Two Sisters Married - 7 Days Apart

I don't imagine I will see this again. Who knows...

Two sisters married exactly 7 days apart. Older sister Lizzie, followed by her younger sister Jessie the following week. And they both asked me to do their wedding film. How cool is that? When you shoot multiple weddings in the same family, you get to know the family pretty well. I also did a couple's story for Clark and Lizzie - see one of my previous posts - so I saw a lot of those two.

Here's the teaser edit I threw together as a "bonus" chapter on the DVD's. I couldn't resist. You may want to click the arrows on the play bar under the video to see this in full screen mode.

The chances of this happening again are next to never. Although I would love to be wrong...

Anthony and Brett - Or How to Get Married During a Blizzard.

It snows in Utah. And people get married in the winter. It's true. But snow? It looks seriously cool at a wedding. Not so fun to shoot, but fun to watch. It gets even better in black and white.

Anthony and Brett...what can I say. Just love this couple. Love their energy around each other. Infectious energy. Anthony had me laughing more than any other groom I've ever worked with. Period. He's just a funny dude.

And Brett is awesome. Nice, happy, generous and really loves Anthony's young kids.

The shot of the temple at the beginning is unfiltered, save for desaturating it and adjusting the black levels a bit. A total wall of snow.

Enjoy the bad weather.

Carson and Hillary's Super Old Wedding Film

A few months back I posted a wedding film that I had made to look "vintage". Add some film grain, pull back on the colors, darken the blacks, add some hairs and "damage" to the video. Essentially make it an old-looking, new wedding video.

Well, Hillary and Carson wanted this look. So I took on the challenge again. This time with a much more pronounced effect. I wanted this to look like the real deal. I was in film school way back when 16mm film was our format and I remember doing a lot of 8mm film on my own. My office is littered with these old cameras in varying degrees of workability. Yet, as much as I love the look, I understand that the limitations in resolution can be very closely mimicked in the color correction process I do after the wedding. It also frees me up to modify the look later, as HD video is very high resolution. With HD, I have a lot of information to use. I can mess with colors, film grain, etc. Enough said. Tech talk here.

I spent a lot of time on their requested "vintage" look. This is a short teaser from the entire day. Their wedding was at the Salt Lake Temple with a reception that followed at the Provo City Library.

Enjoy.

Blake and Jane - Salt Lake Country Club

What more can I say. I love this wedding film. Love the weather, loved the location, loved the couple. It's true. Sometimes weddings just work for you. You scramble around and everything you shoot just works.

This is a highlight of a much larger highlight video that was delivered to them. Wanted to give you a taste of it all.

Love it.

Clark and Lizzie's Snow Day

I think in all of the years I have done wedding cinema/videography/filmmaking I was looking for something that's my niche.

These couples stories are my niche. I love the collaboration between me and the couple, the ability to control the content and I can exercise those creative chops I picked up in film school. Digital cinema is much like shooting motion picture film. There is audio to consider, lighting, shutter speed, white balance - all of those things coming together. Couples stories are like mini documentaries of everything up to this point in time (whatever and whenever that is).

Don't get me wrong, we can still shoot a fantastic wedding video. That's what we do.

This is Clark and Lizzie's story. We shot this on a frigid Saturday afternoon in Memory Grove. 3 hours and frozen toes.

Worth. Every. Minute. Click those 4 little arrows and watch this full screen. The snow and the scenery just pops!

Crismon and Lauren's Front Yard Wedding

Yes, this was the front yard. A beautiful front yard, with a pond and lots of trees.

A few details about the wedding. An amazing guitarist name Jeff Proctor, BBQ from a smoker parked outside, chocolate mustaches and authentic Chinese lanterns. Incredible.

This wedding was a referral from an old friend, so thanks for that. Here's Jeff Proctor's website. Hire this guy. He's amazing.

I can still smell that barbeque...

Anthony and Brett - Dogs and Runners

I can't tell you how many dog walkers and runners interrupted this shoot. At one point, a guy even approached me and ruined a shot.

Memory Grove is a popular place, so I guess we knew the risks. Aside from the long shoot, I can't say enough about this couple. Amazing, amazing, amazing. I've never laughed so hard than I did during this shoot. Everything just worked here. You hope for that. Well spoken, funny, obviously in love. Things that matter in making these stories come to life.

Watch and enjoy.

And laugh.

Mike and Ali - Red Butte Gardens

Wow. I love this wedding. This is my favorite edit of the year. Ali and Mike threw down a serious challenge for me with their song choice, and I had this Danny Boyle-inspired concept going on in my head. Split screens and rapid edits. It was a perfect fit.

And I love it. Sometimes I feel lucky to get certain weddings.

Yes, I feel lucky.

Shane and Trista Make Promises

I've really gravitated towards couple's stories as something "I do." Get it! I do? Okay, bad joke. Anyway, I really love doing these and we spend a lot of time getting these short films just right.

Shane and Trista's couple's story was no exception. We shot up at Log Haven on a breezy, late afternoon, when the leaves and the colors were changing. It was amazing really. We had the whole lake area to ourselves (with permission of course) and we spent a good solid 2 hours of filming. I tend to have general questions in mind that give me direction on additional follow-up questions for the couple. Considering that Trista has children, it was really important that we make them part of the larger story. I'm a big believer in the family unit (and whatever that means to you), so I wanted the kids to be a part of the story. I also work for some sort of thematic element to play through the interviews, thus the "I Promise" element as bookends.

When you book these with me, be ready to have ideas of your own. Bring props, have a concept in mind, maybe even a change of clothing. And plan for an afternoon. These take time, but the pay off is priceless.

George and Mindy

What can I say, other than great wedding. A compact 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. day, with plenty going on. I just love how this wedding turned out. And yes, I often start my videos with some sort of live music going on at the reception. Why? Because I love it. The band at the wedding often tells a lot about the couple. George and Mindy had a swing, bluegrass, jazzy quartet jamming at the reception. I couldn't get enough of them. During breaks, I often gravitated towards the band. They were just plain cool.

There's nothing like a wedding with military uniforms. It transcends formal. It's something else entirely. There's definitely a sense of reverence, at least on my part. These guys are doing something that many people won't be doing for their country.

Anyway, quite a day. This is a highlight of the entire day - an abbreviated version of the final wedding video - which runs about 11 minutes. Enjoy.

Michael and Lauryn

I've been known to fiddle with wedding films for my website. Color them up, change the music, rearrange and shorten the edits.

Such is the case with Michael and Lauryn's wedding film. I went old school medieval on it, pulling out the contrast, and giving it an aged look. Something akin to an HD Super8 camera (which to my knowledge doesn't exist). Keep in mind, I've also edited this in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 to give it a more widescreen effect.

Anyway, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. This couple was great and kept their cool when the reception got moved inside. Due to wind, of all things.

If you need a certain "look" to your wedding, please let me know when you book me.