Monthly Archives: May 2008

Hype or Value Part 1 : Judge A Videographer By The Cover

Pardon the cheesy title, I meant it literally. :P

Due to the complexities in a video project, there are many areas
of value that you may not be aware of. Each of these areas
require some work, and some innovation. Are these areas hype,
or value? Read and hopefully you will be able to decide.

In the first part, let us work backwards from the completed
product that you receive. Let’s look at the cover.

I’ve realised that designing a cover is a niche on its own.
Typically, getting a graphic designer to design a cover costs
from 5 USD/hour to 20 USD/hour, so depending on the
quality, and complexity of the design, you are charged
accordingly.

Here are some places where designers can be found:-

www.elance.com
88db.com

As for me, I don’t have any qualifications as a designer.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have been trained as a
programmer, and have been working as one for 3 years
before I started as a videographer.

What I do is to search for ideas from sites like cdcovers.cc.
I’ve particularly found a treasure trove of design ideas
from the Criterion Collection, a privately held company that
distributes “authoritative” consumer versions of “important
classic and contemporary films”. (Excerpt from Wikipedia.)

There you have it… my “Secret”. :)

Here are a couple of my own designs… I strive to come up
with something unique for every couple, but playing with
similar themes, because obviously some of the design ideas
that work well for certain genres of film do not work well for
Wedding Videos.

Here are some of my designs :-

Some of the elements influencing my designs are

the events in the couple’s actual day,
the music I’ve picked for the couple,
the couple’s personal story.

All these elements are linked of course. But more
on that later!

Why Keen

Ichiro Films Scholarship Program for Needy Student

We are now planning to offer a single scholarship program for needy student age 17 and above to study in SAE institute.

The main reasons for us to go into this scholarship program is to help us grow talent in this field and also to help out needy students who want to pursue their passion in multimedia industry or film production. We hope to extend it to more students when our company’s businesses pick up in the near future.

There is a saying, To help remove poverty is not to give them free stuff but to educate them and offer job to bring them out of poverty.

Just received a email from SouthWest CDC requesting meeting to discuss more details next week. We are moving into the next stage.

Christopher Tay

Becoming a Wedding Videographer – In Pursuit of Beauty

Being who I am, being in a situation is not enough, I must try to understand my situation. I’ve been a wedding videographer for more than a year now, and I have been trying to articulate the varied skills required in being a videographer for weddings.

To be a mediocre videographer, I just needed to get the basic skills, basic framing, what are close ups, medium shots, and long shots, and how to use a varied assortment to bring the audience through an event. In other words, I just need to be an average cameraman. Technically, I must have to ability to hold still shots, as well as simple panning movements. I would also need to watch out for sounds, making sure I have the levels right, to capture the sounds of the moment.

To be a better videographer, I would have to be able to edit well too. Sensing the flow of events, choosing the best moments. Someone was quoted on the Discovery Channel series American Choppers as saying the team of editors is THE most important element in a reality TV show. I fully agree with that. A good editor can make “sucky” footage good, but good footage, excellent. A good editor needs to have an understanding of music as well, learning how to use sound to tie the whole video together.

To be an excellent videographer, there is a combination of everything, the ability to capture the precious moments of the wedding in a “true” manner, and do even better than that, in a BEAUTIFUL manner. When there are insufficient moments, an excellent videographer is able to work with the subjects to create some sequences.

In other words, to be excellent in what we do, we have to be a good:-
- Cameramen
- Editor
- Director
- Director of Photography
- Sound Engineer

and above all, an Artist, meaning all of the above but at a higher aesthetic level.

We have to be able to pull together different genres of audio visual media out there, from movies, to TV dramas, to reality TV. The video is good when it is able to tell a story,
tug at the emotions of the audience,
making people laugh and cry,
feel awe and warmth,
be entertaining,
be beautiful.

I am in awe with the people at the top out there. Christopher and Swee Foong are definitely there in my books. I cannot compare good wedding videographers with any other people in the audio visual (TV, Film, Advertising etc…) industry, in my opinion, wedding videographers are a class of their own.

Why Keen

Children Cancer Foundation, Hair for Hope

I believed that recently there is lots of donations flying around to Myanmar Cyclone victims and China Si Chuan Quake victims. But please do spare some attentions to people near you. There are also lots of help needed locally too.

Have finally decided to participate in this year’s Children Cancer Foundation Hair for Hope. It took me some time to decide this cause I was wondering how would i look like without hair after such a long while since my army days. Will upload my bald photo after the shave.

I think this is a great way to contribute back to the society. As a parent of 2 lovely healthy daughters, taking care of them is already not a simple task. Could not image the tons and tons of challenges parents with child that have cancer would have to face. Hope that what I offer could improve their condition and reduce those challenges they face.

Most of the people are very conscious of what others would think about how they look and their acceptance by the people around them. Looks is only external, it is the character inside you that let you shine in this society.

Below is the link for this event and hope that fortunate ppl like us could offer some kind of help to them.  

http://www.ccf.org.sg/hfh

Christopher Tay

Why Keen is proud to be associated to Ichiro Films!

Christopher and Swee Foong have invited me to join them at their new brand, Ichiro Films, and I found it a great honour to be associated with them!

I have witnessed all the toil and tears put into coming up with this brand, and I am so excited I couldn’t sleep last night. To be a part of Ichiro Films, my work has to be top notch, and we must constantly innovate and create. That had always been our philosophy at HILO Production, but Ichiro Films embodies this mission, and there lies the difference.

Hope everyone here enjoys reading and, of course, viewing, articles and videos that we would share. Please feel free to write in, as well, we would like to be reminded about what you like to read or watch!

KC & Linda 100508

< — This video had been removed due to disc space constraint. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to view it.–>

This is our recent trailer for our lovely couple, KC and Linda on 100508.

Love is in the Air.

Hope you will like it.

Christopher Tay