The wedding season is well and truly upon us once again! Despite some initial uncertainty about how the credit crunch would affect wedding & event filming, we are set for another bumper year with bookings on the rise. Perhaps a notable trend however amongst clients has been a tendency to increasingly leave bookings to the last minute. Of course you might expect this amongst businesses who are driven by a reactive market-orientated agenda. [We keep a tally of the most extreme 'last minute' bookings - the current record holder is Citibank who wanted an event filmed in central London in 45 minutes time. And yes, we made it!]

However it is also increasingly common to receive bookings for weddings only a week, and in some cases, only a day beforehand! Why on earth would someone leave it so late you might ask? Have we reached the inevitable outcome for our lastminute.com lifestyles? Well no, not entirely. The answer lies in an inherent issue in the wedding filming market – that the value of a wedding video is only appreciated after the event. Before their nuptials couples are busy focussing on plans for the big day and often don’t think so much about what happens afterwards (apart from being married of course!). Wedding videos are frequently overshadowed by photography, which as an established convention, tends to be booked earlier – to the detriment of their videography budget.

A combination of oversight and financial constraints means that wedding videos get put off to the last minute. Panic sets in just a week or two before the wedding as the couple suddenly realise how much they’d like it captured and the value of what is essential a family documentary will have in the future. The result can be a reluctant parent digging even deeper into their pockets and a last minute scrabble to find someone available.

However like the websites that specialise in finding you ‘last minute bargains’, leaving it to the last minute doesn’t necessary provide the best choice or opportunity to get what you really want. Unfortunately we can’t change this pitfall, but at Bloomsbury Films we do our best to help by ensuring that every client who books with us, last minute or otherwise, never regrets their choice.

Doing lots of weddings videos means that when a job comes up than isn’t a wedding video its a real joy! Point in case in a job we did for US company 4C Controls which was launching its satellite mapping business at the Farnborough Airshow. Our videographers David and Matt fielded this particular job which centred on a bunch of presentations. Since we’d agreed to provide highlights of the event for our clients to use on their website, it was obvious to me that we’d need some much visual spectacle before this looked appealing. Consequently David and Matt filmed a stack of material both inside the exhibitions halls and outside which we padded around the speakers. We found some suitable soundbites and added a music track that reflected the dawn of the new company. I think it works well and I am sure 4C Controls was delighted with the job, despite having to remove numerous shots of attendees who for various reasons couldn’t appear on video! Anyone watching this will be thinking Stanley Kubrick like I was when I briefed my editor! See if you agree:

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.

One of the interesting things about event filming is you can never really predict the things clients might ask you to film! One example was a job we did for Wartski a Bond Street jewellers with family connections in opera. They decided to host a reception for a colleague who had be honoured with the Legion d’Honneur in France for his services to opera. The evening was attended by several composers and well-known individuals at The Arts Club in London. By all accounts it was a fabulous evening and the client was delighted to have hired a videographer as well as a photographer to capture such a prestigious moment. Below are some highlights from the event filming we did.