Randi & Whitney

Randi & Whitney from Northernlight Filmworks on Vimeo.

This was such a fun and beautiful wedding to witness. Randi has a natural beauty about her and is complimented by an authentic personality. Randi and Whitney were surrounded by great friends and family. We always enjoy just putting our cameras down, sitting back and watching the interaction between those people that have touched the couples life. There are moments during this film that we tried to capture that told a bit of a story of the day. One of our favorite moments in the film is when Randi is with her Grandfather preparing to walk down the isle to be escorted to her Father who stood in wait midway, center isle. This to us is a pivotal moment. We never asked Randi what she was thinking but all the planning all the times she dreamed as a child of getting married the memories, the anticipation and excitement was expressed right then and there.

The wedding party was so much fun and we enjoyed heading down to Broadripple to Chumley's to document them hanging out with their wedding party before going to the reception. The reception was held at the faboulous Indiana State Museum and was beautifully decorated.

We worked with some of the best in the business that day. Tonya Shadoan of Circle City Planners did an amazing job with all of the details. Setting that aside, Tonya and Randi developed a great friendship and that is one of the reasons you will see Tonya in the film. Jennifer Driscoll and her assistant Jordyn were the photographers and Jennifer worked her magic in stills and she was even wearing a cast. And DJ Brian Whitis, who did a phonomial job keeping the party going.

Thank you Randi and Whitney for making this a memory for us.

Sean + Sam - Converse, IN

Sean + Sam from Northernlight Filmworks on Vimeo.

PRESS PLAY AND THEN PAUSE AND ALLOW THE VIDEO TO LOAD. ITS A LARGE FILE. WE THINK ITS WORTH THE WAIT.

We enjoyed filming Sean and Samantha's (Sam) wedding last Friday. This is an express edit that we offer as an upgrade. Just because it says express doesn't mean we sacrifice quality. We spent the same amount of time and effort in terms of editing and color grading. Sean and Sam will be celebrating again this weekend in New Jersey so that family and friends there can experience this special time in their life.

We really had a good vibe going with this couple. You can really tell that Sean and Sam are so much in love with each other. They had wonderful family and friends and the moment we walked through the door we felt welcomed.

It was a pleasure working for the first time with Jessica of Lemon Grass Photography.

Emily & Clint - Columbia Club

Emily and Clint - A Columbia Club Classic from Northernlight Filmworks on Vimeo.

This was a refreshing wedding for us and we really enjoyed the beauty surrounding the couple. It was quite evident that both Emily and Clint were close to family and friends and this is a centerpiece of both of their lives. We love the opportunity we have to just sit back and observe the relationships and listen to what they say to each other and how they interact. The wedding day goes by so quickly and we enjoy the responsibility of documenting the day. We build our edits on the basis that everyone has a wedding day story to tell.

We enjoyed working with Teresa and Deanna with Eventful Planning. I have to say, they did an amazing job with the decor and the entire Wedding ran so smooth, even with some time crunch situations. A special thanks to AJ at the Columbia Club for making our job so much easier. Brian Whitis was the DJ who kept the momentum moving and we always enjoy working with him. The cake was created by Classic Cakes. We worked with Stuart Meyer of Stuart Meyer Photography.

In[Focus]

We recently were asked to be part of In[Focus] as featured experts and to contribute as bloggers. There is so much happening right now in the world of wedding cinematography and we are excited to be part of this wave. In[Focus] was born out of a need to continue to educate and raise the bar for those interested in event videography. In fact, the tag line for In[Focus] is "Progressive Education for the Modern Videographer". We look forward to covering some of the tools and techniques we use and to share that to help propel other studios. We are big on looking for and finding things to inspire us and we will share this as well. Just like an artist uses different brushes and colors of paint to express and communicate the art to the viewer, we believe that the tools we use are only a means to communicate your wedding day story.

Randi & Whitney - MARRIED!

Randi & Whitney from Northernlight Filmworks on Vimeo.

This was a beautiful wedding we filmed last weekend and this is just a short teaser for the final film. Randi and Whitney really made our job much easier and they had faith in our production ability and allowed us to be creative with getting the shots that we felt would enhance their film. It was a touching moment when Randi's Grandfather walked her halfway down the aisle to hand her off to her Father who then walked her to her waiting Groom, Whitney.

We had the pleasure of working as a team with Photographer Jennifer Driscoll and Jordyn Kirtley and Assistant Cherilyn Grubba. Jennifer has this amazing ability to connect with her clients, which only helps in getting the best shots. We also worked with Tonya Shadoan of Circle City Planners and my hat goes off to Tonya in her ability to keep things running so smooth and the details of the Wedding and the reception looked stunning. The wedding was at Saint Maria Goretti in Westfield, IN. The reception was held at the Indiana State Museum, which we really enjoyed. The reception was kept alive and well by DJ Brian Whitis.

Thank you Randi and Whitney.

John and Jennifer

ReFrame Austin

We will soon be heading to the wonderful State of Texas to attend ReFrame, which will be held in Austin. We are looking forward to seeing some good friends from around the country and around the world. This will be a 3 day workshop to help hone our cinematography and filmmaking skills. This is an opportunity to learn from some of the top studios around and to collaborate and build relationships. We were in New Orleans last year and could not wait for the next ReFrame. We love any opportunity to study our craft. We will be working with some of the newest equipment available and will be meeting with some amazing talent while at ReFrame.

We believe that pushing our skills and our equipment to the edge will only bring about the best in our ability to create a custom handmade film, just for you and loved by your family.

Thanks,
John, Jennifer and Steve
www.northernlightfilmworks.com

The [Art] of Wedding Cinema

Konrad and Michael discussing Cinevate 35mm adapters.

Ryan Koral and myself working with the Canon 5D Mark II rig

One thing we promised ourselves nearly 5 years ago was that we never wanted to be comfortable with the status quo. As visual artists we need to remain open to new ideas and techniques and to evolve over time. We were invited by Ryan Koral of Epic Motion in Michigan, to attend "The Art of Wedding Cinema" workshop. The workshop was presented by Still Motion, which just happens to be one of the most influential studios around. About 3 or 4 years ago, I stumbled upon the work of Patrick Moreau of Still Motion and have been a fan ever since. Two other presenters with Still Motion, Michael Y. Wong and Konrad Czystowski. I had watched both of their work before they joined Still Motion.

Wedding Cinematography has progressed to such a high level and many of our collegues around the world have amazing talent. The sharing of information and the constructive feedback they share has and continues to improve our ability to provide a wedding film with higher and higher production value.

The Still Motion workshop was an opportunity for us to learn and network with some good friends. But more importantly, setting the technical aspects aside, we learned more about using our skills to communicate a story. We have tools at our disposal and we select those tools as an artist would choose a brush or a color of paint. We discussed optics, light, composition, color grading, etc. We believe that education is an investment in ourselves and our company, which translates into a wedding film that you invested in.

We will be heading to Austin, TX toward the end of April to attend ReFrame, which is a multi-day workshop. We will be among a group of elite wedding filmmakers from the US and abroad.

Photos provided by Studio67.

John & Jennifer