TruVision Studios: Cinematic Video Blog

We had a blast shooting this Same Day Edit for Kim + Forrest. This was our studios first attempt at a full day SDE. It was stressful shooting and editing the whole day, but it was well worth the response when we finally showed the film at the reception.

Kim and Forrest were awesome and they both looked great! The ceremony and reception were held at Hawk Hollow in Bath, Michigan. Photos were by Parker Photographic and W.E.D. provided coordination and DJ.

-Matt

I was on my way to Detroit to drop of a friend at the airport when I got a call. It was Charles’ mom Jane, and she was desperately searching for a cinematographer for her son’s wedding. The wedding would be taking place… later that afternoon!

She had been planning all along to have the wedding filmed, but with all of the other planning and distractions of life, finding a cinematographer had somehow slipped through the cracks. Now, the morning of the wedding, after talking to a friend who said a wedding video is an absolute necessity, and with the recommendation of the staff at The English Inn it was time to find a cinematographer!

Luckily, I was available. I did have a big challenge ahead of me though! First I needed to coordinate with one of my second shooters.. find out who else was available to help shoot. Second, I had to finish my drive to Detroit, get back to Lansing, and pack gear. A big task, made even bigger by the fact that I had no time to plan, and would need to take every camera, microphone, and other piece of gear with me in order to be prepared for any shooting situation. I am not going to lie… it was stressful!

I don’t recommend waiting until the day of your wedding to try to line up your cinematographer. More than likely availability will be an issue. In this case it all worked out, and it ended up being one of my favorite weddings. Megan and Charles both had the warmest families. They really made us feel at home. Their officiant was Megan’s Father, Pastor Ross Mahan from Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jackson, MI. Photographs were by Dan Johnson Photography from Grandville, MI.

-Matt

I have the privilege of filming at Saint Gerard Parish at least a few times each year. This particular wedding stands out to me though. Kelly and Michael were stunning, and they are two of the nicest people I have met.

After the ceremony we headed to the Horticulture Gardens at Michigan State to film the creative, fun shots of the wedding party. Then it was on to Walnut Hills Country Club for the reception. Walnut Hills is beautiful by the way, and is where Allison and I will be holding our own reception in October 2010.

This Highlight Film marks a turning point in my style. It features several detail shots from the Canon 5D Mark ii which I blogged about here. This camera adds new depth and capability to my work, and I am really excited to put it to greater use in 2010. It is a game changer. It is also the first Highlight where I made a strong effort to incorporate more natural audio, adding tremendously to the emotional power of the film!

Janelle and Matt were amazing to work with. They are actually really good friends. My fiancée, Allison, met Janelle in school at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids.

I was only supposed to shoot their ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew, because they didn’t want me working the entire day. Allison was a bridesmaid, and I didn’t really have much else to do during the photo session other than to tag along with the wedding party… so I took my camera along! It was the new 5D Mark ii and I decided it would give me a chance to put the new camera through it paces. I was amazed with the results!!!

I wound up filming throughout the portrait session at the Frederick Meijer Gardens, one of my new favorite places to shoot. I also filmed the reception formals including speeches, cake cutting, and dances.

Janelle and Matt didn’t know they would be getting a highlight film, so when I delivered their DVD’s they were thrilled with the result! Janelle wrote me this facebook message a few days later.

I am so glad you did the Highlight Film, I would have really missed it if you only had filmed the ceremony. What you did with our Highlight Film is exactly what you want to remember about your wedding day and why you should have your wedding day filmed in the first place. I just want to watch it over and over again!

Thanks Janelle! And now, here is the Highlight Film…

Lansing, MI – 1/24/2010 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced TruVision Studios has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for wedding cinematography and videography!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

TruVision Studios is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that TruVision Studios is among the very best wedding cinematographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/truvision.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

Cameras aren’t everything when it comes to producing amazing wedding films. Creativity, quality shooting, good story telling, and a happy bride and groom go a long way. That said, we do everything we can to keep up with advancing technology to make sure our films look the best they possibly can.

When the Canon 5D Mark ii hit the market it made a big splash. It was the first DSLR (still camera) that could shoot FULL HD video too! Photographers have a huge advantage shooting with DSLR technology, one of the main reasons being lens selection. Another is control over depth of field, the range in front of and behind the subject that appears to be in focus.

One limitation of most of the video cameras traditionally used for wedding videography, especially those under $20,000, is that under most shooting conditions they have an almost infinite depth of field. Everything appears to be in focus. Well this sounds great, right? We want our shots in focus… right?

Yes and no. Depth of field can be used for many creative purposes. Photographers often shoot with a shallow depth of field to control the viewers eye and separate subjects from their background. With the majority of video cameras, being stuck with everything in focus is limiting when trying to control a composition and hinders a filmmakers ability to tell a story.

The 1080p HD video available on the Canon 5D Mark ii allows wedding cinematographers to have the same creative choices available to photographers in order to control their imagery, and tell better stories. The cameras also have outstanding low-light performance in darker churches and receptions. I am happy to announce that TruVision Studios has been testing Canon’s new lineup of vDSLR cameras throughout 2009, and will be integrating them into our wedding productions in 2010.

-Matt

Casey and Mike had the coolest reception hall I have been to yet. Everybody who sees the film wants to know where it was. The wedding was in Pontiac at the First Presbyterian Church and their reception was just around the corner at the Lafayette Grande.

I went to high school with Mike, so got to see a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while, Mike included. We had a great time shooting with them, and captured some great memories. It isn’t everyday that all of your friends and family are all in one place!

-Matt

I can’t believe it, but the 2009 wedding season is already well underway. I think Danielle said it best when she came into the studio to go over final details. She asked, “where the month of May had gone?” She couldn’t believe how quickly a whole year had passed and that her wedding was now just days away!

The wedding flew by even faster, but the entire TruVision cinema team was out and we captured it all. I know that Danielle and Aaron are going to love being able to relive each moment from the tears and excitement before the ceremony to Aaron’s snorkeling adventure at the reception — coming soon!!

In the mean time here is the trailer. Enjoy!

-Matt

Danielle + Aaron // 05.30.09 // The Trailer from TruVision Studios on Vimeo.

The Michigan Independent Video Association is hosting a film festival. If you are undecided about hiring a videographer for your wedding this is an excellent opportunity to check out the best that Michigan’s community of wedding filmmakers has to offer.

This is a free event and will be held on May 6, 2009 at 6:45 PM at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, Michigan. Space is limited. Please visit www.MivaOnline.com for more information or to register for the event.

As a studio we like to stay in touch with the couples we work with and the many fans of our art. This new blog will be a way to help keep up with that goal!

Things can get crazy around the studio, especially through the summer months. It becomes impossible to update the website with new films, photos, news, and other information. We will be posting our latest films and photo shoots to the blog, and if we have any important information to share with the world… well this is where you will find it!

We recently found out that we were selected by The Knot for the second year in a row as a Best of Weddings pick – under Michigan’s videographer category. While we consider what we do to be so much more than wedding videography, its the closest category that The Knot had for us. We feel very honored to receive this accolade because it is based on the review of our past brides and grooms. The entire team wants to thank all of the local Michigan couples who reviewed our studio for the annual Best of Weddings survey!