Amazing Black Friday Deal...One Day Only

Platinum Digital Video's most exciting deal is this year is that anyone who secures their future wedding date with us by putting down their deposit on BLACK FRIDAY before midnight, will receive $100 off the Silver package and $300 off the Gold and Platinum Packages.

This is an opportunity to purchase an amazing wedding video as a unique Christmas Gift for those you love most. Platinum Digital Video will provide a beautiful gift certificate in a Silver DVD Case to wrap and place under the tree.

To take advantage of this deal just send email to (shena@platinumdigitalvideo.com) and indicate that you would like the BLACK FRIDAY deal along with your package choice.

Philly Here We Come (next year but in this biz u plan ahead!!)

Yay!! We got our ticket information emailed to us this weekend. Philly, here we come!! Jeff and I are excited to do a destination wedding there and I love flying out of Gainesville Airport. It makes things so much easier.

So this is our second Philly wedding. Last year we filmed Iriny and Peter's wedding there. They booked us and flew us out there after watching their friend's Clearwater, FL wedding video.

So our new Philly couple are friends of Iriny and Peter. Here is Iriny and Peter's highlight video (that got us the gig).

Best of Knot, 2010

Just got the phone call...the Knot wanted to congratulate us for being selected for Best of the Knot 2010. Thanks to the brides who voted for us and made it happen!!! When we get the rest of the information (they were calling to verify our contact information for it) we will be posting the badge, you better believe it ;)

Really Funny Groomsman Dancing

We had so much fun filming Amanda and Matt's wedding. They are a beautiful couple and had hundreds of friends around them at their wedding. The ceremony was held at Creekside Community Church and the Reception was held at Emerson Alumni Hall. Here is is some really

funny groomsman dancing. The groom gets in there for a bit too. Thanks Amanda and Matt!

Funny Dancing, Amanda and Matt from Platinum Digital Video on Vimeo.

If you thought that was funny, check out the Accapella Roast Song:

Acappella Roast Song from Platinum Digital Video on Vimeo.

We love the new Villa East!

This morning I went to check out the new Villa East, owned by Leah of Celebrations Catering. "Wow," was pretty much what everyone said when they walked in the door. With a fresh coat of paint and some very savvy decor ideas, the old Savanna Grande is now a new, totally, hip and ellegant place to throw a gorgeous reception.

Check This Out if you have 4 Minutes to Spare

Here is a highlight video that I think is fun to watch if you have 4 minutes to spare...and our client likes her video a little bit:

We watched our video together last night and we LOVE IT!! It's ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! We laughed, cried, and just shared the memories together! It was really amazing! I cant believe how much I missed from that day and the video brought it all back!! You and your husband captured EVERY detail! Really, THANK YOU!! I find it amazing that you went through TWO video cameras of 10 hours of footage and put it together like that so perfectly. After I see how much work it was an how much time it must have taken you, I can't believe you only charge $3K! This video is absolutely priceless! :)

OK I copied and pasted that...no I didn't type all the caps in myself :)

For Dawn & Matt from Platinum Digital Video on Vimeo.

The video is set to their first dance song:

Why Hire a Professional Wedding Videographer?

I am a professional wedding videographer and let me start by saying that I made the same mistake that many brides make, I had friends and family film my wedding. I thought that since most of my friends are good with cameras and are very artsy and talented, that I would just leave the filming up to them, then create my masterpiece in post production myself. We had 4 people filming and although they all did a very nice job, they also all pretty much made the same mistakes

This is what happened 8 years ago. All of them filmed the "interesting bits" of my 15 minute ceremony. Which means the "non-interesting" bits that I would love to have documented...are not. We had an outdoor wedding and so the camera's did not pick up our vows over the wind, even though we spoke into a microphone. What we needed of course was a tiny wireless mic that goes to the camera. I thankfully have my dad's toast on camera, but not Jeff's because it was impromptu and no one wanted to miss any of it by fumbling for the video camera.

So I did edit it nicely but I have a mish-mosh of a wedding video and when I watch, I always wish for a little bit more.

This is what a professional videographer will do, that your friend's and/or family won't do:

1. A professional videographer will not cry as you walk down the aisle, he/she will focus, zoom, iris and pan...re-iris, perhaps re-white balance when you get to the end of the aisle if the other camera has a good shot and that videographer has his/her hands off the camera so that his footage is definitely usable during editing rather than the few seconds of re-white footage.

2. Leave the cameras running for the whole ceremony (not just the "interesting bits").

3. Switch between 2 cameras so that you get two different views of the ceremony and so that you don't have to watch the "moves" of each camera as the videographer readjusts the shot.

4. Use a good heavy tripod that keeps the camera from wiggling.

5. Hook you up quickly and discreetly with a tiny wireless mic so even if the church or outdoor sound system messes up (which it often does) you still have the vows recorded nicely on camera.

6. Film the stuff that you don't see while you are busy with your wedding...like the flower girl finding a ladybug in her flower basket or the bridesmaids rubbing their sore feet from wearing their super cute heels on the soft grass during long photo shoots, and the sun glinting on the veil....oh the list goes on.

7. The food (no one else will film the food but you will want to remember it!!).

8. Use a camera light during toasts and dancing so that you can see what is going on.

9. Be there to steadily film everyone dancing to "Low" and "Superman" and perhaps even doing the Gator chomp.

10. Be there to steadily film "shots all around."

11. Get the last dance, and/or the car peeling away from the curb to get to that honeymoon!!

9. Brighten up footage during post production

10. Edit out the "junk footage" and maybe a drunk toast here and there at the bride's request.

11. Put together a wedding video that was filmed like a fly on the wall, and views like you are in the middle of all the action.

As a wedding videographer, what I always hear when I tell people my profession is, "Oh, I wish I knew about you when I got married. The one thing I regret is not having a professional wedding video."

I myself did not want a wedding video because I did not want a weird dude who films weddings and porn, running around my beautiful ceremony, sticking his camera in everyone's face and asking them to talk. It doesn't have to be like that. Just make sure you meet your videographer ahead of time, or at least talk to them on the phone. Tell them what you are envisioning their roll to be in your wedding, and perhaps even ask what they wear, so that you don't have to worry about someone showing up in a white T-shirt.

OK so I may be biased, but now, after being married almost 8 years, watching my wedding video is my favorite way to reminisce. When I want to look back at my wedding, I do have my photos there which I look at every few months or so and they are amazing (and professional). But I have to say that the biggest treat is my mish-mosh of a wedding video. My biggest regret is that I didn't hire a professional to film it.

I will dig out my video and post it in a few days so you can see what I am talking about. But for now, here is a very short highlight that I threw together...an example of a video filmed and edited by, yes, a professional. Check it out: (look for the "little extras" that Uncle Joe would probably not film.)

Untitled from Platinum Digital Video on Vimeo.