Have you had amazing imagery for your highlight but still felt something’s not quite sitting right?

This may sound obvious, but when setting the mood for a scene, music is absolutely key to conveying the atmosphere/mood.

Duh? Right?

So why do we not always NAIL it?  For two reasons, mainly.  (1) We are dying to use a cool song we heard in StillMotion’s latest SDE – somewhere, anywhere, we just don’t care! (2) We have promised the client to use a song that they love, but it just doesn’t seem to fit.  Blech!

Editor – meet me at camera #3, let’s talk.  Here’s a few quick tips:

1. Shoe-horning a song in just because you like it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good fit.  I’ll cover that more in my Philosophy below.
2. If you get music from the couple, get a LOT of it and promise LITTLE TO NONE of it.  It is a time waster trying to make something work in the edit when it naturally doesn’t.  It may please the client, but if you put it on your blog, others might think you DO NOT KNOW what you are doing.

Philosophy 101

Now that you’re ok not using the latest hit by Ben Rector, open your mind to a few things:  Ohmmmmmm:

Take note of how the wedding day played out, the overall mood and pace of the day can help you in determining your music choice. A rainy day with a relaxed and compassionate bridal party might yield a music choice that’s slower and on the airy side, as opposed to a bright sunny day with a boisterous funny and happy bridal party, which could yield something faster and upbeat.

Music also helps reflect the emotions of the characters/subjects onto the viewers, so that they might connect with the film emotionally.  A happy and joyful bride, would be better suited for music that is equally upbeat and joyful, than a contemplative and quiet bride.

***Be sure that a subject’s emotions do not conflict with the music, or viewers may experience an emotional disconnect from the subjects and film.***

Lastly, well planned music choices will help capture the audiences attention and draw their interest into a film, and YOU WANT to draw an audience in, because IN THAT AUDIENCE might be your next gig.

Make a choice that is also something the bride and groom will appreciate. Base your music choices on the bride and groom’s music preferences (what are they playing at the reception) and branch out from there.  Use Pandora.  Easy Peasy!

Music can connect or disconnect viewers from your films. Be sure to make decisions based on the events and pace of the wedding day as well as the bride and grooms preferences. This will help create a stronger emotional connection between your viewers and your films.

They will think you quite the Maestro!
Dusty, Northernlight Filmworks

If you’re like me, it’s hard to get away from filming when on vacation, and as Jen Moon has encouraged in past posts, you’ve got to have your down time.

But did you know that there are tax advantages in mixing work and pleasure?

Working on Vacation

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed tax accountant, so I encourage you to meet with yours to find out how you can write off a portion of your travel, meals, and other expenses.

According to this article and this article, as long as the majority of the trip is primarily business, if you spend a few days vacationing as well, then you can still write off the travel (but not the expenses of the non-business days).  For example, if you attend IN[FOCUS] 2011 in New Orleans (wink wink) for 4 days and build in your yearly vacation for another 3 days, then you still get to write off your travel expenses.

The ultimate work-cation would be like my trip to Panama shooting for Lonely Planet.  If you do some pre-planning and find businesses or organizations that need video, or if you are building your own stock footage library (for sale), or if you need B-roll for a documentary you are creating, then you can spend your days working (and really enjoying the scenery) and your nights relaxing knowing that you can write off a goodly portion of it.

My best advice – save all your receipts from a vacation and document how you spend your time.  Present this info to your tax professional and see what you can write off.  Imagine!

Relaxing on Vacation

On the other hand, we work enough, and we need to be able to separate work from rest and recreation.  If you’ve got your “play days” and “work days abroad” laid out, then stick to that plan.  With facebook and personal blogs, I find the pressure to turn vacation into an all out film fest unnecessarily.

You understand.

For years I felt pressure to capture my travel time as I would a paying gig.  Looking back, I do have some great footage, but I also know I didn’t always take the opportunity to just live in the moment. People always tell me when I’m on vacation, “Meg! Live it! Don’t film it!”

I want to travel light, but also to give myself the opportunity to capture B-roll footage that can be used in a paying project if I see something on the fly.

My solution has been my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. I’ve trekked this around Patagonia on multi-day overnights, floated around the coast of Panama, shussed down the Austrian Alps, all while barely feeling the presense of the camera in my pocket. It’s great because it shoots RAW and HD 1280 x 720. It’s there when I can’t resist capturing the moment, and it’s tucked away when I want to just sit with my parents and friends and enjoy their presence.

Enjoy your vacation however you so choose, and on the days you choose to work, make it feel like the vacation is  working for you!

:-)  Meg

Bad Pixels, bad pixels, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come to you??

A few thoughts, here in that call to action.

Also, are you familiar with CPS?

Linguistically, the acronym could be conceived of as a cross between CPR and PMS – but, it’s not!

View on, listen in – and forgive in advance the closing music track that simply signifies a proud father.

Happy August!!

WW

Wedding filmmakers have a big job on their hands. It is up to us to capture a couple’s day in a way that it packed full of emotion.

I believe raw emotion comes directly from the subject’s eyes. We’ve all heard the expression “Eyes are the window to the soul” and in the bible (Luke 11:34), “The eye is the lamp of your body.”  I believe you can control the intensity of that emotion by placing the camera close or far away from those eyes. A good close-up will fill the screen with emotion, and pulling away to a wide angle shot will often disperse that emotion.

It’s rather simple to gather beautiful close-ups during prep. It seems acceptable at times to break through someone’s personal space and get a close-up during prep. What about the rest of the day when we can’t get a camera right in someone’s face? What about the ceremony, or the dances, and of course…the toasts?

While shooting the toasts, we need to strive to capture good close-ups as well. The closer the subject’s face is to the viewer, the closer you feel to the subject. Any emotion that the speaker is experiencing will be amplified dramatically. I love seeing dad’s watery eyes as he talks about letting his little princess go or a sister who is overwhelmed with joy to see her older sister make that big move. A close-up shot will highlight the emotions of these speakers into a super-emotional spectacular!

Getting good toast close-ups requires good planning. You need to already know where you’re going to stand, what lens to use and on which camera. Lighting is important as well. Even a little side lighting with highlight the persons eyes especially when they are fighting back the tears.

Remember, get those cameras in there, get those zoom lenses on because there are tons of wonderful emotions ready to be captured. And it’s your job to do so.

Jet Kaiser
Jet Kaiser Films

THIS TUTORIAL IS FOR THOSE THAT ARE USING CANON EOS DSLR’s

Essential to a perfect ring shot:

1. MACRO LENS (EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro, EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro, EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro)
2. LIGHTING (any small, off-camera light will do)
3. MOTION (whether it be camera motion or light motion)

Creating the perfect ring shot:

• Plan out the setting, lighting & ring position
• Gather the rings from the bride & groom
  • Shooting the ring shot towards the end of the reception usually allows for more time to unleash your creativity.
  • Avoid possession of rings for extended periods of time. Some couples get antsy when you don’t hurry back with them, not to mention the longer you have the rings the more time you have to misplace them :(
• Set them up
  • There isn’t a right or wrong way to do this.
  • Using some sticky tack sometimes helps support a ring in an awkward position.
• Light the rings
  • Add enough light to shoot at a low ISO/gain. This is one part of the day where YOU are in total control of the lighting conditions so take advantage.
  • Backlight the rings to highlight the jewels,
  • Candles can be used for some out-of-focus flicker and they add motion.
• Use tripod or slider
  • Don’t try to shoot a ring shot handheld, you’ll wish you didn’t when you get back and review your shaky footage.
• Reverse clip in post if you use camera motion.
  • Start your ring shot where you want the shot to end later and then add your motion (tripod pan/tilt or a slide). Simply reverse the clip’s speed in post and your ring shot will have a nice, even flow to the perfectly framed ending shot.

Thanks for watching/reading. I’ll be on the look out for your perfect ring shots!
Jet Kaiser
Jet Kaiser Films

Greetings, IN[FOCUS] Bloggers!

As a frequent IN[FOCUS] blog follower, I’m so excited to be writing this right now. My name is Jet Kaiser. I’m the owner of Jet Kaiser Films, which is based out of Indianapolis, Indiana.

JKF was born while I was studying video & multimedia at Ivy Tech State College back in 2005. I shot my first wedding in February 2006 and I knew right then that this was going to be my life. The last 5 years have been beyond what we could’ve dreamed.

The ‘we’ is myself, my best friend & wife, Dani, along with one assistant. Dani & I were married May 17^th, 2008 & we both attended IN[FOCUS] 2010 in Austin (if we look familiar).

We are now shooting everything with Canon EOS DSLR & Super 8mm with all of our projects being edited on Final Cut Pro 7.  JKF has grown into a unique, innovative filmmaking company and I am so anxious to share some of the things that we’ve learned along the way.

Stay tuned!
Jet Kaiser
Jet Kaiser Films

In November 2009, I received an email to see if I wanted to film a Style Me Pretty Inspiration Shoot in a Barn about an hour away in Maine with vendors I had never met. I googled the vendors and sat looking at my computer screen thinking, “what in the world do they want me to film them…they are all rock stars… and I’m just…. Meg from NH“

I was so nervous to get back to them because I know NOTHING about Style, ZERO about color coordination, and I honestly thought I would not be able to speak their lingo. I also knew this was an opportunity NOT to pass up. I really wanted to meet the photographer (Brea McDonald) because we had so many mutual friends, so it was exciting and nerve wracking all at once. Needless to say, they were all sweethearts, we made a great team, and I didn’t have to learn a new language.

We ooh’d and ahh’d over each others work, and ended the day with lots of laughs, smiles, and new facebook friends.   Since then, a lot has transpired. Sara (who did the invitations) recommended me to an old childhood friend, so she booked me. Brea (photographer) and Dawn (florist) do a lot of weddings together on Nantucket (pretty expensive island off the coast of Massachusetts), and after seeing my work they were determined to get me out there, which they did for Amanda and Vincent’s celebration (see Sportsmobile Weddings Part III).

Once A+V’s film went online I got a call from another bride who has a mutual friend with Amanda and she hired me right away for a wedding in December, and on we go! Now I’m on the radar.

When I was out for A+V’s wedding I also regrouped with Dawn + Brea the next day to create a few promos for their joint planning website, Nantucket Weddings Unveiled, so now I can be featured on that = more exposure!  That one SMP shoot has done more for my business then I can even digest in this short blog post, from tips on where to re-brand to how to price my packages.  I don’t know about you, but I see some SERIOUS $$$ adding up here.

Because Dawn + Brea met me during the SMP shoot, and because I signed up for the Posh Retreat (A retreat for the female filmmaker) – I put Brea + Dawn in touch with Reagan (StudioZ Films) + Jen (Northernlight Filmworks),  founders of Posh… and now Brea + Dawn are going to be presenting their workshop on the cruise! So it can work both ways!

All this because I took a few hours on a Sunday to film an inspiration shoot (ok, there were hours of editing too) – in my book, it totally paid off! Don’t shy away from possible networking opportunities. You never know

:) Meg

Photo by: Cindy Roberts Gravitt

Learn. Grow. Meet new friends. Explore. Experience. Change your life – forever!

There are no schools for what we do – there is no nationally governed certification.  Most of us never went to business school or film school, yet we run filmmaking businesses!  Despite how good we are, we should always shoot for how good we could be, and that can only be done through challenging ourselves by consistently being around other filmmakers and businesspeople, both locally & nationally.

So first, google your local city + “professional videographer’s association.”  Living in New Hampshire, I don’t have a PVA up here in the mountains, so I travel to the group that meets in Boston. If you are within a couple hours drive of a city with a PVA, it is worth your time to make the trip.

Beyond Video

Your video business, by name alone, is half ‘business.’  Realistically, it’s mostly business!  So if you don’t have a PVA anywhere near you, there are still business networking groups that meet in or near any city in the country.  Within these groups, you can learn the business of running a business from a diverse group of business owners.  Nevermind that they don’t shoot video, they still know about customer service, accounting, marketing, social networking, legal issues, and many more disciplines that will be relevant to you running your video business.

You may find a free local networking association, but you could also pay a nominal fee to be a part of a more structured group under BNI. Check out their website to see if there’s a chapter near you.

Meetups

You may or may not have a PVA and you may or may not have a BNI, and you’re just looking to “meet up” with anyone who might have a shared interest with you.  Let’s say you want to learn more about Wordpress, or Adobe Photoshop, or Quickbooks.  With Meetup.com, you can find out if people are getting together in your area to explore how to better use these tools.  There’s a meetup for just about anything, and most are free!  And if there isn’t one going on in your area, setup the meetup yourself and discover new friends with whom you can discover and learn.

Conventions

“I’m so nervous! I’ve never been to a “convention” before. Who will I meet? Wait, I don’t use a glide cam, so will I not have anything to talk about? I hope they don’t remember it was me who posted that silly question on the forum!” – this could be your quote.

At the highest level of education and networking, enter the ‘national convention.’  With all the pros in one place, they may be intimidating to attend, but really, there’s nothing to fear.

First of all, everyone is in this together. You can see from the talent on this blog that loads of filmmakers are genuinely enthusiastic about helping others grow and succeed. You have to start somewhere and that first big step can be booking yourself a spot at IN[FOCUS] 2011 (registration begins August 16th, 2010) .

I can assure you that getting out of the taxi and walking into register may be knee quaking and heart pounding, but those symptoms will only last for a second until someone greets you and you realize, (deep breath) these are totally normal and real people! “Oh look, it’s so and so from twitter!”

Unlike BNI, PVA’s, and meetups, national conventions have one time attendance fees which may seem daunting, but affording a national convention is well within your grasp.

How to save for IN[FOCUS] 2011:

Say you need to save (and I’m taking a ball park price, this was about what I spent last year) $1500 for your plane ticket, event registration, room rate, food and misc social expenses.

$1500 / 12 months = $166 a month or $4.11 a day

How many days a week do you go out for coffee or lunch? I want you to think hard the next time you pull up to the drive through to spend $4.25 on a latte, or $8.50 on a mediocre panini.  Can you make your lunch at home? Brew coffee at work? Do you drink a lot of soda? How about switching to water a few days a week and saving your soda money? There are many ways to make it happen, you just have to get creative. Maybe you forgo holiday gifts with your spouse or family if they know how much going to the convention will mean to you. Hopefully, family would be thrilled to know they are contributing to your business by helping you save for IN[FOCUS] 2011.

I think continuing education is so important for all of us. If you were a doctor, a teacher, a real estate professional, there are mandatory license laws that require “x” amount of hours per year. We don’t really have anything like that governing this profession, so that’s why I think it’s great to set personal goals and make yourself attend some form of CE classes each year. The value is not just the platform presentations – it’s the down-time eating group meals, chatting about the biz and  building relationships so that you can call on people when you are back home in your lonely office.

If you haven’t ever been to a conference, this form of Continuing Education will be milemarker in your business life where you will genuinely look back and say “that was pivotal for me personally and for launching my business forward, and I can’t even imagine where I would be if I never attended!”

Meg

Let’s say that you’ve shot your wedding.  The shots look great.  The audio sounds really good.  The music’s picked and you’re excited.

This post is about another step that you can take to make your audio sound that much more professional and higher-end.

It’s using the Graphic Equalizer in Final Cut Pro.

Last year, my wife and I went to WEVA in Orlando and I walked into Adam Forgione’s seminar about audio.

He talked a lot- and the biggest nugget I got was his rant on using the audio filters in FCP, particularly the Graphic Equalizer.

I took this to heart and since then, I’ve been using it in all of  my projects.  Even when I think they might not need them, I do it anyways (a very GOOD habit to get into).

He also supplied me with a cheat sheet on what levels help you where- Low Feel, Boomy, Boxy, Mid, Harsh, and Hiss.  I have this taped on my tower and use it to this day.

So here’s my props to Pennylane Productions!   If you would like me to send the cheat sheet to you, just email me at lightsintheattic@mac.com.

So sit back and enjoy the vlog about the EQ.

Happy Cutting!
Jeffrey Haney
Lights in the Attic Wedding Films

Good audio makes or breaks your films, no matter if they’re commercials, events, or weddings.

One of the ways to get a better sound in your project is to use canned sound effects.  It’s easy and fast-FAST AND EASY BABY!

In the time of deadlines and moving on to the next project, I like streamlining as much as possible so I can spend most of my time creating.

This quick blog is for those who have FCP Studio suite, but haven’t had the time, or energy, or both to open up Soundtrack Pro and use some core functions.

It will add value and style to your projects.

Happy Cutting!
Jeffrey Haney
Lights in the Attic Wedding Films