We loved the little Detroit touches they had throughout the day, such as the old style Faygo.

Vendors That Rocked:

Photography - Silver Thumb Photography

Venue - The Whitney

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Some other things I also enjoyed, in no particular order:

• Jim and Madison’s grand entrance...loved their little dance
• The AMAZING snack bar by Bon Appetit.  The carved watermelon looked incredible!
• Seeing Peter and Julie!  And their parents!
• Some wonderful words by the priest, he does a great job of really talking about the couple

If you haven't seen their same day edit, make sure you check it out!

Congratulations guys!!!

We have a lot of toys in our bags, and some of them might look a little strange.  This is the first episode in our new series "What the Bleep is That?" where we will demonstrate what exactly these pieces of equipment do.

Episode 1: The Slider

In the this first episode, Shelby and Dan demonstrate what the dp slider is, and how we use it in your wedding video.

One of the great things about the ceremony is that we had the opportunity to shoot outside, however this has it's challenges as well.  The wind noise from being on the docks was able to be severely lessened, and being outside really showcased the amazing venue.  Right after Courtney gets done with her vows, I went ahead and dipped to black and brought it back up to scenes of them together.  I kept the ceremony going, but the officiant said some really nice stuff.

Transcript of the Video

Hi this Dan Shekels and thank you for joining me for another episode of breaking down scene, this is episode #3 and we are going to be going over Courtney and Mike's feature film. Instead of looking at the end show which is what we have done for the last two episodes today we are going to be looking at the ending starting from the end of the vows all the way to the end of the feature.

One of the great things about the ceremony was that we did have the opportunity to shoot it outside, which obviously has its challenges, I mean one of the big things was with the audio was lot of the wind noise that we got, fortunately, I was able to get rid of a lot of it's so it wasn’t too big of a deal, but one of the challenges shooting outside, but a great venue and a great opportunity nonetheless.

Right after she gets down with the vows I went ahead and dipped a color and then I brought it back up the ceremony is still, what she is saying towards, the ceremony is still going I kept her speaking, but she said some really nice stuff and one of the things she said is that, this man will find himself greater agreeing to see the good in him and accept who he is and who he shall be, by her marrying him. She said that about Mike and then she goes on to say that loving this woman she might find herself so beautiful, strong and brave and true that the world is a better place by a woman who shines so bright.

Things like that, I feel like you definitely want to see visually what you are hearing from the person so I showed a lot of the stuff that we captured from the photo shoot that was just then that looked more intimate and allowed not only break it up, it adds little more depth to the feature. After the final shot of that you can hear the music transition over into the next song which is going to lead into the next section. It keeps everything flowing really, really well. So she doesn’t keep, she doesn’t stop talking, music just changes over. She understands that there is something that is going to come up and then it drops right into the next section.

The idea after that was to show some of the stuff that was going on right for the reception. I tried to keep, I tried to use a lot of motion shots, lots of shots that have had a lot of motion going on in them to kind of keep up with the beat and keep with the flow of the day, then tried to keep it too busy. I just wanted the energy. I just wanted there to be a lot of build up, a lot of energy building up towards the grand entrance. So I used a lot of glidecam shots and lot of lot of slider shots to get to it and because everybody was having such a good time, I feel like those shots have a tendency to build up a lot more energy than some static shots sometimes and also another thing that I did a lot of during certain sections especially during the grand entrance I used a lot of jump cuts.

So we can get to the as we can cut from this is where, okay cut to the next section in the same shot which is getting to where they want to go, so I can do something else and same thing with the cake cutting. Obviously no one like it too jarring, but I think they worked out pretty nicely right here and underneath the cake cutting I did have the that's man's speech, just the tail end of a come up. I thought it summed up both the speeches really nicely in the day and everything that kind of went on and just the relationship they had together, but it will also have a really great transition into the kind of the second section of the ending, because the music kind of slows down and everything, it will allow me to really kind of jump late into the first dance.

The song worked up perfectly there, I mean a lot of editing is just feeling up the song and fingering out what parts that are going to go really well where and then I cut from the dance to the dancing  with two glide cam shots. I thought that they flowed together really well in the course of which just finding some really nice shots that people dancing and having good time, these are the people that are enjoying the day with them, so I always tried to find a lot of variations in people trying not to stick too much with the same individuals. But when I get to the ending I decided to have a shot at them kissing and enjoying the night.

I had that and then I also had the officiant come up and say talking about how she has the opportunity to wish, announce for the first time Courtney and Mike as husband and wife and then I had the 3 shots the boom-boom-boom of the harbor which I thought was a great way to end it because the day is over and then the title does what it does like the day is over, but the date will live on for ever. So I thought that was really great way to wrap it up. So I am going to go and play for you in its entirety so hopefully enjoyed and see if the next episode.

And the reception...soooooo much fun!  And decorating was superb!  The Brian Alexander experience performed all night, and they were one of the best live bands we've worked with yet!

Enjoy!

P.S. Check out their award-winning same day edit if you haven't seen it!

Vendors That Rocked:

Ceremony and Reception Venue - Bay Harbor Yacht Club

Live Band - The Brian Alexander Experience

Lyrics & Music by Dru Vocals:

In Peter & Julie we trust
Look at all the referrals sent to us
Perfect Peter, a real perfect name
A baby on the way and a house you claim
And the wedding, congrats, I know you did the right thing
But we all know the Wii is more exciting
But #1 is the new wedding video
Rewind that line if you didn't hear me, yo
Even with the Tigers in the Series, Game 7
The wedding video will be turned on instead
U of Michigan or Michigan State
This will be the #1 new wedding debate

Here's a few ways a bride and groom can help with the production of their wedding film without affecting your wedding day.

• Turn down the music while you're getting ready. It’s common for the girls to blast the latest Bruno Mars song while doing hair and make-up, but we often miss the important things being said between the bride and the bridesmaids.
• Talk to your family and friends.  Tell them how excited you are! Chat about how you meet, how the proposal went, what has gone into planning this wedding, etc. Your wedding day is packed full of emotions, let everyone know how you’re feeling.
• Exchange a gift and a card with each other.  An inexpensive gift that brings back memories of your first date can be very powerful. You can have a close friend deliver it if your getting ready nearby, or exchange them during your first look.
• Do not rush your vows.  Look into each others eyes and speak from the heart.  Take a deep breathe in between lines.
• Let your DJ know that he needs to make sure all your vendors are prepared for the major events throughout the reception. This helps everyone capture your moments!
• Tell your best man and maid of honor to not only talk about you as a person, but also as you both as a couple.  Have them share their thoughts on you two finding each other and getting married.  It should be as funny as it is heartfelt.  A good length for a speech is between 2 and 5 minutes.  We'll be covering this more in a later post!
• Chewing gum just doesn't look good on video or in your wedding photos. This goes for the wedding party too.  This is especially true when you're on the altar.
• Make it a point to stay together throughout the night. Get out and dance together!

We know your wedding day is going to be crazy, but a few of these suggestions can be planned ahead of time and will really make for not only better videos and photos, but a better wedding day overall!

Her description of the video was pretty powerful...

"Nothing makes my heart break more than a father’s speech at his darling daughter’s wedding. Seriously, nothing. They are always SO touchingly sweet, my eyes instantly well up with tears and the waterworks begin even before he proudly says, “Welcome.”  So, when the talented team over at Style & Motion sent me this Indian wedding hightlight, and the opening is the father’s speech, I knew that I had a *must feature* on my hands.  This video is everything I love about wedding cinematography all wrapped up in one….it’s romantic, it’s breathtaking, it’s a story, and it genuinely shows off the bride and groom."

"You know, I'll tell ya...when I first met Peter, and he show's up with a Tiger's shirt, a Lions hat, nice little crucifix around his neck...and I'm thinking 'am I getting set up for this or what?'  But the bottom line is I've come to know Peter and to love him, and to know his family is to love them. " -  Julie's father

Random sweet wedding details:

• The band "Intrigue" rocked it out all night
• The speech Julie's father gives in the beginning of the film is one of the best speeches we've heard yet!
• Peter wrote all the bridesmaids, his new in-laws, and his wife a personalized card.  Super sweet.
• They're huge Beatles fans
• Guests signed a flag that was half U of M and half MSU.

Also, if you want a little more indepth look on how we edited the first few minutes of their wedding video, check out their Breaking Down the Scenes video