TruVision Studios: Cinematic Video Blog

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