12 Angry Men

I love a good story. It can make me laugh, cry, angry, happy, shocked, inspired. A good story can create so much emotion. But a story is only as good as how it was told. Over 20 years ago I watched a move call “12 Angry Men”. It was made in 1957 staring Henry Fonda. The whole movie took place in a jury room where 12 men debated on a murder case. I was riveted to the screen and I enjoyed every minute of it. After the movie was over I asked myself why did I enjoy the movie so much? After all there were no action scenes of gun fights and special effect explosions, no bad villains, no grand sceneries…nothing. All it was were 12 guys locked in a room debating and yet it was a great movie. How can this be? And look at all of the awards this movie got:

Best Foreign Actor (win) - Henry Fonda - 1957 British Academy Awards Best Director (nom) - Sidney Lumet - 1957 Directors Guild of America Best Picture - Drama (nom) - - 1957 Golden Globe Best Actor - Drama (nom) - Henry Fonda - 1957 Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor (nom) - Lee J. Cobb - 1957 Golden Globe Best Director (nom) - Sidney Lumet - 1957 Golden Globe Best Adapted Screenplay (nom) - Reginald Rose - 1957 Academy Best Director (nom) - Sidney Lumet - 1957 Academy Best Picture (nom) - - 1957 Academy Golden Bear (win) - - 1957 Berlin International Film Festival Best Picture (nom) - - 1957 National Board of Review


The reason why it was such a good movie is because of how the story was told. The director took the script and with his vision and interpretation, successfully created this drama using what I believe to be the basics of movie making: composition, details, lighting, soundtrack, and most importantly timing. Of course good acting helps a lot too.

As a wedding film guy, my goal is to create movies that tell a good story using those 5 principals. It does not matter if the wedding is extravagant or modest, if the couple is shy or outgoing, if the wedding day is short or long, my challenge is to use my vision and interpretation of the wedding day and create a one of a kind movie for my clients. Unlike Hollywood I have no script to follow, no retakes, no control of lighting…actually no control of anything. It’s a challenge but I welcome it.

The following are short clips of various wedding movies I have produced using those 5 basic principals. See if you can spot them.