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.

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!

Coming Soon to Blu-ray and DVD!

Check out the full details on our Facebook page.

While shooting footage for Rick Springfield Friday at the Arena Theater, management asked us to shoot a quick promo for an upcoming gig in Lansing, MI. All footage and audio from the Arena show. Check it out:

The Royal Wedding went off without a hitch earlier this morning in England.

Did you watch it on TV – or did you look at photographs? (Trick question. Of course you watched it on TV, just like you’ll watch your wedding video on TV)

Notice how you could actually hear the vows? This is one of the many, many reasons why you hire a professional. Don’t expect to have anything watchable if your Uncle Charlie sets up a video camera for your wedding.

Hire a pro.

Order your DVD of the 165th Galveston Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting today. The leading businesses of Galveston work hard, but they also play hard as you know if you were there that night. If you were there, order this DVD to remember the fun; if you weren’t there, order the DVD to see what you missed!

You can view a sample of the DVD here. Click the Buy Now button to order by debit / credit card for only $30.

*Not the Jackson Five, but an incredible simulation…

This DVD includes:

• Excerpts of Award Presentations
• The complete performance by “The Jackson Five”*
• The complete Spirit of Galveston video honoring Betty Massey
• Excerpts of divas & dudes dancing the night away

Approximate running time is 60 minutes. The DVDs will be available to pick up at the chamber no later than March 7th.

Choose your delivery and click Buy Now to order the Galveston Chamber of Commerce 165th Annual Meeting DVD

Delivery Options

Pick Up at the Chamber $30.00 Ship It To Me $35.00

Click on the video above to see a preview. If you have any questions, contact Christie McKnight at info@mcknightvideo.com.

We recently produced three 30-second campaign spots for Phil Roberts, running for Galveston County Probate Judge. These are currently airing on several Comcast stations. I’ve posted our favorite one here.

What type of video can we produce for you today?

David here; most of the time Christie and I work in the pro versions of the Sony Creative Software Suite. For years Sony Vegas Pro has been our go-to editor of choice. But SCS also produces a cheaper, less-capable line of software for the consumer market. Is it good enough for you? In this article for EventDV magazine I get input from a couple of other editors and put it to the test.

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.

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 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.

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.