Mutual Respect
2.21.2010
Filmmaking is our passion and our career. As a duo, we enjoy an array of styles. Through our work, regardless of what kind of project, our ultimate goal is to produce a piece that creates an emotional reaction with the viewer while maintaining intrigue through compelling visuals and sounds. We strive for this with all our work whether it is a wedding or a commercial piece. As filmmakers who are constantly trying to improve our craft, Jon and I are perpetually striving to educate ourselves and through the knowledge we gain, educate others. Regardless of our field, in order to succeed we need to have considerable technical and creative abilities. Through further understanding of each others genres, I believe we can continue to aim for an environment of mutual respect. I sincerely believe that within each genre there are those who just have it. They have that natural gift to produce compelling work. Whether it's commercial work, wedding films, or documentaries, they have the ability to tell a story beautifully.
When I first started shooting I viewed it strictly as a hobby. At the time, I was a photographer that was attracted to the concept of a "moving picture." After a few projects I decided to do the unthinkable... Shoot a wedding. To be completely honest, I had never seen a wedding video before. It wasn't until I started to feel the pressure of all the expectations that I began to understand how challenging this new field was. Over time, my perception and approach has continued to change.
I remember when I first started speaking openly about how much I enjoyed filming weddings. People warned me, "Do not tell commercial guys you shoot weddings." I still find this very interesting. Over the last few years things have changed. Now a days, it's not as often that I encounter someone within the film industry with a negative perception of wedding films. There has been a lot of progress and there are those that educate our peers. However, as I mentioned before, I believe that through further education we can continue to strive for mutual respect.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this :)
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6 comments:
When the tide swells all ships rise. Or so I've heard. I completely vibe with you on this one Cristina. Knowlegde, support, community and respect all key ingredients of success. Thank you so much both you and Jon for all that you do.
Wedding films have a bad rep it's true, but I've seen some really really really dreadful ones and I've seen people filming weddings who had no place behind a camera. There's absolutely no doubt that Canon have changed everything now, with Glidecams and Glidetracks and the like all giving the wedding videographer the chance to create really stunning work. However... I hate shooting weddings. I've done four in my life and we poured our heart and soul into them and never showed them to anyone simply because they are weddings and they don't count in the production fields I work in. I was a young punk filmmaker shooting extreme sports films on a pd150, cut on an iMac and people didn't take me seriously, but I've built my reel, and built a reputation, but that still isn't enough for the shortsighted (nay blind!) folks at the Uk Film Council to see anything they thought was worth funding. Have a look at my website (http://www/elskid.com/ or http://www.vimeo.com/elskid/videos) and see if agree. I believe that if you've got any talent the very nature of this business will force it out of you and if you've got the patience to push yourself then you'll go far. It also helps to have a big mouth and a desire to promote yourself. These Blogs are an important part of that process and I've been slow to latch on but you and Jon are doing a great job caretaking an emerging and hungry community of filmmakers looking to validate their approach and (as we all are) generate bigger budgets for yourselves. Keep it up and good luck!
Robin
www.elskid.com/blog
Weddings are a field that I've shot both video when I first started out years ago, and years of shooting wedding stills.
If you get the right clients - you can get amazing results. Just as there are stereotypes of the terrible wedding tog's, so also the wedding video guys has a bad rap. With good reason too - there are too many who 'live' the stereo type of cheesy and sleazy.
Wedding "cinematography" however is a field that is sadly under-represented. I know of a handful of people who actually do awesome work, and amongst those are: The Bui Brothers: http://thebuibrothers.com/ their work is amazing. Also look to Elysium Productions, (they did Gary Fong's wedding: http://garyfong1.xanga.com/?nextdate=8/29/2007+23:59:59.999&direction=p ) mindcastle.com & cinematicbride.com are also good references - for great wedding cinematography, rather than - wedding 'videos'.
Cheers, Nathan.
I'm afraid this industry will always be viewed as one dominated by entry-level enthusiasts; and to a certain degree that is true, regardless of the ground breaking work emerging from a select few. And so long as this few continue to make the amateur mistake of posting it online without a proper license - for the copywritten music it contains - there is no way to justify mutual respect among "the big boys." The photo industry seems to have levied value, quality & respect in a way their video counterparts have not. Why is that? Higher standards? Better branding? Both and more...
To shoot anything well requires art and craft including wedding videos which are documentary films. But I would imagine that the bad rap against them is for several reasons... 1) Very few people see any particular wedding video except the family and friends at that wedding and it is unlikely anyone else is really interested. That being said, for that small group of viewers the video is a treasure and it will have more emotional impact on that group than 98% of the feature films and commercials they will see. 2) As stated by someone else here, wedding photography is one of those places where many videographers start out, and some never get beyond. In other words, hustle and price, more than talent is what gets your foot in the door. Now certainly the good videographers will continue to work because they are really good, and the bad ones will start falling off - but they will be replaced by more beginners who are affordable for certain weddings. It is the club scene for bands. It's the first place to get a gig. And just like in the music world, there are a few great club bands and a lot of bad ones.
And let's face it... there are few great videographers who aspire to shooting weddings for a living. The great shooters want to work on more high end projects with the chance for a larger audience.
With all that being said, any good shooter can look at a very well done wedding video and appreciate the art and craft, but is it really something you want to watch? (Wow, that's a beautiful cake! Nice first dance. Follow that bouquet!)
Right now I am shooting corporate training video. Dry stuff. It does take skill. It's a lot of work getting good performances out of amateurs, or at least knowing when you are not going to get better. But in the end, our job as professionals is to do the best job we can and deliver on time and within budget with a show that is appropriate to its function.
As far as respect, a shooter's reel speaks for itself. There is something about this post that reminds me of the film "Shakes the Clown" by Bobcat Goldthwaite - the party clowns hate the rodeo clowns who hate the circus clowns and they all hate the mimes!
Thanks for all the feedback... It's great to hear other people's thoughts on the subject and I appreciate all of you taking the time to post some really good stuff.
It's interesting cause I only have my own perspective... What Kevin said about using copyrighted music is true... and I'm totally guilty. I have 101 excuses but if wedding filmmakers like myself want respect then we should respect our fellow artists enough to not use copyrighted music.
Anonymous ~ Some GREAT points in there... lots for me to think about :)
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