Two weeks ago I attended my first wedding filmmaker workshop. I'd never thought or heard of a specific workshop like that, but my one and only friend in the biz who I come to for advice, (Anna Joyce / Joyce Films) suggested that I attend Venture. Since I live in a vacuum, I had never heard of White in Revery, Forestry Films, Everly Films, and Seth Dunlop, who are all incredible leaders in the industry. Folks flew in from all over the world, to the Silverton Lodge in Oregon to sharpen their skills and learn from the best.
For the last ten years I've learned everything I know about films from the internet. I've never taken classes and didn't have anyone to show me the ropes, so the chance to ask questions and learn the work process of some amazing film makers was an unreal experience for me. Just to be able to talk film making with someone else was nice, but to talk about color grading, software, lenses, and story crafting blew my mind. There were lectures in the morning with topics ranging from marketing to editing, and shooting sessions in the afternoon.
For four days my mind was crammed with so much information and new ideas, that it was kinda hard for me to know where to start when I got home. After I had time to sit with the information, organize my notes, and set some new goals, I would say that the biggest take away for me was license to be more creative and try new things. I kinda had my idea of what a wedding video should be and I was doing my best to hit that idea, but I was wondering where I could go with the films, like how could I keep improving. I know I could get inspired by watching Youtube, but now I have the means to implement my creativity. I'm really excited for this next year for better story crafting, different shooting styles, and more amazing films.
Here's a little video I put together from the styled shoots at the workshop. The forest reminded me of the Upside Down from Stranger Things, which was awesome. I was seeing all the amazing videos my peers from the workshop were posting, and I felt like elegance and flowing beauty were expressed in their videos, and I wouldn't be able to add much more to that collection. So I did something a little different and had lots of fun with this edit. I started in films with music videos, so this is a little like that, super dramatic. I also wrote and recorded this song for the video. I would like to do more little projects like this in the future, but for now it can just be to show what else I can do with films. Hope you enjoy!
Much Love,
Chris
Venture Workshop | ventureworkshop.co
