Darren and Charlie’s Highlights, Amberley Castle from Just Imagine Video Productions Ltd

 

Well, I mentioned in the previous post that we were able to predict the weather for Ed and Rachel’s wedding because we had another cameraman at Amberley Castle and here then are the highlights from that wedding set to our new favourite song to edit to!  Hold on, by Michael Buble.     
Just Imagine Video Productions Ltd - Some Things are Worth Remembering

Wedding Photography - Get the best of both worlds!

The Aviator Hotel, Farnborough - Ed and Rachel from Just Imagine Video
It started, again, as a wet miserable day in Frimley where our intrepid bride was getting ready.  Luckily though, we at Just Imagine Video offer a pretty accurate weather service now as well.  Having a cameraman filming a wedding at Amberley Castle at the same time meant that we got a regular update as to what the weather was doing down there, knowing that it was moving North and would soon be with us.  Needless to say, the rain clouds cleared and we had a lovely clear sky day.

Having been married in Weybridge’s beautiful Registry office Ed and Rachel headed off to the Aviator in Farnborough for their reception. Now here’s a venue you don’t see every day. The foyer in this hotel is enough to make your jaw drop and we made good use of it.

Above, is the highlights section of their video.
Enjoy!
Just Imagine Video Productions Ltd - Some Things are Worth Remembering

Wedding Photography - Get the best of both worlds! 

Nicky and Steve - November 14th 2009 from Just ImagineGo to our Main Site for pricing information and online demos

As promised, the first of our posts from 2009. This is Nicky and Steve’s “Day in Reflection” montage. It sits at the end of their DVD as a summary of everything that has gone before. It starts with a short snippet of their wedding in Singapore, which by the way, was not filmed by us!

 Nicky and Stephen had already been married 4 weeks before in Singapore and came over to have a blessing at Nicky’s old church St Saviour’s in Guildford.
 After a miserable and wet morning, the glorious warm glow of the afternoon winter sun appeared just as the couple were coming out to leave for the reception and it stayed dry for the rest of the day! Whoohoo!    Nicky had prepared several surprises for Steve throughout the day and opted for a two camera wedding video so that she could get the best coverage of Steve’s reactions.  
I don’t know why, but you’d think that 2 cameras would mean less work on the day, but it is a seriously tiring day having to constantly think about two cameras and how it will all work in the edit!  The reception was at Cherkley Court near Leatherhead.
 At one stage you’ll see that we ventured out onto the balcony just as the sun was setting, pouring this honey coloured sunlight onto the couple.   We took them for a quick walk in the grounds to get some shots of just the two of them outside before they went in for dinner.  Five minutes alone with the couple is all we need and it is always so worth it! Enjoy it! and feel free to leave comments.

Just Imagine Video Productions Ltd - Some Things are Worth Remembering

Wedding Photography - Get the best of both worlds!

Well, it finally feels as if I might have a bit of time to update this blog which was started in June this year and hasn’t been updated since!
 After a flurry of enquiries early in 2009 everything came grinding to a slow trickle, but I’m happy to say that last minute bookings (one only 2 days before the date itself!) has meant that we have achieved almost the same number of bookings as we had last year.  In a year where job losses were rife and small businesses were closing down here, there and everywhere, we are grateful to all our clients that they decided to get their weddings covered. Once again I’m pleased to say that we have had glowing feedback from every single one of the couples we have filmed and we thank them for taking the time to write back to us and that they chose to trust us with their big day memories!  

As for next year;  we have more advanced bookings for 2010 than we have ever had at this time of the year filling up almost half the year already!  I’ll be posting some clips from a selection of 2009 weddings shortly so that you can see what we’ve been up to.This year also saw the introduction of Touchstone Photography.  The combined package of video and photography together has proved more popular than we anticipated and we already have several combined packages booked for 2010. <The idea that one company handles everything in terms of physical memories of the day is obviously an appealing one to our clients and we will be working hard to make sure we continue to offer unique services to our clients based solely on the high standards that we hold ourselves to and which have served us so well over the last 6 years.More on the combined package later….Time to get back to the editing suite. . . . .

I was going to write a big long article with a little bit of history of the wedding video thrown in but then I realised that you’re busy, you have a wedding to plan and you don’t have time for me to wax lyrical about the virtues of having your day recorded on film. No, you want the bottom line.

Is it worth it?
Is it intrusive?
Isn’t it just going to be a cheese fest!?
My fiancé doesn’t want a camera in his face and that’s that!You need those answers, but can you trust a wedding videographer to give it to you straight? Well yes you can, but better yet you want someone who’s been through it. Someone who’s felt your doubt, your increasing frustration at the cheese you have so far been exposed to. Someone who fought the tide of mounting opposition and came out the other end with a happy story to tell. You want Katie.

I received this letter from Katie last year which I have up on my website and for me it illustrates what I believe your fears and doubts are right now. It starts with our plucky bride optimistically fighting against the odds….

Dear Greg,When I started researching videographers I must admit I was not hopeful. My photographer, cursed with too many previous bad experiences, advised against it. My father thought it was a waste of time and money. My fiancée was vehemently opposed to the very idea. Trawling through several demo DVD’s all I could see was evidence of overly orchestrated, imposing, time-consuming directors producing films that were incredibly naff. There was no way that Roger or our guests would put up with it, and I knew it would spoil the day.

And then I saw your demo.

I loved the quirky editing and Roger recognised an old colleague. One quick phone call to Max and Roger decided it might just be worth a go.A further complicating factor was that, having persuaded Roger that a video might be nice, he decided to have an opinion on what it would look like. My dreams of Grace Kelly romance and black and white Hollywood movie were somewhat at odds with his vision of Quentin Tarantino hip and stereophonics MTV video.< p>

Forward to our wedding day and it was obvious from the very start that all would be well. I mean this in the best way possible, but I can honestly say that I cannot recall you filming at all. You could not have been more inconspicuous and, having since spoke to Roger, my parents and some guests, it is clear that no one noticed being filmed or felt ill at ease at any point.

All well and good on the day, but of course my conclusion was that, since you had not really filmed anyone, my video was going to be rather short. Never mind, I loved my photographs and the video was only going to be a nice extra if it worked out.And then we watched our film.I do not know how you pulled it off.

How did you manage to capture every single important moment, to be in three places at once? How did you combine the singer entertaining our guests as well as our behind the scenes register signing? How did you know the exact moment my parents would be walking in the rain, hand in hand, smiling at each other when you were also busy filming the reception, in it’s best light AND capturing a whole piece of our quartet’s music AND filming all the guests. Whilst all this was keeping you busy, how did you find us in the garden, taking a walk? How on earth did you know when Roger would take my hand? How did you know where to stand to catch our faces breaking into laughter?Our film is more than I could ever have hoped for. I was incredibly happy on the day itself, but I am also sensible enough to know that, in real time, the day was not the magical Hollywood dream for everyone else that I, as an excited bride, experienced in my own head. But somehow you managed to put on screen the day as I saw it. You’re a magician.

To Roger, who unlike me doesn’t see life as moonlight and roses, is not swayed by lingering kisses and slow motion.Is he happy?
My word, yes he is!
For a start, you’ve made him look like a movie star. You’ve found the moments where his eyes convey happiness and he’s relaxed. You’ve also brought his dream to life - his big rugby entrance and his favourite moment of our wedding. That scene is incredible. We both love it!

Roger and I are just about as happy as we could ever be. And I know that, in future squabbles, when the daily grind makes us forget our vows, watching this film will remind us of what we have. And when the children finally come, you can bet we’ll be bringing out the wedding DVD to torment them with our love story. Much cooler than his wife, Roger would have put it more succinctly but the sentiment would be the same!

I saw Katie at a wedding a few weeks ago and she remarked at how Roger – the Rugby playing mans’ man – often ‘forgets’ that the wedding is in the DVD player when friends come around and he makes a point to play it to them (just because it’s in there). She said he is so proud of it. According to Katie, for a man of little words, this is a great compliment.For me, it proves that wedding videography is something that is worth more than a cursory glance. It is not something that should be tagged on to the end of an already over-stretched budget. It is increasingly becoming a service that is of equal importance to photography.

OK, here come the virtues of the wedding video…You’ve all read articles written on company websites about the virtues of the wedding video. Some of you have read magazines giving you a 20-point checklist on how to choose your videographer. I only have one piece of advice and it’s at the bottom of the page. If you want a bit of background to what you might expect from a professional videographer then read on….

When did this all start anyway?Wedding Videography is not a new concept. It has its’ roots before the invention of the modern camcorder. The cameras though were limited by short film reels and expensive processing, not to mention the fact that a lot of them could not record sound.

With the advent of first consumer camcorders in the 1980’s wedding Videography for the masses began to take shape. It began in the form of cumbersome cameras which required bright external lights to get a half decent picture which destroyed the ambience that the Bride and Groom had spent months cultivating. It was a huge distraction and people felt understandably under scrutiny whenever the monster camera and its’ lights were pointed in their direction.