over the past few weeks (or is it months?) I’ve been busily working on re-branding to reflect the different direction my work has been taking. i’m finally ditching the oh-so-80’s ‘multimedia’. phew.
the new branding and website is going to be fresher, much cleaner, more personal and to be honest just plain better.
I’m constantly striving to be a better story teller. When you strip away all the technical stuff that’s essentially what I endeavour to do - tell better stories.
Stories of love.
Stories of precious moments shared between family and friends.
And perhaps most importantly the stories of the unique personality that every couple has.
At school, my essays were…hmm…less than impressive. The concept of a beginning, middle and end just didn’t work for me through the written word.
Then I discovered a knack for storytelling through filmmaking, particularly with weddings. Through motivated shooting and editing decisions I found I could authentically communicate not only the journey through a couples day but also their personalities.
Moving pictures can be such a powerful medium and there’s a huge array of different tools and methods at a filmmakers disposal to help better tell a story. Whether the techniques be done in camera - through inspired framing, subject selection, camera movements or focal choices or whether it’s done in post production - through editing decisions, text, voice overs, colour grading or music selections, each element plays a critical part in improving the narrative of any piece.
I had thoughts a couple of months ago of putting together something completely different - something that I’d never seen done before with a wedding. How effectively could I chronicle a wedding and engage the viewer with the couple as much as possible by removing what is essentially the major component in any filmmakers toolkit?
Yes. It’s a wedding video sans video.
Here’s the result - a completely different angle on Charlie and Nikki’s wedding…affectionately known as the ‘chikki’ wedding.
This piece is now a part of my journey towards becoming a better storyteller and it could possibly be something I look at offering in the future.
Obviously a massive thanks to Bushturkey studio for not only capturing and working such great images but also having belief in this vision. This collaboration piece has been through a number of incarnations and the support and fresh perspective offered has been invaluable.
What do you think? How well did you feel Charlie and Nikki’s wedding from this piece and how much do you connect with them from this 5 short minutes?
Being asked to pack the bags and travel to Tamworth to capture Lisa and Rod’s amazing wedding.
A huge honour.
A day full of friendship, emotion, laughter and love (& some great rides*…)
Keeping things fresh, this teaser’s a little different.
Everything been hidden through the use of selective focus & compositions, shadows & silhouettes.
Special thanks to the talented Antony and Mary Ann from North Coast Photography in Coffs Harbour. It was great catching up with them - we had such a great time shooting together and captured some amazing imagery and moments. To see the day through their eyes click through to their blog entry.
If you’ve got any comments or would like to leave a message for Lisa & Rod please feel free.
* the wheels included: 2 pristine ‘57 chevvys, a hot rod and some top of the line caprices. Tamworth didn’t know what hit it
Giveaway time again and what a great prize on offer to 4 fortunate couples. Our ‘teasers’ are short 60-90 second pieces that give you the opportunity to view and share a little piece of your day shortly after it’s happened. If you haven’t experienced them yet, be sure to check them out with the link below.
We’re offering 4 free online teasers with any booking and they’ll be distributed as follows:
The first 2 teasers go to couples that are already holding a future booking and;
The second 2 go to the next 2 new bookings that are received for available dates.
All you have to do is leave a comment on this entry with a short thought about what you most like about the teasers. This entry (& offer) will only stay live for a week.
“6 days of silence”? What a strange name for a blog title.
Alana and Mark’s was a great wedding, with a fantastic couple all highlighted by a wonderful speech by the new “Mr.” It was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Enjoy the story of their day…
If you’d like to leave a message for Alana & Mark or have any comments at all please feel free
One of my favourite things about weddings is that they not only provide the opportunity for family and friends to get together and celebrate the wonderful occasion itself, but that it’s also one of the rare opportunities in life where loved ones can be truly open with each other. More about that later…
A&D prepared, exchanged promises and then celebrated at the beautiful Stamford Plaza Hotel in Brisbane in a flawless wedding, officiated by the lovely Geoff Mazlin. Apart from some gorgeous tears and moments during the ceremony, a highlight of the day for me were some great speeches.
They have a wonderful story about how they met & connected immediately during overseas travels and then found themselves still chatting into the early hours of daybreak in a hotel ‘lobby’ (as Alison likes to call it).
Getting back to the original thoughts, during his speech Darian’s Dad seized the moment to welcome Alison into the family with words that would rarely be said any other moment in time (and consequently had the entire room in tears). Enjoy this teaser from their beautiful celebration…and this clip is a real ‘tease’ - you’ll see why at the end…
If you’d like to leave a message for Alison & Darian or have any comments at all please feel free
P.S. There was a v.cool Cuban tradition on the night that I haven’t come across before - it goes like this: Small pieces of ribbon are inserted into the wedding cake - the same # as there are single ladies (insert Beyoncé here) and tied onto the end of one of them is a ring.
Before the cake is cut, the bride gathers all of the unmarried girls at the wedding, and allows each to pull one of the ribbons from the cake. The tradition has it that the girl who pulls the ribbon with the ring on the end is the next one to get married. There were 24 pieces of ribbon in the cake and as fate would have it, the one with the ring on it was the last one to be pulled. Magic happens.
Belinda and Mick were married a couple of weeks ago at the beautiful Qdeck on the Gold Coast. Celebrant Nicole Evans officiated a relaxed, personal and really intimate ceremony - it’s always a pleasure working with her and she’s very obliging with any requests. Mick had his best man/6 y.o. son Lachlan helping him out on the day and between them they almost held it together. Almost.
I tag teamed with Gold Coast wedding photographers Dan and Rebecca from Sol Photography and I’m sure the images will be nothing short of incredible. Also managed to get some sneaky footage of Dan busting a move during a quiet period - but I’ll keep that in ‘the vault’.
The piece below premiered at their reception, and had been kept a secret from (almost) everyone there. They were told there was going to be a ‘photo montage’ showing…
We had a great time shooting it one afternoon in the weeks before their big day and it received an absolutely amazing, wild response from family and friends (everyone loves bloopers!). They’re a beautiful, down-to-earth couple with hearts of gold and I think this really captures the essence of who they are and what they mean to each other.
These shoots are a great addition to any package and provide you with not only something unique to showcase at the reception (which blows any preconceived ’slideshow’ ideas out of the water) but it’s also such a precious way of documenting a couples story. I think the real value in this sort of piece is not realised until some years on when couples have the chance to reflect on the journey they’ve been on. Imagine how unique and precious something like this is for the couples children to see in years to come…
Any comments, questions or thoughts please let us know!
After recently debuting Jade & Danny’s teaser a short while ago, I’m so excited to premiere their magic moments. It was a super stylish wedding with so many great moments - all punctuated by some incredible speeches.
J & D are a great couple that were so relaxed through the day, genuinely going with the flow and not letting anything bother them. The end result was quite simply the perfect wedding. Not to be outdone though were a few surprise guests at the end of the night that came along to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
The magic moment clips are the perfect addition to any package and my favourite of all edits. The essence of the day is carefully cut together with beautiful imagery to form a deep, engaging & concise narration.
With lots of exciting things in the pipeline, including a new business venture, these guys are in for an incredible life together.
Enjoy the story of their day…
If you would like to leave a message for Jade & Danny or any comment at all, just click the ‘leave a comment link’.
