Wedding Bee Pro

Hey everyone.   I am so thrilled to announce that I will start as  a blogger on Wedding Bee Pro.   Wedding Bee Pro is part of the Wedding Bee wedding blog run by the famous Mrs. Bee and gang.   I am so honored to have been chosen to take part in this.

I want to thank Janie Medley for suggesting that I try it,  as well as Patrick Moreau,   Mrs. Bee and the others for letting me in.

I will begin doing weekly blog entries that will include some of my work.    I will also be featuring the work of other videographers in the industry as well.   My goal is to really help start the discussion of the importance of visual storytelling for weddings.   I want to also encourage participation in the discussion by other vendors as well as brides and grooms.    In the meantime check out WedFACT for some ideas to start the discussion.

When I am done with my time as a blogger there, I hope to come away with a little more understanding about what makes a great wedding film for me as well as for the readers.

Take care.

William

eight families

Where we are. Where we're going.

Happy New Year everyone!

This seems like a good time to take a look at where we are and where we are headed. Here is my attempt at doing that.

In 2008, we saw many exciting changes in wedding film industry. New storytelling styles, quality that is comparable to bigger budget feature films. We also saw the rise of name brand filmmakers like Cloud Nine Creative, Mason Jar Films, Still Motion, Bliss, Velvetine Productions, Elysium, Glen Elliott, and Chris Watson. Way too many more to mention. Check out WEDfact.tv to see some great examples of cutting edge filmmakers. I am also going to keep a section on my blog of filmmakers whose work I admire.

In the rest of the wedding industry, we have seen some really wonderful wedding blogs by some creative and dedicated writers. Some of my favorites were The Brides Cafe, Ritzy Bee, Snippet & Ink, Wedding Bee, and Style Me Pretty. These blogs have proven to be great resources to new brides and grooms.

In 2008, at humanstory we were fortunate to take part in some really amazing events and to help tell some wonderful stories for couples and their families.
In addition, I was able to work with some of my favorite wedding vendors and a lot of great new ones too.

What can we expect from humanstory in 2009?

First, I hope to tell more great stories this year. Judging by the conversations I have had with my new clients and potential clients, it's going to be a great year for wedding and family stories.

Additionally, I am hoping I make humanstory a little greener. I am looking for ways to reduce materials used in marketing, production and post production. I am also looking at ways to use recycled packaging for DVDs and marketing materials. For production I will begin using tapeless formats and LED lighting. It may not amount to too much but I will do what I can in my little corner of the world.   I have to also mention that I was, in part, inspired by Jennifer at Earth Friendly Weddings.

I am going to re-dedicate myself to discovering what is truly important about wedding video to my clients. To create products that is so valuable that they become family heirlooms.
I would like to be a voice in my industry that promotes not only my opinion but also what brides feel is important about wedding film. There are many others in the industry making the same efforts; like my fellow filmmakers, photographers, event planners and wedding bloggers have all played an important role in promoting the importance wedding films. I am so grateful for their efforts.
Along those lines I am going to continue my own education through resources such as Reframe, Wedfact, as well as photography resources and event planning resources.

Wedding video is growing and improving at astonishing rates. I want humanstory to play a role in what I see as a revolution in the industry. In addition to continuing to produce our humanstory wedding and family films, we hope to begin providing support services for videographers and photographers both in production and postproduction. I feel that while we can't be all things to all people, we do have a unique storytelling style that can be combined with the style of other filmmakers in new and compelling ways. Specifically, we are going to focus on post-production fulfillment in our poetic-documentary style. Watch for more details soon.

I am also very happy to welcome Kathy as an account rep. and Melissa as a marketing consultant. Both are really great people who believe in what we are doing. They have already been so helpful.
I also want to thank all of the wonderful shooters, editors and audio engineers that worked with me this year. Their work has really inspired and motivated me.

On a personal note, I hope to find more balance in my family life in 2009. As many of you know, the demands of a business can easily take its toll on your personal life. Maureen, Sydney and Nicolette have been very understanding. I love them dearly.

Thanks to all the couples, families and wedding industry people that helped to make 2008 a great year for me.

Here is to continued growth and happiness in 2009.

The fusion of videography and photography

There have been some new combination still and video cameras that have been released recently. Although they are first generation tools, and therefore less than perfect, they are still creating a buzz in the video and photography world and to a lesser degree, with brides and wedding industry professionals.

Photographers Stephen and Jenn Bebb as well as Robert Evans have started pioneering the process of combining photo and video production that they have called Fusion. Many photographers and videographers seem to be excited about the possible ways this fusion will impact the work that they do.

It could be that change is in the air.
Or, it may be that this is one of those things that everyone has high hopes for and, in the end, turns out not to be all that big after all. Only time will tell.

As we all try and guess how fusion will change the industry here goes my guess:
We will see a lot of photgraphers trying their hand at video and a lot of videographers trying out photography. Some of them will do well with this new discipline, add it or switch over to it completely. Some will find out that they only become mediocre at both when they try to ask too much of themselves.

At first, we may find results that are far from inspiring. We will see some mediocre photographs and also some less than stellar filmmaking. However, there will also be a few artists finding ways to create a new and exciting artform that results from this fusion. These are the artists that I am excited about and will be watching for.

Being a wedding filmaker, It is my hope that both veteran and new storytellers will focus first on telling a compelling story and only then begin to think about style. I have seen my share of sterile music video style montage work that says little or nothing about who the couples really are. I am guessing that over time, couples and families will tire of seeing that kind of video, even if is beautifully filmed. Just like great cinematography does not make a movie with a bad story watchable, a wedding film that has no context will cease to have it's appeal once the novelty wears out.

What does inspire me about this fusion is the possibilty of creating a richer experience and product that has an added value to the bride and groom.
The value might just be the experience they have during production, or it may be a new hybrid product that brings together the best qualities of still and motion imagery. I am hoping for both.

I don't expect that I will nor anyone else will figure out the perfect application of this fusion right away, but I bet it's going to be fun and inspiring to be a part of this process.

It's my hope that if fusion does anything, that it exposes more people to the value of storytelling, so they not only want great storytelling but come to expect it. That's where we'll see the real and lasting change.

Here's to fusion!
Take care.
William

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

First Dance

Ali doesn't do anything half way.  She has high standards for herself.  She is a NICU nurse, a daughter, a sister,  a friend and a wonderfully complex human being. Her emotions are deep and true.  It takes someone thoughtful, intellegent and intuitive to truly see and understnd Ali.  That's where Jonathan comes in.  He gets her and loves everything about her.   

This is a little clip about their first dance.