number ?

Anyway, a contest is always subjective...

thx

joe: (12.08.11-9:10pm) Kevin - I never said anything about being coachable I said audio is as important if not more important than video basically when it comes to any type of video...That being said I was just very surprised that people who used the camera audio with the image stabilization buzzing the entire time was allowed to even be top ten! Also that being said I agree that the rules and directions were quite fuzzy but maybe they were supposed to be?? But there was a distinct length that was enforced and one of the finalists I remember didn't even follow that rule with having a very short video. It is what it is..

perry: (01.20.12-4:07am) That is funny about the grooms crying. I notice that as well. Hey great work.

Leave a Comment

Ron: (08.30.11-2:49am) Loved it! Amazing SDE.

Tammy: (08.30.11-2:58pm) Amazing!

beto moraes: (08.30.11-4:48pm) Dave I am a cameraman and editor. I live in Brazil and I love your edits on the same day. God bless you and keep you walking in my brother.

Chris and Caroline: (09.04.11-4:51pm) Dave, we are poolside on our honeymoon with the video on repeat. Caroline is crying and people are beginning to stare. They must think something is very wrong with us. Little do they know we keep watching your amazing video. One particular shout out is to Jimmy for getting the focusing shot of Caroline from the middle of my feet. Great shot Jimmy!

C&C

Heather: (09.04.11-7:30pm) Love it! I also love the blend of the two songs. Wonderful job!

Elsi3e DiSipio: (09.08.11-1:30pm) Loved this!!!!It really showed all the love and attention that was given to plan the wedding for all the family and friends .I was honored to be part of this special event.You all can take a bow,for a superb job.

Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

Dave Williams: (08.11.09-7:28pm) Great job, guys!!!!

Marlo Garrison: (09.09.09-12:34am) mr.minacci!! that was a beautifull wedding!!! you should've invited your class!

Anonymous: (09.26.09-8:22pm) Beautiful! loved it!

Hally: (01.19.11-8:50pm) Mr. Minacci that was awesome!!