POSH is a retreat and educational workshop for women filmmakers and photographers interested in event film. Our mission for POSH is education + inspiration + relaxation so the event is on a 4 night Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas, November 8-12, 2010. Featured presenters include Kristen* of Bliss* Productions, Tasra Dawson of Dare Dreamer Media, Jessica Roman of Ray Roman Films, Brea McDonald & Dawn Kelly of Inspire.Collaborate.Achieve, Reagan Zugelter of Studio Z Films and Jennifer Moon of Northernlight Filmworks. There is also a hands on shoot in the Bahamas, giveaways and networking!
I was born and grew up in Poland. Being Polish makes me very proud. While I was attending the National Film School in Lodz, Poland, my classmates and I used to joke that filming weddings would be absolute the last job we would want to do. Yet, here I am, working on wedding films. After finishing school I decided to move to the United States. At first I lived in Washington, D.C. for a while and then moved to Chicago. Apart from its traffic jams and problems with parking, I really love this city.
It was very difficult to develope my business without proper credentials and experience. In the beginning I worked for others and only after some time decided to try filming on my own. I opened my company, White Wedding Cinema. Apart from ability to sleep late, working as a cinematographer filming weddings allows me to work around joyful people, seeing them at their best and during the happiest moments of their lives. Working for myself also allows me to spend more time with my young family.
Polish weddings are unique partly because they can last for sixteen and more hours. Not surprisingly, oftentimes I am exhausted by the end of my assignment. Often it feels that my equipment has grown and become heavier at the end of the day. But I am always happy when I return home because I really love my job.
What keeps me going is remembering that my work will let my clients to relive their happy moments together in the future.
What inspired me?
Everything and nothing. All those small and big things around us.
See You all soon. GO POSH
www.WhiteWeddingCinema.com
Luiza’s entry from the StillMotion short film POSH contest
Bio/background:
I learned the art of film making at Boston’s Emerson College back in the early 90s. Making my first super 8 film was pure magic… setting up the shots, cutting and splicing, picking out the soundtrack… I LOVED everything about it! After 7 years working in Hollywood jobs that never suited me, I decided to go back to school for graphic design. And after running my own design studio in New York City for several years, I was ready to reinvent myself again.
Inspired to take out my old super 8 camera, I filmed my dear friend’s wedding as a gift. The couple was thrilled with the finished product and I knew I was onto something. So in an effort to wed my skills and passion into one business, I started Hello Super 8 in 2007.
I absolutely love what I do and the job fits me perfectly… from my film making background, to my identity and branding design knowledge, to being a true “people person”… it all just makes sense.
About Hello Super 8:
After much thought and debate, I decided to keep my company a niche business and focus on FILM only. Though I love what DSLR’s can do, I’m a film purist at heart. I made it a point to brand my company to like-minded people who appreciate the qualities of real film. It’s not always an easy sell (the price! the short length! no audio!) but I absolutely adore the clients that go for it. I have managed to attract couples with a fun with a quirky side, a fondness for good design and lovers of great music… just my kind of people.
Inspiration:
I’m first and foremost inspired by women entrepreneurs. I come from a long line of women who built their own businesses from the ground up, so it’s in my blood. As far as aesthetic inspiration there are TONS! Filmmakers like Wong Kar-Wai, Stanley Kubrick, and John Hughes. Musical greats like Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Ella, Billie and Nina to more recent favorites like Fleet Foxes, Beirut, and Iron and Wine. Amazing photographers with a sense of humor like Martin Parr and William Eggleston. Mid-century designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Josef Muller-Brockmann and Saul Bass. And then of course anything analog (turntables and vinyl records, silk screens and letterpress, and of course super 8 cameras and film!)… artistic mediums that you can physically touch just looks, feels and sounds better in my book.
At the end of the day, as the other amazing women on this blog have mentioned, the best part of the job is seeing two people totally in love (I frequently cry at ceremonies and fog up my lens!) and taking part in such an intimate and momentous occasion in their lives is the greatest inspiration of all.
I know we all have different passions and different motivations when it comes to wedding filmmaking. I’d like to share mine with you…
When I lived in Britain, I would continually get myself into trouble on trains, buses, at the local café´, because I’ve always been the type of person who believes, it’s better to have known you for five minutes, than never to have known you at all! So, with my natural, “everybody loves American’s” attitude and inherent nosiness, this would mistakenly lead British males into thinking I was “chatting them up.” Awkward! However, this same sense of curiosity about people has served me very well as a journalist and has helped me to hone my interview technique over the last {ahem} twenty years.
I can hear you saying, “but my brides don’t want interviews!” That may very well be true if some untrained videographer, has ever had the audacity to push a mic in their face pleading for them to “just say something to the bride and groom.” However, show them the work of someone skilled in storytelling like Bill Gaff of Human Story Films, and they may begin to understand the value.
We haven’t quite established ourselves as documentary wedding filmmakers the way Bill Gaff has, so we don’t always have the capability to pull off the kind of thoughtful docu-films I would like to, but we do always try to adjust our shooting schedule should the opportunity arise to get some great soundbites. Think about when you see television reporters on the capitol steps trying to get some politician or other to make a comment on camera about a current event. Does it turn out well? Do they get a thoughtful well-structured response? Probably not, because those reporters are kind of like that wedding video guy who just jams a cam in someone’s face asking them to congratulate the bride and groom. It’s in the reporters interest to set up an interview in advance, so if you find you’ve got some downtime (the bride is late coming back from the hairdresser) see if you can’t scout out a spot where you could talk to the bridesmaids and her parents. Preferably without a blaring television or radio in the background!
“But people are nervous when they’re on camera!” Yes most people are. One of the key techniques is to have them look slightly off camera. What I usually do is frame my shot (using that rule of thirds), and then position myself slightly to the left or right of the camera so the interviewee isn’t looking at the lens; they’re looking at me. Letting them know false starts and stumbles can be edited out, or using a lavaliere mic instead of a hand held mic may help some people to relax. If you are going to add titling, ask the interviewee to say and spell their name while you’re recording.
The second thing I do is assure the person, they don’t have to think of anything to say, they just have to answer my questions. Your goal is to have conversations where you simply talk to people and they talk to you. When people are comfortable talking to someone they are more likely to relax and reveal what they know along with their personal thoughts and feelings.
The third step is to ask questions which directly involve the interviewee, not just the bride and groom. How do they know the couple? What was she like in college? The first time Kim introduced you to Joe did YOU have an inkling this was the guy? People like to talk about themselves and once they’re comfortably talking about themselves and their own perspectives, it’s easier to get them onto the subject you’d like to pursue on behalf of your bride and groom.
When television reporters put together a “man on the street” piece, they will often ask a series of questions to several individuals. This is a good way to try out interviewing as a component of a wedding film. Start with something simple like the questions I referenced earlier. Try telling the story of your bride and groom through the eyes of their friends and family, by simply cutting together the various responses to the same questions. There are so many directions you can take interviewing once you feel comfortable with it. I love hearing a father talk about his daughter as a little girl as part of the audio for a father/daughter dance. Can you refute the wisdom of grandparents who have been married for 50 years when they offer advice on a happy marriage? I promise you, it’s addictive. And rewarding. And hands down, the thing our couples talk about the most when they call to thank us for their wedding film.
Some simple rules for interviews:
• Don’t ask “yes” or “no” questions.
• Keep the questions brief.
• Ask one question at a time.
• Try not to interrupt.
• Don’t rush to fill the silence – your subject may not be finished speaking, and it will help with the editing.
AND
Put it on a tripod! To quote Ray Roman, anytime a person is speaking on camera, you want to be filming with a stabilization system.
Joanna Banks-Morgan of Diva Productions has spent most of her 41 years in newsrooms or on sets. The daughter of a journalist and an actor (her dad Jonathan Banks plays “Mike” on the AMC series Breaking Bad), she was bitten by the producing bug early. She attended Cardiff University’s Journalism, Film, and Television program in Wales and started her career in 1992 with British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Before creating Diva Productions in 2007 with husband/business partner Robert Banks-Morgan, Joanna worked for CBS 42 KEYE in Austin, Texas where she also attended St. Edward’s University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Communications.
It seems like yesterday that I was walking up and down the streets of NY carrying rolls of fabric to fashion designers and reaping the benefits sample sales, and fashion shows. I was at the top of my game. I remember clearly, one morning as I was walking into the office, seeing a woman running down the street yelling at the top of her lungs. A couple of hours later, two Twin Towers went down as the world witnessed in shock. It is absolutely impossible to explain in words, the experience of being in New York City on Sept 11th 2001, and even more impossible to explain the following day. It was then that I realized…I mean deep down genuinely, from the bottom of my heart realized…how precious life really is…and especially how much I love the people in my life.
Soon after, I found myself no longer commuting into NY and becoming a top sales rep for one of the largest ecommerce companies out there. Outside sales was always my thing…I loved meeting new people and working closely with them…It’s just so me.
In 2004 my husband, Chris and I sacrificed my six figure income in order for me to become a stay at home mom to our newborn son, CJ. It was probably one of the easiest decisions we ever had to make.
The following year I was playing one of my usual photo montages for our friends and family at CJ’s first birthday party. My mother in law turned to me and said, “You should make a business of this”. Later that evening I came down and discussed the idea with my husband. Not too long after that, we began a lovely photo montage business and later incorporated home video into our montages. I did some work for birthday parties and anniversaries but was mostly freelancing for other professionals. It wasn’t until one of my “videographer” clients asked me to edit a park sequence for a wedding that I became instantly in love! Low and behold, I became freelance wedding editor!
Freelancing was fantastic….but artistically it was not enough for me…especially after being introduced to the work of Joshua Smith (Cinematic Bride). OMG! Can weddings really be done that way?!!!I Chris and I did a little more soul searching decided to go for it! Fiore Films launched at the end of 2008, though we had absolutely no idea what we were getting into. All I knew was that I loved editing and I loved weddings…period! It was then that the true journey began for me and Chris!
Thankfully, Chris and I have met and become friends with some of the most amazing, talented people along the way. All of which are striving to bring this new wave of wedding filmmaking to the top of the wedding vendor priority list. It’s pretty awesome!
Currently we could not be more satisfied with what we have achieved thus far. I have to say that we pretty much have a distinct clientele. Our brides are generally not that shy…and even for the ones that are, we tend to bring a huge level of comfort to them. I’m always being asked how we get our couples to seem so comfortable in front of the lens and my answer is always…”alcohol”!
Seriously though, one thing we always talk about is “connection” in our industry. There are so many times I speak with a bride to be over the phone, and I just know she is not a Fiore Films bride and other times where I’m sure…”this is the bride for us”! I think it’s important to know who your clientele is. Then the connection becomes pure and true…it’s a natural phenomenon. Suddenly your style is clearer…you embrace it…then ultimately your work becomes just plain honest.
I’m a true believer in the fact that when it comes to wedding films, the technical aspect can be flawless…the images can be epic, however, if there is no real substance…no raw emotion…no truthful connection…then it is missing a good chunk of what a wedding day means.
I’m pretty much a self taught girl who just always loved photos and video, and ultimately found her true passion in wedding filmmaking!
What inspires me? I’ve thought about that a lot and the answer is simple… It comes from two people being so in love that they just want to spend the rest of their lives together. It comes from the responsibility of capturing not only what a bride and groom are doing on their wedding day, but expressing what they are feeling…because that feeling is precious…because that feeling is magnificent…because that feeling is what we all live for.
From the Inspiration shoot at Coco-Kay, Bahamas at POSH 2010, attendees will compose a clip after the event to submit in our Inspiration Challenge Contest! Submissions will be voted on and the top 3 winners receive either a Cinevate Uno DSLR Rig, DP Slider or the KC-Lite 8.0 crane, 5.5 Short Tip, & Soft Case from Kessler Crane!
We have several ladies who have entered the sm film contest theme ‘posh’ for their chance to win a $500 sm gift certificate towards anything sm or 2 With Etiquette song licenses and $350 certificate towards the POSH 2010 retreat and workshop for women event filmmakers and photographers. Voting ends July 20. Click here to vote for your favorite film. We want to thank stillmotion for putting together this contest for women filmmakers. Check out stillmotion education to find out details about their education experiences.
Working in small intimate groups gain hands on experience capturing the lush surroundings of Coco-Cay! Perfect way to amp up your current portfolio or get the look to target those just out of reach! Need to test out new ideas or gear? Now is the time!! Be inspired and learn from others in your industry!
Another sponsor joins POSH 2010! Kessler Crane is giving away a KC-Lite 8.0 Crane, KC-Lite 5.5 Short Tip Upgrade, & Soft Case! We are announcing very soon how you can win this sweet prize!
The Kessler KC-Lite 8.0 has been designed to be the best “economy” crane on the market. For the filmmaker shooting on a tight budget, using a lighter digital video or DSLR camera under 10 pounds, we feel the KC-Lite is the highest quality camera crane / jib in the sub $400 price range. Based off the design of our standard dual-rail KC series of camera cranes, the KC-Lite is a 100% tool-less, single rail crane that is light-weight and portable, yet has the heft where it counts like the 3/8″ thick ultra rigid mounting plate. No flimsy sheet metal here! Unlike other cranes in this price range the KC-Lite mounts to your fluid head in a way that utilizes the fluid drag of the head’s pan and tilt giving the best control and fluid like movements in all 3 modes of crane operation (manual tilt, fixed-angle mode, & automatic mode).
Check out this testimonial clip to see the amazing shots you can get with the KC-Lite. We will have it on hand at the shoot in the Bahamas for attendees to test out.
Every attendee will receive a POSH swag bag that includes a current issue of EventDV Magazine, a special gift of 3 complimentary issues of the Magazine and discount on a subscription. A beautiful, organic Loktah DVD case, discounts on gear purchases from other sponsors plus a special something that we can’t tell you about just yet.
We have some amazing door prizes we are giving away. All attendees will have a chance to win!
Three all access passes to the IN[FOCUS] 2010 conference videos (over 12 hours of video seminars) and three passes to Chris Jones’ workflow training. Jones can help you slay the backlog beast once and for all with his IN[TENSE] editor training, online and on-demand. IN[FOCUS] 2011 conference details being announced soon!
Who are you as a female visual artist? Does confidence pour through your veins when you speak with a client and ask for what you’re worth… or do you struggle with fear, self doubt, and wonder if you have what it takes?
What is your brand? Is it an extension of you and the work you aspire to create… or is it something else altogether? How can you extend yourself into a brand that connects deeply with your clients and resonates strongly with you as well?
Where do art and commerce connect? Can we find peace with the tension between the two? Is your art an extension of you and your brand or has it become only what the client pays for?
These are the questions we’ll address and attempt to answer with real-life stories of success and failure, authentic solutions, and practical ideas for embracing transformation in you, your brand and your art.
