Odds of Lauren saying yes today: 74, 75 percent I’d say.
Little different from a wedding today. My sister is getting proposed to, and of course, if she’s getting proposed to, you know I’m going to be filming it. And I figured I should make a behind the scenes for you to watch.
Braden has planned the whole day for her. She started this morning with a trip to the Dallas Arboretum where she got to spend time with some of her friends. She thought it was going to be a picnic. Surprise, no, you’re getting proposed to today.
He’s also been giving her letters throughout the day, warming her up for this moment. So it’s a little different from a more traditional proposal where she has no idea and suddenly the guy is on one knee. She knows it’s coming. But there’s still going to be a bit of surprise, because she doesn’t know that he’s right here, waiting for her.
Here’s the real struggle with proposal videos: often times it’s just a guy getting down on one knee. So how do you make that exciting?
My second shooter had a great idea. What if the people Lauren is with throughout the day, as she’s getting ready, as she’s hanging out with her close friends, film their own moments with her? Just on their phones, really simple, really handheld, very home video. Then we have all these awesome moments of her realising she’s getting proposed to today, of her giddy and excited with the people she’s closest to. And that is what fleshes out the story, building up to him getting down on one knee.
Location Scouting
Braden was planning on proposing over by some benches. But there’s a wedding happening in a building maybe two or three hundred feet from that spot, and the reception starts at five, which is exactly when he was planning on proposing.
So, welcome to weddings slash proposals. Nothing ever goes according to plan and we just make things up on the fly.
I still wanted to see the original spot, because it matters: it’s where they first told each other that they loved each other. Right now it’s 2:40 and the sun is way up there, but by 5pm the sun is going to be sitting right over the city, and that is going to look real pretty. I like the framing too. She can come down the path and cut over. Not ideal, but not bad. It’s definitely not hideous or anything like that.
So we have a proposal location. Not the one Braden was initially planning on, but it’s a location, it looks good, and once the sun gets a bit lower it’s going to look real pretty.
Gear Loadout
Gear-wise, unlike a wedding, we’ve packed significantly lighter, which makes my life so much easier. We have one case that isn’t even fully full.
We’ve got a 50mm, a 70-200, and a 135mm. My second shooter will probably be on the 135 or the 70-200, and I’ll probably be on the 50mm or the 24mm. Pretty basic, pretty standard.
I didn’t have to bring any tripods. Okay, I brought a tripod just in case, but there’s no ceremony, so I don’t need one for that. I brought my Zhiyun Crane 2 gimbal, and a monopod for my second shooter. It’s a proposal. What else do you need?
Audio. Right.
I have a Tascam DR-10L going on Braden, and a backup Sony ICD-UX560 that is also going on Braden, because as you can tell it is quite windy out here. There’s a set time for Lauren to be getting dressed for the proposal, and I left another DR-10L at her apartment along with a video I recorded instructing her how to put it on and how to turn it on. Hopefully that works out.
For proposals, unlike weddings, often times you only have the option of micing the person proposing. Because it’s so windy, and because I know Lauren, and because she knows it’s coming, I feel okay micing her as well. If you do not have the option of micing the person being proposed to, the DR-10L has a pretty good omnidirectional microphone that’s going to pick up both the proposer and the proposee.
I like those words. Proposer. Proposee.
The Interview
I think this is super important if you’re filming a proposal. If you have the opportunity to interview the person that’s proposing, do it. It’s going to flesh out the story so much more than just having it be a generic one knee, here we go.
We asked him about the letters he’s been writing to Lauren. The home video footage of her and her friends, mixed with him talking about those letters, is going to be really, really good. We asked why this spot, which is where they told each other they loved each other. We asked what he’s most looking forward to, what he’s going to be thinking about when she walks up to him, and how he’s feeling.
Real simple interview style, one camera, head and shoulders, done while he’s getting dressed so we’re not eating his time.
Because it’s so windy out here, I chose to double mic him. One mic down underneath his shirt and another one on the outside, so that when the wind picks up, the one under the shirt saves me and I can use the outer one the rest of the time. Absolute worst case, I’m about to be related to the guy, so I can always interview him again later and dub it in. But if you’re filming a proposal you probably want to get the audio as good as you can, and backups are what let you do that.
Change Of Plans
Braden has chosen a different location than the one we just scouted. Which is perfectly fine. His proposal, his time, whatever he wants. I was thinking, well, that first spot kind of works, but you could tell he wasn’t fully set on it, and I want him to be 100 percent about it.
So he went down by the water and found another spot. It’s a little more public, so more people walking by, and I don’t think that’ll be a huge issue. My only concern for video is the wind. From a looking standpoint it’s great. From a wind standpoint, not so good.
So we walked a little further and found the tree. Significantly less wind over here, a nice sun backdrop, and a little hill that Lauren can walk down to him. That’s it. That’s the tree.
Site Prep & Game Plan
Braden has a chalkboard sign, a blanket he wants to lay down, and a lot of other little details. We already have him interviewed talking about why those items matter, so being able to show them in B-roll should work really well.
Little FYI for you here, if you’re filming a proposal. If you happen to be related to one of the two people involved, you may be literally roped into helping decorate the, I want to say crime scene. The proposal area.
So now I’m up a tree hanging string lights, and I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’m making great progress. Behind the scenes shooter slash assistant, I need you to hand me the string lights. These have to look aesthetically pleasing.
Fifteen minutes till showtime. Pictures hung up, a little easel, and a great deal of wind. Two mics onto Braden.
There are also some guys fishing right over there. These things happen, we don’t have full control over this location. But I do have control over the angles I film, and they’re all in one little spot, so there are plenty of angles that keep them out of it. And if they’re in the shot a little bit, whatever, it isn’t bothering me. Another argument for why you should shoot 4K: punch in, get the fishermen out of the shot.
Here’s the game plan. Lauren arrives up at the top and comes down this hill. I’m going to follow with the Crane 2 and get some nice wide shots of her walking down.
She already knows it’s coming, so we don’t have to protect a surprise, we just don’t want to interrupt the moment. I don’t want to insert myself into it going, what’s up, hey, let me get some angles. Let them have this. Then after a while we can come in and do some poses.
If the person getting proposed to does not know it’s happening, I would be far more discreet. We’re talking 70-200 on a monopod, a long way away, just kind of creeping and filming, so they don’t see me and they aren’t interrupted.
I’ll mostly be on the 24 for the gimbal and then switch over to the 50. My second shooter has the 135, the 50 and the 70-200, so a little variety there. She’ll probably start on the 70-200 for the versatility, since Lauren is going to be so far away as she walks down, then switch over to the 135. And we should get a nice half light on both of their faces.
The Proposee Arrives
I gave Lauren her instructions. The path starts here, walk down toward the big green tree on the left, he’s underneath it. There’s a group of men fishing next to it. Completely ignore them, they’re part of it, each one of them is going to hand you a live fish, and the ring is in the fish’s mouth. It’s symbolic of your relationship.
There’s also a construction site at the bottom that we weirdly don’t want to film, so I told her that about halfway down I’d tell her to cut straight across the field instead.
Good job on the mic, by the way. Look at you.
And then it happens. She said yes.
I had my doubts.
And the Tascam that Lauren was wearing is still recording. That’s all I was hoping for. Good sign.
Portrait Session
The nice thing about a proposal is that once the proposal is complete, it’s basically just a couple’s portrait shoot. So we took them up on the hill, because it’s a pretty view with the sun and all that, and shot it like any other session.
And that is the proposal. It was a little weird because it was my sister, but that’s okay, it was totally awesome.
I’m really hoping this edit comes together between the footage of Lauren hanging out with her friends in the morning that they shot on their phones, the footage of Braden setting up, the interview, the proposal itself, and the couple’s shots after.
Matt from the future here: it turned out great. You can watch the finished proposal film.
If audio is the part of this that worries you, that’s fair, and it’s the part I’d worry about too. How to record amazing audio in your wedding films covers the gear, and wedding audio backups covers what to do when it fails anyway.
Also, if you’re a videographer, I know you probably want to book more couples and film more weddings. To help you out with that, I’ve created a free PDF guide full of practical changes you can make to your business to immediately start getting more bookings. It’s a free gift to you.