This month’s meeting is going to focus on skills improvement in shooting and editing. Specifically, how to use image style to create emotion and tell a more engaging story. Having a compelling, emotional story is one of the most powerful techniques in producing quality video, and image style is as significant contributor to the emotional energy of your piece.

We are honored to have Josh Smith of Cinematicbride, who lives in Louisiana, with us, as our presenter/instructor for the evening. Josh is a very highly regarded event videographer who was voted Top 25 in both 2007 and 2008 by EventDV Magazine. He has been featured on Lifetime, Good Morning America, and Inside Edition. Josh’s reputation and brand is highly regarded and we are fortunate to have him. He also teaches workshops as part of his business.

This session will be demonstration, not lecture. Josh is going to simulate an actual shooting session and show us how to direct, use different camera looks, choose camera angles, composition, motion and lighting to communicate specific emotions. He will then import the footage into his NLE and demonstrate his post production workflow, use of rhythm, pacing, effects, and music He is highly regarded for his colorization skills and has a lot to show and tell on this subject.

His “hands-on” teaching style should make this a great session.

As always, we will also have time to network and socialize within our group. So please join us for an enjoyable and informative evening.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Meeting Details:
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Networking starts at 6:00
Presentation starts at 6:30 PM

Cost:
Free to Members.
Non members $25.
Live Webcast: Free

Location:
The Santa Clara Fire Dept.
Training Center/Fire Station 2
1900 Walsh Ave
Santa Clara, CA 95050

Program #1:

Joshua Smith – CinematicBride
Using Image Style to Create Mood and Tell a Compelling Story

Josh is a highly recognized, award winning event videographer based in Louisiana.

Please see a listing of his awards and recognition above.

The subject of his talk is on how to use image style to create mood and emotion in event videography. Josh will spend the entire evening with us.

A more detailed agenda is as follows:

Creating mood and capturing emotion when shooting

* directing
* use of different camera looks
* camera angles
* composition
* motion
* lighting

Creating mood and capturing emotion during editing

* colorization (Josh’s trademark skill)
* music selection (he has very specific thoughts here!)
* rhythm
* pacing
* workflow

Sources of his inspiration

* his suggested films, books, web sites that you can use for inspiration

His session will be totally hands-on demonstration, not lecture.

The objective, is that you will leave the meeting with specific techniques you can use both in production and post production to improve the quality of your product.

As things unfold I will let you know…

While a great deal of photographers will tell you that it is a great camera there was nothing ground breaking about the 5D Mk2 in the world of Photography, for Videography the story is quite different. See, as a Videographer I am always striving to achieve that Cinematic look with my wedding movies. Regardless of how you compose your shots or edit your footage together, there are just some things lacking in footage from a small-format video camera that will keep you from achieving that cinematic look, but the 5D Mk2 has a huge sensor! The huge sensor allows a lot of light to be captured resulting in the ability to achieve a very shallow depth-of-field. The small sensors in all video cameras prior to the release of the 5D Mk2 made it very difficult to achieve a shallow depth-of-field (DOF) that is synonymous with movies today (granted there have been breathtaking cinematic productions achieved with little or no shallow DOF shots, Hitchcock was well known for such works). A Shallow DOF will allow me to focus on a subject and blur everything before and after the subject. This is a common mechanism among movie makers to direct your focus and attention on to a specific subject in the scene.

I have been shooting a great deal of weddings with this camera and the results will begin to surface soon on my blog and FB so keep an eye out for it!

So I’ve been working hard these past couple months trying to catch up on my editing. This is a difficult thing because I do not want my work to suffer. I have recently taken on an employee to help around the office and out on shoots with me. So far everything is working out well and with any luck I will be delivering packages much sooner.

I am now officially advertising on the Flirty Guide! If you remember a while back I did mention that I will be advertising on the Flirty Guide but I was side-tracked and it fell to the wayside. Now all is good! Check out my profile and let me know what you think!

I will be a bit more diligent on posting in the future so please don’t give up on me! =o)

When:
7/25/09 @ 11:30am
Where:
Neiman Marcus
Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto
Gift Galleries, Level 3

Nesting Newbies™, Newbisode 1, has launched and is already getting some buzz!  Newbisode 2 isn’t far behind and the team outdid themselves as we all begin to get in the newbie groove.  Chef Lea McIntosh is at her best when she’s teaching and in this Newbisode Michael and Wendy Mantilla ask her lots of questions (we like to call them Newbie Q’s).  They are a lively couple and the set was full of fun and laughter as they learned how to cook Chef Lea’s Moroccan-style Seafood Stew over a Saffron Risotto.  Michael kicked things up a notch when he used “SHAZAM!” – His own newbie twist on a famous exclamation while adding an ingredient to the pot.  It was a hilarious and unexpected moment.

On the set in the Rutt of Los Altos kitchen, everything is laid out in preparation, including the plump Christopher Ranch Garlic cloves.

Teachable moments include how to use a professional knife…

Michael and Wendy are creating something together in the kitchen and are confident they can do it on their own the next time.

The seafood stew simmers for just a few more minutes before tasting…

Chef Lea uses a Calphalon stock pot and answers Wendy’s question about what kind of pots to use.  Calphalon was so excited about the show’s concept and this unscripted Newbie Q, they became a sponsor!  Chef Lea also taught Wendy and Michael how to use the leftover risotto in crab cakes.  Everyone on the set enjoyed a taste when the segment was over – we were chirping about it for hours.

The Newbisode segues into a Mediterranean seaside table top designed by Jodi Murphy and David Braddy using items from Bloomingdale’s Stanford, fresh flowers, lemons and seashells proving once again that you can entertain in style without breaking the budget.

Vanessa Rockey, the show’s hair stylist brought make-up expert Julie Acosta and together they primped and prepared Chef Lea and Wendy to look their best under the harsh camera lights.   Natalie Wi of Allure West Studios was on hand to document the happenings (she photographed all of these images) and take her stunning food shots.  For more details, images, recipes…and soon the Newbisode…go to nestingewbies.com.  Bon Appetweet ™

- JM

I came across your blog because I’m working on an article about how us videographers need to be working together (even though we are competitors) to promote the industry. I want to include sound and practical advice on reaching potential brides. Logic tells me that the number of weddings that do not use video is far, far greater than the number that does. We need to capture that part of the market. Any suggestions would be great.

Greg Wright
Vidmedia Productions Co
www.vidmp.com

I share Greg’s concern. I just recently decided to run for Director of Marketing for the Bay Area Professional Videographers Association (BAPVA) so hopefully I can help make a difference in my industry.

Here was my response to Greg:

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

You are correct, the majority of weddings, at least in the markets I am familiar with, do not hire professional wedding videographers. I believe WEVA has commissioned studies on the subject and can offer hard statistics.

There are a number of things we can do as videographers to help change our industry for the better. Primarily we need to concentrate on educating other wedding professionals, and consequently brides and grooms, on the value of video. The easiest way is to befriend the photographers and event planners/coordinators and after working with them at a few events they will begin to see you as an asset and team player and not a nuisance.

Photographers who are not pro video tend to think that videographers are low on the totem pole and do nothing but get in their way and disrupt their workflow. Planner/Coordinators not pro video think that videography is a waste of budget and better left to a family member. As professional videographers we need to dilligently work to dispel these stereotypes.

It is very important that all professional videographers strive to raise the bar for our industry by helping out one another. To this day many videographers, I would say the majority, have poor quality websites. I understand that most of us videographers, already being computer savy, fashion ourselves somewhat of web designers but that is something that should be left to professionals. It’s as simple as buying a BluDomain template (http://www.bludomain.com/) or a Showit Sites account (http://showitfast.com/#/showit-sites/). These are very creative high quality sites that add a tremendous value to your company. A videographers website is their face to the world and it directly reflects the quality and level of profesionalism representing your company.

Videographers also tend to shy away from sharing their work with their peers for fear of giving away their secrets or because they are simply unsure of the quality of their work and afraid of critisism. As trends change and the world begins to view video in a whole new light our work as wedding videographers needs to change, forever evolving. Now is not the time to withdraw ourselves from our community of creative professionals in fear but rather push out and not be afraid to receive a little (or a lot of) constructive criticism. Eventualy we will all find ourselves more often then not pushing the envelope. We will begin to see things in the works of others that intrigues us, then adapt it and put a personal twist on it making it your own. This is how art evolves. This is how we evolve as an industry.

So I say all of us videographers should go out and join the local Professional Videographers Associations and encourage all of our peers to do the same. This is the first step in uniting the video industry. Next attend many of the social events for wedding and event professionals and represent our industry proudly to the other event professionals.

Video is quickly becoming a strong marketing tool for photographers and event professionals and what better way to show your value to a photographer or coordinator/planner than by offering to and creating promotional videos for use as hand-outs or displaying on their website or blog.

I love what I do and it saddens me when I hear people speak poorly of our industry. With your help and many others we can succeed in raising the perception of the event videographer and changing our industry for the better.

–
Sincerely,

James Burkart
Burkart Video Productions

Wedding Enquiry

Greetings,

How are you today? I guess great. I Williams David, My lovely daughter found her heartthrob early last year and they are going to wed by 25th September, 2009. For the
Love I have for my daughter, I decided to carter for the wedding as a Surprise package for her and her fiancé.Please i want you to handle the wedding arrangements as the wedding organizer. Do get back to me with any of the services which you can provide as regards to the wedding arrangement of my daughter.

- Wedding Gown for bride: colour: White,Bridal Gowns, Bridal Corsets, Bridesmaids, Evening Wear and accessories.

- Number for Bride’s maids: 12.Bride’s maid

- Vehicles: Rolls Royce or Jaguar.

- Tuxedo Suits & TROUSER for the groom: Colour: Black, Size: Regular M, 40 R.

- Tuxedo Suits for the best man: Colour: Black, Size: Regular M, 45 R.

- Accessories for bride: headpieces, jewelry and make-up with hair styles

- Shoes for bride: Silver /white stiletto heels Size: 24

- Shoes for the groom: Bostonian Ardlay Size: 38

- Location for the wedding and reception: Must be arrange by the wedding Organizer

- Lodging for the guests for an estimate of 45 people (25th September  to 27th September): Must be arrange and book by the wedding Organizer

- Wedding cakes: Tiered Frosted Wedding Cake

- Decorations/  Photographer: Must be arrange by the wedding Organizer
Do calculate and get back to me with the Rate, Expenses and Grand Total Cost in GB Pounds of the whole arrangement ASAP.

I await your urgent reply.

Kindest Regards
Dr Williams David
Tel +447045710044