Archive for October, 2009

Lets step “outside the box”

Lets step outside our box of usual bridal video thinking for a moment.  Back in July Sherry and our intern for the summer, Nicole attended a 2 day training class for cinematic shooting techniques held in Chicago.  The class was taught by one of our industry’s leaders, Jeff Wright of Blue Skies Cinema in California.  I was along as well to write an article about the class for our industry magazine Event DV.  What a great time.  The class had a few hours of class room time and then lots of hands on shooting with a model bride all around downtown Chicago.  The theme of the class was to help all the attendees get amazing footage to create a Bridal Spotlight video. 

You’re probably asking, “What’s a Bridal Spotlight video?”  A bridal spotlight is basically a bride in a dress showcasing her beauty in many places, some of which are not typical to wedding imagery.  You may be thinking about the Trash the Dress movement that swept the industry a few years ago.  This isn’t Trash the Dress but it does get it a little dirty.  It is trendy and not what you picture for a bridal video.

After the class was over Sherry mentioned we needed to have a practice day for ourselves.  We found a young lady from our church and set out to create a Bridal Spotlight video of our own.  Our goal was to make it very unique by filling it with footage shot completely in our hometown of Stoughton, Wisconsin.  It’s not urban Chicago but has some pretty cool locations if you think a little outside the box. 

Our footage was shot over 2 days in early August.  On the second day we got some photographer friends, Derrick and April of Creative Look Imagery, to come along and shoot stills for themselves.  They appear in a few scenes of the video as you will see.  Their images can be found on their blog at Creative Look Imagery.  Derrick and April did call the day a Trash the Dress shoot. 

Your probably thinking where a Bridal Spotlight video would fit into a wedding movie.  Well there are a couple of ways.  If  you are game an inexpensive dress could be obtained from a thrift store or the clearance rack at a bridal store and we could create the video to be shown at your reception.  Imagine the reaction of your guests at the reception if they viewed a video like this.  It would be entirely possible to incorporate the groom into a video like this as well.  All the fun stuff could be tailored to the interests you both share.   Another way to create the video would be after the wedding as an additional option.  You could use your actual dress or get another inexpensive one just for the shoot.   

This was a blast to shoot and the star of our video, Bethany, had a real blast.  She was amazing to work with and did a great job.  So the question is are you an “outside the box” kind of person.  If so we can create one of these cool videos for  you.  We know they are not for everyone but those who have done them have a blast. 

Will you become the next Bridal Spotlight? 

Here’s the video…I know you are anxious to see it.  Enjoy!

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Why I have been so busy.

For the month of August we were going crazy around here.  I had been assigned a “top secret” job that took much of my time.  Now that it is over I can talk about it.  My “top secret” job entailed being one of the 5 judges for the Wedding and Event Videographers Association (WEVA) Creative Excellence Awards (CEA).  We won a CEA Gold last  year for a memorial tribute and this year I got to judge many entries.

It all started in early August when a box of 128 DVDs arrived on my doorstep.  I had to watch all 128 DVDs and critique/grade each one and pick the best 5 in the 7 categories I received.  There are 16 categories overall but I only had 7.   After getting all those done in a weeks time I shipped them back and a week later another box showed up on my doorstep.  We got to also judge the DVDs from another judge to make sure we got the best entries to the finals.  My second box only had 75 DVDs in it but many were stage productions that often go 1+ hours in length.  Overall I watched and judged over 200 DVDs in those few weeks. 

At the end of August I finally got to meet the other 5 judges in Chicago to do the final judging.  We spent the better part of 3 days, about 11 hours a day, in a conference room doing the final judging.  It was very tedious and seemed long at times but it was a blast as well. I saw amazing stuff from all over the world and got some ideas from a few I watched that have already morphed into some of my work.  It was educational as well. 

After it was over everyone asked if I would do it again.  I said, “Yes but not for a few years.”  Part of the reward for the judging is we got to help present the awards to the winners in all the categories at the opening night gala at our international convention held in the middle of September.  We got our conference fees covered because of our service so it was a real treat.

I also got to present part of a seminar while at the WEVA convention.  I also spent lots of time at the tradeshow at the booth of my editing software company demo’ing it’s power as an editing application.  What a fun time. 

The highlight of the trip though was on Tuesday night.  Panasonic hosted a late night party and part of the draw was they were giving away a small pro-level camera valued at $2000.  You guessed it, we won the camera.  Here’s a picture when I won it….guess I was a little happy. 

Overall August was busy but fun and our trip to the WEVA expo was a blast.  Not only did we win the camera but we got to renew our friendships with many of the leaders in our industry and make many new friendships.  The best part of the conferences are the discussions in the hallways.  I had plenty of those. 

Things are back to a more normal flow now but it was a fun time.  I know I had told some people about business trips and other stuff in August but couldn’t divulge what they were.  I just wanted to let everyone know what I was up to.