IN[FOCUS]

What an interesting year 2009 was been, huh?! Some of us had a great year, and some of us are ready to forget already. Either way, 2010 is almost here, so what are you going to do about it?

For the past 3 years at Life Stage Films, we have put strict emphasis on knowing exactly what works and what doesn’t work in our business every year before the next year begins. I think it’s so incredibly cleansing to take a retrospective look at your business as the year is about to end. If you don’t, you get stale. You might become irrelevant. Or even worse, you might get “comfortable”. Being comfortable is no place to be for not only a business owner, but a creative artist. But let’s say you do take some time ( just one day) before the busy-ness of the January-March time period of getting as many 2009 edits out the door as you can. If you really care about your business, you’ll enjoy looking back and not only praising yourself for a job well done, but you’ll ask those tough questions that get you moving in the right direction if you weren’t before.

It’s kind of like journaling. It’s fun and incredibly addicting. We enjoy looking back at our success list from a few years ago to see how far we have come. It inspires us to create a plan for the next year that will influence our decisions even more. But it starts with a plan. At the beginning of 2009, and every business quarter there after, our entire staff takes an entire day to come up with our next 90-Day plan. We come up with goals that are hard, but attainable. It keeps our larger goals that we made at the beginning of the year easier to get to. So, back to the bigger picture, I want to help you start 2010 with a bang and inspire you to improve your business and take it to another level. Let’s get started.

*** Before you do this, make yourself a promise to isolate yourself from distractions. Go to a coffee shop, a bookstore, just get away from the office, and from family. The follow exercise shouldn’t take longer than a few hours, but its so important to do it with a clear head, and BEFORE your work gets hectic again for 2010. I always do it the day after New Years.

1. Get a piece of paper, or create a Word document.

2. Answer the following questions.

• What Were My Biggest Challenges/Problems for 2009?
  
• What Were My Top 5 Lessons Learned This Year?
  
• What Were My Top 5 Success Stories This Year? (Brag on yourself, what things were you proud to accomplish in ’09?)
• What was my favorite project I shot/edited this year, and why?
• What was the biggest thing that moved my business forward in 2009?
  

For 2010

• How much (%) do I want to increase my revenue for 2010?
• What are 10 ways I will be able to attain that goal. Be specific.
  
• What are 3 major things on my perpetual to-do list that I’d like to see accomplished for my business in 2010? (things you never make time to get to, but are important)
  
• What are 5 things I can do for my business in 2010 that will set me more apart from my competition.
  
• What are 5 goals I’d like to see met in December of 2010.
• What are 5 things that I can implement now that will improve my personal life in 2010. (There is a direct correlation to the success of your business)

In the spirit of community and inspiring each other, if you chose to do this important exercise, leave a comment on this post by telling us all your 5 biggest success stories of 2009. It’s ok to brag when someone gives you permission! Cheers to making it through 2009 alive and well. You also got to work in a job that you love. That’s a great thing. Here’s to a successful 2010!

Matt D., Lifestage

Matt Davis

Matt Davis (coaching at lifestagefilms.com) of Life Stage Films has been described as the “head coach of wedding videography,” providing one-on-one business coaching as well as group coaching webinars. A featured speaker at both WEVA 2009-10 and IN[FOCUS] 2010-11, as well as a multiple CEA award winner and 2009-10 EventDV 25 All-Star, he is based in Wilmington, N.C.

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Light – the most necessary of things for a cinematographer, and just as it is necessary, it is equally as unpredictable and sometimes difficult to control.  Even with the introduction of the low light champs Canon 5D MarkII and the Canon 7D, there is still a need to maximize available light, and utilize artificial light.

Before we go into any shoot, we always consult with the client about their wedding and we discuss light and how we will use it.  Understanding as much as possible about the environment we will be shooting in will allow us to make decisions on the front end to head off any problems.  It is also important for them to understand to what extent we value and use light and to also know about the tools we use to make it happen.

We typically do not have an opportunity to light each scene but there are many things we can do that will increase the image quality.  Our lighting tools include:  Arri 650, Lowel Pro (3 light kit, 250w), LitePanels Micro, and the Canon VL-10Li II.  How we use each one of these depends upon location restrictions and how we need to enhance the scene.

For pre-ceremony, we always take a look at where the hair and make up will take place and what available light we can use.  Many times, I will offer the makeup artist our Lowel to help with her job.  They love this – score for us- and it also gives us a nice light to work with.  We can then use the barn doors to choke the light down or use diffusing paper to help spread the light around.

Typically, most churches in the U.S. will not allow us to light the sanctuary, so we are forced to use the available light.  As we walk in, we observe the lighting setup for unused lights and ask to have them turned on “to see how the light enhances the scene.” So we work our diplomatic skills (rather than being too pushy), and most of the time, people work back with us!

We once walked into a beautiful church and the lighting, even at its maximum, was not sufficient for proper exposure.  All of the windows had shutters, though, on both sides of the room.  I opened them up, and it changed everything.  It transformed our exposure from something that looked very dim and flat to a nice, rich, colorful contrasty texture.

Reception locations are usually dark and quite a challenge to film.  We always light the dance floor with the Arri 650 (which also has barn doors).  This light has a lot of punch but is evenly spread.  We get this light set up before the guests arrive so that they have an opportunity to acclimate to the lit environment.

If you don’t have an opportunity to set it up beforehand, you can purchase a dimmer that will allow you to gradually increase the power throughout the evening (remember the ‘boiling the frog‘ anecdote – well, it’s not quite the same, but similar).

We also use our Lowel kit to bounce light off of the floor or ceiling.  Using lights high and away creates a more dramatic and even spread of light.  We rarely use lights directly on the camera because it draws attention to the camera and we would rather have people not being aware of us.

With additional crew, we use the second or third person to point the Lowel at an angle to the subject. We also use the Canon VL-10Li II light or LitePanel.  Experiment with this technique.  There is no ‘one’ way to do it.

Our first fear of using lights at the reception was that it would annoy some guests. We reminded ourselves, however, that we were paid to document this milestone for our couple and if a few guests got cranky for seeing spots, that is a risk we were willing to take.  But we are cognizant minimizing light that might spill into the audience, so we use it discriminately.

Don’t be afraid to use additional light.  It never hurts to ask.  Sometimes you have to push the envelope.   Be open to changing or adjusting the lighting, whether by turning a light switch on or off, or by opening up window, blinds, or curtains.

Your clients will love seeing the light!

I’m interested to hear in the comments section how you perform your wedding day lighting.

John Moon(light)
Northernlight Filmworks

John and Jennifer Moon

Here’s a sample of a final edit from an LDS Temple Wedding. Simple!

Madison + Chris from David Perry on Vimeo.

Jones

Chris P. Jones began Mason Jar Films 10 years ago in his garage. He still has no idea why y'all would vote for him for EventDV25, but Thanks!

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