A Thank You Gift

When I started this blog I thought no one would ever be interested in reading it. To my surprise, the traffic on this blog is awesome. Way beyond what I expected. To say ‘Thank You’ I would love to offer everyone a gift. But since I’m broke, I can only afford to give one gift. So I’ve decided to have a contest. All you need to do is e-mail me a picture of your wedding or engagement ring. Be creative…think outside of the box. You don't have to be one of my clients to enter. You can be married or not, male or female, pretty much no rules. I will post the winning picture on May 31, 2007. Oh yeah...the prize will be $50 gift card to Macy’s. Have fun!!!

E-mail your picture to yestake1@aol.com

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.

Ouch!#@!? My Leg...My Leg....

It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been extremely busy with projects, marketing, and of course tons of editing. As if that was not enough…I am now Mr. Mom too. My darling wife slipped on some stairs and broke her left leg. So now I’m the cook, the chauffer, the laundry guy, the bath guy, the what ever needs to be done guy. But I’m not complaining…life is good and God has blessed my family and I beyond my comprehension. OK, enough of my adventures…back to wedding flicks.

I would like to share a Music Video Recap of Emily and Steven. They had the reception at Comerica Park. How cool was that! As you listen to the lyric of the song, which was Emily’s choice, notice the name on their Tiger jersey. Now that was even cooler!

The Resurrection and The Life

This is a trailer of an Easter play I produced last year for a local church. The play is on again this year and I encourage everyone to go see it. It's a nicely produced play with lots of great music.

April 5 & 6 - 7:00 pm
Faith, 3411 Airport Road, Waterford
248-623-7330 www.hisfaith.net

Amber Lights

Back in December I met a new photographer at a wedding I was filming. Amber from Amber Lights Photography was a pleasure to work with. Joanne recently visited Amber at her studio in Milford to share ideas and our work. When Joanne came home, she kept talking about how big and impressive the studio was. Amber's photographs are very stylish. Brides in Florida hire her to shoot their weddings all the time. You can check out some of the pics of a wedding we worked together below.

It's A Remix!

I had an opportunity to re-edit a trailer I did last November for a client. The Bride, Jennifer, has no idea that I'm doing this. So if you are reading this Jennifer...Surprise!!! If I had all the time in the world, I would never stop editing my work. Cause everytime I look at my work, I see things that can be changed or altered to make the movie flow or look better. Of course no one ever sees these minor changes but myself. OK...I'll admit it. Most of the time I edit for myself not for the client. Oh well...

3...2...1...Launch!!!

I launched our New Website last night! I'm really excited and pleased of the look and feel of the site. It's more of a representation of our creative style than the last website. I have a lot of positive feedback already and it's not even 24 hours yet : )

Check it out www.capturingthemoments.com

Lovett Hall

We were recently invited to The Henry Ford in Dearborn to show our International Award Winning clip of Lovett Hall to the staff. The staff loved the clip and asked us to provide the clip for them to share with Brides. We are honored of the request.

For those that do not know, the Lovett Ballroom is a 1930’s ballroom with glittering chandeliers, polished teak floors and a grand staircase setting the scene for any elegant event. We have filmed many wedding receptions there so I can say first hand that I do get a feeling of stepping back in time when entering the ballroom where Henry Ford once hosted his guest. Very Cool.

Here is the Pre Reception clip of Lovett Hall.

Coming Soon

I'm working on a face lift of my website. It's going to be cool, hip, and edgy. I don't have the exact launch date yet so stay tune. I would like to thank Kevin Kramer of Advantage Photography for allowing me to use his awesome images on the site.

This year will be an exciting year for me as I'm taking my productions to an even higher level. Having a new website is only the begining. Oh yeah, I also have a new businees card...check it out.

Gigi & Fawzy

GiGi and Fawzy was such a gentle and soft spoken couple. Their love for each other was revealed to me by their whispers of how much they love each other after the ceremony. The whole bridal party was packed in a small room after the ceremony awaiting the guest to leave the church so they could do the formal pics at the alter. The room was loud and hectic but Gigi and Fawzy were too much in the moment to notice. They just stared at each other and whispered ‘I love you’s’. Although the room was packed, I was able to get into position and captured this special moment on video.

The photographer at this wedding was Gary Seraphinoff and he was great. As a matter of fact, Gary did my engagement photos 16 years ago. Gary does not have a website yet but you can go to Brides of Detroit to see his work.

Here is the teaser of this wedding.

Back From Florida

Just got back from Florida last night. The video convention was awesome. I had a little problem getting to Florida Monday when I missed my flight. The traffic was terrible due to the heavy snowfall that morning. I finally got to Florida around 11:00 pm. I was really bummed that I missed the award banquet Monday night. I had submitted a few videos for the International Competition and would of loved to have been there to find out if I was lucky enough to have won one. As I was walking thru the hotel, I was greeted with a big hug by fellow videographers from Oklahoma, Mark And Trish of Picture This Productions. They told me that I won 2 Awards and one of them was First place (Diamond Award). I was overcome with joy and it made Monday not to be so bad after all. That’s 2 years in a row I’ve won first place in one of the categories. I feel so Blessed!

My presentation of the Live Edit went well on Tuesday. I was given 8 hours of raw footage of a wedding in New York by the Association. I was to edit a recap with the footage on stage in front of an audience. Here is the Promo for it.

After the presentation and thru out the convention week, I was approached by many saying that they had enjoyed my seminar and learned a lot from it. That made me feel really good to be able to pass on my knowledge of editing to videographers around the country. The other two editors, Chris Watson from Texas and Julie Hill from California, did a great job with their Live Edit. It was cool to see how each of us created different styles of edit from the same raw footage.

Here is my Live Edit.

I learned a lot from the convention and I cannot wait to implement some new ideas and techniques to my wedding movies.

Sarah & Ryan

Sarah & Ryan got married at The Royal Park Hotel in the conservatory. The reception was held in the Royal Grand Ball Room elegantly decorated with lots of candles and projected stars on the ceiling. Sarah & Ryan surprised the guest with a choreographed first dance as they entered the ball room. The toast was made extra special with a lighted cube in every champagne glasses. I have never seen anything like that before…it was cool.

The band Mega 80’s packed the dance floor all night. Their name saids it all. They specialized in 80’s music and they were very good. I see lots of bands in my years and I must say they were unique and entertaining.

I met a new photographer at this wedding. Amber of Amber Lights Photography was very nice to work with.

This is the teaser of Sarah & Ryan wedding

GO Nicholas!!!

I'm so proud of my son Nicholas. His inline hockey team made it to the Finals this year. His hard work over the summer with an instructor has really paid off. His team did not win the Finals but Nicholas left it all on the rink. He gives 100% at everything he does and that is what I'm most proud of. Here is highlights of the game.

Mona & Steven

Mona and Steven’s wedding ceremony was at Kirk In The Hills. The grounds were beautiful for taking pictures and one of my favorite photographers, Kevin Kramer of Advantage Photography, was working with me. Kevin's style is best described as wedding photography with a fashion flair. The reception was at The Townsend Hotel where the dance floor was packed all night long. The band Intrigue was excellent. They performed a famous Chinese song flawlessly with Stella on vocal. The guests were surprised and amazed.

Mona’s mother was unfortunately in China and could not be at her daughter’s wedding. Mona asked if I could produce a video clip to share with her mother when she goes to China next month. Here is the trailer of their wedding day.

I love the video trailer! It was really beautiful , powerful. I can't wait to share it with my mother and everyone else.

have a happy holiday season,
Mona

I'm Going to Florida

A national association has invited me to be a presenter at a conference this January in Florida. The thought of being in a warmer place in January for 5 days was inviting. What I will be presenting is called LIVE EDIT. I will be editing a wedding recap in front of a live audience for two hours with raw footage supplied by the association. I have never edited a recap from footage that I have not filmed myself, so it is going to be interesting. As I am editing, I will be talking about my methods, thoughts, and why I edit the way I do.

A Sweetest Day Wedding

Last Saturday I had a Sweetest Day wedding. Jennifer and Joseph tied the knot at St Hugo and had their reception at Oakhurst Country Club. This was my first time at Oakhurst and I must say I was impressed. The decoration Jennifer had was perfect for a fall wedding. I always keep an eye out for details and I noticed she even had a little leaf on the table number cards which was cool. Tifany from Gourmet Invitation made all of the paper products and they were very classy.

Check out the Movie Trailer for Jennifer & Joseph posted on 'It's A Remix!' .

This is amazing. Just got back from the honeymoon and opened this up. I started crying!!! Thank you so much for everything - we cannot wait to see what comes next!

Don, I have to say - I LOVE the trailer. I love the music - I absolutely love it - if it works with our final, please include that same music - it's my favorite!

Sincerely,Jennifer and Joseph

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I just wanted to say WOW about Jennifer's wedding video. It is truly amazing and I can't wait to see the whole thing.

Tifany

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Jennifer, that was the best wedding video (trailer) I've ever seen. You must be thrilled. You looked wonderful as well as the church, reception, etc. The camera angles were great. I don't know how they did it. I think my favorite part is you walking up the spiral staircase.

I hope your proofs come out just as good.

Thanks for sharing this.

Anna

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Wow - that is really pretty. It makes me want to get married again!

Catherine

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I had tears in my eyes watching the trailer too - I can't wait to see the full thing. They did a REALLY, REALLY nice job. Very cool.

Raegan

The Start of Something New

This is the start of something new…THE BLOG. I am pretty excited to use this as a means to share my thoughts and work. I am so blessed with so many weddings that I may have a hard time keeping up with updating this blog but I will surely try.

Recently I was asked to produce a ‘Trailer’ for Royal Park Hotel. That place Rocks! The conservatory is a great place to have a wedding ceremony. You can check their website out.

Take a look at the Royal Park Hotel Trailer