Sep. 13th....rain, cold, and a wild bunch

So, I scheduled a wedding with a young couple about a month ago. She was really into having some early coverage starting in the early morning, so I was excited to really push the envelope with her.

I'd made a decision to really be more aggressive with my shooting this time around, taking a much larger level of control. I wanted more interraction, more comfort with the family, more pre-ceremony...more, more, more. So, that was the plan I explained to my partner, that I wanted to really push the boundaries with these people.

My partner kind of led me to be more reserved coming into this. He said on his wedding day, he hated that his videographer talked to him. I thought that was strange, but hey, he had all the wedding experience. Well, after some weddings, I'm just not that guy. I like to talk, like to interract, like to insert humor, and really get the inside. I don't like the video's that appear to be the videographer standing a mile out using zoom...I like to be the guy all up in the mix. So.....I did it...full bore!

Early morning I got to the brides mothers house, and at the rehearsal I had already worked the brides mother and father a bit, so there was already some comfort. I came in the house, began getting some closeups, getting some hair fixing coverage, getting some funny mom stuff. We then went to the mall for makeup...it was kind of impersonal, but I made the best of it....we'll see in post. I was feeling stiff and I decided to kick it into gear.

From there we returned to the house and we got some various things of the bride, getting dressed, laughing with the family, interviewing arriving bridesmaids with quick little 2-3 min deals. I kept pushing the father to do a little dance for the camera (he's a camera shy one) and he was very "I don't like no camera". Well, inadvertently it got some bridesmaids to start dancing in the kitchen with him....good stuff! I told the dad...I'll get you sometime today. Got alot of laughs, and alot of comfort level early, and that's really what I wanted. I wanted these people to be more receptive to the camera, and more comfortable with me, and by noon I was about to get a date from a bridesmaid, so it was workin!

We head to the church ahead of the limo, and down comes the rain! Get to the church, and the guy with the lock to the soundsystem decides he isn't coming...so out goes the marantz hookup to the system. So, we mic a speaker and feed it to the marantz, and we mic the groom....that's all we got. It's an old traditional catholic church....low tech, and the VERY old school catholic priest is all about business. He doesn't wear a mic, and he has a DEEP projecting voice. He even refuses to turn on the lights until 10 minutes before the ceremony because he insists it will get too hot (no a/c).

So, already we've had some obstacles....no lights, no in church stuff (thank god I shot some at the rehearsal which the photog didn't show up to...HAHAHA!), and we've got no sound system access.

Everyone arrives, and before we know it we're rollin. We get two positions, and the priest is very strict he doesn't want us moving from where we are. We make the best of it, use alot of communication via wireless to vary the shots and give some variety in edit....I feel it goes well.

At communion I do a tape change and use my quick change to go from tripod to glidecam (no more rebalancing YAY!!!), then I glide right in front of them all the way down the isle on the way out of the church. The rain slows down, and we get some quick outside stuff, but it's off to the photo location.

The limo driver goes to the wrong location per the photographer, but we deploy anyway and the photog starts shooting. She takes ohhh, about 3 minutes of photos and says "I'm done!". I think ahhh, ok. Limo driver is shocked we are right back in the bus, but off we go to the reception. I'm on the bus and these people are gearing up. I thought they could be some wild ones, and I'm getting a feeling I was right.

By the time we arrive at the reception they're lit a bit and ready to party. I offload and get with my partner to get the dj setup tapped by the marantz. He goes in to do that, and I hold up the wedding party for a couple minutes to allow us to get set up. Well, the DJ comes along and says "I don't want my stuff messed with. You can't connect anything to my system." So, once again, no audio the easy way. My partner starts fussing and I'm like "figure it out!" He puts a mic by a speaker and we get moving.

Dinner goes through....no seat for us, no food for us. We were led to believe we'd be fed, and having been working since 8am...yeah, we're a bit jacked. This affects my attitude a tad, and I'm like well, I'm lightin this place up now. At the same time, we're making friends with the bartenders and they grab us some food where we later hang with the bartenders and eat/drink.

The dancing begins, I'm all up in the mix as usual. My partner is finally getting some feel and he's getting more video I notice. With him covering dancing I decide I want interviews, so I put the Azden on my cam, and use the handheld mic. I just start sitting at peoples tables and stick the mic at them. I say "this is the rules, Nate and Danielle wanna hear what you have to say", or I just sit and look at them...lol. A couple tables laughed, a couple younger girls/kids ran. It starts to be a funny thing with a few of the younger girls where I slowly sneak up with the camera and it really led to some funny footage. I start causing a stir and I end up with like 30 people around me at one point talking into the mic, screaming into the camera....like 50 year old guys! One kid is yelling "dad your so embarrasing" and he starts dancing like a goofball...all while I'm instigating more and more. I've got a ton of people laughin...it was crazy!

So, I move on...back to some dancing. The groom sister is one of those touchy feely drinkers and I feel a hand across my back and turn to see her say she wants to say something on cam. So, I hand her the mic, she says "hey, good luck, I love you guys, hope it lasts at least 5 years....PEACE!" I sense her wildness and say, "hey you should go dance". Well, I uncap a moment here! She starts dancing with two other girls (wearing somewhat of a sundress) and looks at the camera, turns, and pulls her entire dress above her waist exposing EVERYTHING from the waist down...LOL. I about lose it....about 30 people behind me are screaming...I hear the Mom scream "no, no you don't!"

I'm lookin at the ceiling thinking "did that just happen...lol" So, I turn and look at all of them and say "EDIT!"....they all laugh in relief and I move on quick...haha. At this point I see police outside and off I go. I go outside to see some police scolding some people in the wedding party and some other guys. The police leave and bear pitcher chugging begins...the groom is screaming "this'll be the greatest wedding video of all time!!!" and then they offer me some bud for doing such a fine job. I explain I'm not into it and get back inside...haha.

So, back inside the brides mom and her sister track me down. Great people, all funny.... The mom is telling her sister how at the house earlier in the day I asked how good of an actress she was. She explained that I wanted her to "kick me out" of the house on the camera. I decided to make a transition from their house to the church location by having the mom say "alright Damian, you've gotten alot of video and I think it's time you leave"...I say "do I have to?"...she says "yes, you really need to get out now!" then I quick sweep the camera sideways to initiate the transition. That's a compressed version, but it turned out well I think. Anyway, she's telling her sister about all this and her sister is laughing making her mascara run....well, I'm videoing all this (red light disabled). Oh the outtakes I'll have for my friends to laugh at at my birthday party next year!

We wrap up the night at 10pm and pack our stuff. Some of the bridal party has invited us to the hotel to party, and the hairdresser of the bride has offered me alot more than that. My partner is married though and wants to go home, and well....we're the VIDEOGRAPHERS...we can't do that!

So, in hindsight I think, "well my plan worked." I wanted to really gain a level of comfort and I did. The wedding was a BLAST. I really feel I brought out alot in alot of people. The bride emailed me the next day and said everyone wanted to know how to get copies of the video. So, I think this'll be the style I stick with. It was more work, and I really had to push the limits of my personality, but people really responded to it. This was a younger wedding crowd, and granted I'd be more reserved with older folks, but it really seemed to pay off.

I have another wedding in edit now, but I have to admit, I can't WAIT to view some of this footage. I've got some CRAZY stuff on camera that I didn't really mention. The wedding hall is in a really nice area, and I can imagine they were glad this one was over!

In the end, I suppose the point of this writeup was that I think I really like to push the envelope. I know this style won't work for all, but I explored my "all out" mode of NOT being the fly on the wall, but being all up in the mix entirely. I know some people want less of this, but some may want this type of bolder coverage, and it was a good experience I must say. I knew this would be fun...haha!

I think I'm gonna work with vimeo on getting stuff loaded online. They seem to be the up and coming better version of youtube. I wanna get some stuff online!