#sylvairwedding

 My cousin, Sylvia, and Eric have been together for more than a decade, so I wasn't the only one to exclaim, "finally!" when their wedding day arrived.

Although Sylvia and Eric hadn't planned for a big show, it just so happened that they got one. All the lives of all the people they've affected can't bare to send these two off on their married life without recounting some of the great memories along the way. The following snippet was shared by her brother.

Eric was very specific about not "burdening" me with having to film during their wedding. However, he epxressed that a record of all the speeches would be invaluable, so we just up an audio recorder and let it run. This also gave me a chance to experiment with "dynamic typography." 

I didn't pick up my camera until the very end of the night, but if you're interested, here's the small set of photos I took as well.

Wedding Reception Videos

 I love wedding reception videos. There is nothing like being at a live screening for a private party who are there specifically to see the stars of the show. Everyone's happy, well-dressed, well-fed, and already having a great time! Here are a few recent reception videos I've put together. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did!

The first video on the list is actually being unveiled for the first time ever, tonight! Even the bride and groom have yet to see it, and you get to enjoy it first, right here on my blog. :)

Ah, Weddings

 Ah, weddings. It's that time of year again when the sun's out, everything's in bloom, and love is in the air. Weddings are interesting projects to capture and retell; they're equally fun and challenging, demanding and rewarding. And while the wedding day probably holds the bridal couple's favourite moments, mine comes when I get to deliver their immortalized stories. :)

Marites & Tyson, Part 2

 If I ever thought that Marites & Tyson expended all their fun and comedic energy by the time their pre-bridal video was done, boy was I in for a surprise. Right before their first dance, Tyson says to me: "Make sure you leave us some room on the dance floor because we're going to need the space." What he said did NOT prepare us for what they had in store! (Skip to 1:11 if you want to jump right into the action.)

Marites & Tyson

 Marites & Tyson are among the most fun and hilarious people I've had the pleasure of filming. They got married this past weekend (marking my first wedding shoot of the year), but I was also lucky enough to have had the opportunity to work with them even before that date. On what, you ask? Check this out:

The cool part is that Marites & Tyson has been involved with this project from the get-go. They came up with the concept, assisted in the storyboarding, and of course, acted in it as well. With some camera backup from Eric Tuason, I was able to cut together some footage from that day, and shared it with all their guests during the reception. Needless to say, this little surprise had their friends and family laughing in tears!

Delphina & Colin

 I've been so involved with the Follow Me Foodie web series that almost forgot a friend's wedding I needed to cut… here it is! Thanks for being patient Del & Col!

All the speeches were great too, but I'll send you that personal stuff directly. ;)

PS. I have to give a shout-out to Jeff Chang and Cat McDowel of Jeff Chang Photography for capturing that last clip (starting 3:24) for me while I was busy pumping out a same-day edit. For brides-to-be and wedding planners, these are the kinds of moments that a second shooter can capture while an editor works on the same-day edit. I got lucky that Jeff and Cat are so versatile and friendly. :)

I'm Getting Married Today!

The special day has finally arrived! I know I should probably be getting ready instead of blogging, but I'm just so happy and I want to share it with as many people as I can! Here's another one of my favourite photos that Eric Tuason shot for us:

Those of you following me on Twitter will note that although I told myself not to do any more filming before my wedding, I ended up producing a short video for my wedding. To the people I can't invite to my reception but are kind enough to read my posts, here's a little reward: you get to see it before everyone else!

This video was one of the "funnest" videos I've ever done. I hope you have as much fun watching it as I had producing it! Oh, and special thanks to the love of my life, Ting Lin for being a good sport, and to Eric Tuason again for filming the parts we can't.

I Pity the Pithi Victims

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be the bowl in a baking experiment gone wrong? Nadeem's Pithi ceremony a few hours ago seems to have cured his curiousity of that question.

All in all, it looked like everyone (else) had a lot of fun. 

Same Day Edit

Although this post is more like a follow-up of my Mobile Studio entry, I feel there's enough content to justify its own entry.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had acquired a MacBook Pro to decrease the raw-from-camera-to-polished-and-online time. So, what's one of the biggest tests for speed? How about a same-day-edit? Imagine all the bride and groom's wedding day preparations and ceremony, filmed, cut, and ready to share with all their guests before their reception is over that night. Feeling the pressure? I sure did. Oh, and to make matters more interesting (challenging), I did it solo.

Mobile "studio" in trunk of our rideThe idea is a very simple one:

1. film great footage
2. copy memory card contents to laptop
3. have Final Cut Pro transcode new footage, while
4. format card and continue shooting awesome stuff

However, I haven't counted on running into a few power-related issues. I'm guessing the advertised 7-hour battery was probably tested surfing the internet and e-mail stuff, not rendering and transcoding video. Let's just say I had to find power outlets as the day went on. Did anyone else know that Queen Elizabeth Park had tons of power outlets near the fountain?

Charging the MacBook Pro at the mallCharging the MacBook while getting gas at the gas stationCharging the MacBook Pro at Queen Elizabeth ParkWhen I reached the restaurant for the wedding reception, I had almost all my video clips transcoded and ready to go. I found a quiet corner with a power outlet, and away I went. A few quick cuts here and there, and painfully slow render later (rendering is always slow, but even more painful when it's urgent), and voilà it was ready for viewing. Oh, and of course, I made sure that I had all the necessary adaptors.

So, recap? A same-day-edit was a ton more work than just shooting, there was a very real and short deadline, and I was constantly on the lookout for power outlets. However, when the video played, all I can remember are the facial expressions of all the guests, and the bride and groom. It was totally worth it. Here's what everyone saw that night:

Note: the short film was graded, but the same-day-edit footage hasn't been graded yet, all in the interest of time; otherwise, it would've been another render that could easily delay the final piece another 40ish minutes. I will post the graded version very soon. 

Update on Mon, June 14, 2010 at 7:18 AM by Steve Tan

Here's the graded version with my quick intro. Enjoy!

Update on Tue, June 15, 2010 at 8:38 AM by Steve Tan

I've just uploaded a couple of personalized message recorded for Michelle & Jimmy right after their ceremony. Because the bridesmaids' language and content, I just HAD to restrict public access. Oh, and don't watch this at work. The password is the name of Michelle & Jimmy's dog.

Compensate with Style

Wedding speeches are my Kryptonite. I hate filming them because they're a challenge I cannot easily solve. Allow me to explain. For speeches, it can get a bit boring if I film only the speaker; I mean, wouldn't it be awesome to capture the bride and groom's reaction to all the "comments" directed their way? (If I didn't care about getting reaction shots, wedding speeches would be as easy as setting up a tripod and aiming it at the speaker.)

I'm usually a one-man crew with one camera. In these speech situations, I've got two targets. I can go back and forth, but there'll inevitably be "holes" during the transitions. What's to do?

So, I compensate with style.