Clarisse & Mike: A Rainy Day in Rye Wedding Short

Clarisse and Mike are one of those couples that you just can't not love. High school sweethearts. They are the cutest! Not to mention that Clarisse looked absolutely amazing(ly hot!) in her gorgeous Pnina Tornai gown. Together for over 10 years, they postponed their 2007 wedding due to her mother's death and were finally able to have their dream wedding at the Wainwright House in Rye, New York this past September.

Clarisse and Mike were planning on an outdoor ceremony, so they were obviously bummed when things would have to be moved inside due to a hurricane moving through the area. It's a good thing because during the ceremony Hanna unleashed some of the heaviest rains I've seen. The band kept everyone happily groovin inside the tent while the rain continued on through the night. Although soaking wet outdoors, it did nothing to dampen the beautiful spirit of that day. In this clip, the rain becomes another character of the day and adds such a beautiful, dramatic element that I hope more than makes up for it. Thanks Mike and Clarisse! You guys are awesome. :)

flowers by city blossoms in manhattan. pnina tornai gown from kleinfeld bridal

Making Strides in Wedding Filmn'

Several months ago I was interviewed by Columbia University journalism student, Holly Fletcher, to discuss the new faces of wedding video. I've mentioned before that wedding video is changing, but it's been a process trying to erase the stigma of how many people perceive it. But as more and more studios are showing that they can put high production value and make a wedding video interesting, compelling, humorous and absolutely stunning.. wedding filmmaking has been getting a lot more press through bridal blogs and even filmmakers outside of the wedding world. Steve Weiss of Zacuto has given wedding filmmakers major props on his webisodes, "Film Fellas" and Philip Bloom, cinematographer extraordinaire recently spoke at Re:Frame in Austin and has been a major supporter of new styles in wedding filmmaking.

In Holly Fletcher's article, "Your Wedding--Now a Documentary", she touched on many different aspects of wedding filmmaking and the lengths that some people will go to get the style they are looking for, including flying studios sometimes across the world to achieve their dream wedding production. As humbled as I was to be included in her article, I was equally humbled when I stumbled across another blog post on documentary filmmaking where one of my quotes was used to illustrate the highest quality of achievement in production factors.

"This quote struck me: ”They come to us because they want a piece of art,” said Kristen Turick of Artifact Documentaries. The term “video” here is the baseline standard. The term “documentary” connotes a higher standard. The term “art” becomes the highest standard. Interesting set of discourses at work here."

Humbling, yes. And thanking all those who are spreading the wedding filmn' love to educate the masses that wedding video is no longer boring, long and full of hearts and stars.

The Mommy Shout

I admit that we're not the best at sending cards on special occasions, but we do try to make up for it every once in a while. This little clip went out Owen's "G-moms" for some belated Mother's Day love... and I'm pretty sure that they'll take this over a card any day. Shot at the Covered Bridge Campground in the Catskills, it's a rare opportunity that we get to do something like this and we had a lot of fun despite the black flies. Hope you enjoy as well!

25 Super Seconds

I returned this past Thursday from Austin, TX, where I had the opportunity to learn and hang with some of the coolest and most influential wedding filmmakers in the business. Bruce, Julie and Kristen* did an amazing job of putting the Re:Frame events together and attendees rivaled that with their '30 second clips' of who they are as a studio. And let's just say that when you get a room full of wedding filmmakers together expect anything but the ordinary, because wedding video is a-changin'! Major props to all who participated! Here was our contribution. Simple, sweet and super8.

Technical note: I apologize for the less than stellar vimeo file. I have exported, re-exported, de-interlaced, re-interlaced, and tried every possible combination I can think of to get a decent upload to vimeo. Never had this issue before, so if anyone has the new vimeo secret recipe for uploading super8 film footage, I'll gladly take it!

Inspiration what?!?

Recently there's been discussion on WedFACT about inspiration; where it's found and how to use it. I watch a lot of other studios' wedding films and clips to see what else is out there and yes, of course, to gather inspiration. But, I certainly don't limit myself to finding those things, moments, shots and techniques to just weddings. Let's face it, it's hard to be original in a sea of things that have already been done. But, what we can do is find those things that we like... The things that make us say, "Wow, that's really cool... I wish I had thought of that!" and use them in ways to push our own creativity further. So why limit oneself to just one style or genre, when there's a million places we can find this "inspiration"?

Of course coming from a photography background, photographs have always been a source for me. But, I also look to movies, commercials, television, design, painting and sculpture, and the everyday things surrounding me at all times. But most recently, I found a great deal of inspiration in the most unlikely of places... through the eyes of our four year old son. My husband set the camera on auto and handed my (well, mostly mine) brand new Lumix to our son. The following photos were taken by him with no aid from us. Needless to say, we were both pretty impressed and quite proud of our little man. Not only with his raw compositions but with his eagerness to find "beauty" in places that we might normally overlook. That's my boy! Beauty in the banal. I love it! I now have one more photographer to add to my ever-expanding list of inspirational sources. So without further introduction, I present Owen's first foray into the photographic world. Images are clickable for a larger view.

Jeff in Arizona

This past February, the jealousy set in as Jeff prepared to head to Arizona for an HD shoot. Seeing the pictures now, the jealousy still lies deep... I would have really liked to be there. But, alas the editing side of the biz was calling my name. All images are courtesy of Greg McKean of Alpha India Romeo, Inc. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Yowza!

I'm super excited to say that we came in third place for WedFACT's November Artistry Contest! Wow. What an honor to be listed with the best of the best in the industry. Joth Riggs of Whitestone Productions took first place with Joe Simon of Joe Simon Productions in second. Also, in the top ten (each with two entries!) were Canada's StillMotion, Australia's ShadowPlay and New Jersey's very own Sharrone Calafiore of Fiore Films. And last but certainly not least, as he serves as one of my greatest inspirations, William Gaff of HumanStory. You can read more and view all of the winning entries at www.wedfact.net.

Check out our winning clip below. Sorry for the glitch in the beginning... I'm still playing catch up from my trip to Michigan, where I had the total pleasure of meeting a bunch of new colleagues and friends and got totally inspired by StillMotion's "Art of Wedding Cinema" workshop. Few more weeks til re:Frame in Austin.. where I'm sure my head will just explode!!!


Vintage 8 Wedding Film Demo from Artifact Documentaries on Vimeo.