Jane Austen Festival, Bath - The Gorgeous Georgians

Last weekend, I travelled down to Bath to film some of the events at the Jane Austen Festival. We had booked an apartment in the Circus at the top of the City, just around the corner from the Royal Crescent - It turned out that the house in which we stayed had once belonged to William Gladstone and was next door to Gainsborough’s house. I was impressed.

The Jane Austen Festival runs annually and is the culmination for many of a Georgian Festival season of promenading through various towns and cities. It was quite a spectacle. On Saturday morning, 700 people dressed as Georgians congregated in the private gardens across from the Royal Crescent. 700 people dressed as Georgians made quite a visual impact. I filmed them as they walked down through the City into the Promenade Gardens near Pulteney Bridge. Filming 700 Georgians in Bath, I felt like I was filming a period drama - and watching people chatting and laughing and surreptitiously looking each other up and down - made me think that the human state doesn’t really change - this is probably just what the Georgians would have been doing! The only difference was that many of these Georgians had mobile phones. To begin with I found myself wondering why on earth people dress up in period costume and promenade about the place… However, after a while I found that I had stopped intellectualising the situation in front of me, and just enjoyed watching 700 people (and 1000s more around them who were non-Georgians) just enjoying themselves.

After the promenade, I walked back up home with three Georgian friends. The locals of Bath must be fairly used to seeing Georgians walking through their town. We walked through Paperchase and the staff hardly flinched. However, our journey home took ages whilst my Georgian friends posed for photographs with tourists from all over the world.

I am pleased with the film I made - it just tells the story of a day in Bath and I think that is what my job of filmmaker is.

Shelley + Dave

Shelley and Dave got married last weekend at Mitton Hall in Whalley. It is not often we go south, probably because we are so near so many amazing venue in the Lake District. First wedding in our new car - our rather swanky Aqua Blue Hyundai i30 (which I am sure looks like a BMW if you squint!). It felt rather good to swing into the car park of the Mitton Hall in a proper vehicle - I loved my purple Rover, but was beginning to feel a bit like a character out of The Young Ones (the 80’s comedy not Cliff Richard film). Note the way I always reference my cars by their colour? If I were a boy, I would know the engine size and who produced the subframe… totally irrelevant when you are a girl. Shelley and Dave love rallying, so I feel justified discussing cars in this post.

Saturday was a day of Daves - Dave married Shelley, Uncle Dave gave Shelley away and Dave was the legendary emcee at the Mitton. It was another gorgeous day for sure. Shelley and Dave weren’t going to have a wedding film, but this was a wedding gift to them from a couple of friends who were unable to attend. I think that wedding films for many people are something that they wish they had had, but that only dawns on them after the event. So, Shelley and Dave are in a win/win situation. I know I may be biased, but I think that a making a wedding present of a wedding film is a lovely idea you are giving someone the memory of the day forever and ever - when you think about it like that, it’s just a massive thing.

Holly + Sam

Holly and Sam got married a few weeks ago at The Merewood in Windermere. It was the first weekend of our good weather spell. I had had started to have anxiety nightmares a few weeks before the wedding because there had been word of an informal fly past (Sam’s in the RAF). For a videographer, this would have been a challenge; I mean I know that you have to be alert to film a wedding - there are crucial moments - for example, you can’t miss the exchange of rings, the vital kiss, the meeting down the aisle… However, a fly past is totally out of our experience. Imagine, cameras poised skywards… only to miss… I was sort of resigned to just filming people’s reactions and sort of hedging my bets a bit, blue screen and CGI effects did come to my mind. When we arrived on the morning to film Holly getting ready, what a relief when she said it was not happening anymore. I think that Lydia, the marvellous photographer lady who splits her life between Bolton and the South of France, was equally relieved!

Despite the lack of a fly past, the day was beautiful - Holly’s friend sang her into the ceremony to Eva Cassidy’s Song Bird, another friend read a self-penned poem and Holly’s sister’s boyfriend piped the happy couple from one part of the day to the next.

A Perfect Day at The Wyrebank

Last month we filmed a wedding services promo film for the Wyrebank Banqueting Suite in Garstang. The venue has a lovely, purpose built function suite where everything is finished to the highest of standards. This project started a year last February and so must be the longest project we have done. the Manager, Stuart had contacted me in December 2011 to say that he loved the mini promo film that we had produced at The Borough and could we do something equally gorgeous for his venue.

On the day of filming, I had a lovely time. Because I am so used to filming weddings and finding a story of the day from the Bride and Groom’s point of view, I had to keep mindful during the day that the Wyrebank and staff were the real stars of the film, since it is after all their film! It was interesting seeing it from their side - I was able to concentrate on things that I never really pay much attention to - I have to take my hat off to people who work in catering - it is just such hard work. The team at the Wyrebank are quietly efficient and I think you see that in the film.

On the day, I filmed Shaun and Carolyn’s wedding which was lovely. However, it was a bit odd to be filming a couple’s wedding when I had never met them before. Nobody seemed to mind though. Shaun had given a very funny, original speech and so I hoped that he and Carolyn would be up for an interview about their day. However, they turned me down. I knew that I wanted someone to be on camera talking about the Wyrebank experience - I told Stuart - he looked a bit horrified at the thought of having to do it. Then all was solved when Carolyn’s mum stepped forward and volunteered herself. She was marvellous. Carolyn’s mum is an every-mother-of-the-bride-woman. She was a star - she must have used the word ‘perfect’ at least sixty times during our 5 minute chat. She was a very happy lady - told it just as it was and brimmed over with enthusiasm for the venue, the wedding, her emotions, the staff, the location… all was just… well…perfect. And when you have filmed such an honest, warm interview like that, you know for sure that you will get a good story out of the day.

When I look at the edit, I am pleased. I think that sometimes these promotional films can all look a bit too polished and glossy. However, when I watch the Wyrebank film, there is a simple truth within it - thanks largelg to Carolyn’s mum, a happy and beautiful bride and groom and the ever professional and low key efficiency of the staff… oh and they fed me, so I shall love them forever!

Anna + Neil

So, last Saturday we filmed Anna and Neil getting married. The Sun shone and the sky was blue. Indeed it was a glorious day. The bride and groom were so excited to be tying the knot after a two year engagement that their excitement was sort of infectious. I think that the mark of a really moving wedding is when, as the filmmaker, you find yourself blubbering a bit through the wedding ceremony. This was one of those. Father Cooper the Priest had known Anna since her childhood and so the ceremony was really personal and accessible. There was a warmth and familiarity which made it fun.

Then we headed over to The Grange Hotel for the photographs. This is an amazing time of the year for light. On a Sunny day, the shadows that are cast by bare trees is magical and mysterious. Watch the trailer and you’ll see what I mean. Natural patterns caused by branches. I love it.

Painting the Town Blue!

Yesterday, I spent another day with Unique Kidz and Co. They asked me to come along to photograph some of their activities for World Autism Awareness Day. I suggested that instead of still images, I worked on a sixty second film of the day. World Autism Awareness Day was the first day of the Easter Kids’ Clubs. Everyone was working on activities to make things blue - they were hand printing, cake making, branch painting and balloon launching in blue. Everyone was very busy. I just spent the day mingling, filming a bit here and a bit there and then going back to the staff room to transfer my footage and drop it into the timeline. My idea for a sixty second edit came from a Vimeo weekend challenge a few weeks ago where they challenged people to make a film using clips that were just one second in length. Now a second doesn’t feel like it should be very long. However, when I saw some of the results of the challenge, I liked the format - yes you really can tell a story in a sequence of 1 second clips - and a second lasts quite a long time. So, we tried it with Unique Kidz - the story of a day in a very short burst of shots which are all high in content value. It was easy to edit and I tried to keep it free and easy - I think it works.

Unique Kidz and Co is a pretty amazing charity run by some rather amazing people. At the end of the day, the young people launched balloons - they were very excited. It took a while to set up and they did really well not to accidentally release them before the count down. I think that the shot of them releasing the balloons is fab - especially when you see them all turn and jump around with excitement as they watch their balloons fly away…. what we don’t show, but what was rather hilarious, was that the balloons pretty much all got caught in the trees at the edge of the playground. The power of film eh? You would never know!

In the evening, we went back and filmed Lancaster Museum - it turned blue for WAAD. Marvellous, marvellous!

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Jenny + Kevin

Last weekend we filmed Jenny and Kevin’s wedding at Patrick Preston Church near Endmoor and then on to Lancaster Golf Club. The wind howled, the snow drifted, and it was a brilliant day. Preston Patrick Church is an interesting church right at the top of a lane, right at the top of a hill. It’s quite remote - even the guests that came on the bus had to walk up the last quarter of a mile to get there. This was a joint package between Gorgeous Media and Tall Order Photography. We always enjoy filming with Phil. He really knows how to bring the smiles out of people - meanwhile, we skulk around in the shadows, hardly noticeable - which makes us a fairly good team on the day. When we had had our meetings with Jenny and Kevin, Kevin was determined that he would not smile on the day and that he did not think that a speech was on the cards either: On the day, he had been won over! He smiled away, and looked like one of the happiest grooms I have seen, AND he did a wonderful speech - which even had himself welling up!

Towards the end of our day, Jenny surprised Kevin by singing him the Adele Song, You Make Me Fell My Love. At the end of her performance, second camera Denise said to me, “those two are totally in love with each other!”. She’s right - you can see it in the edit.

http://www.tallorderphotography.co.uk/weddings/

Shirley and Brian (who?)

We filmed a wedding last Saturday at the Burnside Hotel in Windermere. Shirley had booked us way back in September - she had to be organised as it was a long distance wedding - Shirley and her family are from Dundee and Brian’s family are from Wigan. They were marrying in Windermere because it was somewhere in between (although the split was more like 80% - 20% as Shirley reminded the best man when he gave his speech!)

The wedding was a gorgeous one. It started out a dull, rainy day, but after the ceremony, the sun shone and the skin turned blue - we even went for an ice-cream with our bride and groom along Lake Windermere. An interesting combination of Northern Soul and kilts, it was an emotional day, but clearly a happy one. I was just relieved that Scotland vs England wasn’t a Six Nations fixture for the day - that could have made for an interesting part of the day to film. Good luck to you Shirley and Brian - thanks for letting Owen and me be part of it! x

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Unique Kidz and Co

I have just re-edited the Unique Kidz and Co film that I produced last year. Unique Kidz and Co are just going from strength to strength - mopping up awards and accolades left, right and centre - and rightly so. They are amazing. Anyway, the Government has not got hold of them and wants to showcase them on David Cameron’s Big Society website. They could only accept 5 minutes of film though. That is a challenge - to get a 10 minute masterpiece down to 5 was hard work. Which bits to leave out? In a way, I turned the task around and just tried to make a judgement about which bits needed to stay in - easy - the kids are the stars, so they made the cut. Have a watch of the film. It’s powerful. They are an amazing bunch. Proud to have been part of it. Would love to continue to be part of it. And I suppose with the odd donation of my time, I still am!

Lancaster University Lectures

Last month I filmed a Lecture by the Maths and Stats Dept from Lancaster University. It was delivered by John Whitehead and was the first of six lectures to be delivered at Lancaster secondary schools over the next few months. That’s what I love about this job: I know very little about statistics, although I did cover it a bit whilst at University - but not in great detail. I have distant memories of probabilities and tossing coins but that’s where it ends. I think I can safely say that had I not been commissioned to film these lectures, I would never consider statistics ever again. But once you get thrown into these situations, your world just gets a bit bigger. I always do my best to engage with what I am filming - this was a challenge! I went home with a head full of the impact of statistics on medical research. Things that I would not normally ever consider, I was forced to consider. This year is the International Year of Statistics. Follow this link to find out more...

Caroline and Darren