A Thoughtful Note

We love what we do - every day! And some days, even more! Here's a note we received this morning. What a great way to start the day. If you're curious, here are the Quicktime and Windows Media versions of the movie trailer of Melissa and Paul's wedding.

We are still in touch with most of our precious brides and grooms for just this reason. As the years pass, the wedding movie we produced for them becomes more valuable. We remember and cherish each couple and are thrilled when they drop us a note about their lives. Thank YOU Melissa and Paul. 

"Dear Chuck and Jewel,   Paul and I just celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary.  Time has flown and life has changed in many wonderful ways.  We still treasure the wedding movie you made for us.  Of all the many expenses of a wedding, asking you to make a wedding video for us has been the best investment.   You've allowed us to experience that wonderful day over and over again.   We have moved to southern California and have 2 little girls.  Catherine is 2.5 years old and Sarah Jane is 8 months.  We couldn't be happier.  Catherine just watched our video for the first time and she loved every moment of our fairytale, especially when Daddy puts his tie on! With many thanks, Melissa & Paul"

Santacon 2008, San Francisco Style

The Cacophony Society began SantaCon in San Francisco way back in 1994.  It has spread to the the farthest reaches of the world since then.  During the month of December, you can see hundreds of Santas running amuck in Beijing, Belfast, Honolulu, London, Melbourne, Montreal, Munich,  New York, Paris, and 50 other cities.  

There were 70,000 Santas at the Moscow Santacon this year.  There's no holding back the Red Tide! 

As my good friend Viola Sutanto (the super-talented graphic designer of invitations) at Chewing the Cud said, "You can never have too many Santas!"

Here is a taste of what a portion of the San Francisco SantaCon 2008 looked like.

Santa Is On His Way 

(running time: 3:03)

To see this l'il movie in better resolution, click on Quicktime orWindows Media.  Enjoy!

My good friend Duncan Reyes of f. duncan reyes events by design sent me this photo of SantaCon 2006 taken by Bradford Shepherd.  As the bride and groom emerged from St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, they were indeed surprised to see Santas everywhere!

Let's Make a Movie

We had a wonderful time filming and creating a movie trailer for Emily and Danny who were married at the Ritz at Half Moon Bay last month.  We never do it alone.  Here are some of the fine cast of characters:

Venue:  Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay, Tony White

Coordinator:  Jubilee Lau Events, Jubilee Lau

Beauty:  Faces by Taylor, Taylor Pham

Cake: Elegant Cheesecakes, Susan Morgan

Invitations:  Peculiar Pair, Mary Beth Fiorentino, Amy Hayson 

Here is the piece:

I thought you, dear reader, would like to know what goes on behind the scenes to create even a 3-minute piece like this.

Behind the Scenes 

1.  When we saw Emily & Danny's logo, we thought it was very nice.  So we asked for and received the Illustrator files of the logo from Peculiar Pair Press and animated Emily and Danny's logo.

2.  Emily's Mom and Dad were at the second story window looking out.  The window was too blue, due to the reflection of the sky and ocean.  Chuck masked the window and color corrected it so their skin tones looked normal. He then gave a different color correction to the area outside the window so it matched the other images of the exterior of the building.  Then, he did the same thing for each FRAME (there are 30 frames per second).  We color correct pretty much every clip in the entire wedding movie.  This adds 2-3 weeks of effort.  We also modulate and "sweeten" the sound throughout a wedding movie.

3.  Emily and Danny asked us to do a time lapse of empty to full seats.  Since this was the weekend of the women's golf tournament, we could not leave a camera outdoors unattended.  So, at our own expense we hired someone to "camera sit" just to get that 3-second shot.

4.  After the bridesmaids walked down the aisle and Emily was waiting alone in the foyer, we finally saw a bit of her nervousness.  It was charming. 

5.  By coming to every rehearsal (no extra charge), we know what is going to happen and when.  So, we were in the best positions to catch Emily hugging her in-laws and Danny hugging his in-laws.

6.  Chuck caught Emily's favorite uncle sketching at the rehearsal.  He finished the drawing during the ceremony.  We were able to scale the sketch to create the maximum impact when we dissolved from the sketch to real life.  This impact can only be achieved in a moving picture medium.  A photo in an album would not convey the same dynamic feeling nor the emotions it creates.  This unexpected event inspired the opening and closing scenes of this piece.  Chuck bought a special piece of software to create a look that was similar to the Uncle's artistic style.

7.  During the table toasts, we wanted a specific look.  It was very dark in the ballroom, so we needed small (20 watt) lights.  Instead of having them mounted on the camera which would light people from the front, giving an unflattering flat look, our assistant was lighting each scene from the side, for a softer and more sophisticated look - still using only a 20-watt light.  We aim to be unobtrusive.  In fact Emily's parents thought Chuck was the only cinematographer there.  They never saw me or our assistant!  And the only reason they saw him was because he was in the foyer with them just before they walked down the aisle.

8.  We went back to the Ritz and filmed the ocean scenes on a non-wedding day.

9.  The scene where the camera pulls back from a couple standing at the window watching the sunset?  It was shot much earlier in the day when the sky was blue.  Chuck color graded it to look like it occurred at sunset to match the other images immediately prior.

10.  Because Emily and Danny are real foodies, we made special arrangements in advance with the staff at the Ritz to be able to film the food preparation without interfering in the flow of their work.

11.  We knew the photo booth would be a centerpiece of the reception.  So, the week before the wedding we spent several hours experimenting to determine the best combination of strobe flashes per second, direction of  supplemental lighting, and a few other factors which matched the photo booth flashes best.  So, on the wedding night, we were able to flash our strobes for less than 3 minutes total time.  Everyone thought the strobes were the band's mood lights.

12.  We asked for and received the DVD of all 663 photo booth images.  We combed through every one of them to find the ones that matched our footage and found some additional ones that had a lot of energy.

13.  We strongly suggest couples engage us until the end of the evening because you never know when great moments will happen.  The bride's cousin started break dancing.  This occurred after the end of our contracted time. We had packed up and were ready to go.  Nevertheless, we grabbed a camera and shot this scene.

14.  In order to know what images we need, we storyboard a short piece like this.  That takes hours. We allow for whatever will happen at a ceremony, but we need to think through transitional elements in advance to make it happen. For example, we knew we would need to film a steadicam shot entering the front of the Ritz and a steadicam shot following a couple out to the gazebo area.  So, we scheduled a specific time to capture these images.

15.  We have close-up and wide shots, camera angles that are on the ground and way overhead.  There are small, well considered camera moves and there are times we hold the camera steady.  It is a matter of knowing when to use each of these techniques, and knowing when to be still.

16.  And, we need to know who are the key people and capture them without fail.

17.  We looked at over 500 pieces of music to find the one that had the right beat and mood to match Emily and Danny's personalities AND match the images we brought back.

Speed

I feel the need for speed.  

That's how our nephew Nick must feel.  He is among the top 100 cyclists in the country in his age group and was invited to participate in the U.S. National Cycling Championships in Los Angeles last month.  We were thrilled to be there to see him, his team, and all the racers compete.

Here's a 90-sec piece describing how it felt to be a spectator.  First there was the anticipation at the start, then there were 30 grueling laps.  The riders flew by in a matter of seconds, and then there were long stretches of time when you were waiting for them to come around again. And then there was the excitement at the finish as the peleton tried to catch the leaders.

Rendezvous

Everyone says the wedding day flies by so quickly.  That is so true for the bride and groom and their guests.  It's true for us, too.  The day is filled to the brim with activities and people which we are capturing from early in the morning 'til late at night so that we can accurately portray the feeling of the day, and show the people who were important to the couple 

If we had the luxury of time, we could seamlessly film and edit in scenes that would add a very movie-like quality to our wedding movies.  So, in many cases, we do just that.  Either we plan to film on a non-wedding day before we even start filming the wedding day, or we come up with ways to enhance the theme(s) of the wedding while in the editing suite after the wedding.  

Here's an example.  On the third day of a fabulous 3-day wedding weekend, guests were invited to gather at the Ferry Building to catch a chartered ferry to Tiburon where they could relax, sun themselves, have brunch, and listen to a Latin band.  One of the themes on Sunday was orange balloons.  Why orange?  It is the color of the Netherlands, from whence the groom hailed.  The orange balloons served to mark the spot where everyone should gather.  Then throughout the day, we saw children playing with them here and there.

Since this was a destination wedding, we had wanted to show a few San Francisco landmarks somewhere in the wedding movie, so we used orange balloons to connect the scenes (shot on a non-wedding day), then connect back to the live action.  Enjoy this 48-second piece!

Brides of March

Every now and again we all need to do something a little different, something a little crazy. So, Chuck and I went to see the 10th Annual Brides of March last Saturday in San Francisco and produced a little 3-minute gem. Hundreds of ladies (and men) dressed up in their white wedding gowns and converged on Union Square, making a quick stop at Shreve & Co to admire the engagement rings. Oh what a vision of loveliness!

Here's what people are saying about our movie.


"Finally. A movie that shows the fair, sweet, innocent side of San Francisco."
---Mayor Gavin Newsom

"If you are searching for enlightenment, you will not find it here."
---His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

"Joel and Ethan Coen, step aside. Here come Chuck and Jewel."
---Chuck's Mother

We hope you enjoy the show.

Look Who's Talking, Part I

One of our most favorite event planners, Jubilee Lau surprised us recently and blogged about us on February 23. Here's what she said. Thank You Jubilee!!



There's No Take Two!

Are you considering a wedding video? If the answer is no, may I urge you to RECONSIDER! I think this is the #1 regret of many couples. After the wedding day, they realize how quickly the day had gone by and they wish they could relive it all over again. Well, you can. Sort of. By hiring a wonderful, fabulous cinematographer like Chuck and Jewel Savadelis you can come close to reliving the most special day of your lives.

I've had the pleasure of working with Savadelis Films on many weddings, and they have always amazed me in their ability to capture in the most genuine way the love, the joy, and all the different emotions that arise on the wedding day. Their videos are movies, but in no way are they surreal. In fact, the movies are so tastefully shot and edited that it can even bring tears and laughter to a total stranger.

'How do they do that?' you may ask.

I think it lies in their passion for what they do. They shoot each wedding with heart. Prior to the wedding day, they go to great lengths to understand the couple. They try to grasp the couple's vision of the wedding, they note who the key family members and special guests are (as well as where they are seated at the ceremony and reception!), and they treat each wedding as a very special, unique day. They don't go by a 'must shoot' list, because they capture each detail as it unfolds naturally. Yet, they never miss an important moment...like when the groom first lays eyes on his bride. There is so much preparation that they do prior to the wedding day, such as meeting with me to go through the timeline intensively because they do not like to leave anything to chance.

I've heard so many couples say that they can relive their wedding through the photos. Let me tell you, I have the greatest respect for photographers but you must realize that it's a completely different medium! Tell me how photographs can make you relive that toast by your Best Man that made everyone roaring with laughter. Tell me how photographs can make you relive that beautiful first dance as husband and wife to that special song you picked. You can't! You may remember the toast a year from your wedding day, maybe even five years. But 30 years go by, and how can you remember? How can you describe it to your children, to the children of your Best Man?

Every couple deserves a wedding video. Remember, on your wedding day there's no 'Take Two', so get the best videographers you can to capture it!

Sample video from a wedding that I did with Chuck and Jewel at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay:

MAC Version
PC Version

Anatomy of a Hora

We just finished editing a hora to end and horas. Our sweet bride Nissa and her handsome groom Tom and their 300 guests at the Julia Morgan Ballroom were out on the dance floor for 40 minutes dancing the horah and other exuberant dances. With three cameras, we captured 120 minutes of sheer joy. Here's the 3-minute PC version and here's the MAC version of the movie trailer that captures the joy. Joel Nelson was the band leader and MC. We've never seen a better entertainer who made sure 100s of guests flooded the dance floor and STAYED there!

It is so amazing when guests come together as though they share one mind with everyone else in the room. As graceful as a flock of swallows soaring in the sky, or a school of dolphins cutting through the water with their streamlined bodies. And no one wanted it to end! Only the dinner bell could interrupt the dancing.

Flight of Fantasy

We received a bit of good news. Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine has just launched a new, spectacular website. Grace added the capability to show featured weddings in video format and we were the very first cinematographers to be selected to showcase our work. Grace is such a visionary. She is the first publisher of a major bridal magazine website to do so.

I remember having dinner with Grace at the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco last November after a wonderful party Grace had thrown for the key players in the wedding services industry. We talked about many things, but in particular we talked about how underrated wedding video is, how many stereotypes and misconceptions exist among brides, and that not having a video is the #1 regret of brides. We explored options. I asked her, if Chuck and I can pioneer a new, exciting format, a 90-second movie-trailer for you to post on your website, would you do it? She promised me she would. She has fulfilled her promise in under a year. It was a massive undertaking and a major expense, but Grace kept her promise. I have admired everything about Grace - her intelligence, wit, deep understanding of brides, and now, I admire her integrity. Go Grace!

You can see our trailer at www.weddingstylemagazine.com/featured/ then click on Savadelis Films, Flight of Fantasy, then click Play Video. The first time you play the movie trailer, it stops several times to load. To get the full effect, please play the trailer a second time. Then it will have fully loaded and it will play straight through.

Boy Meets Girl

We filmed a sensational wedding last weekend at the historic 100-year old Julia Morgan Ballroom. Prior to the ceremony in the Jewish tradition, the groom is with the men and the bride is with the women. All the participants are joyously singing, dancing and praying for the couple's happy future. Then, the men, led by musicians from Joel Nelson Productions (including Joel himself!), join the ladies.


Now, in biblical times, Jacob labored for seven years to earn the hand of Rachel for his wife. Rachel's father tricked Jacob and gave him his other daughter, Leah, instead. So, Jacob worked seven more years to earn Rachel's hand. So ever since, grooms come in and make sure that the woman they are about to marry is 'The One'. If you listen very carefully, you will hear our groom say, 'It's her. She's the one." Then, he lowers the veil over her beautiful face. The bride's father then blesses her, as he has every sabbath for the past 24 years. Except this will be the last time he blesses her as an unmarried woman. The overflowing pride and happiness bring tears of joy.

Here is a 90-second clip from this part of the day, which preceded a beautiful wedding ceremony.
Quicktime: www.savadelis.com/movies/theveiling.mov
Window Media: www.savadelis.com/movies/theveiling.wmv

Enjoy!