Make Better Wedding Films

Working for yourself is the dream. For a lot of us, we are lucky enough for this to now be our reality. But the flexibility of working for yourself can easily lead to a blur in the distinction between work time and personal time.

We end up feeling guilty when we aren’t working and feeling distracted when we try to sit down and focus. We procrastinate, we get behind on our workload, we doubt ourselves, we get burnt out, we hate weddings…

Today I’m joined by creative business coach, photographer and productivity enthusiast Jason Naylor and he’ll be giving us some practical tools and advice to help us take control back over our day. We’ll learn how to manage our time more effectively, what environments suit certain tasks, the importance of rest, how to trick our brain out of procrastinating and why Jason believes that productivity and creativity go hand in hand.

Check out Jason's articles on Productivity over on his website: https://bit.ly/3tPTFKs 

And make sure to subscribe to his mailing list for more amazing tips and advice for running your creative business! 

Find us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/makebetterweddingfilms/

Music selection is an integral part of the wedding film process. When done right, it can motivate your editing and help define your overall style as a wedding filmmaker, but for many people, the actual task of finding and selecting music can be one of the slowest and most frustrating parts of the entire process.

On today’s show, Grace and I discuss our various methods for finding unique tracks for our films, why we use the music we do, our thoughts on wedding film music in general and finally we share our thoughts on where we predict the next trend in wedding film music will be.

Come hang out on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/makebetterweddingfilms/

Hosts:

Ben - http://www.instagram.com/sideprojectfilms

Grace - http://www.instagram.com/bottlebrushfilms

Today’s episode is quite special because it’s the coming together of a few pieces of inspiration that have been bouncing around in my head for a while.

I’ve followed Katherine’s work for a long time and have been obsessed with her use of colour, her use of light, her textures, but most importantly, the elements of fantasy and poetry that come through in her images.

I’ve always wondered how I could take the inspiration I feel when I look at her work and apply it to my wedding films.

And then I saw the film that Bottlebrush made for Kate and Gaby, you’ve most likely seen it as it’s done the rounds on the internet for the past few months.

I saw that film and a lightbulb went off in my head that there was this whole realm of other types of films we could make for couples. Rather than basing a film around capturing the event of the wedding day, what if we could create a portrait of a couple that was a total blank canvas for creativity.

And so that’s what our show is about today, Andrew, Katherine and I will be discussing Kat’s work in the hopes of inspiring you the listener to think completely outside the box of what a wedding film can be.

Katherine's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kboook/

Katherine's wedding photography: https://www.instagram.com/wildandgrace/

Bottlebrush's film for Kate and Gaby: https://vimeo.com/379207522 

The Russian wedding filmmaker Kat mentions: https://www.instagram.com/ivantroyanovsky/

Our instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makebetterweddingfilms/

Andrew's: https://www.instagram.com/bottlebrushfilms/

Ben's: https://www.instagram.com/sideprojectfilms/ 

Today marks a very exciting new chapter in the evolution of the show because it is the first episode with one of my new co-hosts this year. Grace and Andrew, aka Grandrew, aka Bottlebrush Films will be joining me in alternating shifts on most episodes this year, with Andrew’s camera mastery and Grace’s editing wizardry… it’s going to be a good year! We’ll still be interviewing guests from time to time but I’ve wanted to add the dynamic of a co-host to the show right from the beginning, just so we can go deeper on certain topics that you don’t really get the chance to when it’s a one off guest.

Up first in the hot seat for today’s show we’ve got Andrew and we are going to be going deep on the anxiety inducing topic that is livestreaming. So whether you’ve already dipped your toe into in or you have your “no thank you, we don’t do live-streaming” reply saved as a shortcut on your keyboard, todays show should give you some ideas and some support to remove the fear and dive in head first. Enjoy.

Get loads of tips and advice over on our instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/makebetterweddingfilms/

Make sure to follow Bottlebrush over on Instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/bottlebrushfilms

And don't forget to check out Lonely Hearts Film Camp coming this September!:

http://www.instagram.com/lonelyheartsfilmcamp

www.lonelyheartsfilmcamp.co

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!!!!!! GIVEAWAY !!!!!!

We’re giving away a Canon G7Xiii thanks to our mates at Canon!

To find out how you can enter, visit: https://makebetterweddingfilms.com/camera-giveaway

Competition will run from Monday 29th March and end at 12:00pm NZT on the 20th April 2021

Heuristic

/ˌhjʊ(ə)ˈrɪstɪk/

noun

A heuristic technique, or a heuristic, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, short-term goal or approximation.

This week I’m joined Bobby Burns from Wedding Film School and together we’ll be coming up with some useful heuristics for a wedding filmmakers toolkit.

In the first half of the show we’ll identify some key pain points that wedding filmmakers face and then in the second half of the show, we develop our heuristics for those problems.

Make sure to check out the Wedding Film School YouTube channel where they do weekly live reviews of your wedding films! Such a great chance to check you work against some top minds in the game.

Get loads of tips and advice over on our instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/makebetterweddingfilms/

Make sure to follow Bobby over on Instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/weddingfilm.school

————————————

!!!!!! GIVEAWAY !!!!!!

We’re giving away a Canon G7Xiii thanks to our mates at Canon!

To find out how you can enter, visit: https://makebetterweddingfilms.com/camera-giveaway

Competition will run from Monday 29th March and end at 12:00pm NZT on the 20th April 2021

🖤Welcome to Make Better Wedding Films!!!! 🖤

We are back baby! With a new name a new fire in our belly 🔥

To start off season 2 in style we have the magazine mogul herself Greta Kenyon, founder and editor of Together Journal sharing her wisdom and insights on the year that's been and what she's learned from the wedding industry as a whole.

Adaptability is the name of the game for today's episode and Greta has a bucket load of examples of how vendors have adapted in the wake of 2020 and there is SOOOOO much to learn from!

Make sure to check out our new instagram page where you can download the LUT I use on all my wedding films for FREE! - https://www.instagram.com/makebetterweddingfilms/

BONUS GIFT! - https://bit.ly/30Jrujk

Use the promo code "MBWF" to download a FREE copy of the Together Journal style edit! It's a fantastic source of inspiration if you want to stay ahead of the curve and up to date with what couples are looking for in 2021.

Today we're talking about two subjects that have been talked about on this show before but it's important we have a refresher...  One is the idea of branding, why would you spend money on re-branding your business? and if you do, what does it look like? 

I chat with Taylor Petrinovich about her recent rebrand and how she's positioning her brand to fit firmly in the high end market. We talk about the all important factor of branding which is that "you are not your client" and that your brand isn't necessarily there to represent your own personal aesthetic or taste, it's there to appeal to your ideal customer.   

And secondly, I get Taylor to go deep on Instagram for me. Taylor's a wizard on the gram and she gives some fantastic advice to tidy up your feed and streamline your posting workflow to save you time and stress.  

If you enjoyed the show and want to hear more from Taylor, she's hosting a free challenge designed to level up your wedding film business. 

Check out Taylor's free challenge with the link here: https://www.thelevelupco.com/freechallenge 

And don't forget to subscribe to her show on Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/level-up-your-wedding-film-business/id1494964274?uo=4 

You can see some of her films on her website: https://taylorpetrinovich.com

Stalk her wedding film Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorpetrinovich/

Stalk her podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelevelupco/ 

Host: Ben Journee 

Guest: Taylor Petrinovich from the "Level up Your Wedding Film Business" podcast  

Music: Doing Just Fine by Lakey Inspired: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired

Now is the time to invest in yourself, to take this as an opportunity to develop and thrive as a creative entrepreneur.

For the established videographers, it’s time for us to develop and diversify, to strengthen our businesses and clearly define our brands.

For up and coming videographers, it’s time to learn and prepare for the post COVID wedding season when all the established videographers will be booked solid due to postponements.

On today’s show I’m extremely excited to get to chat with a creative I’ve followed for a while now. Eric’s honest, passionate, humorous and practical approach to educating creatives is a breath of fresh air on the crowded YouTube platform.

Eric and I discuss the multitude of potentials and possibilities that a time like this brings us as creatives and how we can use the time we have access to now as a resource to invest into our businesses.

Subscribe (if you haven’t already) to Eric on YouTube for more great insights and advice: https://www.youtube.com/c/EricFloberg

Host: Ben Journee

Guest: Eric Floberg

Music: Doing Just Fine by Lakey Inspired: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired

There is a lot of fear being spread within the wedding industry right now. Postponements, loss of income, creatives are scrambling to figure out how best to keep their businesses afloat.

On today's show, I'm speaking with Jai Long. As someone who has mastered the art of upselling, he breaks down his philosophy with me of how we can be making the most out of each wedding we do manage to get over the line this season. We talk about diversifying our offerings into things like live streaming and instagram edits and how these are powerful tools for generating extra revenue.

But most importantly, todays show is about focusing on the positive, not getting paralysed by the negativity that you see online right now and working on ways that you can best serve your couples and your business at the same time.

Check out more of Jai's educational resources on his website: www.jailong.co

Host: Ben Journée - Side Project Films

Guest: Jai Long

Music: Doing Just Fine by Lakey Inspired: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired

Todays episode is a little different, this one is specifically for the photographers and I'm joined by Chris Turner to talk through everything a wedding photographer needs to know to start experimenting in the world of video.

We're going right back to basics talking about settings, gear, editing software and how none of them have to slow you down or take your focus away from your photography.

Todays episode is for any photographer who has thought about how to add a simple video option as an add on for their couples but hasn't known where to start.

And for anyone wondering... As a videographer, I really don't see photographers learning video and offering video to their couples as a downside to my business. As Chris mentions in the episode, there will always be couples who want a full service videography team to go all out on a video, but there are a lot of couples who just want "a little video extra" and this is where photographers are perfectly placed to fill that need as a suplimentary service to their photography.

Besides, photographers who know video make for freaking epic second shooters! So get learning people!

Also, Chris and I have a few resources on the basics of editing over on our YouTube channels, so go give those a watch if you'd like to learn more 

⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

▶️ Chris' tutorial on editing: https://youtu.be/EMNkUFU8hSA

▶️ My tutorial on footage organisation: https://youtu.be/mVp5znUSjsg

Host: Ben Journée

Guest: Chris Turner