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We belong to a great local association of video and imaging professionals, the Houston Professional Videographers Association. At our meeting last week we determined there were a few local companies and individuals that we had come in contact with (not in HPVA) that were less than honest in some of their dealings. For instance, in one case a rather large video company in Houston actually hired an ad agency to produce the eye-popping demo that you will see at Houston Bridal shows. The work done for you by this company will not look nearly as good. No, we’re not going to tell you who it is.

So how can you be sure the company you hire will do a great job for you? There are a few things to look for:

1. Ask to see a complete finished product. This can be on a DVD, on the web, or some other delivery device. It’s relatively “easy” to produce a 3 minute highlight that is entertaining and emotional. Highlights are important, but don’t base your purchasing decision off of just that. Ask to see a complete product.

2. Are they members of HPVA? I am not suggesting that videographers who are not members don’t do good work. I am reinforcing the fact that, as members of the association we are involved in learning and perfecting our craft. We are well-respected in the Houston video community.

3. Be sure to meet with the people who will actually be attending and filming your event. You don’t want to meet with and be sold by the owner of the company only to find out that two newbies will be filming your wedding, because they’ve scheduled 2-4 events on the same day. There’s nothing wrong with running multiple crews of shooters, but you should know this up front and you should be able to meet with the videographers who will actually be spending the day with you.

Can you think of any more? Add them to the comments below. Have a question about this? Email or call us today and we’ll be happy to discuss.

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.

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 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.

We would like to send a big Thank You to Piper Heinrich for inviting us to participate as the exclusive videographer for the Bride To Be Cruise sailing today. For more information on booking your wedding or other event aboard the FantaSea, visit their website, by clicking here.

Here is a highlight from Tera and Kevin’s wedding aboard the FantaSea. Congratulations you two, it was truly a one of a kind event.

Here is a highlights piece that includes a unique setting; the reception was at the Tall Ship Elissa in Galveston.

Congratulations to Casey and Daniel, married Saturday at Burkeshire Plantation in Conroe. As a surprise from Casey’s mother Byrdie, the crowd at their reception got to experience an InstantView Ceremony.

Here it is, including their childhood photomontage.