Sarah & Kurt's SDE: the southern beauty and her tall dark and handsome man
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 9:42PM Tweet When we first met with Sarah & Kurt we were super excited to get a chance to work with them. They are definitely a perfect fit for us. They have great personalities, loved our work and respected the art of photography & cinematography. We were also excited to work with their photographer April Greer.
Sarah & Kurt emailed me a couple of months ago about using the song Use Somebodyby Kings of Leon and at first we were a little hesitant because we usually like to search for a song a surprise the couple on their wedding day. But Sarah & Kurt explained in detail of how this was their favorite song and it meant so much to them. They were even rocking out to it in their car when we called them to follow up!
Once we decided on using this song, we came up with a concept and planned out the SDE. The day before their wedding we went down to check out their venue and shoot some exteriors of the reception, because we knew their wouldn't be time on the wedding day. On the drive back from downtown seattle we were a little disappointed because we had hoped to do something more for Sarah & Kurt. I turned on the song and we rocked out to it in the car. Then the this idea hit us and we ran with it. We came up with the idea that since S&K really loved the song we would work in a little intro of him playing the song and an after-effects finish. Casey stayed up pretty late the night before the wedding planning out the After-effects action so that he would know exactly what he needed to accomplish on the wedding day.
On Saturday we met Kurt and gave him some hints about our idea and he was super pumped! Everything was going smoothly throughout the day. When we got the reception & Nathan, Clyde and I started loading gear into the Seattle Aquarium while Casey shot the photo-session at Olympic Sculpture park. When Nathan & Clyde went out to the car they saw that the driver side window had been busted. Their first fear was gear (since all the computers were safely inside and we all carry our own cards on us). They checked the car. EX1...check....tripods....check....screen....check...camera bag check....danielle's wallet check.... the only thing missing was the gps. So while we have a busted window, it happened to have been broken by the stupidest criminal on the planet, who took the least expensive thing in the car.
Now that we knew that nothing of real value was stolen, my main concern was the SDE and how we were going to complete it on time with this delay of almost an hour and a half. Witness statements and police reports later, I went back in to continue working on the SDE. By this time Casey had made it back and had some rockin' footage that we just had to include to the SDE. So with 1 hour to the showing of the SDE, I lengthened the song and Casey finished up the film.
At the end of the day, one major lesson is to be learned. We will be parking MUCH closer to the venues and leaving one person at the car until everything is loaded. But it also gives me confidence in our team that even with these kinds of unexpected setbacks, that with proper coordination of the wedding day, we can create some amazing things!
Here is the card that S&K sent us before the wedding. They said the SDE was the highlight of their night and they were amazed!
Thanks guys!! We are blessed to have couples like you. Have fun on your honeymoon and lets do a barbeque when you get back. Nathan said he will cook!
///////Danielle//////////////////////
/////SARAH&KURT * SDE////////////////// from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.
////////view in cinescope 2.35:1 widescreen below (press play when entire video is loaded)//////////////////
SDE in CINEMATOGRAPHY, WEDDING
Reader Comments (22)
Seriously though...
You guys....ARE... UNBELIEVABLE! You should be sooooo proud, this is amazing.
you guys are constantly topping yourselves. I dont know how you do it. LOVE LOVE LOVE this.
L O V E I T.
my mind is blown...AGAIN! WOW! WOW! insane transitions...gorgeous!
Rocked it! Hahahahahaa! Loved the ending :)
Awesome Video, I love the balloons & the ending too.
Excellent work!
come on, dude!!! this thing is SICK. the flow is beautiful.. shots - amazing... and the end - COME ON!!!
I heard you're gonna shoot the next Star Wars movie ;) I've decided to dub you guys "The Effin' Absolute Best Cinematographers in the Nation!" Remarkable guys...re-markable!
UNBELIEVABLE!!! It's like a movie...LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVEIT. The whole concept...EVERYTHING. My favorite parts are the shots with the rusted steel walls & the continuous flow you created with that. WAY COOL. Keep rockin'
Whoa - Casey you guys totally rocked this one! The transitions from 2:02 to 2:34 are wicked awesome. I've seen it done before, but not for such a long sequence and not this smoothly. And the ending was so fun :) All around great work!
Danielle and Casey...your creativity is amazing...and the best part is you captured the exact feeling of the day. It was so fun to have you there making us all feel like rock stars! And you totally made the bride feel on top of the world...that's always good news to the Maid of Honor ;)
All of the bridesmaids have been checking your blog for the video to post....as soon as it posted yesterday we viewed it over and over. I got goosebumps...AGAIN. And we all shed a tear or two at work. You truly captured how beautiful the day was and how at ease Sarah and Kurt are together.
This is totally rocking! I LOVE the transitions with the balloons and walls. The concept of using the song was also awesome. You guys are too crazy good!
Everytime I think I have seen the best------you do another one!! I really wish you guys would have talked us into a SDE.....trust me, it wouldn't have taken a lot of arm twisting. You guys are talented beyond belief. And I am so proud to say that I was one of your brides!!!! I am thanking you ahead of time for the fabulous video that I know I will get!!!
Makes me want to do it all over again. Can I make an appt for some vow renewals????
Kim
Amazing work! I loved your photoshoot transitions and slider work. The finishing animation was pretty awesome too, very nice mindcastle!
Thank you again for the amazing SDE. Your whole team was truly professional despite all the crazy happenings of the day. It was such a pleasure working with you both and I felt totally at ease and comfortable around you two. We have received so many amazing complements about the video and I think my bridesmaids are going to start saving now to hire you guys!
-sarah
Again thank you and “totally amazing”…we have watched it like a 100 times today…. we were internet deprived on our cruise to Alaska…we have been getting comments from friends and family from around the world about how awesome that SDE was. Funny thing Sarah and I, thought similar in that we feel like you guys and April have now become friends of ours. =) Your energy, professionalism, and creativity truly impressed us and are so glad we found you guys. You really added to a wonderful wedding experience and we thank you so much for that.
We can’t wait see the rest of what you captured.
-kurt
your talents are beyond mind-blowing! seeing Sarah and Kurt's 4 minute movie makes me want to get married again so we can hire you to shoot US! so beautiful. . . it IS a mini movie! They are so lucky to have this to watch over and over and over!
Cheers you guys! You RULE and I am recommending you to EVERYONE I know who is getting hitched!
you guys are absolutely INCREDIBLE (and I get to call you my friends). I cannot believe how awesome you have are. seriously. I always say that I would never go back and change my wedding photographer, but hands down if I could do it all over again, YOU would be my videographer. Heck, let's just go recreate something right now! You're awesome. and amazing. and everyone should have a SDE from you. done.