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Click here for the latest article we wrote about shooting, editing, and delivering the DVD set for the 2009 Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise. It’s a little on the technical side but hey, that’s what we deal with sometimes. There are links to sample videos at the end of the article.

Christie McKnight interviews Rick Springfield and Richard Marx on the 2009 Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise

We’re proud to announce that in December, McKnight Video was awarded the People’s Choice award for the year, and that we tied for First Place for the year for all the annual Houston Professional Videographers Association competitions.

The winning video for Tricia and Ryan is an example of our cinematic ceremonies. This wedding was coordinated by Summer at For Your Memories and the event was featured in Houston Brides magazine.

My father, Clifford McKnight, passed away in the early morning hours of November 19th. Christie and I had returned from filming the second Rick Springfield cruise just 2 days before.

This is the memorial video we created for Dad and the speech I gave at his service:

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My sister Diana said the other day, “I would give anything to have Mom and Dad back. But of course, then I would have to live with them because I wouldn’t have anything, and nobody wants that.” Always good to open on a humorous note.

We are sad today. We are sad because Dad is no longer with us. An unspoken sentiment is that a loved one’s passing at this time must be really difficult because it is so close to “The Holidays”. Thanksgiving is two days away and we have so, so much to be thankful for. I wanted to take a few minutes and share some of these things with you.

I’m thankful for the kind of father Dad was. I had a very normal childhood, and after growing up and living some and seeing what kind of meanness there is in the world I’m very thankful for that. Little League baseball, Cub Scouts, simple things like fishing and flying kites. I got my share of spankings, back when it was more acceptable than it is now, and I deserved every single one. My wife maintains that he didn’t spank me often enough.

He and mom indulged our hobbies; for many years I practiced magic and their “annual vacation” was to drive me to some destination in Texas to attend a magic convention.

As a high school graduate they attempted to provide a college education, but I thought I knew better. I resisted; I wanted to play music instead, and they were disappointed but they supported that as best they could. Dad was proud that I ultimately did graduate, just three years ago.

In my thirties I don’t know what happened, but he got smarter. The older I got, the wiser he became. He had been this wise all along of course, I just finally started to notice. I’m thankful for that.

I’m thankful for the home and the life he and Mom provided. When I met my wife Christie, she was so accepting of them, and they of her. You better believe I’m thankful for that. After mom died and Dad’s health was worsening, he moved in with us. Christie took care of Dad daily for 3 years, and I am so thankful for that.

Dad enjoyed himself, along with his cats, and he was happy. I speak for Christie when I say it was a joy and a privilege to take care of Dad and provide a loving, warm home for him in much the same way he and Mom provided for me.

But here’s what I’m most thankful for, in this week of Thanksgiving: I was able to tell Dad everything I’ve told you. When he was here on Earth, when it mattered.

I got to tell him every single day how much I loved him. How thankful I am that he was my father.

We left nothing unsaid. We left nothing undone. And above everything else, I am so, so thankful for having been given the opportunity to tell him that while he lived with us.

All of the kids were able to visit anytime and as often as they wanted. He enjoyed being at the lake with Dennis and Traci many times. Those out of town called him once a week or so, always knowing his time here was limited. And he loved all of his kids. I think he talked to all of us at one time or another, letting us know how much he loved us, but also how much he missed Mom and that when his time would come, he was ready to go be with her. And now he is. They are “Waltzing Across Heaven”, in each other’s arms.

So we are sad today, but we know Dad is happy. And I am thankful for that.

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Well, WE weren’t on Oprah, but our work was. Rick Springfield was a surprise guest serenading two audience members on Monday’s show (“Jessie’s Girl”, of course). He talked about this year’s cruise and showed a short clip from the video we produced of last year’s cruise.

We got word that Rick will be on the Ellen DeGeneres show on October 30th; I wonder if they will show the clip on her show too?

Stay tuned…

We occasionally get calls for small corporate and training videos as well as web video advertisements. Do we do that type of work? Of course we do!

Here are two examples of work we did for YellowBook.com; the first is Ernie Smith & Sons Roofing in Santa Fe:

This is Brown AC & Heating in Pasadena:

Working with both companies, Ernie Smith & Sons and Brown AC & Heating was very smooth. These types of shoots usually take no more than an hour or two depending on your needs.

Give us a call and let us know how we can help you get YOUR message out.

We are sometimes asked “what are StoryTeller Highlights?” when discussing video services. Sometimes it’s easier to show an example than to try to explain it.

This video is a special example wherein the Father of the bride already had a note written out and knew exactly what he wanted to say. It turned into a very emotional piece that tied for Second Place from a panel of judges in the Houston wedding and broadcast industries. We hope you like it.

We just delivered this promotional video to Rick and his team to be played before select concerts for the next few months – starting tonight in Milwaukee. This is just a taste of how much fun everyone had on the first cruise this past November, and there are things that happened on this cruise, with Rick and / or the other guests, that you cannot imagine. This year is shaping up to be even better. Rick and everyone involved with this are truly great to work with. If you’re a Rick Springfield fan, a Richard Marx fan, or a fan of the other guests & actors that will be appearing, this is an awesome thing to be a part of!

Sign up for the cruise sailing this November at RickSpringfield.com.

We got a very, very nice call out of the blue the other day. Our friend Kyle called to tell us about his success with making videos. A few years ago we helped Kyle with some of the ins and outs of a software program he was using called Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. We are certified in Vegas Pro, and VMSP is it’s little brother.

He used this software to make a college football recruitment video for his son. We found out that he’s also made some team videos highlighting several Clear Lake athletes. Some of these talented youngsters have gone on to receive partial or full athletic scholarships. Kyle attributes this in a large part to their recruitment videos. He said by us teaching him some of the concepts of Vegas Movie Studio, he’s been able to create more effective videos and change the lives of about a dozen local students who have received scholarships.

We appreciate the kind words, even though Kyle certainly did all the hard work. Congrats to you Kyle, and to your two sons (both of whom have received scholarships), and the students and families who have benefitted from the work you’ve done.

We haven’t done one of these in a long time; an edgy trailer that leaves you wanting more.

The ceremony was at the Trinity Episcopal church and the reception was at the newly revamped Omni Hotel in Houston.

Here’s a clip from a wedding video we’re finishing up. As the guests arrived at the Petroleum Club of Houston, they witnessed the bride & groom sharing their first dance as husband and wife to the song “Spend My Life With You”.

Stay Tuned! More to come soon….

A beautiful couple, a beautiful location in the Spring area. Here’s an example of a documentary short form ceremony, where we take the highlights from the ceremony and layer them and composite them in such a way that you never feel like you need to “fast forward to the good parts”. In this wedding, Carter and Laura had a wonderful string quartet which we recorded in stereo.

Gosh! We’re finally getting around to putting some up-to-date video samples on our website. For the foreseeable future they will all be appearing within these posts on our blog.

Here is a bride prep segment from Valerie’s & Chris’ wedding video; the event took place at the beautiful Ashton Gardens location in north Houston.

This video won First Place in School Event Video for 2008 in the Houston Professional Videographers Association. We were honored by the award and proud of working with the students, parents, and teachers from Santa Fe High School in producing this video.

For more information on the Shattered Dreams program, visit their website here.

We received a very nice note from Rick commenting on the DVD we produced while on board a cruise ship in November:

“Working with you David and Christie on the first cruise was amazing. I can’t believe the quality of what you did. Incredible. I didn’t even realize you were filming half the time and the dedication and time you put into the all night editing sessions should put you guys at the top of the heap. The whole DVD you made was musical, got what I thought were the best moments of the cruise and performances and the editing was seamless and highly professional. You both are brilliant at what you do. THESE GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!”

UPDATE JANUARY 10th, 2009: As promised, here are two clips from the DVD we produced for Rick & Company; the first is a montage from the opening night concert. We had four cameras rolling and two camera operators. There were many house PA issues that night which you can hear in this clip. Hey whaddaya expect, it was a full on rock concert taking place on a boat in the ocean! I really don’t think Carnival had done this before. But they got everything squared away for all performances after this.

This second clip is a montage of the rest of the DVD. It includes a little bit from the Lido deck concert (previously unreleased), a short bit from Rick’s and John Waite’s acoustic duo performance, a little bit from the Movie Night fun, a little from the Cozumel Beach Party, and a special ending note from Rick.

In all, the DVD was an hour and a half long and we produced nearly 700 copies while still on board the ship. In case you couldn’t tell, we had an absolute blast on this trip, as did everyone we came in contact with. In fact, I hear they are doing it again in 2009. Click Here for details on the second (annual?) Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise.

Click here to read a tutorial David wrote about the Color Correcting features of Sony Vegas, one of the software tools we use in our projects. The magazine has contacted us about doing a series of tutorials that are mostly on the technical side, so they may not appeal to the casual reader. But, there is at least an interesting picture of our cat Boots that was taken during the Hurricane Ike evacuation.  

When Grammy award winner, 80’s rocker, and General Hospital heartthrob Rick Springfield embarks on a 5-day Caribbean cruise November 13th out of Miami, David and Christie will be in tow – but not as cruise guests. Rick has hired McKnight Video to document the concerts taking place during his Carnival cruise in support of his latest CD Venus in Overdrive. Rick and his band will play host to 1,200 fans (the Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise sold out just weeks after it was announced).

Our friends Traci and Jill; Christie, Rick Springfield, and David

We were chosen specifically for our ability to film, edit, and deliver the finished DVD to hundreds of fans while still on board the ship. Though we have provided editing and pre-production support to Rick’s team in the past, we had no idea it would lead to this!

Here’s the scoop: we often produce InstantView productions at wedding receptions in the Houston and Galveston area. An InstantView, also known as a Same Day Edit, is where guests view a cinematic video highlight of the wedding that took place only hours before. In the course of working on the other videos, Rick and his team saw some of these that we’ve done and it started snowballing from there. We’re slated to produce a DVD of the three concerts and other fan events taking place during the cruise. We will be working around the clock to make this happen. We’ll pretty much have our whole stuido on board.

The limited edition DVD is expected to be close to two hours long and 600 – 1000 DVD’s will be delivered to Rick’s merchandising team on the final day of the cruise.

Here’s a commercial for Ford featuring Texas blues funk artist Hamilton Loomis. Hamilton hails from Galveston TX but travels and plays all over the USA in his Ford van. This piece has shots from all over the country; our shots are of course from Texas. You have to check this out, you won’t believe how many miles are on this van!

Here’s a bit of trivia: before venturing into video production, David played bass in Hamilton’s band from 1997 to 2001 and can be heard on the CDs All Fired Up and Live Highlights…logged a lot of miles in that van as well.

Thanks Ham, job very well done.

Hurricane Ike has thrown us a little off track & behind schedule, but the main thing is we’re still here! We now have Internet back to the office so these updates will occur more frequently. We were out of power for only six days. Or maybe seven. I lost count. I think Texas New Mexico Power and Comcast have done a great job in our area, and in the Greater Houston area overall. As of this morning there were still about 100,000 people without power. Yes, that is a lot of people but it’s a small percentage of what they started with. If you’re one of those without power and you (eventually) read this, we feel for you.

As we’ve said, we had some damage but it could have been much, much worse. Our editing workstations have been relocated to allow for drywall and carpet / flooring replacement in those rooms.

Thanks to everyone who has called, come by, or emailed. One step at a time, one step at a time…

Well it could be a whole lot worse. Like many folks around the Houston – Gulf Coast area we lost fences & trees. Some roof damage. Carpet damage as well due to water but we did not have any internal contents damaged. We still have no power and no business phone, very limited email / internet (I’m posting this from an external location). If you’ve been trying to reach us by phone, the best alternative is to email us at the email address on the Contact page and we’ll reply as soon as possible.

The main things is, Christie, Dad, the kitties, and I are all safe, as I said it could be a whole lot worse. But my gosh, what a mess.

- David

Hello from the Gulf Coast!  As we are reminded daily, there is a storm brewing and his name is Gustav Ike.  For those of you that are so patiently waiting for your finished production we felt it necessary to inform you that if at any point we are required to evacuate, that your projects are safe.  In fact, when we evacuated in 2005 the only thing we had were our cats, a few days worth of clothes, personal and business insurance papers, and ALL of our video projects, past and present.

We produced a video for the City of Texas City’s Emergency Management department for their recent Town Meeting and were reminded ourselves of the potential dangers.

We know that your memories are irreplaceable and you can trust that we are equipped to keep them all secure.