Many clients visiting our website and YouTube channel find it useful to watch clips featuring a venue they are planning to hire for their event. Over the years we’ve filmed at hundreds of venues around the country so now have an enormous resource which we can offer people access to. Consequently, we have just launched a weddings & event venues section on website which lists all these in an easy to use way. Over the coming weeks we shall be adding more and more videos. We are excited that this will provide a fabulous opportunity for people planning their weddings & events to visualise how they might look in these locations.
For 2010 Bloomsbury Films has already been booked for dozens of new and interesting venues both in the UK and overseas. We therefore hope that we shall be able to continue adding to this resource in the future and look forward to helping our clients plan the perfect day. To visit our new wedding & event venues page click here.
A few months ago we decided to launch our own Facebook Page as a way of interacting with past, present and future clients. We now upload highlights of different jobs to the page as they are completed, so visitors can see our range of work and make comments in an easy, friendly environment. I am pleased to say it is very popular, with clients taking a keen interest in the videos and newcomers watching these as a source of inspiration. Indeed our videos seem to not only serve as an example of good videography, but provide an excellent source of ideas for planning their wedding or event!
We heartily welcome comments from prospective clients, whether they are wondering about how to achieve the best videography, which photographers we recommend or what venues to book. As film-makers we know a lot about making things look good, so our advice is sought after on many subjects. Meanwhile the ‘Discussions‘ section of our Facebook page has a number of topics that are being widely shared. We’ve also included some general tips and advice which we hope our clients enjoy.
If you haven’t already subscribed to our Facebook page or know a friend who might like to check it out, please don’t hesitate to look it up at The Bloomsbury Films’ Facebook Page
Summer 2009 has been a record season for us with a mountain of weddings! Our videographers worked flat out filming up to 9 weddings each weekend. As you can imagine, it was a logistically and physically demanding task to cover so many in such a short space of time - especially with some as far afield as Italy! However, I am pleased to say we managed to navigate through them without a single hitch. I am proud of our production team, which comprises really talented camera crew and editors that I have handpicked over the years. Indeed its a testimony to them that Iris and I managed to take our belated honeymoon to California earlier this month leaving the team to cope with yet another 6 weddings in our absence!
However despite all the exertions of the last few months, here comes the rub… filming on the day is only a small part of the process of making a professional video! What really consumes the man hours - is post-production. I recall in 2007 how we were overwhelmed with editing - taking about 6 months to clear it all! Well, the truth is we have nearly twice as much editing now! Okay we’ve moved on a bit since then, we’ve now got our own fully equipped studio capable of working flat out as well as being much more efficient. But it still its quite bewildering to find yourself faced with about 60 films that all need editing at once! To put this into perspective, during our recent US trip, we took a VIP tour of Warner Bros Studios. Our guide boasted that this huge complex was capable of handling 8-20 productions at any one time. It comforted me to reflect that this means our much more humble studio in East London must be on a par with Warner Bros!
Anyway, we’ve got off to a good start with the post-production, however I do expect to be hibernating in the studio for a while with my work cut out until the Spring!
We can usually reckon on August bank holiday being one of the business periods in our diary. In 2008 this was definitely the case, with four weddings on just the Saturday alone! One of these was Jehan & Guillaume’s which was held in the elegant and prestigious surroundings of Claridges Hotel in London. Filmed by our videographers Dan & Eva, I am glad at how well we managed to capture the glamour and sophistication of the hotel despite the pressures of having to be discreet at such a venue.
Also lucky for Jehan & Guillaume was the fact their wedding day was organised by society wedding planners Niemierko[formerly Smith Niemierko] who provided their usual creative flair and expertise. Their function was attended by several dignitaries, so I imagine it was with some relief their wedding day ran perfectly and the guests were wowed with plenty of nice touches and a magnificent banquet. During dinner a very proud father gave an eloquent speech in praise of the bride and the pair enjoyed a great deal of warmth and attention from many others. One particular highlight of the event was the live musical entertainment provided by two different bands, who both seemed to capture the mood of the guests very well.
Without being stuffy, it was a very elegant wedding which I feel is reflected in the highlights of the video below. I am also glad to say this was confirmed by Jehan herself who called us this week to order some extra DVDs!
At Bloomsbury Films we do a lot of wedding videos, so it is nice whenever we are invited to do something a bit different. An opportunity arose in July when the Segel family were throwing a leaving party to celebrate their return to LA after living in England for some 15 years. The party was held in London and was attended by collegues, friends and associates of the couple. Our videographer Andy took up the mantle on this occasion and filmed lots of interviews from guests and quirky details of the event. Even though I didn’t attend this event personally, it was clear from the footage that the couple were well liked and would be sadly missed. The video was edited by Jeff, who likes to play with the material and always manages to accentuate the quirky elements! As with all our event filming we try to focus on the people as much as the events as we know this is what is going to make the video more enjoyable to watch later on. Below is a trailer from this event videography project:
In May we were booked to film a Bat Mitzvah video for a client at Shoreditch House in London’s East End …and what a fabulous event it was! As a film director, I am familiar with Soho House, the original home of this media-orientated members club, but Shoreditch House was a real discovery for me. The party was hosted on the roof terrace which has an open air pool and a fabulous dining area. Overlooking the urban regeneration of the East End, the location provided plenty of spectacle which was further enhanced by excellent weather. Our videographers Dan & David filmed the event using our new Sony HVR Z7E cameras. This gave me some cause for anxiety as one of the cameras was suspended inches over the pool whilst filming synchronised swimmers! The event went well and I would love to do another Bar Mitzvah video like this in the future.
Earlier this year we were invited by the A&R Allstars to film a concert they were doing at Sound in Leicester Square, London. The band wanted us to capture them live so they could create a demo DVD for clients and have a trailer on their website. After consulting us on the how to capture it in a way which focussed on the different vocalists and instrumentalists, we decided on using three videographers with a jib arm and a steadicam flyer. The concert filming was a lot of fun, and the band managed by Lisa and Andy, were a real pleasure to work with.
You can see highlights from the concert filming below, it shows 30 second clips from 6 different numbers. We shot around 12-15 tracks in all which were then edited and put on a specially designed DVD that the band now send out to clients. I like the trailer because it shows some of the camera movements and the details of the performers. I’d very much like the opportunity to do more concerts, although in future I would consider having four videographers and using slightly different equipment.
