artisan wedding videos by studio msv

Back to the Grind

I hope all of you had an awesome Christmas break and a really fun New Year's celebration. This time of year is always a little bittersweet for me because it's my favorite time of year and now that it's over, I have to wait 12 months before getting to experience it again! Bummer.

But for now, I'll have to switch gears and get back into full-tilt work mode again. I'm well-rested and ready to rock.

Sooo...

If you have inquiries or comments about anything, please feel free to drop me a line. I promise; no more annoying auto-reply email responders. :-)

I know you should never post a blog post without a photo or a video clip, so, for now, I want to show you a couple of pictures that my awesome photographer friends took with the use of my video light! It truly is outstanding when you can collaborate with your co-laborers on the Day Of. Brides, keep that in mind when looking for vendors for your 2009 wedding.

From Jennifer Skog (my video light for the ring shot. Click image to enlarge.)
 

From Ricky Wong, W Photography (my video light to help illuminate a dark situation.)
 

The Last Wedding of the Year (Pt. 2)

In my last post I talked about how my bridal couple were super sweet. Alex, the groom, even sent me a text message from his iPhone to wish me a happy new year mere minutes after the countdown. He's very thoughtful, obviously.

What I didn't mention is that he and his groomsmen are hilarious and great to work with. Here's a sample super short snippet of our good times. Check it out.

The Last Wedding of the Year

Last Saturday was my last event of the year. It was also, fittingly, one of my most memorable of the year. The bride and groom were the sweetest couple I worked with to date - and I worked with A LOT of really sweet couples. During their meal, they stopped in to the vendor's room to check on our well-being! Really, what newlywed couple does that sort of thing at the height of their celebration?

Some other interesting things worth noting:

I flew my second-shooter up from San Diego specifically for this year-end finale wedding of mine. She's an excellent shooter and editor that freelances regularly for my friends, Alex and Julie Hill of Elysium Productions in Orange County. Kyle stayed in one of our guest rooms for the weekend, shared a meal with my family and even went to church with us on Sunday. We had a good time working together in her Nor-Cal debut!

Here's Kyle and me right after the wedding, ready to make the 94-minute drive home in 70-minutes flat.

Funny thing happened on the way to the church. We had some extra time before the ceremony since I wanted to make sure we weren't late driving up to Vallejo from San Ramon. So we stopped in to a Starbucks and were just chatting when - lo and behold! - Monica Pingol, photographer and Pocket Wizard darling, Ed Pingol's better half shows up! It was great to see Monica in such an unexpected way.

Also, this was the first time I shot at the beautiful Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena (pronounced "hu-LEE-nuh" and not "HELL-en-uh" for some reason) so I was very excited to have worked with the beautiful bride and groom on their wonderful wedding.

Check out their Same-Day Edit, Instant Photomontage!

There was also a special surprise ending to the video that I will reveal in a follow-up post...

It's Christmas Again! (Already?)

If you're like me, Christmas really snuck up on you this year. With all of our busy-ness and worries about work and economy, we weren't really ready for Christmas. For me, with my mounting list of things to get done and fewer hours of "work time" versus family time, I feel like all I'm ever doing is working to catch up. Even during my "vacation", I've been busily working to deliver products to clients or whittle away at my to-do list. Some vacation!

But now that Christmas is officially upon me, I have no choice but to put work aside for a few brief days and enjoy some R&R. Sometimes we tend to focus so much on work and 'getting ahead' that we neglect the more important things in life; among those, rest. I've learned over the years that focusing on The Most Important thing is the way to have balance. That is, living an UNbalanced life is the only way to achieve balance. One must focus singularly on the most important thing in order for the other things to make sense. But the key is to find the one thing that has True and Eternal significance.

Christmas has always been - not surprisingly - my favorite holiday. Not just because it goes hand-in-hand with scarves, sweaters, and rain (all things I love!) and not just because it's a time to joyfully give and receive gifts, but it's the holiday among the most significant in its meaning,

So this Christmas, while spending time with loved ones and enjoying hot cocoa or your seldom-used fireplace,  take a moment to reflect on what the true meaning of Christmas is all about. So I urge you; rekindle relationships, and revel in the enveloping love of family and close friends. Get rest, and I will too. too.

If you don't celebrate Christmas but spend this time of year celebrating another tradition, I hope you have the best celebration! But don't neglect to consider what the Most Important Thing for you must be.

Have a great, restful holiday and I hope this season serves as the perfect 'battery-charger' for you so you can properly knock the socks off 2009!

Legacy Videos

Remember the time when you were proposed to? Remember the time when you cried because of the vows spoken at a wedding you attended? What is video good for if not for preserving memories? And who has the most interesting memories worth preserving if not those special people you know that have lived an entire lifetime of memories?

Introducing: The Legacy Video!

Help to prepare the the memories and stories of those special people who would love nothing more than to be remembered and to be talked about for years to come!

See my very first Legacy Video here below...
This is a video about Mr. and Mrs. Wang who live in San Jose. Mr. Wang is turning 80 this year and they are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary so they wanted to have this movie made. It's a story of their vibrant and independent lives - filled with playdates, trips to the library, and karaoke... lots of karaoke. :-)

It runs about 16-minutes and is in un-subtitled Mandarin. If you can watch the whole thing, then you rule. But otherwise, imagine your parents, uncles, aunties, or grandparents getting a chance to tell their stories or to have their stories told! What a great gift!

Video Geek's Stocking Hangers

NLE = Non-Linear Editing

I am a video geek. Was there ever any question?

 

Closed for the Holidays

Hello all!

I just want to let all of you know that I will be closing up shop from December 21 to January 4, starting up again Monday, January 5.

I will have limited access to email and phone calls although I encourage you to email and leave voicemails if you have inquiries about anything so I know to contact you as soon as I am able.

I will still be editing and working in between hosting Christmas parties, family gatherings, Christmas shopping and eggnog, so rest assured that your wedding movie will have all the special custom touches that it deserves!

I will also likely be blogging - remotely, if not from home - so continue to check back for updates and the latest news!

I wish you a joyous Christmas and festive New Year celebration! (If you happen to celebrate something else equally festive, have a great time doing that too! :-)

Until next time, check out this old vacation video that I dug up... a genuine blast from the Hsu-Family Past!

Soo Photography

Do you know Michael Soo of Soo Photography? If so, you know he's good at what he does. If not, you should.

Check out this promo video I edited for Michael and then go check out his stuff.

Short and sweet. Emphasis on the sweet.

Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier

If you're in the Bay Area wedding industry or if you've recently been looking for bridal gowns, you likely know of Gabrielle's Bridal Boutique. Well, coming soon, Gabi of Gabrielle's Bridal will be making some awesome new announcements about her company.

You might be able to deduce some of what will be announced from this post, but I got her permission to show you these graphics...

Most of you know that I have a background in graphic design and I used to work at a video game company doing 2D graphic and computer-generated 3D art. Helping out local wedding vendors and designing/re-designing their company logos is something I enjoy doing on the side.

This is the logo for Gabi's fabulous shop that she commissioned me to redesign for her! Here are the original designs:

By updating the dress motif and redesigning the hangar while not altering the very recognizable script, I came up with the following new design:

Here is the full style sheet. If you're interested in having your company logo redesigned for 2009, email me or give me a call!

(click to enlarge)

Wente Winery Wedding Excerpt

Here's a short excerpt from a wedding movie shot at Wente Winery...

Here's the thank you card I received from Jessie and Ray...