Marcus + Luigi | SDE

Marcus + Luigi || SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo

Marcus and Luigi's wedding day started early Saturday morning in Seattle. Clouds covered the city and the smell of rain soon enveloped the air in the downtown streets. Danielle, Nathan, and I each took in loads of gear to the hotel and I happened to leave the Steadicam vest in the car, thinking I would grab on the last trip down. I forgot though that I had actually set it next to the car and not in it. I ran into the elevator and rushed down stairs and out to grab the vest, which was luckily still on the curb. However, the skys had decided to pour heavily and the entire vest was dripping from every crease. No problem..."just go with the flow and everything will be ok."  I headed up to the room looking like I had just ran a marathon and perspired 10 gallons of water. AWESOME! Great way to start the day. No one seemed to notice though (not even Danielle), and all went well ;) 

Despite its soggy beginnings, the rest of the morning was awesome. It was fun to see Luigi, her mom, and friends all having fun and telling stories together. The room was full of smiles, laughter and just as I began filming the clouds cleared a little and the sun broke thought into the window. After we filmed for a bit with the girls, I went into Marcus's room one floor below. A contrast from the busyness of the girls room, Marcus and his twin brother, Chris, were quietly getting ready together. Calm and collected, there was a sense of eager anticipation and excitement. I could see that Marcus was ready for this day. Before I left, he asked me how everything was going up in the girls room. 

While walking back, I began thinking about his question and realized that there is a unique, unpronounced side to being able to create someones wedding film. I thought about how I get to see each person get ready for the day that will change their lives. The day where they will start a new life together. 

I get to see the anticipation and witness how each person builds excitement to see the other for the first time. Filming Marcus and Luigi's first look was a culmination of this, and it was truly awesome to be there and capture their first moments together on their wedding day. 

My memories from the rest of the day move by with a blur, but it is those quiet moments in the beginning that build the story for the entire day. 

~Casey W.

Smaller resolution Vimeo video below. 

Marcus + Luigi || SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

The Durus Unit: hi-res version: Enjoy ;)

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CINEVATE // THE DURUS UNIT from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

The Durus Unit: A project for Cinevate

CINEVATE // THE DURUS UNIT from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

Just over three weeks ago Danielle and I had the opportunity to work on a commercial project for Cinevate, inc to be shown at NAB in Las Vegas. It all started a couple months ago when we were visiting Patrick and Amina from StillMotion.

When we were there Patrick had asked us if we were interested in working on a commercial project, thinking it would be cool to create something for Cinevate to show at NAB since they were making their first appearance there. He thought that a series of 5 commercials, each put together by different studios around the world, would be a creative way to show off what the Cinevate products can do. The studios involved were Ray Roman Films in Miami, Matt E. from Shadowplay from Australia, Joe Simon Productions in Texas, and StillMotion from Toronto. We each chose a specific product to center our commercials around.

Danielle and I focused our commercial on the "Durus" follow focus unit. Which in the cinema industy, a follow focus is a gear driven focus grip and ring that runs perpendicular to the lens and allows for greater control in focusing the lens while the camera is in motion. We also used a whole buch of other Cinevate gear including the "slider" Heavy Lifter Linear Tracking System, which is essentially a highly compact and mobile camera dolly. In addition used the Brevis 35mm adapter which allows for 35mm still lens to be used on video cameras, giving them full 35mm frame depth of field. 

There will be a BTS (behind the scenes) post coming soon too with a bunch of photos and a cool video that Joseph Jang put together of everyone working on the project. 

A Huuuge thank you to all the people who helped work on the commercial! 

Amish Solanki -- who drove all the way down from Vancouver B.C. His day job is photographing amazing weddings up in Vancouver and he took the time off to come down, stay at our house (when we were in the middle of a remodel) and also provide some pretty sweet acting skills...well, were not really sure if its acting, because he makes for a pretty awesome and legit secret agent. He also spend many late nights brainstorming ideas with Danielle and I.

John Hammer -- A good friend of ours who we met awhile back from shooting his wedding with his beautiful, awesome, and rock star wife Ali. Blowing some dust off this link from the past, here is a short clip from their wedding, and then a day after video as well. Ali also helped take a bunch of behind the scenes photos which will be in another post shortly.

Joseph Jang -- Who helped brainstorm ideas and concepts late into the night before the shoot, and also shoot all the behind the scenes video. He put together an awesome behind the scenes trailer as well that I will link up in another post soon :) 

Kate McEwee -- Provided the excellent voice over work at the beginning and end of the commercial. She is a local Seattle wedding photographer who we met at Nathan and Jenna's wedding last October. Everything about her is truly amazing, she is VERY kind and loves to have fun....thus, we thought...hmm, wouldn't it be AWESOME for her to rock her accent in the commercial, which she kindly agreed to. After about two hours at her house, and with a DVD of James Bond for inspiration, she was able to conjure some awesome voice content :)

Clyde and Tyler from Novalight media-- Clyde has worked with Danielle and I on almost every wedding film since we started and he kindly agreed to take a couple days of his time and help us on the shoot. He pretty much knows everything there is to know about commercial production. He, along with Tyler helped set up all the lighting in the film, as well as construct the sets, man cameras, and pull focus. 

Karen and Chris at Koerner Camera in Seattle who provided some of the cameras and support.

Raenata + Eric || 05.09.09 || Sneak Peak

Reanata and Eric are both full of laughs, passion, and endless energy. For instance....after thier wedding had ended they met up with all their friends and rocked it out at a casino for the rest of the night....AWESOME! unfortunately there is no photography allowed in the Casino, so we had to end out night there :(  But I thought I would post a couple quick shots from the wedding and Danielle and I edited together for a slideshow shown at their reception. Here are a few :)

~Casey W.

Adam + Brittany || e-session

Last Friday Danielle and I met up with Adam and Brittany for their engagement session in downtown Seattle. We explored the streets and walked along the boardwalk down by the ocean. 

I had met Brittany awhile back in a class at UW. A couple years later she wrote to Danielle and I asking if we were available to shoot her wedding. We were super excited and we were also open for her date!!! We met at a coffee shop up in Edmonds and she brought with her a dashing man named Adam, who happens to be equally as cool as she is. We talked for awhile and we were hooked....these two are AWESOME!!! 

~Casey W.