IN[FOCUS]

Event filmmaking is all about the storytelling. The stories that we tell are all made up of smaller story sequences. When shooting a story sequence, one must anticipate the action. A good storyteller will be on their toes all day.

Questions to consider while shooting…

• Where’s the action headed?
• Where do I need to position myself to be in the right spot?
• What shots do I need to shoot to get me from point A to point B?
• What do I need to shoot to get the most story out of this scenario?

As you are shooting, one must constantly ask themselves, “Does this tell a story?” If it doesn’t, move on to something that does. You only have so much time during a live event shoot to get what you need. Don’t waste time shooting things that don’t matter.

While practicing effective story shooting you’ll come to realize that you’ll actually shoot less and edit less, but your films with be richer than ever before. Stay alert and focus on what matters.

I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on how you achieve the most story from your shoots. Please comment below.

Jet

Jet Kaiser saved up enough money to by his first camcorder at the age of 14 and he's been creating films ever since. He eventually created the Indianapolis-based, Jet Kaiser Films where he collaborates his with his lovely wife, Dani. Together they produce cinematic, story-rich, "motion pictures for those in LOVE™ "

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When Dani and I were married back in May 2008, we had two of our assistants shoot our wedding video (I helped shoot the father/daughter dance which made for a really cool photo op). Our assistants shot with my cameras and I ended up taking all the cameras and footage with me at the end of the wedding day. During our honeymoon, Dani and I ended up watching all of the footage from our wedding on one of the TV’s in our cabin. It was so much fun for us as a couple to just sit and watch our own raw footage the day after. I haven’t forgotten this over the last few years and I try to apply what I learned with my own wedding experience to our continuing workflow.

No matter how much our industry moves forward, we still need to be honest with ourselves and remember that we are documenting a real event involving real people with real emotion.

I understand that we want to knock our clients socks off and we should. That’s what they are usually looking for in a modern event filmmaker. Doc edits aren’t going to be something that you’ll share on your blog or use for marketing, but it is going to be something that the couple and their close family will treasure more than you ever know. We don’t typically have the emotion connection to the people giving the toasts, but the couple does. If you highlighted the father of the bride’s toast within the feature, the couple will love to remember all the “dad being dad” quirks that might otherwise be hidden forever if you didn’t share it with the couple. The full ceremony and toasts still have value even if portions of them didn’t support the story you are trying to tell in the feature.

Do you offer extended/documentary edits to your couples? What methods are you using to up-sell them? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks for watching!

Jet

Jet Kaiser saved up enough money to by his first camcorder at the age of 14 and he's been creating films ever since. He eventually created the Indianapolis-based, Jet Kaiser Films where he collaborates his with his lovely wife, Dani. Together they produce cinematic, story-rich, "motion pictures for those in LOVE™ "

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

 

“You can photoshop me to look better, right?” We’ve all heard that line from a bride or member of the wedding party. Well, after this tutorial we hope that you can respond, “As a matter of fact, I can!” Blemishes are a fact of life. We all have them from time to time and unfortunately so do our brides and grooms. In this tutorial, Josh will show you how we helped out a groom who cut himself shaving the morning of his wedding. Enjoy!

Andrew Waite

Supreme Commander of HDM/Lovestruck Films conquering Land, Sea, and Air in the world event filmmaking. Not satisfied with the camera always being no more than 6 feet off the ground, Andrew has pushed his work to new "levels" by incorporating underwater and aerial cinematography into his wedding films.

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