IN[FOCUS]

This videolog is a quick overview of what you need to know about attending In[Focus]. See you in Charleston!

Joanna Banks-Morgan

Joanna Banks-Morgan of Diva Productions has spent most of her 43 years in newsrooms or on sets. The daughter of a journalist and an actor, she was bitten by the producing bug early. She attended Cardiff University’s Journalism, Film, and Television program in Wales and started her career in 1992 with British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Before creating Diva Productions in 2007 with husband/business partner Robert Banks-Morgan, Joanna worked for CBS 42 KEYE in Austin, Texas where she also attended St. Edward’s University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Communications.

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I recently read in Broadcast Engineering Magazine, that according to the market research company SCRI International, 54.6% of the professional editing community uses Final Cut Pro 7. So when Apple (finally) released Final Cut Pro X in June, many of us went “ohhhhhhhh, I want this!” But that was quickly followed by “uhhhh ohhhh, I don’t know if I can use this with our workflow.” So many of the FCP 7 features that we utilize daily were missing, that it’s lead publications like Broadcast Engineering to speculate that “it appears Apple may be switching its focus away from the high-end video editing market segment.” Well crap, right? What’s an event filmmaker to do? Should we be patient and wait for features to be added in drips and drabs to FCPX? In September, Apple released a FCPX update which included XML Import and Export, but left out multicam editing (yes we do use it for ceremonies on doc edits!), output to broadcast monitors, and my personal deal breaker, the ability to set scratch discs for projects.  Apple is saying that some of these features will be available in 2012, but they won’t give a specific time frame. 

This whole situation makes me jumpy, so we’ve been soliciting advice from some of our friends in the industry about what to expect if we make the transition to the Premiere Pro NLE. I learned to edit on tape, then started using Avid in 1998 when NLE’s were first introduced over in the UK, made the jump to FCP in 2004, and I’ve never looked back. I’m not afraid to learn a whole new system; I just don’t know that I want to! The first event filmmakers to really put me at ease about making the transition is Nick Weeks of Snap Life Studios and Ashley Hampton of Hampton Road Studios. Both are based in Birmingham, Alabama. Here’s what they say you need to know about making the leap from FCP to Premiere:

Ashley Hampton, Hampton Road Studios

Premiere makes it easy for Final Cut users to switch. However, you have to want to switch. If you are switching reluctantly, then you will most likely find a lot of issues with Premiere. We were completely open to a better option when we switched to Premiere. We had issues with FCP and had grown tired of them lagging behind technologically. For us the switch was fairly seamless, of course we had a few hiccups but nothing that slowed us down too much.

The first project we did on Premiere was a photographer’s promo. The next week we were shooting an SDE and decided to just go with FCP to avoid any issues. However, transcoding the DSLR footage was taking too long and Matt was having some issues, so he decided to just take the chance and edit the SDE in Premiere. It went so smoothly we haven’t looked back.

Tips on switching:

• The good news is it looks familiar and the timeline works similarly.
• Premiere tries to make it easy for FCP users to switch. You can choose to learn the Premiere shortcuts or there is an option to enable the FCP shortcuts.
• How will Premiere run on your computer? We only have our Macs to compare it to. Premiere has newer technologies and we feel it definitely utilizes our computers resources efficiently.
• In Premiere, the scratch disks automatically default to the same folder as the project. The great thing is if you change the save location, it will remember it for that project. Unlike FCP, you do not have to change it every time you switch projects.
• Premiere can read FCP projects if they are exported as XML. We have decided to keep FCP7 installed on our computers for ‘just in case’ situations.
• Exporting a still frame is so easy. You can literally do it with one click. This is something we do for every project and has saved us time.

Our best is to take a few hours one day, download the trial version and just spend some time with it. For us it has been great! It has increased productivity and allowed us to be more creative, but everyone works differently. For you, there could be a different option like Avid, Edius, or Vegas.

I’m sure every user who switches will run into little quirks because of their personal workflow. Ultimately, you have to decide if it is something you can live with or if you can alter your workflow slightly.

Nick Weeks, Snap Life Studios

FCPX for me was a huge letdown. I tried to use it… I mean really tried and I just couldn’t handle it. So, I decided to dive into the Adobe world with both feet, and I haven’t looked back.  FCPX is a great concept, and I know a lot of people that have taken the time to learn it have been happy with the program, but I just felt like I was going backwards instead of forward, not to mention my workflow was completely ruined with FCPX.

The Pros:

1. Native DSLR editing. This takes a fairly powerful computer because most macs (Macbook, iMac, etc.) don’t come with the NVIDIA cards that support the mercury playback engine, so unless you have the right card it will use software rendering…which works just fine as long as you have a decent computer to back it up.  Of course, if you have a Mac Pro with the right video card, you’re golden. Other than that, for a Same Day Edit not having to convert/transcode/import the clips saves a TON of time.
2. Use of the same software on both Mac and PC.  Most people I know in the event industry are 100% Mac, but look at JJ Kim, he has PC’s using Premiere, and recently got a Mac.  Now he can use the same software without having to re-learn anything on a separate platform, not to mention without having to buy another copy.  Premiere (and the whole suite) lets you run the software on two machines, just not at the same time.  So for a laptop and desktop this is a dream come true.  The only downside to Adobe’s licensing is that a Mac version is 1 license, and the PC version is a 2nd… so if you had a PC desktop and wanted to run your Premiere on a Mac, you would have to buy a second license, but if you had 2 PCs or 2 Macs, you can use the same license on both.  FCP worked in the same regard, but you couldn’t ever use a PC  – not like I ever would anyway .
3. Adobe Dynamic Link. This is one of my favorite features.  Final Cut Pro 7 had some linking capability, but those of you who have used them know it can be a total nightmare.  When I used FCP7 I always rendered out whatever I needed to send to another program (whether it was compressor, soundtrack, motion, whatever) because the linking between programs would screw up my timeline.  This just doesn’t happen with Premiere; the dynamic linking is pretty much seamless. Additionally, it really helps with my workflow, particularly with  DVD/Blu-Ray output -which brings me to:
4. DVD/Blu-Ray authoring.  I will admit, DVD Studio Pro is a great piece of software, very powerful and it supports a ton of features.  Not to mention it’s fairly easy to learn.  Encore, on the other hand, requires a bit of a learning curve, but the power behind it is the consistency between your DVD and Blu-Ray projects.  Build your menus, chapters, etc… for your Blu-Rays, click a button, and then instantly render the same project, complete with all the menus and chapters, as previously setup, to a DVD.  It looks exactly like the Blu-Ray and all I had to do was click a button.
5. Project settings, rendered media, etc… stay with the project.  If you’ve ever used FCP7 with external hard drives you know that each time you start working on a different project you have to ensure your scratch discs are set correctly so that your media stays linked correctly. In Premiere, by default all of these renders stay with the project. Each time you open the project on a different computer it has to re-conform some clips and generate peak files for audio, but this really doesn’t take very long.  In FCP7 if you took that external drive to another computer, and then realized your “capture scratch” disk was set incorrectly your links to your media  and the rendered files would be broken.
6. After Effects and Photoshop. I don’t use after effects much, but if you purchase the production suite, you get After Effects (which retails for $1,000) and Photoshop (which retails for around $700), two extremely powerful programs at a bargain price.  Many of us already have Photoshop, but if you’re like me you have an ancient version.  The suite gets you a fully licensed version of Photoshop and After Effects.  However, a downside to Adobe licensing is that when you buy a suite…you have to buy the next suite as an upgrade, you can’t just upgrade the individual apps (like Photoshop).
7. 64-bit: yes, full 64-bit, multi core support.  FCP7 was stuck in the old 32-bit mode, so your awesome 3GHz 12-core Mac with 25GB of ram was basically useless to FCP7 which could only handle one core and 4GB of memory. With Premiere each app can handle all the memory and CPU power you can throw at it, not to mention in the preferences you can allocate how much memory you want each Adobe app to use.
8. New Blue FX. Many event filmmakers use New Blue FX plug-ins.  The installer loads the Premiere version along with the FCP version, so all of those tools will carry over just fine.  On another note, Magic Bullet products are also mostly supported by Premiere, although I can’t speak for those because I really don’t use them.
9. This is both a pro and con… Plural Eyes still works with Premiere!  Of course you have to buy a separate license, but it does still work.  Its more complicated with Premiere, because you have to export your timeline as a Final Cut XML sequence, open that XML in pluraleyes, do the sync, re-import the new synced xml file back into premiere. This puts the entire sequence into a new bin inside of Premiere, so all of your clips get duplicated but it’s really not a big deal.  The results work the same.
10. Adobe Audition With Premiere suite CS5.5 (as opposed to CS 5.0) Adobe brought back Adobe Audition and got rid of Soundbooth.  Adobe Audition is an excellent piece of software, and I use it mostly to sweeten speaking parts, and to export the entire synced ceremony sequence audio (from Plural Eyes) into an audition multitrack sequence, where I have full control over each clip, can easily keyframe audio, etc.
11. The titling software in Premiere is 1,000,000,000 better than FCP, by far. Ed. Note: In Nick’s humble opinion
12. Keyframes in a clip are much, much more powerful and much easier to use in Premiere.

The Cons:

1. Keyboard shortcuts.  Here’s a disclaimer, you can go into the preferences and instantly choose a preset for FCP keyboard shortcuts. However, I like to stick with the defaults so you can walk to any Premiere machine and start using it.  Learning the new shortcuts was a bit of a pain, but after a few months of working with them, its 2nd nature to me now.
2. No color markers.  This is a big gripe for me… FCP7 supported color markers which was AWESOME, because I could set my sequence markers to different colors to represent different editing cues or whatever, but you just don’t get these in Premiere, which is a big let down for me.  Maybe one day…
3. Join through edit. I used this a lot in FCP7, but many have not.  Lets say you grab the razor tool and slice a clip on your timeline right down the middle to do an L or J edit or something.  FCP7 puts little red markers to show a match frame edit, and to re-join this edit you can just right click and say “join through edit” to put the clip back like you never used the razor tool, which is very, very useful.  No such thing in Premiere, or at least not that I’ve found.
4. No Compressor.  If you’re switching from FCP7 this isn’t really an issue because you can still use Compressor–or just buy the new one from the app store for $50.  In my opinion, the biggest advantages with Compressor are the built in presets for iPhone, iPad and other Apple products. It makes it incredibly simple to render a clip for a couple of their wedding for their iPad.  With Premiere, this is possible, but the built in presets don’t include any Apple products so you’ll have to research these and build your own preset.  Compressor profiles are also much easier to use and setup, but you can create custom profiles with Premiere just fine, its just a little more difficult.
5. No Coremelt Lock & Load plug-in. One of my favorite plug-ins for FCP was Coremelt’s Lock & Load, a wonderful clip stabilizer, but they don’t make a Premiere version.  There is an After Effects version, but I couldn’t get their trial version to work with the After Effects 5.5 that came with my production suite. I asked them about adding Premiere support but never got a response.  With that being said, Adobe has included a warp stabilizer with After Effects that works really, really well but Core Melt’s Lock & Load was much faster and easier to use.
6. No Histogram view in Premiere. You still have waveforms and vectorscopes, but I find the histogram a much better representation of the overall image and I can’t find this anywhere in Premiere.  That being said, I have learned to live without it.
7. 3-Way Color Corrector.  Honestly, it’s better in FCP7.  I don’t really use this much in Premiere now because I find it more difficult to tune in my colors, while in FCP7 I could easily fix a white balance issue, or tone down the greens from fluorescent lights, it was my go-to color filter.  In Premiere I have to play with it a LOT more, and sometimes it never comes out just right.  I’m sure with some training I may enjoy it, but eh… not a showstopper.

My workflow really hasn’t changed much with Premiere.  I loaded the Compressor Quartermaster tools from the Final Cut Studio install DVD, which includes the ProRes codec so I can still use it for encoding (with MPEG Streamclip, or even with Premiere).  I still take all of my DSLR clips and encode them to ProRes because it performs better when editing, although its really not necessary with Premiere, I just find it quicker when skimming clips for an edit.

Here’s my project workflow:

1. Create a disk image of each CF/SD card for backup using Apple Disk Utility.  These get stored on external hard drives, and I always have 2 copies of each disk image for a project, and 3 copies when I am still working on a project. Paranoid much?
2. Import clips from CF/SD cards for editing; all I do is copy these into a folder on my working hard drive.
3. Convert all DSLR clips to ProRes LT using MPEG Streamclip, then delete the original DSLR clips I copied in step 2.
4. Import ProRes media and audio WAV files (from Tascam, Zoom, etc) into Premiere, and organize into bins for editing.
5. When editing is complete, export final sequence to a ProRes master file (I made a custom preset with premiere for this).
6. Take that master ProRes file into Encore DVD for delivery.
7. When finished with DVD and/or Blu-Ray, export as .iso file
8. Burn the .iso file using Apple Disk Utility

The benefit of always having that prores master is now you can re-encode that master file to anything you require… whether your client wants a Blu-Ray upgrade, or an iPhone/iPad version, whatever they need.  The benefit of making the .iso file is now you have a standard master file you can use to make duplicate copies, or send off to a duplication house to have duplicated.  These master files are easy to store and backup too.

Final thoughts? If you’re going to switch, better do it during a slow month or two, because it will take some time to pick up regardless of the similarities.  Through all of the frustrations I had when first using Premiere, I haven’t once gone back to FCP7.

Joanna Banks-Morgan

Joanna Banks-Morgan of Diva Productions has spent most of her 43 years in newsrooms or on sets. The daughter of a journalist and an actor, she was bitten by the producing bug early. She attended Cardiff University’s Journalism, Film, and Television program in Wales and started her career in 1992 with British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Before creating Diva Productions in 2007 with husband/business partner Robert Banks-Morgan, Joanna worked for CBS 42 KEYE in Austin, Texas where she also attended St. Edward’s University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Communications.

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I grew up in the south and, to be honest, had never been to a Jewish wedding before we filmed our first one in 2008. They’re wonderfully rich with tradition and meaning, but there are definitely a few things you need to know before you film one.

1. The bride stands on the right and the groom stands on the left. Be ready for that and change your camera placement accordingly. There would be nothing worse then setting up pre-ceremony and realizing once the bride comes down the aisle you are in the wrong position.

2. Both parents walk the bride and groom down the aisle. It’s not something for which you should have to change your shooting style, but it’s good to be aware of it and ready to get the shot of the three of them walking arm in arm.

3. There’s going to be a chuppah.  We shoot a lot of beach weddings and many of them are under a canopy, but if you are used to shooting in churches, be aware you may need to adjust your camera placement because the posts can potentially block your shot.

4. A traditional Jewish wedding is full of meaningful rituals, symbolizing the beauty of the relationship of husband and wife, as well as their obligations to each other and to the Jewish people. Most commonly there are the seven blessings and the signing of the ketubah (the marriage contract). What we’ve found in the past with the seven blessings is that sometimes they are not read by the rabbi, but by a family member, meaning, you’re going to need to know about this ahead of time about this so you have the right people mic’d.

5. These are not short ceremonies. Much of the ceremony will be conducted in Hebrew and then repeated in English, and I have yet to witness a Jewish ceremony in which the Rabbi doesn’t personalize the ceremony for the bride and groom. Often the Rabbi will share their love story. It makes wonderful audio, but they do tend to run on the long, so have plenty of cards and batteries ready on hand.

6. At the end of a Jewish ceremony the groom will break a glass by stomping on it and everyone will shout “Mozel tov!” Great video and great audio, but what you need to plan in advance is “the kiss” because it will happen very quickly after the breaking of the glass. What we do is “call the shot” – one camera is on the foot stomp, one is on the kiss, and, if we have a third shooter with us, one is on the guests.

7. Many Jewish weddings take place after true sunset, so be sure to work with the event planner to ensure there will be enough light for you to film.

Denise + Jonnie hold on while their family and friends sing "Hava Nagila." Photo provided by GwyneMark Photography

In the spirit of In[Focus] and the “What you need to know…” series I reached out to other event filmmakers for guidance on this topic because I realized that the information above and in the videolog, really only covers modern Jewish weddings. It only took one brief Facebook chat with Detti Siklos of BDS Films, and I decided I would never approach a Rabbi in the same way again! I’ve always made the assumption that the Rabbi’s we’ve worked with were fairly modern, but Detti pointed out to me that in Orthodox Judaism a woman should not touch any man other than her husband, so that by trying to mic the Rabbi myself, I may unintentionally cause offense. And, if y’all know me at all, you know being in any way disrespectful to a man of God, would totally mortify me!

We approached a few folks who regularly film Jewish ceremonies about what advice they had to offer for someone shooting their first Jewish wedding, and here’s what they had to say:

David Robin, David Robin Films

Know the traditions and customs, as well as understanding the difference between Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Judaism. Here are the highlights. Detti is going to go into Orthodox traditions more deeply later in the article.

• Reform Judaism – More progressive, free thinking Jews. Generally this is a more relaxed Ceremony’s which may include a few traditions. Joanna’s videolog was a good example of Reform Judaism.
• Conservative Judaism – Probably the largest and, possibly, most conflicted group. Many different explanations and justifications for traditions that some do and some don’t, so it’s open to many interpretations. Events can range from easy going to downright stressful depending on the Rabbi, Cantor, family and Vendors involved.
• Orthodox Judaism – Very traditional, and the key thing you need to know is that the men and women are mostly separated, and do not interact very much with one another.

A few Customs and Traditions – All three groups may do some, if not all of these customs and traditions. It really depends on the family.

Ketubah Signing – The ketubah is a Jewish marriage contract, which spells out a husband’s obligations to his wife. It is signed prior to the ceremony with close friends and family as witnesses. It is read under the Chuppah by the Rabbi.

Bedeken – Veiling the Bride Blessing the Groom (mostly done at Conservative and Orthodox weddings). At some weddings, prior to the ceremony, just before he sets off the veil the bride, the groom is blessed by his parents and others such as his rabbi, teachers, friends and relatives. Then in a processional goes to the bride (who is having her own mini reception) and veils her. He does this so he can check that he is getting the right bride, as in biblical times some fathers would pass off the older uglier sister.

Chuppah – This is the marriage canopy, and the ceremony may be officiated by both a Rabbi and a Cantor. The Cantor is generally the dude that sings. There are different blessings conducted under the Chuppah. Blessing over the wine & the Seven Blessings. The Seven Blessings are a key part of a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. The blessings are adapted from ancient rabbinic teachings, beginning with the blessing over the wine and ending with a communal expression of joy. In many ceremonies the prayers are read or chanted in both Hebrew and English. There are also numerous modern English variations on the blessings. Many couples also ask friends or relatives to read some or all of the blessings, or may ask all the guests in attendance to read the blessings from a wedding program. Some couples create their own blessings, or ask honored guests to create their own.

Vows and rings are generally done similar to other weddings.

Prior to the recessional the Groom breaks a glass with his foot. There are many explanations for this.

Yichud (Orthodox only) – Symbolizes the bride and groom sealing the deal (so to speak). They have a private moment behind closed doors. This takes place right after the recessional.

Hora – Jewish chair dance. Can run from from 5 mins to 45 mins. The more religious the longer it goes, and the crazier it can become. The B&G go up in chairs.

Blessing – Over the wine and food prior to eating. Called Motzi.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Daniel Jankovic, Ahava Films

If you are shooting your first Jewish wedding, my best advice would be to do your homework and learn about all the various rituals so that you will be ready when they occur.  Jewish weddings are full of meaningful rituals which sometimes happen without notice. 

Before the ceremony even begins, there are pre-ceremony rituals that are key elements of a Jewish wedding film – the veiling of the bride, the signing of the Ketuba (the Jewish marriage contract), and the breaking of the plate by the mothers of the bride and groom.  For the ceremony itself, it is extremely helpful to know when the bride and groom will drink the wine, how the ring(s) will be exchanged, and when to expect the breaking of the glass. 

In Orthodox weddings, in addition to the Rabbi, two witnesses are present during the ring exchange which creates a big challenge to obtain a clean shot.  If you are familiar with this ritual, you will have a good spot staked out for one of the most important shots of the ceremony. 

Last, but not least, when it comes to the reception, make sure you are ready for the hora and for chairs being lifted high above you.  I find it extremely helpful to bring a ladder so I can have a clean overhead shot during the hora.  Hope this helps!  Happy Shooting.

Detti Siklos, BDS Films

The day of the wedding is a very spiritual moment for the bride and groom. According to the Torah the bride and groom’s soul was one in heaven before entering the world. So at the wedding day the two half souls will unite again and become one. With an Orthodox ceremony, men and women are completely separated, so you will always need at least two cinematographers on site.

On the wedding day they are both preparing themselves for this heavenly uniting spirituality and physically. They are both saying as many Psalms as they can. They are praying for the heavenly blessing and hoping that they have truly found their other half! This is nice to film as they are flipping through the book of psalms.

Since the bride and groom don’t talk to each other until the bedeken (when the groom covers the bride’s face with a veil) a friend or family member is the contact person between them. I always start filming the bride’s preparation first. This way I know who the contact person is and she can let me know how is the groom’s preparation is going.

There is a very strict law in Judaism that everyone needs to know before going on location to film an orthodox Jewish wedding: Men and women are not allowed to touch and mix with each other unless they are family members. So don’t be offended if there are no handshakes from members of the opposite sex. As a female, I can’t touch the groom, his male family members, or his friends (who are usually males). I have to be careful to avoid any kind of a body touching. This is all done out of a deep respect for his own wife or future wife, and also for the respect of my own husband.

Always ask before you enter a room or if you feel the need to touch the clothing on a member of the opposite sex. It’s best just to keep a female shooter with the bride and a male shooter with the groom.

As a female cinematographer I feel it’s a privilege to be able to stay with the bride as she is getting dressed. According the Jewish law a female has to wear clothing that reaches to under her knee’s, beyond her elbows and up to her neckline, so don’t even bother trying to capture moments where these body parts are not covered. Men are not allowed to look at the body parts that are usually covered. So, if you are a male cinematographer you will probably be sent out of the room until she is completely dressed. Women can stay and try to film it in the best modest way.

The kabbalas panim: this is the time when the bride is seated onto her beautiful chair “throne” by her mother and future mother in law. On this day the bride is on a very high spiritual level and everyone comes and greets her as a queen asking for blessings from her. I try to look out for moments where she is closing her eyes, holding a guest’s hands, and giving a blessing coming from her heart!

Somewhere in a separate room the men hold the TISH where they are singing, celebrating the groom. The Rabbi explains what is written in the ketuba (wedding contract) and what are the obligations of the groom. Some friends may also share a Torah teaching, so you will have to know who to mic up ahead of time. It’s best if a male cinematographer mic’s up the Rabbi. If I’m on my own, I can’t touch the Rabbi or the friend’s clothing so I have to hand the mic to them and then just tell them where to clip it.

There are always two witnesses at the wedding who are signing the ketubah and who stay close to the couple from this moment until the end of the ceremony. They basically have to witness everything, so even under the chuppah they are standing next to them. Filming can be tricky because I have to squeeze myself between them to be able to film the ring, etc…(very different from other weddings where you can use zoom lenses)!

After signing the ketubah and other papers at the tish the mothers come in. A male reads the ketuba aloud (you may want to mic him) and as he is finishing it, the mothers break a plate. It’s symbolic of the couple –the two souls that should never be separated again from one other.

Bedeken: The mothers go back to the bride. The groom is taken by his father and father in-law to the bride to see his bride for the first time. He covers her face with a veil. The two fathers are giving their blessings by placing their hands above the brides head (the father can touch her head the father in law just places them above). This is a very emotional moment and often the bride and groom may weep, so be ready for the emotion and the reaction shots. After the men leave the bride removes all of her jewelry as a sign that she brings only her real self into the marriage, that he is expecting her as she is, and not because of what she has.

Chuppah: The groom is praying and asking for blessings under the chuppah until his bride arrives. The bride will follow by being carried by the mothers at her sides. Some couples follow the custom that as the bride gets closer to the chuppah the groom comes out of the chuppah and gets the bride from the mothers. Others stay and wait. The bride and the mothers will circle around the groom seven times while they are both praying. You will see their mouths moving because according the Jewish laws we are not praying inside, we have to say the words out loud.

Under the chuppah it’s best to stay close to the couple (I know this is very different from other weddings) otherwise you might miss the ring shot or as he is giving the ketuba (wedding contract) to the bride. The witnesses have to watch this too and they will always stay next to the couple. It’s a big crowd under the chuppah and the guests can barely see anything!

Yichud: Finally, the couple goes into the yichud room. This is the very first time when it’s only the two of them together behind closed doors. They will eat and drink (don’t forget, they were fasting the whole day). Before they enter the room they both have to step over a spoon which is placed in front of the door. It’s a nice shot to capture as they walk over it. As soon as they are in the room, the two witnesses are make sure that nobody else is in the room, then they quickly leave and stand guard outside ensuring no one interrupts the couple.

{Thanks so much to the event filmmakers who contributed to this article – Detti, Daniel and David! Also a big thanks goes to Michele Schwartz of the Modern Jewish Wedding blog for taking the time to confirm and correct my understanding about some of the Jewish wedding traditions. If you film any GREAT modern Jewish weddings, be sure to send them over to her to feature on the blog!}

Joanna Banks-Morgan

Joanna Banks-Morgan of Diva Productions has spent most of her 43 years in newsrooms or on sets. The daughter of a journalist and an actor, she was bitten by the producing bug early. She attended Cardiff University’s Journalism, Film, and Television program in Wales and started her career in 1992 with British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Before creating Diva Productions in 2007 with husband/business partner Robert Banks-Morgan, Joanna worked for CBS 42 KEYE in Austin, Texas where she also attended St. Edward’s University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Communications.

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