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“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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A clean lens and sensor is crucial! In this blog, Andrew Waite will share some tips on keeping that glass squeaky clean, some of the options available, along with their various pros and cons. Also, what to do if you discover your lens or sensor was dirty AFTER it is too late and you’re already in post. 

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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No matter how many times you tell a couple how long their film will take to complete, there is always that Bride that calls the studio the week after her wedding, asking, “When will my film be done?!?”

It is extremely important to be in communication with our couples as to the status of their film. And we’ve found that the best way to communicate the progress of their film is through, “status e-mails.” These e-mails have been received extremely well by our couples. Because the status e-mails monitor the progress of their film, they don’t have to be constantly calling our studio to inquire about their project (which frees-up our time to actually work on them).

Our system consists of 8 different stages: processing, editing, audio, color grading, finishing, exporting, packaging, and completion. With each e-mail, there is a detailed description of what that specific stage entails. For example, the first stage is “processing.”  In this e-mail, our couples will learn how their footage is converted into useable video files, and that that action can take up to 1 week. After reading this e-mail, the couple knows they can expect their next update within a week.

The progress bar at the top of the e-mail indicates how far along their film is in relation to the entire process. With each e-mail they get a bit closer to the finished project!

As simple as it sounds, communication with your clients is key to building a great relationship with them. And keeping them informed and telling them the details of the entire process helps to build that communication. We are very conservative with our time estimates, this is to afford us more time in the event we get backed up. I always say, it is better to under promise and over deliver!

You can download our complete “Status E-mail Updates” @ http://hdmweb.com/emailstages/…. of course, you will want to update them with your information and make them your own! Good luck!

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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Take a sneak peak behind the scenes at the HDM/Lovestruck studios, where we will share tips on workflow, organization, communication, transportation, and more! Of course. we can’t forget about the toys! You will get a glimpse of what goes on inside the walls of our Southern California production house, meet our full time staff, and maybe learn some tips along the way!

We shot and edited this in an afternoon, so naturally there is a lot we could not touch on. Feel free to ask questions!

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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The Bui’s will also be conducting a hands on photographic lighting workshop attached to our event on Sunday, January 23rd from 1-7 p.m.  For existing photographers and beginners dipping their toe into the photography world,  you will learn how to use off camera lighting, natural light, and flattering angles to create the “perfect headshot.”  Registration goes live Wednesday, so stay tuned to our twitter to get the first word and to learn more about the workshop.

Since I’ve been following what the Bui brothers do for a long time, I could gush quite a bit about them – but I’ll let them speak.  Read their bio below:

[NAME] The Bui Brothers, Lan and Vu Bui

The Bui Brothers are photographers and cinematographers specializing in online media and promotional photography. Vu and Lan Bui both started personal videoblogs in January, 2005 and have created hundreds of episodes of online content for Noodle Scar, the [b] school blog, and Ask Dane. As early adopters of creating video with DSLR’s, the Bui brothers, along with Smashface Productions, shot the first US television commercial on the Canon 5D mark II.

On the photo side, they are called upon to create promotional and conceptual photography for many web and television personalities such as iJustine, Ask a Ninja, Veronica Belmont, and Felicia Day.

With their expertise across the disciplines of DSLR filmmaking, videoblogging, and photography/video lighting, the Bui Brothers have been invited to present at SXSW, The Photog Retreat, Converge, PhotoCine Expo, and Pictage Partnercon. As entertaining as they are informative, the Bui Brothers communicate both the artistic, the futuristic, and common sense-tistic in a unique and engaging manner.

[CRAZIEST EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB] “We were hired as Directors of Photography for a short. Throughout the day the director kept disappearing right before we started to shoot a scene, so we went to the producers and got them to straighten him out. Right before the next shot, he came up to us and started talking about how we needed to move things along because the day was almost over…? Then he says, “We can’t take any more breaks because we are running out of time…so I’m going on a smoke break and we’ll shoot the next shot when I’m back.”

[Our SERVICES STAND OUT BECAUSE] “We love to try new things… like when no one was using the 5D mark II for video we shot the first US broadcast TV commercial with it (in auto because it didn’t even have manual setting at the time!!!). We are not afraid to try new and unconventional things… like how we use glass table tops or chairs as sliders or dollies.”

[ENJOYS SHARING EXPERTISE ON] “We love to share our lighting techniques because it seems like everyone asks us how we light things… we also enjoy sharing our marketing techniques because you can make more money relatively easily in almost anything you do… as long as you properly market it. We also speak a lot about DSLR gear… both for photos and video. People want to know what to spend their money on… and although we believe you can do great things with literally ANY gear, there are things that will make the path a little easier.”

[A HINT AT MY "GATEWAY TOPIC" IN 3 WORDS OR LESS (OR IN HAIKU)] “Video =’s Money!”

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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Hey there interwebs! Eric Kmetz here to talk about drive management and how to keep your sanity in doing so.

As video professionals, it’s pretty safe to assume that we don’t store all of our footage, audio, DVD menus, render files, exports, etc, etc all on ONE hard drive. There are two reasons we don’t want to do this. The first is that I’m not sure they make a hard drive large enough to hold all of that data, and the second is you just would not want to put your entire business in the hands of a single hard drive. So, here we are with a ton of hard drives and no idea how to keep track and organize them. What I’m going to do is give you a few quick tips on making your drives more organized and structured.

The first and most important you will want to do is develop a system. Different people will have different methods for organizing their files; however it really comes down to personal preference and what will make you most efficient.

One way to organize is to store certain types of files on specific drives. So you have a set drive for your render files, a drive for exports, etc. Another approach is to organize based on projects, so you keep all files pertaining to a certain project on the same drive. Personally, I like to incorporate a mixture of the two. As much as possible, I will keep files for a project on one specific drive. This makes things easy when switching between open projects because I only have to connect one drive.

There is an exception to this rule. Since we have made the switch to shooting entirely on DSLR’s, we no longer have the luxury of having mini-DV tapes as a backup for our footage. Because these files cannot be recreated like DVD menus and FCP files, all raw footage is treated differently then other files. When copying over files from CF cards, I will put them on drives that are specifically for captured footage. These drives are then backed up onto a second drive and those backups are stored in a fireproof safe. By doing this, we minimize our risk of losing any footage as much as possible.

Regardless of what method you choose when developing an organization system, the most important thing is that you stick to it! Create a manual to keep the procedures consistent throughout the company.

Now that you have a fool-proof system in place, you are going to need a way to keep track of what files are on what drive. It’s quite annoying and inefficient to search through drive after drive looking for one specific file (and then not finding it on occasion).  That’s where a disk management program comes in.

For those of you on a Mac, I strongly recommend that you check out DiskLibrary. When I started at Epic, this was the very first recommendation I made for the company. This program will allow you to catalog every hard drive or DVD that you have, so you can browse the list of files on the drive without connecting it to the computer! For more on DiskLibrary, watch the video that accompanies this post. I go into a little more detail on the program, and how it can help you.

One final piece – RAID’s. There are two main types of RAID (or Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks), RAID 0 and RAID 1. A RAID 0 array is known as a striped raid. To put it simply, this takes two identical hard drives and combines them into one drive. So two 500GB drives become one 1TB drive. The data is then written onto both drives sequentially, and therefore increases the speed and performance of the drive. I would not recommend creating a striped RAID set using external hard drives because of the increased possibility of data corruption when drives are moved. A good place to incorporate this is your computers internal hard drive (if possible).

The other type of RAID is RAID 1 or mirrored RAID. A mirrored RAID takes two identical hard drives and creates one single hard drive. The data is then written identically onto both hard drives. The drive can continue to operate and data can be accessed if one of the hard drives fail. It is important to note that using a mirrored RAID can become complicated if data is written to one drive while the other is not connected, thus degrading the RAID set. In short, mirrored RAIDs are not the ideal solution for data backup.

Well, there you go kids. I hope this post has helped you sort out the best solution for managing and organizing your hard drives. As always, if you have any additional questions feel free to email me at eric[at]epicmotion.com, or reach out to me via twitter, @erickmetz.

E

Eric Kmetz

Eric Kmetz is the lead filmmaker for Epic Motion, based in Detroit, MI. Named one of the 2010 EventDV top 25 filmmakers, Eric has been a full-time wedding filmmaker since 2009. In his spare time he devotes himself to being as kmawesome as legally allowed. Furthermore, 83% of people agree…he's the bees knees. True story.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Online forums such as Video University and Event Filmmaker.com are our industry’s version of the “watercooler.”  We can all visit there to foster relationships, ask questions and also give help to others. Another great resource is this site, right here. What other video conference gives out insanely useful, FREE tips and techniques, while at the same time offers hours upon hours of seminars to download, so you can listen in from the comfort of your office? Of course, nothing is better than actually going to IN[FOCUS].

Seminars aside, most of my learning is done at the bar, or at the dinner table, networking with others just like myself. It’s invaluable. But, you want to know something that can both grow your business and improve your craft LOCALLY? GIVE BACK. You are a talented video machine, and people need your services that not only might not be able to afford you, but NEED you. I’m not talking about running a business for free, I am talking about becoming a part of something bigger than yourself.

One thing I try to do with my business, at least once a year, is to give of my talent and my time, to a non-profit organization that needs my services to get a message out.  I want to be part of something that changes the world, and I think you all do too. The opportunities are out there.  Getting paid is great, and I highly encourage consistent cash flow to make a decent living.   However, to see people’s lives changed and not expect anything in return…It’s 10 times better than booking your top package, that’s for sure!

If you read the recent Cover Story in EVENTDV Magazine on the history and PURPOSE of Life Stage Films, you know that part of my passion, and part of the way I do make a living, is traveling the world filming “missions” documentaries for large non-profits and mega-churches. It’s actually how I fell into weddings if you can believe it. But there is something special about doing something locally or regionally pro bono, for a cause that you believe in, that changes you in so many ways. After a while, it gets addicting.

1. It makes you more creative – Stepping outside the normal realm of weddings and corporate video doing projects for others that help spread a message you BELIEVE in injects 1000cc’s of creativity into your blood stream.  It’s hard to explain, but it’s impossible not to learn something new when you step outside your normal world of shooting and editing.

2. It rejuvenates -After working with a non-profit or an organization that is trying to improve the community, I come back to “work,” and don’t feel like I am working! It creates a new love for what I do for a living, and when I hit the editing again for weddings, it inspires me to do better. It puts a spring in my step. That’s what giving does. Everyone needs a way to be re-energized…why not give back in the process?

3. It keeps your priorities in check -Serving others changes you more than them. It creates a new sense of purpose in your life and in turn, allows you to run your business better than you did before. A lot of us aren’t necessarily selfish, it’s just that we have so much on our plates that it’s so easy to get consumed with OUR everyday life and struggles. That can be very dangerous. So much more is going on around us.

4. It impacts people’s lives, which in turn, impacts yours even more. No explanation needed. Do it for proof, I dare you.

Of course, doing things for others requires the right motives, but I guarantee you that a result of giving back in this way will result in TONS of business. It resonates with people. People want to do business with not only creative people, but people that inspire and put others first. It’s amazing what happens. The video above is a result of the NC Chapter of the Red Cross contacting us, through a referral, to get a regional message out about the devastation in Haiti. With the coordination of other professionals and business owners, I was able to story board my own concept film. I had an idea for a “quirky” way to not only liven to mood a little, but for people to have a recognizable image and impression in their minds after they watched the video. It was silly, it was fun, and it was totally worth it.  I trust you will enjoy it.

“Head Coach“Matt Davis

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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Hello In[FOCUS] Reader,

Welcome to the 2nd installment of Organizing Your Workspace!

Our organizing bible is David Allen’s Getting Things Done. He has by far the most in-depth and complete organizational concepts that we were able to find, so much so, it would be the longest post in IN[FOCUS] history if we tried to teach you everything we’ve learned. In part I, Corbin and I shared with you exactly how far we had to go to increase our efficiency by organizing our office and workflow.  Today, this will be more of a teaser for the 3rd and final installment, but also an overview for what you can learn when you read Getting Things Done or listen to the audiobook.

Here are just a few of David Allen’s life-altering strategies and some examples (at the bottom) of how we are implementing them:

The Major Change: Getting Everything Out of Your Head

The Two Key Objectives:

• capturing all things that need to get done out of your mind and into a trusted, logical system
• disciplining yourself to make quick decisions about all the inputs you let into your life, so you’ll always have a plan for next actions that you can implement at any time.

Your Daily To-Do list doesn’t work:

• calendars should be sacred, everything for your day should be able to be completed
• not completing the day’s tasks and having to move them to future dates is unproductive and demoralizing
• the very heart of his Daily Action Management Organization are your calendar and Action Lists

Collecting All Your Life Stuff, So You Can Get It Out Of Your Head:

• every open loop is in your collection, so it’s in your head
• have as few as possible in-baskets, but as many as you need
• empty regularly by reviewing them all

Collection Tools (Your In-Baskets):

• physical in-basket
• paper-based note taking devices
• electronic note taking devices
• recording devices
• email

The above bullet points are the tip of the iceberg from the wealth of knowledge we’ve received from David Allen’s program. Here’s how Corbin and I have implemented it thus far:

• purchased 2nd editing system: MacBook Pro
• bought the latest version of Final Cut Pro Studio and maxed out our RAM for faster editing
• upgraded to Leopard Mac OS
• bought large and small notebooks for more comprehensive note taking
• upgraded our digital calendar and in-basket with Entourage
• organized our GoDaddy email
• said goodbye to our outdated PC and networked our Mac Pro and MacBook Pro with an Airport Extreme
• upgraded our business cell phone with a Verizon EnV Touch
• purchased Quickbooks for easier bookkeeping and bill pay
• hired Donna and her team of We Keep Books for training in Quickbooks and to catch our books up for the year

Our upcoming goals to accomplish a more carefree, efficient life:

• desks with greater workspace and storage capacity
• physical in-baskets
• large paper filing system
• shelving for closet, The Container Store can customize to fit your storage needs

In the third and final entry in this series, we will show you how we executed what we’ve learned from Getting Things Done and how it has benefited our workflow and business!

Dave and Corb, Soulbox

Dave and Corbin Baxter

They say that audio is 70 percent of your video. I think it’s more like 95 percent. Sometimes, when I’m feeling adventurous, I don’t even bring a video camera to a shoot, just a portable audio recorder. Even though the client is at first rather confused they are soon delighted when I explain the importance of audio and that they will not be distracted with any video elements on their DVD!

So today I would like to share with you some of my favorite online resources for royalty free music and sound effects. My most recent discovery is called Pump Music, and it is a division of Getty Images. It’s priced slightly higher than other music providers but I found the quality and variety of genres to be exceptional. The site allows you to save a favorites folder so you can go back to it and find the right music for any future projects. I’ve enjoyed browsing their tracks, and that process itself is how I usually start an edit as different songs give me ideas and inspiration.

I’m sure many of you know about Triple Scoop Music, another great site for finding music for your videos. This one is nice since it is specifically tailored to photographers and videographers.

One of my favorite sites in general, and also a great resource for cinematic scores (called Pro Scores) and effects is Video Copilot. In addition to some great After Effects tutorials, Andrew Kramer offers a wide variety of products, including instructional DVDs, stock footage elements and of course some pretty cool music.

Another website that I’ve used in the past is Shockwave-Sound. Again, just browsing their selection is a great way to get some editing ideas. For classical music I love Unique Tracks-check out their classical album pack collections to get you started. Soundrangers has both music and unusual effects (I think this site is used quite a bit by video game designers) and listening to their amazing effects selection (including “goblin attack,” “forest rain,” “nightclub applause” and my favorite, “oh 1, female 1″) can keep you entertained for hours.

Finally, recording artist Moby has a site, called Moby Gratis, which is designed to provide free music to filmmakers for their independent, non-profit films. A wedding video probably wouldn’t be categorized as “non-profit,” but this would be perfect for a small personal project, and there is also a way to apply for a license with profits going to the Humane Society. Below is an image I took years ago of Moby performing in Las Cruces, New Mexico when I worked at at a newspaper there. Thanks for reading, enjoy the links, and share some more services in the comments section below.

–Vlad

Vladimir Chaloupka