We didn’t actually film this wedding on New Years Day, but January 2nd. Bernardine and John were married on a very cold but sunny day in Malvern, PA. As Bernardine is from the Philippines, the wedding included a traditional Filipino veil and cord ceremony. Here is a five minute preview clip.
There is one thing about wedding videography, for many of us (myself included), it is a passion, not a job. I love what I do and most of the best names in the business feel the same way. Recently I came across a blog post by Laura Moses, who along with husband Steve, run one of the top wedding videography studios in the country. This is the way that Laura sums it up:
We work with music, hearts, and dreams. We’re the keepers of the flame for future generations. After we’re gone there will be pieces of us—little bits of our hearts—scattered across the globe, telling stories about love.
That says it all. It isn’t just about documenting the day, it is about keeping the flame, capturing the emotion, seeing things in a way that will forever commemorate that one day. Great wedding cinema is beyond “just video”, like great movies there is an emotional connection that spans generations.
A Story of Love – by Laura Moses.
Well said Laura!
A couple of months ago I was asked by the publishers on Millimeter Magazine to write an article on video encoding as it relates to wedding videography. Since we use Sorenson Squeeze for encoding both web and iPod video, I described our work flow using that product. Here is a link to this article.
http://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoencodvd/revfeat/sorenson_media_squeeze_beta_1120/
We are always happy to share our knowledge with others, something that many wedding videographers do (not too many competitive secrets in this industry). I think that this is one of the main reasons that wedding videography has come so far in a few short years, the exchange of knowledge.
In the past few weeks we have been working on creating a brand for BonnieBlink Productions. One of the most important elements is to have a professionally made logo. Up to now we have gone with nothing more than test on our masthead, and we felt that the time had come to have a readily identifiable “look”. Having a logo made by a designer can be frustrating and expensive. When working with a single designer you often end up with only one type of design. A better and less expensive solution (and one that has been used by a number of top wedding videographers) is to run a logo design competition, and that is what we did.
I opened an account at LogoSauce.com and started a 3 week search for a new logo. How it works is that during the competition designers from all over the world submit entries. The business puts up a certain amount of money to be paid to the winner. When the competition closes you then choose a logo from the submitted designs. We chose a logo by Thomas Gumball of Bristol England.
And here is our new logo:
Our new logo
We picked this design because of it’s style and how it represented what we do. I am very pleased that we have such a beautiful logo to represent BonnieBlink Productions.
First, this was not one of our clients. The clip below was done by GM Elliot Videography in Williamstown NJ. I was there however along with Darrell Aubert of Aubert Films as the videographers. Darrell and I were faced with a rainy day and a very dark church. As you will see from the clip, the ceremony came out well.
The reception was at the Franklin Institute, as fantastic location. Under Ben Franklin’s statue they had a fantastic evening.This is an excellent example of what is being done today by our top videographers. Great job Glen!
Allyson & Bill Wedding Trailer- Philadelphia, PA (The Franklin Institute) from Glen Elliott on Vimeo.
I see a lot of different weddings and the only thing that you can count on is that two people will be getting married. There are a lot of standard traditions, the bride’s father gives her away, the couple kiss at the end of the ceremony, there are toasts at the reception, and the bride an groom dance. Beyond that anything goes. We are encountering fewer couples who do the bouquet and garter, sometimes they will do just the bouquet (there was even one wedding where there was just the garter), or nothing at all. At one wedding this year there was a wedding cake but no cake cutting.
Couples are free to dispense with anything that they don’t want. When I got married we did away with the first dance and bouquet & garter. If fact we didn’t even have a DJ. And I handed a camera to a friend and asked her to film the wedding. That was a big mistake. I wasn’t a professional wedding videographer then, but I did know how do edit. No matter what I did, there was no way that the video would ever look good. In retrospect we both wish that we had a better video. As far as anything else is concerned, it is up to you. It is your day. If you do what you both want, you will have a memorable wedding. Don’t bow to family pressure. If what they want isn’t what you want, don’t do it. The same goes with friends. Don’t feel that you have to outdo your friends. It isn’t a competition.
Last but not least, remember that your video and photos will be the only tangible memories that you will have when it is over. Don’t decide that it isn’t important, they are.
We were recently profiled on Sorenson Media’s website on how we use Sorenson Squeeze (a video encoding application) in our studio. For the past year we have produced all of our web video using Squeeze. In addition we also produce video for playback on the iPod and iPhone using this product.
Sometimes I will rework a previously delivered video to try out new ideas. This is one that we did last summer. We posted the short highlight piece from Amber and Dan’s wedding on this blog in July. In that video clip I used the Father of the Bride’s moving toast. But he wasn’t the only person to have something significant to say that day. The rabbi delivered some beautiful readings and I wanted to work them into a short highlight clip with a different feel.
On Wednesday I attended the New Jersey Videographers Association’s meeting which featured two seminars, one by Patrick Moreau, Konrad Czystowski and Casey Warren of Stillmotion in Toronto (Patrick & Konrad) and MIND|Castle Studios in Seattle (Casey), and the other by Chris Jones of Mason Jar Films near Austin Texas. Both were outstanding and both gave me a lot to think about.
Chris gave an excellent seminar on the editing workflow and how to organize the edit for more efficiency. What I learned was that the way things are done now just wastes time. Modern non-linear editing software is designed with the idea that there will be a well organized shot list of scenes and takes. In the film world there is a script. In event videography there isn’t. As a result the standard editing workflow isn’t necessarily the best method for us. In addition to improving our workflow Chris also talked about focusing on the task and how we too often let distractions cut into our editing time. There were some good lessons there.
The Stillmotion/MIND|Castle presentation featured some of the most incredible wedding videography that I have ever seen. As I watched those clips I wondered how could I ever even approach that level of artistry. But that why we (as wedding videographers) were there. Even if we never get to that level, we are still raising the bar on our own work. For myself when I look at what I did last year compared to this, I see a significant change. That is because of people like Patrick, Konrad, Casey and Chris who are willing to share their expertise. Those of us who are willing to put aside what is comfortable and familiar, and are willing to push the envelope are the ones who will excel.
In July we did a wedding where the Bride’s sister (and Matron of Honor) recreated their First Dance during the reception. As we had shot that wedding too, I pulled the tapes and edited them together. This was a lot of fun to edit as Katelyn and David had choreographed every step of their dance so I could cut them together. You can view the wedding itself on our site. Here are the links for both the short preview clip and the complete Wedding Story:
We didn’t actually film this wedding on New Years Day, but January 2nd. Bernardine and John we
Sometimes I will rework a previously delivered video to try out new ideas. This is one that we did l
There is one thing about wedding videography, for many of us (myself included), it is a passion, not
A couple of months ago I was asked by the publishers on Millimeter Magazine to write an article on v
There is one thing about wedding videography, for many of us (myself included), it is a passion, not
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