– How To Save Thousands Off Your Wedding. What You Need To Consider When Choosing Your Wedding Venue

How To Save Thousands Off Your Wedding.

Receptions

There are so many reception venues available for weddings these days and choosing the right one for your wedding could be quite daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. There are some key factors you need to take into consideration which will make your decision a lot easier in choosing the right venue for your wedding day and on How To Save Thousands Off Your Wedding.

If you have set a specific date, then you need to find out if the reception venue is available. This may seem simple enough but many wedding reception venues are booked many years in advance, especially during peak season and Saturday evenings are the biggest in demand. But if you have your heart set on a particular venue then be prepared to change your wedding date to avoid disappointment.

There are now many couples who have learned how To Save Thousands Off their Wedding simply by just choosing to have their wedding day either on a Friday, Sunday or in some cases during the week. Thursdays are getting more and more popular.

Some couples are cutting further costs by thousands of dollars, simply by just having their wedding off peak. If you don’t mind having your wedding during winter time you could potentially save many thousands of dollars off your budget.

During winter time many receptions and venues nearly go into hibernation. Some venues are very quiet or shut and they are willing to drop their prices drastically. Some will drop a staggering amount just to have a booking.

The same goes for many other parts of the wedding industry including wedding photographers, videographers, bands DJ’s MC’s and many more all willing to drop a significant amount off their prices just to work in winter and the winner will be you.

Bad Weather.

Some couples are put off by the thought of bad weather for outdoor footage, but sometimes choosing to have your wedding during winter time can turn out to be a blessing in disguise as some of the best videography and photography shots are taken indoors.

With the right experienced professional people, finding amazing indoor locations for you, your photos and video will look absolutely breathtaking. Many of those indoor photographs and video shots could turn out to be better than photos taken outside during the scorching heat.

But you need to ask for the discounts up front as some may overlook to offer it at first until you request it.You need to decide on the amount of people you will be inviting to your wedding to determine if the size of the venue is appropriate for your guest list. It is better to have a wedding in a smaller venue if your guest list is under a hundred, as this gives the impression of a bigger wedding.

Some couples have made the mistake of unnecessarily paying a lot more money hiring a bigger venue for a small guest list and their wedding fell flat and seemed very quiet and empty. The opposite is true as well and the last thing you want is to have your guests sitting too close to one another because your venue was too small for the group you are inviting.

There are countless venues with different packages to choose from and some will be more attractive than others. But the reality is, not every venue will fit within your budget. You need to determine what you can and can’t afford and do you really need to have a 5 course meal or could you get by with a 3 or even a 2 course.

Does the venue provide meal options to suit your guests if needed, including guest which may be vegetarians, some children, gluten-intolerant guests or some with religious food obligations.Some venues can be very flexible with pricing per head dependent on your guest list number. The more you invite the lower the price per head the venue can discount and as we have previously mentioned if you choose a day other than a saturday evening you could save potentially manny hundreds of dollars as well.

These days more and more weddings are being held further out of the metropolitan area like the vineyards of the Yarra Valley. You may want to consider if there are accommodations for your guests and if they could provide further discounts if many of your guest took up rooms to stay overnight.

If you have many guests arriving from overseas or interstate you may be able to get further discounts for your guests for bulk accommodation bookings or if some of your guests wanted to take up the opportunity to stay overnight to save them the trip of a long drive home late at night.

Most reception venues have adequate parking for all of your guests, but more and more couples are choosing to get married in very unorthodox locations which might impede on parking for your guests. You may need to take this into consideration when searching for your wedding reception venue. When viewing photographs of receptions and wedding venues, don’t assume everything you see in the pictures is included in the price. Not all venues will provide all decorations including chair coverings and table decoration so ask for complete clarification on what is included in the price. In most cases the venue will inform you if they don’t serve alcohol during your consultation, but to avoid wasting time, try to find out prior to your meeting.

Some venues may require permits and, without one, you won’t be able to serve any alcohol. Some venues may require the couple to source their own permits as well. So all this needs to be clarified in advance to avoid any mistakes. It may not be clearly stated on their website, so make a quick phone call or send a quick email requesting more information to avoid confusion and wasting time.

If you decide on an outdoor celebration, whether you’re holding it in a public garden or at the gardens of the reception venue, be sure to have a plan B in place in case the weather turns out to be unkind. May couples have made the terrible mistake of not having a plan B and having their most special day ruined by the sudden weather change.

Once you have found your perfect wedding reception or venue you need to book it in immediately and pay your deposit to ensure your wedding date is firmly secured for you.With a little bit of extra care and well planning you can avoid unnecessary mistakes and save a lot of money.

Good Luck

– Groom Gets Arrested At His Own Wedding

"A ‘drunk’ Adelaide groom has been arrested on his wedding day after an argument broke out between himself and the minister performing the ceremony.

Reverend Ian Hunter refused to perform the wedding ceremony when the groom, Jacob Brookes, turned up so allegedly intoxicated, the priest decided it would be too “unethical” to perform the service.

The priest, who legally, cannot allow any binding ceremony to continue if one or both of the parties is unable to give clear and irrefutable consent, has said it was the “hardest decision” of his ministry, but that he believed it was the correct decision.

The 40-year-old groom, on the other hand, denies he was drunk and says the Uniting Church reverend over reacted.

Witnesses say the discussion, which occurred before the bride arrived, became so heated that police had to be called and the local poet and musician was charged with disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest.

“I’ve been dreaming for days and days and days about her beautiful wedding dress and [to] see her walking down the aisle,” the Brookes told Channel 10 news.

“All I needed was my woman to feel like she was the Queen of the day.”

Unfortunately for the groom, 10 news reports that the wedding won’t be going ahead in the future as there is “no chance” of reconciliation between Brookes and his “humiliated” bride."

 

Source

– Groom Divorces New Wife on Wedding Night

A Short Lasting Marriage

One of the shortest lasting marriages in history could make for a great entertaining short film.
Reports from Samantha from easy weddings says "A Saudi Arabian groom has divorced his new wife on their wedding night after receiving ‘intimate’ pictures of her thanks to a disgruntled former lover. The couple were celebrating their wedding at a local hotel when the groom was presented with a bouquet of flowers – and a USB stick.

A note accompanying the mysterious gift encouraged the new groom to view the pictures immediately, which he did. Shocked by the pictures contained on the USB drive, the groom decided to divorce his bride immediately. He said that the pictures were “truly the shock of his life” and that he “could not bear the scandal.”

The bride says she was contacted by the former flame just four days before her wedding. He insisted on meeting her and, when she refused, he threatened to inform her future husband of their past relationship. Despite her pleas to be left alone to start a new life and a family, the disgruntled ex found out where the wedding was being held and ensured the USB stick was delivered to the groom."

Source

 

 

 

 

– Shooting in 4K. What does it really mean.

Shooting in 4K

Simply put we are going back to our roots when film had the same high level pixel count. It has taken video many decades to catch up and now it has finally done it.  It even looks like it might surpass the resolution of film in the near future as there is already talk of 8K and 16K not too far in the horizon. There are some cameras now shooting in 4K, 5K  and 6K like the RED Cameras. With the 6K RED DRAGON sensor, you can capture over 9x more pixels than HD.

 

4K is 4 times the resolution of 1080p HD and nearly ten times the resolution of DVD.

The video images out of 4K is breathtakingly jaw dropping and if a couple decide to have their wedding shot in 4K professionally then the results will be absolutely amazing, plus they will be future proofing their most special day in the highest quality for generations to come.

4K is great news for anyone wanting to print high quality images from still frames. You can choose to film your event without a photographer and have still frames of your choice, printed in high quality.

4K is great news for filmmakers because now if you have a shot you’d like to crop and re-frame in post, with all that extra resolution to play with you now have enormous flexibility.
You can choose to have a single wide shot setup and at times punch in to get close ups, mimicking a two camera setup.

4K is great news for shooting high resolution for green screen keying as it will make your keying process much simpler. With so much more resolution your keying software should have an easier time differentiating the green pixels you want to key from the edges of your subject.

4K is great news if you plan on doing any motion tracking, a more detailed image should help your tracker to stay on the points you’ve defined.

4K is great news for future proofing your work.

Now for the bad news.

Much higher resolution images means much bigger files.

If you’re editing in Final Cut Pro and have to trans-code to ProRes, then your file sizes are going to be enormous. We recommend investing in many fast drives.

 

Shooting 4K, 8K, or 16K with HD Cameras

Creating 4k, or 8k, or even, 16k video, with multiple camera’s.

(Transcript) Lets start off with achieving 4k, with 4 simple HD camera’s.
You can achieve this with any HD camera, but, preferably, all the camera’s, should be the same, with the same settings, and lens.

You would need a rig to adjust its position, as in 2 camera’s above and 2 below.
You could easily create, a simple rig out of wood or metal.

Lets use the example, with a DSLR, as our setup.
You should use a zoom lens, as apposed to a fixed lens on all 4 camera’s.

Draw up a large 16 by 9 aspect ratio onto a wall, using electrical tape

The mathematics, for achieving a 16 by 9 aspect ratio, onto any size, is as follows;

Starting with width. If you know your width, then,

Multiply your width by 9, then divide the answer by 16.

Example of how a 1920 by 10 80 is a 16 by 9 aspect ratio.

1920 multiplied by 9 equals 17280.
17280 divided by 16 equals 10 80

or,

Starting with Height. If you know your height, then,
Divide your height by 9, then multiplied by 16

Example,

10 80 divided by 9 equals 120.
120 multiplied by 16 = 1920.

You could use this formula for any size at all.

Now, once you have your large 16 by 9 size, you need to divide it into 4 equal parts. Make sure the measurements are exact to the millimeter.

Zoom in your camera, until the first upper left corner, fills the frame exactly to the millimeter, then lock off the camera. You could use the canon’s zoom view button to get precise positioning.

Get the next camera, and zoom into the upper right corner, until it fills the frame to the millimeter. Then repeat the process for the bottom 2 cameras, and lock it off. Now you have 4 camera’s locked off, on 4 different positions, on a 16 by 9 frame.

Record your footage and make sure to have a sync point, so you could sync all the cameras together in the editing room. We will use final cut pro x to demonstrate how to stitch your footage together.

Select new project and use the 4k setup.

Now lay down your footage on top of one another, as layers corresponding to their correct positions, on the 4K project timeline. Then in the inspector window, make sure the spacial conform window, is set to none for each footage.

Now you can-export your footage, as a master file, and have 4K video resolution.

All created from a simple rig, with 4 HD camera’s.

You could effectively do this, with four 4K camera’s as well, to achieve 8K resolution video. And 6K camera’s to achieve 12K video.

If you could get your hands, on four 8K camera’s, then you could achieve 16K resolution video.

Or, you could build a special rig to accommodate much more camera’s and achieve even higher resolutions than 16K.

Let us know your thoughts, we’d love to hear them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

– Guerrilla Style Shooting

Sometimes projects with little to no budget have a limited choice when it comes to location shooting. Choosing to quickly get the shot and move on, without getting the permission might seem to be their only choice. When permits could range from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars for only a few hours. Guerrilla film making seems to be more common than we think. The main benefit of guerrilla style shooting is that you can save a lot of money by avoiding permits and the insurance that goes with it. The other benefit is the amount of time you can save by avoiding  weeks waiting to receive your permit. So overall, the biggest advantage is saving money and time.
But the biggest issues facing guerrilla style film-making is that you can get shut down. Which basically means the police asking you for your permits, and if you're unable to provide it then you receive a very large fine. The rules and regulations differ depending on your location.

Noam Kroll has written an interesting blog about Shooting Guerrilla Style and provides 8 Tips You Need to Know.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with the term, “guerrilla” shooting essentially means shooting your film in public with no permits and in most cases, no permission from any property owners for that matter. This may sound to some like a completely unprofessional way of shooting (and in some cases it very well can be), but there are some very notable examples of films shot entirely without permits. One of the most famous examples is the Oscar winning masterpiece “The French Connection” which was shot in New York City with a sizeable crew and no location permits whatsoever. Another recent example was the film titled “Escape From Tomorrow” which was amazingly shot inside of Disney World without any permission at all. Pretty amazing for a feature film with many shooting days!

READ MORE: How the Director of ‘Escape From Tomorrow’ Made a Crazy Guerrilla Movie In Disney World – And Got Away With It

There are also countless television shows (mainly reality/lifestyle) that shoot nearly everything without permits. Even larger scale productions shoot without permits fairly regularly, although in most cases they do so for a select few scenes or shots, as was done with the film “Black Swan”. In their case, the subway scenes were all shot without permits on a Canon 7D.

Before we go into some advice on how to get away with shooting this way, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons:

Pros
These are pretty obvious. The main benefit to shooting guerilla style is that you can save a lot of money by avoiding permits and the corresponding insurance that you need to obtain the permit. To put it in perspective, here in LA, even if you just want to shoot a small scene with a single actor and a camera operator on the sidewalk (without blocking traffic), you’re looking at a minimum permit fee of $700 or so. On top of that, you are required to be insured which will likely cost another $600 – $800 as most film insurance companies set that range as their minimum. So right off the bat, you’re looking at paying somewhere in the range of $1500. Should you choose to go Guerrilla though, that number quickly drops down to $0. The other big advantage to consider is the amount time that it can save you. On a tiny production, every last second counts and getting permits does take time. It can often take several days, or even weeks to successfully get your permit and during that time you need to provide the city or permitting office with the appropriate forms, information and insurance certificates. Multiply that by the amount of locations you have and you can quickly add up how much time you may spend just dealing with permitting. So all in all, the biggest advantages here are saving money and time.

Cons
Again these may be pretty obvious to some, but the allure of shooting without permits sometimes draws attention away from the realities of doing so. The biggest issue here is that you can get shut down. Getting shut down in a worst case scenario, literally means having the Police ask to see your permit, realizing you have no permission to be shooting, writing you a very large fine, confiscating your equipment and sending you on your way. Depending on the city or state that you’re in, the rules and regulations differ, so depending on which city you’re shooting in, this may be a large concern. If you’re shooting Guerrilla, but still have union actors for instance, you now have to pay your actors for a full day of work even if you get shut down 5 minutes in. You will also need to pay your crew of course, and it’s just a downright bad situation to be in. With that said, if you’re smart about how, when and where you shoot without permits – the likelihood of this happening isn’t huge.

So on to the fun part. Now that you’ve decided to go ahead and take your chances shooting without permission, here are 8 tips for getting away with it:

#1 – Keep Your Crew As Small As Possible
Probably the most important item on this list, hence why it’s number 1. The bigger your crew, the more attention you’re going to draw. The general public loves to gather around and watch a movie getting shot. In fact for whatever reason most people seem to be fascinated by it. The more your team looks like a film crew, the larger the crowd will be that starts surrounding you. And for any business owners, police, residents, etc. in the area that take notice of this, they are going to approach you and ask what’s going on. This is a big red flag as generally anyone that needs to be aware of shooting being done in the area will be made aware as a result of your permit, and you’re very likely to get shut down if you shoot with a big crew. Keep it as small as possible. Have only the actors, director and DP visible (I’ll touch on audio later on). Anyone else that is on your crew – PA’s, Makeup, Craft, etc. absolutely needs to be out of sight. They can hang back by the car or production van and when you need them, call to them – (On a cell phone by the way, not a radio, that’s another dead giveaway). The more you can make it look like a single guy or girl holding a camera shooting their friends, the better.

#2 – Shoot on a DSLR
Or any other inconspicuous camera. The Blackmagic Pocket Camera for instance would be a great camera for guerilla shooting as it has an extremely stealth form factor. The point here, much like number 1, is to draw as little attention to yourself as possible. When I am out shooting on my GH3, the average tourist walking down the street has a larger camera than I do. Even a T3i or equivalent is going to look the same or larger to the average person, and people are used to seeing anyone and everyone walking around with one. The more you can blend in, the better. And the smaller your camera is, the less likely you are to get hassled. If you start walking around with a Red MX rigged up and expect not to get noticed, you’re playing a very risky game. Even on professional sets when I shoot with a DSLR, I’ll often have producers question the quality of the footage. Put that out on the street where you blend in with everyone else, and the average public with think you’re just another tourist filming your friends hanging out.

#3 – Hide The Audio
Probably the biggest giveaway that you are shooting a semi-professional production is a big boom mic swinging around. A group of actors, a camera, and a couple of filmmakers hanging around could easily be disguised as friends trying out a new camera. But once there is a pro-looking boom mic being run into a recorder or mixer – there is no fooling anyone. Your best bet for audio is to get some really great wireless lav mics and have your audio recordist hide his or her gear. What many filmmakers will do is have the audio recorder in a car, or a backpack with the recordist hanging around near by. They can easily control the recording inconspicuously without being right in the midst of all of the action.

#4 – Avoid using a Tripod
As painful as this may be for some (especially if you hate the handheld look), another big issue for guerilla filmmakers is the tripod. In many cities where film permitting is strict, one of the things that can give you away is your tripod. Once you have sticks on the ground, the production starts to look larger and more suspicious. Ideally you want to opt for a monopod or very inconspicuous shoulder mount. The smaller the better.

If you absolutely need to shoot with a Tripod, than go ahead and do it, but be very careful and take extra care to ensure that you…

#5 – Choose The Right Locations
Some locations are much easier than others to shoot in. For instance, in Los Angeles, filmmakers often shoot in the downtown core without any issue, but in an area like Beverly Hills, you are much more likely to get asked for a permit. Every city is different and every area has different regulations and policies on film permitting. But if you do your research you’ll quickly be able to figure out which areas are the most “filmmaker friendly” and can choose your locations as needed. The other thing you may find as you start to look into this is that many cities have areas where you don’t need permits or where permits are free. On my last film for example, one of our best locations was completely free. We did still need to provide insurance and go through the paperwork process to get the permit, but it didn’t cost anything to do so. If your production can make use of free permit areas like we did, it may end up being worth your while to get the insurance you need and then save on the permits. After all, if you do get shut down, your fees and extra expenses will far exceed what the insurance would have cost you. Assuming you opt to shoot in true guerilla style though, make sure to…

#6 – Work Quickly
The longer you are on set, the longer you are being exposed to the general public. If you need time to rehearse, do makeup, get audio levels, or anything else for that matter, make sure to do this first in a different location. Even if it’s around the corner. When you’re ready to go, move to your shooting location, get what you need and get out as quickly as possible. If you’re smart about how you manage your time and avoid lingering around on “set” when you don’t need to be there, you will greatly reduce your exposure and increase your chance of success.

READ MORE:  How to Shoot with Natural Light: 10 Tips

#7 – Don’t Forget To Plan
Going hand in hand with Working Quickly, is planning. Some locations may be very easy to shoot at during the day, but not at night. Or the reverse may be true. Some locations may be easy to shoot at during a certain point in the day, but the lighting isn’t right until later. The point is that you need to do your homework and plan as much as possible. Go out to the locations you want to shoot at with your camera and take some test shots. Scope it out and see where the least conspicuous areas are to shoot. Don’t just show up and go. By planning properly you are not only making certain that you have the right location, but you will also be able to work more efficiently by arriving on set prepared. A big part of planning also involved what to do in a situation where you do get shut down. If you’re on a location that is particularly risky, you may want to shoot on smaller media cards and run them to the car every few minutes to make sure if anything gets confiscated, at least you have some of your footage. And if all else fails -

#8 – Tell Them It’s A Student Film
At one point or another you are bound to get asked about your shoot. Normally, people are actually very nice about this and aren’t too concerned about permitting unless you’re in a high traffic area. Most often, people (including local police) may just want to watch or are curious as to what you’re doing. But you will have those times when you’re approached and asked for a permit and you get someone who is just in a bad mood. There are a number of responses you can give, but one of the more effective options is “It’s a student film”. If your crew is small enough, and young enough, this may just work. If you want to go the extra mile here, you may want to get a “student producer” on board who can be on set with you every day for this very reason. Another option is to say you’re shooting still photography. Again this would work if you’re shooting with a DSLR and with hidden mics, but not with a full blown set up.

Bottom Line
If you’re careful about it, you can get away with shooting guerrilla just about anywhere. The largest and smallest of productions have all done it, and with the right mix of preparation, minimal gear and stealth crew members, you can very well get away with shooting with no permits. If you do choose to go down this path though, it can never hurt to look for free permit areas that will allow you to have longer shoot days without the hassle or worry of shooting guerilla style. And depending on how your production is set up, you may want to invest in some production insurance regardless, as even if you are shooting guerilla and don’t need it for that reason, it can save you a lot of money down the road if something goes wrong in another way.