Wedding videos and videography generally keep me pretty busy here in Olympia. Every once in a while I get to use my video production chops to tackle other projects, like video biographies, corporate business profiles, and one of my favorites – Music Videos.
The band VerleeRose and I recently created a video. The girls are out of Seattle, they came down to Olympia one sunny Saturday and we shot this in about 3 hours. Everyone is really happy with the way it turned out, myself included! I love the video! I would surely like to do more of this kind of stuff, and I’m looking forward to working with VerleeRose again.
There are two versions of the video here, one version with no added FX or filters, and the second “Dreamy” cut as I like to call it is inundated with filters. I really prefer the look of the “Dreamy” edit. Youtube’s services have come a long way recently. I recommend clicking the “HQ” option to watch the video in High Quality. Its worth it.
If I were going to pick my least favorite part of being a videographer in Olympia, it would be that most of the wedding videos and production work I do take me to Seattle. Well, it actually doesn’t bother me that much. It’s only an hour away, and I love what I do. Some people make longer commutes every day, so I really can’t complain. Though I would truly love to get more gigs in Olympia.
Most recently in the wedding videography realm of Kinetic Vision Media is the wedding of Randy and Athena. This is the second Greek Orthodox wedding I’ve shot, the first being for Basil at being MEdia. I’m always really impressed at setting foot in the Orthodox churches, and witnessing the orthodox ceremony, realizing that I’m watching pre-Catholic traditions that have remained unchanged for… oh, well, you know, a couple thousand years. Give or take.
Even more interesting to me was what happened after the ceremony, during the reception. The dancing was crazy and fun! Here I saw dancing to a live greek band that played traditional greek songs. The interesting thing about the dancing, is I got the impression it was even older than the Orthodoxy of their church. Certain elements of the dance seemed almost, dare I say… Dionysian. It was awesome to see the blending of different elements of their culture over thousands of years, all compiled into a days wedding festivity. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I thank Randy and Athena for the opportunity to document their wedding.
Sometimes this video production gig in Olympia keeps me so busy I don’t have time to post here as often as I’d like. Wedding videos represent a major tier of the work I do, and my first wedding of 2009 fell on the first day of spring. March 21st, a noteworthy date of significance to me, as I value dates that mark the changing of the seasons. The first day of spring, the first day of my wedding season, my first wedding of 2009, and the first time I’ve shot at two historic locations in Tacoma.
It was a beautiful wedding at Tacoma’s historic Holy Rosary Church. You know, that really big one you can see from I-5, on the hill overlooking the Tacoma Dome? Yeah, it was awesome. It’s pretty old too. Late 1800′s if I’m not mistaken. Finding intact structures that old in this state always impresses me, especially when they are still in operating condition, and still used on a regular basis. Okay, upon researching I find that the church was established in 1891, the current building was constructed in 1920. Still, it’s impressive, especially for a region lacking in old megalithic structures. Check out the video below and you’ll see the impressive exterior before the video follows Levi inside to the still excellent interior. (though I have to admit I didn’t much care for the blue)
Levi and Stephanie had a great wedding and a fun reception. I learned that when people go to Ohio State they sing the song “Sloopy” punctuated with chanting of O-H-I-O!!! Pretty interesting to say the least. The reception was at the historic Landmark Theater in downtown Tacoma, a fascinating building whose decor was riddled with masonic seals, egyptian flying discs, and other symbols of a masonic bearing.
Levi and Stephanie were very happy with their video, and said they would happily refer my services to anyone needing video production work or wedding documentation.
Congratulations Levi and Stephanie, it was great working with you!
It’s kinda how I feel. Still churning out the end of summer editing backlog. Sure doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for this blog, so I figured I would go ahead and get one done while waiting for some footage to render. Mostly I’m just going to post clips of some of the stuff I’ve finished in the past month or so.
Mark and Jennifer’s wedding was great. The setting at a friends house on Henderson inlet was a beautiful location, and the sun gave everything a golden kind of hue that day. It kind of colored everything in a way that looks great, really almost film-like…
Hey Ken!
We just watched the DVD and everything came out sooo good! Thank you so much, you were really able to get a feeling of the day without actually being there.
Mark and Jennifer -
Next is Omayra and James. A little back story -
Quite a while back, little over a year or so, I was starting to get really serious about this videography as a business thing. After producing, directing, writing and editing a TV show for the 8 years I did it, I was determined to make this my living. No one was stopping me but myself.
My calendar wasn’t exactly full. Video Production was still a supplemental portion of my life. I needed to make industry contacts. I needed to network.
Firing off e-mails and phone calls to wedding planners and venues and flower shops and bridal boutiques yielded less than stellar results. Needless to say, there was frustration.
One day I drove past “Omayra’s Bridal Boutiqe” on Capitol, just south of Linwood in Tumwater. I decided to stop in and introduce myself. Things went well, and on September 3rd of this year, I filmed her and James’ wedding.
Here’s the clip -
Omayra loved the video so much that we will be giving DVD’s of the wedding out as promotional material for her and myself at Omayra’s Bridal Boutique!
Next is a couple that met at the University of Washington in an engineering program. Yongjun, Dingding and I met to discuss their wedding videography, and everything moved forward. Yongjun and Dingding are both from China, and their wedding was fantastic. I’m always excited about any opportunity to experience cultures other than my own. Yongjun had requested I film from the front of the church, facing the audience. This is not my usual shooting location, so I was a tad worried about lighting, but overall everything came out great. It was a lot of fun, and another beautiful wedding in Seattle!
Well I think that’s about it for this time. I have quite a few more wedding videos in the edit backlog, a couple of Quinceanera’s to complete, a benefit golf tournament, the Sweet Adelines concert, oh wow. What a workload I’ve shouldered! Yeah, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, but I gotta keep crankin. Churning. Like a factory. A high quality factory of course, as you can see for yourself above!
It’s been a little while since I’ve posted a blog here, since August 19th. Almost a month. Things have been busy!
I’d like to share a few clips of one of the more recent wedding videos I’ve done. Tim and Candice were married July 19th in Edmonds WA. The video is wonderful, I really like it anyways. It surely ranks among my best work, and marks the first implementation of my recently purchased Sennheiser Evolution G2 wireless mics. These things are amazing. I’ll do a post dedicated to them when I get time.
Here is the pre-ceremony montage…
Candice and Tim chose a couple of Jack Johnson songs from their collection to use for two of the montages. I love Jack Johnson’s tunes, it’s hard to find happier more upbeat music. The songs really fit the vibe of Candice and Tim’s wedding. Everyone was so happy!
After the ceremony, this song isn’t Jack, but is equally as awesome in my humble opinion!
There were a lot of shots incorporated into the Highlight Reel that were geared toward the “Documentary” package I plan to start promoting next season. I’ll likely do a blog about that to, time permitting of course!
Here is Candice and Tim’s “Highlight Reel.”
Hearing from clients that they are happy with the work I have done is always a great feeling. Candice had this to say about her video -
“Yes, we received the DVD(s) and I absolutely love it! I am so extremely glad and thankful people were able to talk me into a professional videographer! It is definitely an investment that I will never regret and cherish forever! It scares me to think I was fine to go without a video! I watched them when they first got here with Tim and his parents. Everyone loved the montages and the highlight at the end! The music went perfectly like you said it would and I especially think the part where I was done putting on some lipstick was really neat as the music went “pop” as I smacked my lips! (I think you know what I am talking about).”
Sweet! To quote a famous Hannibal – “I love it when a plan comes together!”
Once again I’d like to offer my congratulations to Tim and Candice! They are great together and I wish them many happy years on whatever roads they travel.
Thanks for reading!
