March 29th, 2007 by edit1media

March 29, 2007

The past two weeks have been crazy…filled with last minute travels and a sad story too.

One of our recent groom’s found out that his father is dying. Their wedding wasn’t quite on our radar to be completed yet, but his dad has less than two months to live. So naturally they are now top priority and are working feverishly to get a great movie out for them as soon as possible. I really want the bride and groom to experience sharing their video with his dad before he passes away. This is so close to our hearts because his dad is dying from cancer and we knew the groom back when our own son was battling cancer. It’s just so sad. I hate cancer.

One the positive side to this story, all of our other clients who are so patiently waiting for their videos have been wonderful about this. They’ve said “Of course you have to do their’s first…no problem!”. We are so grateful to have such wonderful clients!

Then in the midst of all that, we get a call to travel to several cities to record some testimonial videos for a coporate client. Chris and I spent 5 nights in 5 different hotels! We visited San Francisco, San Jose, Vacaville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Dayton. My brain was so fried when we got back home two days ago! And now in just a few more days we will head out to Tampa, Florida for another shoot.

I can’t complain because business is good and we seem to have some high demand. But it does put a crimp on my editing! I wish I could clone myself! But this does lead me to realize that we will probably need to bring on another editor in the near future. Or fast-forward that human cloning thing!

Thanks for stopping by to read our blog and I hope you take a few minutes to watch some of the videos we have and leave some comments too. It’s really cool for us to see who is visiting! And just for incentive, here is another video we are working on. It’s the opening to this couple’s wedding movie. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I have enjoyed putting it together!

wedding + corporate video

cancer, Christian Ceremony, Corporate, Crazy Schedule, Personal Life, Real Weddings, Travel, Video Clips, wedding videographer

March 13th, 2007 by edit1media

March 13, 2007

With 8+ years of experience filming and editing wedding videos, I thought I’d share just a few tips on how you can help to make your video the best it can be. Please see some of this in a light-hearted nature!

1. Ban gum. No one looks good chomping on gum, use breath mints instead. Make sure the wedding party knows this too.

2. Look at each other during your vows, not at the officiant. That can be hard to remember when you are a ball of nerves, but remember who you are marrying!

3. Don’t touch that mic! The wireless microphone placed on the groom is usually not recording until the ceremony begins. Also, any good videographer will NOT put in anything inappropriate (such as a nervous bathroom break!) in your wedding video! Once that microphone is on, just leave it alone or you run the risk of not having your vows recorded.

4. If your budget allows it, consider some professional lighting during your reception. A gobo light with your monogram or some colored uplights on the walls can make a world of difference both in the ambiance of the room and in your video.

That’s it for now! Happy wedding planning!

wedding planning tips

Real Weddings, Weddings

March 7th, 2007 by edit1media

March 7, 2007

Below is a funny article about how the production / videography world is turning marketing on it’s head. It seems that everyone wants to use the term “High Definition” now! Ummm, since when is fabric or tree bark high definition? Give me a break!

So this leads me to talk a bit about why would someone want their wedding or event filmed in High Definition? (Besides the fact that everyone wants to use this trendy term!) Hopefully this is an easy read that will explain it in simple terms without all the techno-jargon.

Last Christmas, as Chris and I were doing some shopping for our family, we saw tons of LCD & Plasma HDTV’s being purchased everywhere we went! Prices dropped drastically and people just knew they had to have the latest thing! Unfortunately many people were disappointed when they hooked up their newest gizmo to cable and saw that their favorite TV channel looked worse than it did on their old Standard Definition set. What gives???

Here’s the deal. In order for the video on your HD screen to look good, it needs to have been filmed in High Definition. And then it also needs to be broadcast (or played back) in HD. Many people do not have HD Cable channels because they never needed them before. They just assumed that you buy the new set, hook it up, and blammo — you have beautiful images. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. To watch cable in High Definition, you need to subscribe to HD channels.

If you want your wedding or event video to look as good on that nice new BIG widescreen, you need to have it filmed in High Definition. If you were wondering, you cannot have it filmed in Standard Definition and then somehow change it later. And run in the other direction from someone who claims that can be done.

Once your wedding is filmed in High Definition, you will need a way to play it. Unfortunately your current DVD player cannot play high definition content. Right now there are two standards (can you say Beta vs. VHS all over again?). HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Your videographer has to provide you with either an HD-DVD or a Blu-Ray Disk. This will require the purchase of either an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player based on which disk format your wedding was created with.

Now, this is obviously getting a bit expensive! First of all, you are paying for your videographer’s services. Then you pay for an upgrade to High Definition. Then you bought an HD set. NOW you also have to buy a HDDVD or Blu-Ray player???

So why would you go through all of this expense and craziness?

For just a moment, let’s go back to why you are hiring a videographer in the first place. You are capturing one of the most incredible days of your lives. And one that you will be able to share with generations to come. Not to mention all the details and moments that you will miss during the day. OK, so honestly there are 100 reasons you made the right choice to hire the best quality videographer for your wedding day.

If you will never ever purchase an HD widescreen TV, then don’t worry about getting your video upgraded to HD. But the truth is that brides & grooms today are on the cusp of this technological craze and would be remiss NOT to have their wedding filmed in HD. At the very least, see if your videographer can film & edit in HD now and just deliver in SD for your regular DVD player. Then sometime in the future when the standards are worked out, ask for a new version from him/her in that format. THAT is do-able and it won’t be as expensive upfront.

But also keep in mind that just like you can have the greatest TV in the world and still get crummy quality (or a crummy show), you can also look for a videographer who offers a cheap HD upgrade and still have a shakey, icky video. So don’t get distracted by the buzz words, and remember to keep your eye on the big picture…overall shooting ability, editing skill, ability to capture emotion, etc.

Now, on to that silly HD-hype article….

wedding video hd technology

Cinematography, High Definition, wedding videographer, Weddings

March 4th, 2007 by edit1media

March 4, 2007

Chris, Dawn and I had the pleasure of filming Lisa & Marques Tuiasosopo’s wedding yesterday. This has got to be one of the most video-genic couples and they are SO in love with each other! The ceremony was in the humongous Overlake Christan Church which is so big that it’s hard to decide where to place the cameras! The reception was held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle, where 500 guests each received a gorgeous flower lei straight from Hawaii. The entire ballroom smelled like pikake…my favorite! Weddings with Wendy and Rented Elegance sure had their work cut out for them, but as always they pulled everything off without a hitch.

J. Garner Photography was a total blast to work with! You might think that with three photographers and three videographers that things would get crazy and paparazzi-like, but we all work so well together. It’s like a well-oiled machine that you hardly notice is working so hard! On top of it, Jim and I agreed that Lisa is a natural in front of the camera and she really knows how to work it!! I had a hard time figuring out what shots to use for their Same Day Edit because Jim sets up such cool, fun, sexy shots!

But you’ll also see in their Same Day Edit video below alot of tender moments too. During their First Glance and as Lisa is walking down the aisle, this tough NFL QB shows that he’s a softie too!

The reception was full of music, laughter, family, food and warmth! Marques & Lisa hired both the Michael Benson Band and DJ Daddy Cool for constant entertainment and Elegant Chocolate Fountains for yummies! It was a blast! And how could I not mention the Samoan Money Dance? OK, I think lots of us know what a “Money Dance” is but this was WILD!!! I truly felt the island spirit and almost cried from homesickness (I grew up in Hawaii). With their permission, I will definitely post a clip of this in the future. This family was SO much fun to work with and I hope we have the opportunity to work with them again in the future!

Enjoy the video!

wedding video

Christian Ceremony, Cinematography, Real Weddings, Same Day Edit, Video Clips, wedding videographer