A while back, a good friend of mine was critiquing my work, and since I take my work personally, some of the points he mentioned hurt like a dagger through the heart.

With his words taken in an open minded way he was asking if I was taking my work down the right path? His criticism stems from the fact that I choose to shoot the unglamorous, and in his opinion, the unelegant sometimes. For example, the fall from my most recent “Holding Hands” video.

I believe that as human beings, we find different things romantic, and we all show our love in different ways. I’ve always taken pride in presenting all the uniqueness in every wedding, and in every couple I take. To me, there is no ONE way to shoot or edit a wedding, there are a myriad of ways, and it is my own limitation as an artist to interpret it in my own limited way, based on my own experiences.

I guess when it comes down to it, having couples that trust me is like finding a mate in a marriage. They take me as who I am, all my quirks, all my flaws and all the beauty as well. Beauty as how I define it. The simple, raw beauty that is in our simple everyday lives.

Increasingly, I find that my work attracts people who feel comfortable with themselves, and know how to love and laugh freely. I’m truly blessed to have been found by many such couples, some of whom have become good friends, and I do hope to continue with many more!

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So Angelina Jolie looks so cool doing the kneeling down move on top
of a moving train, so there are a lot of “bullet time” moments à la
all the Matrix wannabes out there. Popcorn movie trash… true?

False! Thankfully! I wanted to watch this film because director’s
Timbor Bekmambetov’s previous work – the Night Watch series
was a visual feast. But still, I was shocked that this movie blew
my mind away.

First few scenes, the story feels a lot like the Matrix. Man crashing
through the glass window, jumping from building to building… Bullet
time. Stylistic framing. Office drone, Wesley, living a meaningless life.

But the cinematography and sound design was amazing. Very tight
shots for tension. Shaky, tilted shots for disorientation (yes,
TILTED… on purpose! Off topic: I have been criticized for doing
too many tilted shots. Yes, guilty as charged! I don’t know where
I picked up the habit from, some shots actually made sense, but a
lot did not.)

Sound design was superb. At this moment, I can only remember the
sounds of the stapler and the beating of the heart. The sound
engineering involved in the slowing down of action sequences.

The tight editing is also to be commended.

There are so many elements to pick up that I would probably have to
watch it again. I will be keeping a close eye on Timbor Bekmambetov’s
future work. He’s like the Russian answer to Luc Besson!

Did you know I am a great fan of Luc Besson? Now you know!

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To be a mediocre videographer, I just needed to get the basic skills, basic framing, what are close ups, medium shots, and long shots, and how to use a varied assortment to bring the audience through an event. In other words, I just need to be an average cameraman. Technically, I must have to ability to hold still shots, as well as simple panning movements. I would also need to watch out for sounds, making sure I have the levels right, to capture the sounds of the moment.

To be a better videographer, I would have to be able to edit well too. Sensing the flow of events, choosing the best moments. Someone was quoted on the Discovery Channel series American Choppers as saying the team of editors is THE most important element in a reality TV show. I fully agree with that. A good editor can make “sucky” footage good, but good footage, excellent. A good editor needs to have an understanding of music as well, learning how to use sound to tie the whole video together.

To be an excellent videographer, there is a combination of everything, the ability to capture the precious moments of the wedding in a “true” manner, and do even better than that, in a BEAUTIFUL manner. When there are insufficient moments, an excellent videographer is able to work with the subjects to create some sequences.

In other words, to be excellent in what we do, we have to be good:-
Cameramen
Editor
Director
Director of Photography
Sound Engineer

and above all, an Artist, meaning all of the above but at a higher aesthetic level

We have to be able to pull together different genres of audio visual media out there, from movies, to TV dramas, to reality TV. The video is good when it is able to tell a story,
tug at the emotions of the audience,
making people laugh and cry,
feel awe and warmth,
be entertaining,
be beautiful.

I am in awe with the people at the top out there. Christopher and Swee Foong are definitely there in my books. I cannot compare good wedding videographers with any other people in the audio visual (TV, Film, Advertising etc…) industry, in my opinion, wedding videographers are a class of their own.

I never realised how important a tripod was until I started putting it to
test, filming an event.

I used to think that a tripod was for still shooting. (Which was true when
I used it for a still camera.) I neglected, however, the fact that I need it for
movement shots as well.

I learnt the hard way, tripods are made for different purposes.

What is your tripod for?

The three basic movements you need a tripod for are pan, tilt, and pedestal.

Pan – Panning left and right.
Tilt – Tilting up and down.
Pedestal – raising and lowering the pedestal.

How smooth do you need these movements to be? How fast? Different kinds
of heads are made for different usages, so be sure to test it out.

Stiff Head?
I had a serious problem with my old tripod. Panning and tilting wasn’t smooth,
it was jerky and made squeaking noises.

I got around it by extending only one of the three legs into one, and
transforming the tripod into a monopod. Support the camera with your arms
and shoot as you normally do.

Panning and tilting movements are made with the single leg as a pivot. Much
smoother. The downside is that although movements are smoother, you still
need to use your arms, and after half an hour, your arms will still ache, and
muscle fatigue still causes shakiness in your footage.

Heavy Weight
All the above is fine and good, but it didn’t help me. Eventually, I discovered
that I was only prolonging the problem, because the tripod was not made for
the weight of the XM2, with mic and lights. It was just too heavy for it.

The quick release catch snapped in the midst of filming!

So the last tip is to find out the maximum weight the tripod is made for. I have
to shop for a new tripod now, so this is what I have to look out for.