Here’s a tip for your HDTV. Most sets are shipped with a setting turned on by default that drives video professionals crazy. We’ve had people ask us over the past couple of years about their TV, and that it just looks “weird”, like a low-budget soap opera.
The weirdness occurs when there is movement on the screen, especially for content that was shot at 24 frames per second (as 99.9% of all films are). The purpose of the setting is to “smooth out” film motion. Most people don’t like it, but they don’t know why. Some people can’t tell a difference or don’t care.
My brother, God bless him, is one of those. We were at his house when he had recently purchased a brand new Samsung 50” HDTV. Top of the line set, but this setting was turned on. During a commercial break I said, “can I please see the remote and check something?” I found the setting and turned it off. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for at the time but I do now, and you can use the information here to find out what the setting is called on your HDTV.
Below are some brand names and the name of the setting to turn off. Send us a note and let us know if you like it better or not.
Hitachi – Reel120
Insignia – DCM Plus, for Digital Clear Motion 120 Hz, or Insignia Motion 120Hz
LG – TruMotion 120 Hz, 240 Hz, 480 Hz
Mitsubishi – Smooth 120 Hz
Panasonic – Intelligent Frame Creation (IFC) 24p Smooth Film (24p material only)
Philips – HD Digital Natural Motion, Perfect Motion Rate
Samsung – Auto Motion Plus or Clear Motion Rate
Sharp – Fine Motion Enhanced, AquoMotion, or AquoMotion Pro
Sony – MotionFlow
Toshiba – ClearScan
Vizio – SmoothMotion
Sceptre – MEMC (Motion Estimation/Motion Compensation)
If your brand isn’t listed, contact us and we’ll try to get the information for you.
The Huffington Post published a piece on tough-love decisions for brides-to-be. Here are six of their ten tips brides often struggle to believe or even refuse to hear, but really do need to know:
1. Don’t skimp on or completely forgo videography. There are tons of new services (like the ones that let your friends shoot scenes from the day with their iPhone cameras) that promise video on the cheap(er), but if you actually want to be able to hear your vows, listen to the toasts given at your wedding, etc., you need to hire a professional.
2. Planners are well worth the expense. Some brides are lucky enough to have a Martha Stewart bridesmaid or mother who is more than happy to assist with all of the little details, but even then, that person has other responsibilities and duties on the wedding day. Best to have at least a day-of coordinator to be that person who steps in and puts out fires before they’ve even begun.
3. RSVPs always get messed up somehow, even if you sent your invitations out well in advance. There are always going to be stragglers or even people who say “yes” and then don’t show up. That’s why wedding experts recommend giving a final head count of a few less people than you believe you’ll have in attendance. It’s always easier to add, but you may get stuck having to pay for someone you subtract at the last moment.
4. The day really does fly by. Everyone told me this again and again, and somehow, I thought my experience would be different — but of course it wasn’t. It’s a case for creating a schedule that actually builds in time for you to savor the day with your groom and loved ones. Also, see #1!
5. Cash bars are a nightmare. Unless your crowd is happy to be dry, or you’re not getting married at night, the least a couple can do is a free cocktail hour with beer and wine and let people know to bring cash for the rest of the reception. This is a party after all, which leads us to…
6. The wedding isn’t actually for you; it’s for your friends and family. Otherwise, you would’ve just eloped, right? As one recent bride put it, “Instead of making it about ‘your day’ and everyone catering to you, make it about the people who love you and support you and throw them the party.”
What are some other “tough love” pieces of advice brides need to hear?
We have several posts to make in the next few days, but we’ll start with this. For the past six years we have worked closely with Rick Springfield and his crew on the Rick Springfield and Friends annual getaways. From cruise ships, to Cancun, to this year at Club Med in Florida, Billy Roseman and his wife Sue (of Rose Tours) have always been front and center. Rose Tours is a entertainment travel agency based in Pennsylvania and these events could not happen without them.
It’s not all work though; check out these two clips of Billy from last week’s event at Club Med in Port St. Lucie, Florida. I think Rick enjoys sharing the stage with him.
David here. This is a longer than normal post from us, but it’s for a good reason. I wanted to tell the story about the whole experience we had with ZOOT in 2011, and not just a quick “here’s a clip from the ZOOT DVD we produced”.
Prior to meeting them, the only knowledge I had of ZOOT was that it was an early band of Rick Springfield’s in Australia before he came to the USA and achieved success as a solo artist.
In November 2011 ZOOT were to reunite with Rick on his fourth and final Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise (for which we’ve documented and produced a DVD set every year for Rick’s fan club & merchandise site). On previous cruises, the musical guests included Kevin Cronin from REO Speedwagon, Richard Marx, and John Waite. On all of these cruises we filmed the concerts performed by the musical guests but typically did not include (much) footage in the final DVD because of copyright & licensing issues. As you can imagine we have a TON of footage from over the years on the cutting room floor!
We weren’t told any different about ZOOT so it was status quo for us. But this year was different. During the first two days of the cruise we’d shot concerts, photo meet & greets, fan interactions, and Q&A segments. We ran into several people from Australia who told us they flew from Oz to Miami to be on this cruise just to see the reformed ZOOT. In their words, for ZOOT to reform like this was “massive” and that for their time, in Australia, they were “bigger than the Beatles”. Alrighty then…I’m starting to think we are in for something special.
We go into the main room to set up for the ZOOT show at soundcheck. It’s just Christie and myself as it always is. Rick comes down and asks us how many cameras can we have rolling because they are multitrack recording the show, and that this is a really special night for them. Well…it would’ve been nice if you told us this back on DRY LAND! Remember, we’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Buzz, one of Rick’s audio technicians (and don’t you love it when your sound man is named Buzz…) had a small action cam that we made use of, in addition to our regular setup.
The soundcheck was no normal soundcheck. Usually, a soundcheck is simply “does everything work, can everyone hear OK” and lasts maybe half an hour. This soundcheck was 2+ hours and we filmed a lot of it. They ran the entire set. They drilled beginnings and endings. Over and over, to get it right. It was a rehearsal, one of only two they had for this concert. After 40 years! We were familiar with only a couple of the songs before seeing this and I was blown away at the craftsmanship of the music and especially at the power of Darryl Cotton’s voice. Their songs and his singing style had elements of the Beatles, Black Sabbath, the Who, and Led Zeppelin. I remember Christie and I looking at each other after soundcheck and thinking, who knew?
A whole lotta people from Australia knew, that’s for sure. And Rick’s stateside fans were about to find out.
The concert was fantastic. When the four of them came out (supplemented by Matt Bissonette, Rick’s bass player at the time and currently playing with Elton John), the place erupted. It wasn’t a polite round of applause for the musical-guest-that-isn’t-Rick-Springfield, it was an outpouring of love for a band gone but never forgotten. These hard-core ZOOT fans, who had paid big bucks for airfare from Australia to the US and even more money for the premium ticket on board the floating Rick Springfield party, they definitely got what they came for.
When it was over I had a sense that there was something special backstage so I ran back there with a camera. Normally, it’s Rick and his band, and they are just cooling off and headed back to their rooms after a normal show. Nothing special. This was…magical. Rick motioned me in and said “Yeah get some of this, absolutely.” All of the special guests of the cruise were there. Rick’s band was there, even though they weren’t playing. I think people may have had their doubts as to what it was going to sound like after so much time away. I can’t say it enough that everyone was BLOWN AWAY. Afterwards fans mobbed them in the hallways leading back to their rooms. Beeb, Rick (Malc), and especially Darryl were grinning from ear to ear. It was really, really fun.
During other events – waiting for the doors to open for the photo ops, when no one else was around, the ZOOT guys were catching up and goofing off. They were genuinely happy to be there. Darryl especially smiled the entire time we were on that boat; he was really glad to be there, playing for and meeting the fans. Christie and I really enjoyed getting to know Darryl, Beeb, and Malc even for just the short four days of the cruise. As quickly as it began, we were docked in Miami and flying back to Houston.
Fast forward to the first week of June 2012 and we get an email from Rick’s manager that took our breath away: “Darryl Cotton is dying of liver cancer and one thing Rick wants to do is put together a video for him.” Rick wanted him to see the reunited ZOOT from the cruise. Management tried to coordinate with a video editor in Los Angeles but he wasn’t available. As fate would have it, Christie and I were days away from a friends-and-family vacation to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. We’d been planning the trip for two years. As I recall we both looked at each other and said, we have to step in and do this. After having met Darryl, how could we not? So we packed our mobile editing gear and headed out; enjoying our vacation during the day and working on the footage at night. We FedEx’d DVDs to Rick and he set out for Australia. What a difficult trip that must have been. He told us that Darryl absolutely loved the concert. I’m so glad he got to see it because I had developed an understanding of how much ZOOT meant to him.
Darryl Cotton died on July 27th, 2012.
In May 2013 Rick contacted us to begin work on a full-length DVD featuring the concert as a tribute to Darryl. Darryl’s friend Bruce Hutchins from Melbourne was overseeing the project. Darryl specifically asked Bruce to “make sure this gets heard” and they were shopping it for an Australia / New Zealand release as a CD/DVD combo. We spent a few weeks cleaning up footage, adding a full-length Q&A with all of ZOOT and hosted by Mark Goodman; and adding as much bonus footage as we could, given another tight deadline. We produced a PAL version for the Australian release as well as an NTSC version for release in the USA.
Christie and I are honored and so proud to have been a part of this project. Beeb Birtles, Rick Brewer, and Rick Springfield are pleased with the results. The response in Oz has been overwhelmingly positive and we’ve shared some of the comments and reviews below. We look forward to the stateside release. Regardless of where you are on the planet, you can get more information about ZOOT and this release, including where to buy it, at the Official ZOOT Live – The Reunion website.
If you have heard or watched the DVD and find yourself on this site, please leave a comment for us.
The surviving members of ZOOT and especially Bruce Hutchins spent countless hours putting the whole package together and it was definitely a labor of love – their love of ZOOT and of Darryl. It shows. He will never be forgotten.
David McKnight
September, 2013
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It was great DVD and the rest on it was great to hear all there story’s ….just goes to show 40 years on they can still sing ..not that i ever doubted Darryl as i have seen him many time in Melbourne ..such a gentleman taken to soon.
What a great cd/dvd…. well done guys ….
I finally got my copy of “ZOOT LIVE-THE REUNION” in the post! I watched it this afternoon and it was just so fabulous…….such great memories. Loved all the songs but the second they started to play “Eleanor Rigby” I cried! The band sounded so great together and Darryl was just awesome………..he looked so happy and I’m so glad that they got to do a show together one more time! Darryl will always have a special place in my heart!
it was a blessing that you all got to see Darryl – we in Australia are just devastated that we didn’t get to see the boys perform as Zoot again in reality. Luckily now we have this dvd – we will be able to share in the experience.
From Beeb Birtles, founding member of both Zoot and Little River Band (and all around Very Cool Guy): Just letting you all know that I watched all of the DVD today having received it only a couple of days ago and my first thought was what a moving tribute it is to the memory of Darryl Cotton. He is full of life on this DVD! More than anyone I would be extremely critical of anything we did but this is such a feel good concert that I gloss over anything that might normally make me cringe. Let’s not forget that we only had two rehearsals to pull this whole concert together. I think it says a lot about how professional ZOOT was. And when I saw the still photo of Darryl right at the end of the concert footage with his long blond hair in action with microphone in hand, I nearly lost it. It is the perfect ending to someone who knew he was born to entertain. And entertain us he did!
From blogger / reviewer rockinluke: It is AWESOME,ROCKIN and BRILLIANT with great songs and the band just rocked and rocked on the CD and DVD and there great extra stuff on the DVD which has Meet Zoot and them rehearsing and performing as well which looked great too.
Bought my Zoot CD/DVD yesterday brilliant….thank you guys love it love it love it
DVD is sensational what more can I say.
Inspirational, well captured and you guys Rock! Fantastic footage and sound production, Beeb glad you playing guitar, it just fatten up the colors of sound on stage, brilliant performance by you all, cheers mate
Just finished watching the dvd & I must say, I was blown away! The production, sound quality etc. is excellent, far better than I thought it would be! You could see the love between the boys & how much fun they all would have had on this cruise. I would have dearly loved to have been there, but for Darryl’s sake, I’m glad it was done when it was done. Time was ticking away for him & he had the BEST time…he looked so happy & healthy…so lovely to see the smiles on his face, on all of their faces! So many memories came flooding back, ‘specially during question time… that was brilliant & so much fun!…love that last brilliant smile on Darryl’s face…
Listend to the CD and watched the DVD now and it is brilliant. Love it
home alone…turned it way up!…the look on Darryl’s face at the end of Elenor Rigby is priceless and gorgeous…bugger RIP…rest in rock mate! Jeez Australia had some GREAT bands back in the day!
Just watched Zoot live reunion – how amazingly special. Loved it all – you all took me back to the 70′s and the days of Zoot. No time will ever take what you all shared away – I feel so,lucky to be Australian and to have lived through those times. Your voice Beeb amazing – the reaction was great to the song you sang – Rick of course always amazing on guitar, Rick Brewer (malc) still an outstanding drummer and Darryl always the best frontman. It was a beautiful celebration – one that obviously was meant – I watched it with joy and love – but the last captured photo broke me up – the realization that Darryl is no longer here. with tears still in my eyes – I say thank you for the memories – we may not of been there but now we can see what Australia missed and rejoice that Darryl had his dream come true to play with his old mates. Xxxxxxx
We completed work last week on a live DVD to be commercially released in Australia & New Zealand featuring the last performance of Zoot, a very popular Aussie band from the 60′s & 70′s. They had a huge hit over there with a cover of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”, along with several others. There will be a very limited number of US-compatible discs available at Rick Springfield’s website in the coming months. Here’s a note we received today from Bruce Hutchins, the project manager in Australia:
Hi David, just watched the whole thing on the big TV. Great job. Thanks so much for a job well done. Darryl would be so happy. I can see his smile. I owe you a beer.
This release is a tribute to their late singer Darryl Cotton, who passed away in 2012 just a few months after this concert and recording took place on the final Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise. We got to spend a few days with Darryl and he was a lovely man, just a really great guy and SO happy to be there performing. It really shows. Stay tuned for a promo for this DVD as it gets closer to a release date.
- David
Sometimes our clients come in with a list of questions like “Do you shoot in digital?” or “What type of equipment do you use?” We realize that these questions might come from a wedding planning web site that has good intentions, but these questions really miss the mark, in our opinion. The more meaningful questions that determine if a videographer is right for a client in the long run are tougher to answer for many videographers.
I’ve shared my thoughts on this with other professional wedding videographers around the country whom I respect. We agree that the pitfalls that some clients fall into can be avoided if the right questions are asked.
Today, many of us have taken this idea and started to run with it. We hope that all of us can make a dent and help educate clients so that they don’t fall prey to the well-meaning hobbyist who is more interested in having fun and making a quick buck than they are delivering you a high quality video that you will enjoy for years to come.
The 10 REAL Questions You Should Ask Your Videographer
1. How will my movie sound?
2. How do you handle lighting?
3. How do you vary your shots?
4. How do you plan to tell the story of my day?
5. How long will it take to get my finished movie?
6. How do you work with other vendors during the wedding day?
7. May I see other clients’ movies and read what they had to say about you?
8. How do you get your shots without being ‘in the way’?
9. Why are your services more expensive/less expensive than other companies?
10. What do you do to make sure our movie is unique to our personalities?
High School Prom season is here. If you’re a high school student, parent, or teacher we ask you to watch this video we produced 5 years ago for the Shattered Dreams project at Santa Fe High School. The technology is a little dated but the message comes across.
Don’t drink if you’re under 21. And never drink and drive.
Or text and drive, for that matter.
Congratulations Natalie and Robert! It was a beautiful garden ceremony followed by the reception at the Courtyard on St. James. The festivities concluded just as the torrential weather started up. Here’s a frame grab from their actual video (downsized for the web) and comments from Natalie:
Christie and David. I just have to tell you y’all are awesome! I enjoyed having you as part of our special day and I can’t wait to see the final product. I know it’s going to be great! You both are so creative and a joy to work with. I will absolutely recommend you! I couldn’t have been happier with how our day turned out. I’m still on cloud nine!
Thank you Natalie for the kind words and have fun on your honeymoon!
Congratulations Kim and Walter! They had a beautiful sunset ceremony followed by the reception at Kemah Gardens. Dinner was provided by Rudy’s BBQ, music provided by Wag’s DJ Services, flowers provided by All That Blooms, and the wedding/groom cake provided by The Cake Lady. The special entertainment for the evening was fire dancers that were amazing. The staff at Kemah Gardens did a fabulous job and made the entire day very special. It was a pleasure working with you all.
Here’s Christie filming a week-long industrial training class for world wide distribution. At least five different countries are represented here. Could’ve used a step stool!
If you’re in the Galveston area Sunday be sure to stop by and see us! We will be at booth 209.
…a happy customer. From the mother of the bride, whose wedding video we delivered last week:
“We did watch the video last night. It was great! Thanks again for the wonderful work you guys did! You captured everything we could have ever hoped for- sweet, precious and funny. We definitely laughed, cried, oohed and aahed through the whole thing. What beautiful memories we’ll all have of that special day!!”
No, thank YOU Ann. It was a pleasure serving your family for your daughter’s wedding.
As I write this I’m taking a break from editing the general dancing segment of a wedding video. The bride has just torn up said dance floor during Play That Funky Music when she finds her mother in the crowd, runs to her and gives her a big hug.
A super-sweet moment and I know she’s going to love seeing that moment in her wedding film. This month marks mine and Christie’s 11th anniversary. In those 11 years both of my parents have passed on. We never forget that what we do for our couples becomes exponentially more valuable through the years.
Come see us on February 10th from 2:00 – 5:00 at The Silver Sycamore Open House in Pasadena! We will have a special gift for anyone who stops by.
OK, it’s not really breaking news. But we’re excited to finally unveil our new website. Have a look around and stop by often. We have lots of new samples to upload and will be adding new content weekly.