What inspired you to start your business?
We were inspired to offer professional videography by the filming of family and friends weddings over a number of years. One of our friends suggested we took it up professionally as she was delighted with her wedding video and some video footage we had taken during our honeymoon. It was all Barry’s doing, up until a few years ago I had never touched a video camera! It seemed a logical step to take and buy the cameras following Barry’s redundancy from his job of 15 years. From that moment on we have worked hard to get to where we are today. I myself am a law graduate and have achieved Associate membership with the Institute of Videographers where I undertook exams in camera craft. Even now I still continue to learn about videography to improve my skills and own development. I fell into filming accidentally and have never looked back; I love it and put my heart and soul into what I do.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Apart from the filming side of it and the love of weddings, we really enjoy interacting with clients beforehand and on the day. Barry thoroughly enjoys the editing side putting the DVD together to tell the story from start to finish.
Barry is a super editor and I love what he produces. I also like the fact that I can give input during the editing process adding a little feminine flare as men can’t think of everything!
What has been the best moment of your business?
This is quite a difficult one to answer as every weekend we get to film a wedding it still fills us with excitement. The best bit for us once the editing has been completed is when you have given the couple their finished DVD for them to watch and you get the text, email or phone call saying it’s brilliant, they loved it and it made the bride cry! When your DVD makes the bride cry (for all the right reasons) that’s when you know you’ve done an excellent job! It’s the appreciation on the day and on completion where the job satisfaction plays a huge part in loving what we do. When we’ve finished filming and say goodbye to the bride and groom, it’s so lovely to hear, “you’ve done a great job, didn’t know you were there”, “wow you’ve both been great, and you’ve worked so hard, let us buy you a drink before you go”. This all adds to the buzz we get and plus because we offer nationwide coverage, we get to travel across the UK too seeing and filming at different venues. It is also nice to go back to a venue you’ve filmed at before as the staff get to know and recognise you and if you’ve made a good impression, they’ll recommend your services.
What are your plans for the future?
Our plans for the future is simply to continue to supply the wedding industry with professional, cinematic wedding films as well as expanding the business into other areas such as Asian weddings, corporate filmmaking, promotional videos, equestrian and other events on an as and when basis. We’re both really passionate about what we do and always strive for better results and near perfection. We are our own worst critics! We will also continue to invest in our already vast array of equipment that will enable us to strive for excellence in our continual development in ourselves and the business.
We have invested a lot of time and money to reach the standard we are at now and considering it’s not been quite 2 years since we formed Midway Media, we are confident that we can achieve our objectives. At the moment we’re happy with the way things are going and will progress slowly into these new areas over the course of 2011. One thing in this industry is there is always something new to learn and new skills to develop to meet the demands of filmmaking whether it be for a wedding or a corporate video and it is important not to get left behind! With the internet being a powerful resource, the bride and groom know what they want from their wedding videos and seek the expertise of a professional to achieve this.
Can you give us a ‘Typical day in the life of….’?
For weddings particularly, it really depends on the coverage, if I’m filming the bridal preparations I need to be on location 2 – 4 hours prior to the ceremony. When I’m filming the bridal preparations, I like to make the bride and the bridal party feel comfortable with having me around so I will interact on my arrival and when I’ve filmed the most important bits, as this puts everyone at ease well this is my experience anyway. At one of my bridal preparations, I was asked if I could tighten the lacing up on the bride’s dress as her attendant couldn’t do it tight enough. I had already filmed the lacing up beforehand so nothing was missed so I ended up giving a helping hand! It happens and all part of my services. It’s great that we are a husband and wife team as some brides prefer or want a female videographer.
In order to get to the ceremony, I leave around 30 minutes before the bride has to leave (if not at the same venue) so that I can get to the place of marriage to set up before the ceremony starts. With filming weddings there is a lot happening all at the same time and with there being the two of us, it really helps us capture a great deal more. It can of course be very stressful. It’s not just a case of turning on the video camera and pressing record. Lots of things are taken into consideration such as lighting, volume and positioning. One thing that we try to avoid is blocking another’s view and getting in the photographers and each others way. Everything we film is manually controlled and we have to react fast too so there’s no relaxing doing this job. You have to think on your feet a lot of times during the day. Wearing comfortable shoes and smart clothes is also a must.
By the time I reach the venue where the ceremony is taking place, Barry has already set up and commenced the filming of the venue decor, surroundings, the groomsmen and the guests arriving. He does occasionally film the groom preparations. If there are no bridal preparations to film, we will get to the place of marriage an hour before the ceremony starts.
Once I arrive, Barry will generally go back inside the venue to continue filming especially the best man and the groom to capture any nervous expressions particularly from the groom. For me it’s all hands on deck as I await the arrival of the bridal party then the Bride. If it’s raining I get wet but it’s all part of the job but I don’t hang around outside too long! Once I capture the bride arriving I either run back inside the place of marriage to quickly capture her entrance or I follow her in. We then both film the ceremony in its entirety. I film from the rear of the venue with Barry either at the front or to the side facing the bride. We focus on the vow taking and the exchange of the rings. Once the ceremony has finished and if we are allowed to film the signing of the register, Barry will usually do this while I quickly set up my camera to capture the happy couple walking down the aisle as husband and wife I then capture them exiting through the door
Both Barry and I have lots of equipment to carry around and I sometimes struggle but most of the time I just get on with it. I can walk so fast carrying it all – gets me to the car quicker! Typically we use tripods for ceremonies and speeches, monopods for outdoors, tight spaces etc thus reducing camera shake. We also have shoulder mounts but I find wearing mine uncomfortable as they’re not really designed for women! I use a glidetrack which is a small track that allows the video camera to sit on a tripod head that slides left to right giving a professional cinematic effect. Barry uses a Steadicam, a useful piece of equipment allowing him to create swirling shots and walk alongside the couple without any camera shake.
We always try and remain unobtrusive during the day and a lot of guests don’t even realise that we are filming them as we’re quite a distance away. We always work alongside the photographer and we never direct or stage shots, everything we do is captured naturally. Some couples want some fun and will play up to the camera but that is their decision not ours. Once the photoshoot has concluded, either myself or Barry will then go and take some footage of the reception room and the couple’s chosen decor for the tables and the cake. The other carries on filming the party celebrations. Before the happy couple are due to make their grand entrance, we plan where we need to be in the room to capture this without blocking the view of the guests or getting in the way of the staff. The next step is dependent whether the speeches are before or after the meal. During the meal we take a break. We both film the speeches and capture guest reactions, gift giving and the toasts. Once the meal and speeches have concluded we will then film the cake cutting then go off and continue filming until the reception starts when we’ll both film the first dance. Depending on what has been agreed, filming concludes after the first dance or we’ll film the night time reception, if included, I will film a diary room where guests can come to me and leave personal messages for the bride and groom. Barry will carry on filming the reception. Basically, we can be on our feet filming for an average wedding for around 9-10 hours. With the bridal preparations it can be 12-14 hours. Our longest day was out filming was 17 hours
Midway Media Wedding & Events Videographers special offers can be found here
http://www.bigdaydiscounts.co.uk/featured-offers-29-midway-media-wedding—event-videographers
http://www.bigdaydiscounts.co.uk/featured-offers-29-midway-media-wedding—event-videographers
Visit Midway Media Wedding & Events Videographers website
http://www.midway-media.co.uk
Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter
http://www.bigdaydiscounts.co.uk/register
No comments:
Post a Comment