WELCOME TO OUR LATEST & GREATEST

We were flicking through the channels the other day, as you do when your bored and stumbled across a program called In Treatment. For the most part its set in a single room with just 2 people. But what struck me were the end credits. This seemingly simple program had this huge list of people who made it happen. Directors, producers, editors, 4 assistant editors, director of photography, cinematographers. In fact, here’s the full list of people who work in this show.

I then thought about what we do and how for most of our shoots it’s just us, Julie & Danny. We shoot, edit, produce, sound engineer, cater and all those other titles used in the TV and movie world. We do also have Gavin and Alex who help us shoot and Simon who edits but mostly just us.

What is also amazing is how we do it. When you see the behind the scenes for a TV show it’s often featuring a rather large camera with no end to the things bolted on. But for us, it’s just a DSLR camera on a monopod.

One of our most cinematic and beautiful films to date is the wedding of Andrew & Jessica. I thought I would share with you a shot from their film which features Julie, doing her thing with the gear we use so you can see just how compact our shooting style is. In case you miss her she’s the one in pink.

Normally we would be wearing black to try and disappear but given the weather and what everyone else was wearing it would have made us stick out more than blend in. The camera configuration there is also one of our largest of a Canon 5DMK2, Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS, Rode VideoMic and LCDVF. Most of the time it’s a much smaller setup without the view finder or big lens. One of the reasons we only need the two of us is that we also use walkie talkies and little secret service style earpieces (Julie is wearing hers but you just can’t see it).

We decided to write this post as a lot of people see what we do and think we turn up with big shoulder mounted cameras, a crew of people and take over the day. But there is no need because we create our beautiful, cinematic work using just what you see in the picture.

So what do you think? Did you expect more gear or people? Let us know your thoughts below.

-Danny

For those of you who keep up to date with our blog, you will know that my childhood was filled with lots of visits to old train sheds, steam train rides across moors and valleys, and my Dad anxiously waiting by the front door for the post man to deliver the latest double 00 gage Hornby special. Well, you can imagine my (and my Dad’s) delight when we met Emma and Gavin, who had decided to have their wedding at the new St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London. Its only been open since May 2011, and they were one of the first couples to have their wedding there. The hotel is right at the end of the train platform.

And for those of you who are fans of the Spice Girls song – Wannabe – you’ll remember that scene as the spice girls descend down the stairs – well, that staircase is at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London.  Since then, the hotels had a complete refurbishment; the level of detail and finish is just exquisite.  It’s certainly worth a visit if you get the opportunity.

I have to admit, I do have another tie to this particular couple. When I was 18, I wanted to get into Law. I also wanted some money and couldn’t stand any more learning, so I went to work for Solomon & Levy Solicitors, as a legal secretary.  This was where I met Alan Levy, Emma’s Dad. I hadn’t realised the correlation between Emma and her Dad when we first met Gavin and Emma,  until I turned up to film her getting ready at home, and who appeared at the door – but Alan Levy!  It was a real surprise to meet up with my old boss – and yes Alan, you were always nice to me and I have some fond memories of my time at Solomon and Levy.

So, Emma and Gavin.  The more I watch it, the more I like it.  They aren’t a mushy over romantic couple, but the love in the room was obvious. Gavin’s speech is testament to that. Emma really did look amazing, and when she smiles, it just makes you smile too. Twice around.

Click here to read the Behind the Scenes write up for the technical among you and our fellow industry peeps.

-Julie

Here are some of those who helped make Emma & Gavin’s day happen;

Venue | St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London
Catering | Chives
Shoes | Alexander McQueen
Dress | Ian Stuart
Photographer | Reportage By
Toastmaster | Jamie Paskin
Florist and Chuppah Design | Black & Cook
Music | Creation Disco-Live

Here’s another video we created for Love My Dress but forgot to post on our own blog.

We worked with luxury cake designer Janet Mohapi-Banks and vintage inspired wedding planner Tiffany Grant-Riley to create a little video tutorial on how to decorate your own shop bought wedding cake and how to make a sugar rose with sugar paste.

We spent the afternoon with the pair and just let them do their thing. Janet showed Tiffany how to create a sugar rose from sugar paste and then apply a little icing swag to your cake.

The whole thing took about 5 hours to film but we worked our magic to give you everything you need in just 7 minutes.

This was quite a hard one for me to watch as I loooooooooove icing and always have to lick the bowl (and maybe make a little more icing as well). But we had to remain professional and just watch.

-Danny

So now we’ve given our new blog a chance to settle in we thought we would let you know about those two curious links at the top. The ones which say “THE LATEST & GREATEST” and “SOCIETY OF MOVEMENT“.

To help keep things clean we have decided to keep all our education related posts separate. So under THE LATEST & GREATEST you will find all our regular blog posts, weddings, new videos, that kind of stuff. Under SOCIETY OF MOVEMENT you will find all our education related posts aimed more at those in our industry or those who are just curious.

What we hope to do from this point onwards is whenever we post a new highlights or video is to also post a technical write up in the education blog. So make sure you bookmark it or pop back regularly to find out what we’ve got going on. If you head over there now you will see a wonderful little tutorial on how we manage the 12 minute limit on DSLR cameras.

-Danny

I can’t believe I forgot to post this to our own blog.

Back in the summer we filmed the wonderful Love My Dress Summer Soiree. As with everything we do the plan was to tell the story of Annabel and her event, rather than show what most do and just the evening fun. We wanted to show just what went into creating this fabulous day from the setting up of the room, the hair and makeup and of course, the evening fun.

We took along Gavin & Alex so they could charm the room while we remained behind the camera… working.

I won’t go into too much detail about the whole event as you can read all about it on Love My Dress by clicking here. Suffice to say we had a wonderful time and look forward to the next one.

By the way, the video has some nipple pastie covered nudity courtesy of the amazing Vicky Butterfly so probably not safe for work. If you are at work, why not live dangerously and give it a click anyway.

-Danny