theunbride.com

Today I bring you the incredibly cool work of Monachetti Cinematic Wedding Films. These guys do such amazing work, their wedding videos look more like art films than anything I’ve seen before. Their editing style and focusing techniques really grabbed me as being unlike anything I’ve ever seen in wedding videos. I know the rest of you will love them as well. I had the opportunity to ask Mike a few questions about his company that I now share with you.

1. What is your film/ video background?

I began shooting short films and goofy videos around the house when I got my first camera as a kid. After college, I became close friends with a fellow film-maker, and we have been pursuing it ever since. I have worked on numerous short films, and music video projects. I have also done several corporate training DVDs.

2. How did you get into shooting weddings?

Several years ago a close friend of mine was like “Hey, you should film my wedding!” And I said “You’re right!” I’ve been doing it ever since.

3. How would you define your visual style?

I would say that my style is a little more edgy then what people are used to seeing with wedding videography. Their is an extreme attention to detail and story. I want every video to feel different then the one before it, and the only way to do that is to focus on different aspects of each wedding. I like approaching the wedding day eager to make something different then anything that has been done before.

4. What areas do you service?

I am based out of Washington, DC but available for hire world wide.

5. Can you give us a range for your rates?

2,000-6,000

6. Anything else you might want to share with unbrides?

I wish I could tell them that a wedding video is just as important as any other medium they are using to remember their wedding day by. Having a wedding video is important because it pulls on your emotions from that day like nothing else. Being able to watch your day, as a story, as many times as you want for the rest of your life, is irreplaceable. Something the generation before this wishes they could have. Something this generation should take advantage of.

Go watch some film samples at www.monachetti.com

Whenever I have to leave town to shoot a wedding, Oliver gets to go to work with Gary. I just got this iPhone picture which I think is so incredibly cute. I can’t tell if Oliver is sulking over getting groomed, me being gone or if he’s just resting comfortably on the couch at Mind of Mencia.

Many of you have probably noticed that I haven’t been posting a lot lately. Part of this is just about being really busy but the other part is that I’ve found that I’m not always that inspired to talk about the wedding and since I haven’t really done any planning lately I haven’t been doing any research. I do have a life after all. So from this point on I’m just going to blog about whatever I happen to be doing/ thinking about in real life and not just in wedding land. Here goes…

Gary and I moved into the new house almost 2 months ago. However, we are still dresser-less which is starting to make us a little bit nuts. I found one that we both loved at CB2 (whiny white lacquer w/ silver hardware) and put it on our registry so that we would remember and then buy it for ourselves. But as it turns out, we waited a little bit too long and now it’s discontinued. Oh no! So disappointing right? It looked like this one only it was low to the ground and had 6 drawers instead of 4.

So now we are on the lookout for an alternative. I found this one at IKEA but it’s off-white instead of white. Close but not quite.

So anyway if anyone comes across a low dresser in white lacquer then please let me know. Preferably nothing too expensive either. I’ve seen some around but they’ve all been like $2000…not what I want to spend on a dresser.

Here I am pouting at IKEA. Just kidding, Gary offered me a ride on the cart so I agreed. People there probably thought we were crazy.

Yesterday I jumped on a plane from LA to DC which is where I am now. I’m here for a number of shoots with my lovely wedding clients as well as shooting a wedding at Hotel Monaco on Saturday. I will share some images from that here. My busy wedding season is about to start, yay!

Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been gone for so long…it has been a crazy couple of weeks. Things seem to be calming down a bit now so hopefully I will have more time to blog. Please stick with me, I promise I won’t let things go this long again. Anyway, last week my mother and sister were in town to visit and to teach a seminar for photographers with me. We had a last minute venue change (to my house) so we had lots of delightful photographers around and had a blast getting to know all of them and trying to teach them as much as we could in 2 days, which I hope was a lot.

Sometime during all of this, I received in the mail the cutest invitation to my bridal shower that my awesome friends (& sister) are throwing for me next month in DC. They are so incredibly sweet, the invitation even matches the wedding color scheme.

Thank you so much ladies, I miss you all and I can’t wait to catch up very soon!!!!

Next on my list of things to do, SAVE THE DATES. I am such a slacker, we’ve been engaged for almost a year and I haven’t even sent these out yet. D’oh!

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that I have not taken a break from the blog on purpose. I am hosting a seminar for photographers this week and that is taking up every second of my time at the moment. But once it is over, will resume my normal blogging. Hang in there with me for a day or two and I’ll be back. Thanks!

I’m sure by now most of you have seen a wedding video that includes at least some super 8 film. You know, the fabulously grainy, vintage home-movie looking footage? If not, you’re totally missing out. I have been absolutely obsessed with super 8 for a few years now so I was very excited when Michelle from Layer Cake Films reached out to me to share a little bit about what her company does. I asked her a few questions. Enjoy!

UB: How long have you been shooting Super 8 film for weddings?

LCF: I have been shooting super 8 film for weddings for about a year now. I am a film editor by trade so before that I was editing music videos, TV shows, and commercials in Los Angeles as well as editing wedding events for another company (I worked with them for almost four years so I have been in the industry for awhile now!). After my relationship with that wedding company ended I decided to start my own super 8 based company. I love shooting! It has been so fun and it’s so much different to actually meet and work with the bride and groom compared to just seeing the footage afterwards and editing it. Plus, this way, I can usually try to snag a piece of cake at the wedding!

UB: What is the difference between super 8 and regular video?

LCK: Super 8 film, and just film in general, has much more depth to it than video. Personally, I don’t mind video, I think it is a great, less expensive archival tool. But film, especially super 8 film, is much more nostalgic, romantic, and unique. One of the biggest differences is that with super 8 you don’t get any audio. Even though a lot of companies, mine included, offer add-on’s of video or audio recording to enhance the super 8 in the final film, the lack of audio gives super 8 a much more dreamy and vintage feel. It has the distinct ability to remind you of moments and spark your memory but not replace memories by what was shot. As an editor for weddings for years, I could see how with video that whatever the videographer chose to shoot would eventually become the only things the couple would remember. It starts to replace what they experienced in a way. With super 8, because it is shorter and has no audio and is focused on moments rather than a complete documentary of the day, it allows most people to remember their own personal experience by reminding them of special things that happened.

UB: You’re on the east coast now, right? What areas/ cities do you serve?

LCF: We are on the east coast now! We are also based in Los Angeles still but we have launched back east, have a base here, and we serve some of the most amazing beautiful places I have ever been too! North Carolina, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Philadelphia and New York City are the main area’s we are focusing on right now and we have already shot or are scheduled to shoot in all those places at sometime this year. Basically, I am addicted to traveling and have been for years! I love to travel to wherever someone wants to bring me to shoot their day. I don’t overcharge on travel or have huge per diem’s per day like some companies because I actually want to go and so I keep the cost as low as possible. I have a few weddings scheduled this year for places I have never been and I am so excited about that!

UB: How much should couples expect to pay for a super 8 film?

LCF: Film isn’t cheap unfortunately. For a super 8 film people should be looking to spend anywhere from $2000 up. I think something important people should know is that I understand it’s expensive! I know it isn’t cheap to want a super 8 wedding film. If I was getting married I don’t even know if I could afford it! But that’s why I try so hard to give couples the most possible with our films. I also created a package called Cake in a Box where I rent couples a camera, send them film, instructions, and tips, and then they shoot or find a family member or friend to shoot their wedding day in super 8. When the wedding is over they send it all back to us for processing and editing. I started this package because I was able to price it lower so couples who really wanted some super 8 shot of their day could possibly be able to afford it. Super 8 film isn’t cheap but it is so beautiful and usually in the end worth every penny! Even I don’t mind seeing myself on super 8! It just makes everything feel so much more fun and vintage.

Do you like how I abbreviated The Unbride to “UB”…for some reason I just didn’t want to be called “TUB”.
So is anyone else going to have some Super 8 Film show for their own wedding?

Kay was just over a little while ago since we had a conference call with her graphic designer about her upcoming album cover which is going to be awesome by the way. Anyway, she brought over this jewelry cleaner that she picked up at a rodeo somewhere, I imagine that had to be part of the Hannah Montana tour. This jewelry cleaner is called Something New and OMG, my ring has never been cleaner or sparkled more since the day I got it. I had to look it up online and I’m going to order some right away. If you want your ring to sparkle as well, I suggest you all do the same. www.something-new.com

I’m going to buy this, Special #2. If you don’t already have a little brush, you might want to buy a package that includes one.

I was without internet almost all day today which was absolute torture, especially since I’ve been so excited to share with you our very cool wedding logo. Luckily Gary came home to my rescue so I’m back in business. The inspiration came from the logo for the old CBGB club in NYC. Since we’re going with sort of a rock theme, we thought it might be fun to take it ever further and make the whole event sort of like a rock club. Anyway, my amazingly talented friend & designer Ellen was kind enough to do this for me.

And here’s ours. This is a first draft, the final logo is going to have letters that go in an arc like the one above.

We thought this would be a fun alternative to a monogram which is just not us anyway…especially considering that I’m not taking Gary’s last name. Anyone else doing a wedding logo?

I knew someone would ask so here you go…The OWFUG stands for Our Wedding For Uplifting Gormandizers, the original is Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers.

Here are the new updated versions…

I am very excited today to show you the work of another one of my amazing photographer friends. After a couple of years of email friendship, Nicole Wolf and I finally got to meet this year and got to spend some real time together in Vegas at WPPI (a convention for wedding & portrait photographers). Anyway, Nicole &, her husband, Brad & her business partner, Jeremy run a hybrid photography & design studio with locations in DC & Indiana called SOTA Dzine & Studio Thisis. When I first saw their work I was so impressed because they were creating really unusual editorial style wedding portraits that I just wasn’t seeing anywhere else. I mean, there were plenty of photographers shooting in a “fashiony style” but none of them really looked like fashion images, they just looked like brides with their hands on their hips. Not SOTA, they really take it to a whole new level.

Anyway, I love their work so much that I’ve asked them to shoot a “day after” session with me and Gary. So we’ll get all dressed up again (perhaps a little messier though) and do another photo shoot in all sorts of cool locations around DC with all of the stress of the wedding behind us. Won’t that be fun?!
Here are a few of my favorite SOTA images along with a quick Q&A with Nicole.


*How long have you been photographing weddings and how did you get in the
business?

My business partner Jeremy Bustos started the company in 2000 and
asked Brad and I to join on to head up the photography end in
2001. In the beginning we had zero ambitions about being wedding
photographers. We had all worked with different mediums and wanted to
pursue a career in the commercial world of advertising and design. When we
started to look at the photography industry as a whole, back in 2001, we
noticed the biggest need for change in wedding photography. We wanted to
apply a style that was relevant to the new, trendy bride, and that just was
not being done at the time. We started shooting weddings for friends,
developed a portfolio amongst the other commercial work we were doing, and
it started to snowball from there. In 2001 we had 11 weddings and in 2002
we had 36. It was crazy to see how excited people were about our style.


*Where do you find your inspiration to create such unique images?

Well, we do other things! We work in many areas of the industry so we take
from all of that and apply it to wedding photography. We basically said in
the beginning that if we did not feel inspired about the work that we were
doing and people did not appreciate the approach, then we would not
continue. Jeremy, Brad and I constantly saturate ourselves with new and
innovative ideas. Researching websites, magazines, music, travel, art,
life, for inspiration. We pull from what we see and what we feel in our
gut. Sometimes we think Brides might think we are crazy for the ideas we
come up with, but we are usually pleasantly surprised that they get so into
it.


*What is your favorite part of the wedding day to shoot and why?

That’s a tough question because every couple reacts differently at different
points of the day. Sometimes the reception is a crazy party with 300 people
dancing the night away and the energy is intense, so that is fun. Other
times there are the sweetest, most intimate moments happening in the room
where the bride is getting ready, that it brings you to tears. All in all
however, we put a lot of energy into creating amazing portraits of the bride
and groom. We try to come up with locations and generate ideas that are
completely unique to the couple, so that is probably on the whole, where we
shine the brightest. Many of our brides come to us specifically for the
editorial portraits and then the rest of what we do is a pleasant addition.


* You offer really cool & unique wedding albums. Can you tell us a
little bit about them and maybe show an example or two?

The Albums!! We totally believe that the work is the most important, so if
you choose to display it in an album, it better make the work sing instead
of completely detracting from it. Jeremy and Brad are amazing designers and
we worked really hard to develop a product that is completely customized to
our clients. Many people say they offer custom albums, but what that
usually means is that they personally lay out the photos for you in a unique
way. We offer custom, hand done graphics, illustrations, developing logos,
fonts etc for clients, anything we can put in the album we will. They fill
out a questionnaire and give us samples from there wedding that we take and
build off of. We do not want our clients tucking there photos in a shoe box
under the bed for the next 20 years. We want them to show them off, and
have an amazing art piece that they are proud to display.

*What advice do you have for unbrides about working with a non-
traditional or avant garde photographer?

I feel like the industry is shifting and more and more brides want a variety
of styles on their wedding day. Not just traditional, not just
journalistic, not just editorial, but a combination of everything. The only
problem with this is that not everyone is proficient in all those areas. So
when looking for a photographer, be specific about what is important to you.
Look at a lot of websites and narrow down your options. We work very
closely building relationships with our clients so that we understand their
needs and what they want their wedding photos to evoke. Also, trust your
photographer! If you love them and their work, leave room for them to
interpret instead of setting a lot of limitations by giving them shot lists
etc. “Avant garde” photographers want to dig deep to create work that is
one of a kind and specific to you, no one else. Build that relationship and
trust with them and then allow them to do what they do best.

Check out their brand new blog, Overexposed.

Of course marriage means many other more important things besides insurance but I wanted to take a moment to express my excitement about the fact that after 6 years of being self-employed, in just 6 short months I will be able to take full advantage of Gary’s Motion Picture Health Insurance plan. It is incredible, they cover literally everything…even massage & acupuncture. Can’t wait for that! I haven’t even had dental xrays in 6 years…pretty bad, right?

Anyway, the reason that I thought to write about this today is that I just got home to a letter from Blue Shield of CA to inform me that my insurance premium is going up. And not just going up….up by 25%. And guess why? Not because of health problems, trips to the doctor, life threatening illness….nothing. No, they are raising my rates in anticipation of my upcoming birthday, since I’ll be turning *gasp* 30. Apparently there must be an enormous decline in health for women from 29 to 30 because that seems like an awfully big leap. Don’t you think?

Here is my favorite quote from the letter:

“Your birthday will move you into a new age category, and because medical risks generally increase with age, your plan rate will also increase. Please note that this increase is based only on your change in age and isn’t related to any overall plan benefit or rate adjustments.”
Blah blah blah!

So is anyone else out there marrying for insurance?