10 Mar, 2010
{ quezon } janice + gelo \\ same-day edit
One of our cinematographers, Rommel, had come to visit the Philippines to attend his cousin’s wedding in Quezon City. And since I was already here, he asked if I would want to film the wedding with him and create a same-day edit for his cousin and her husband-to-be. Although we didn’t have any equipment whatsoever other than 1 Canon 5DmkII, I was still up for the challenge!
I met with our good friend, Jason Magbanua (recently crowned EventDV Top 25 hottest and most influential filmmakers in the world for 2009). He graciously lent us some equipment for me to use during our shoot at the wedding. Our line-up of equipment was very minimal – 2 Canon 5DmkII’s, a nice selection of Canon lenses, 1 Glidetrack, and 1 Tripod! I asked fellow filmmaker from Olongapo City, Mac Jimenez, to be our 3rd crew member to assist our shoot.
We knew very little about the schedule of the wedding day, little knowledge of the city we were in, and the 1 tripod between 2 camera operators proved to be a huge challenge. We were really playing everything by ear. But all in all, everything seemed to work out!
Check out the Same-Day Edit we premiered that night followed by Rommel’s blog post underneath the video.
Janice + Gelo \\ Same-Day Edit from Starcross’d Creative on Vimeo.
Venue \\ Ceremony & Reception: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine Parish, Quezon City
Song \\ “The Time Of My Life” by David Cook
BY: ROMMEL ANDAYA
I was planning to go to the Philippines last year, but my mom suggested that I go when my cousin, Janice, got married. Since Chris was going there, I asked him if he would be willing to assist me in offering a SDE as a gift to my cousin. It would also be a great opportunity to show the Philippines what we can do.
Planning for the SDE was a challenge because communication between my cousin and me was very slow and difficult. Because Janice was so busy with planning her wedding, I was only getting bits of information through email. We basically came into this shoot knowing that we would be doing it “on the fly,” because we were not familiar with the structure of Philippine weddings and did not know what to expect.
The first time I met Gelo was actually on the wedding day. I also haven’t seen Janice for over 20 years – back when we were just kids. But, by looking at their Facebook pages, Janice and Gelo seemed like the kind of couple who knew each others’ quirks, and loved each other because of them.
The bridal preparations began at the Hyatt in Quezon City where there was a surplus of vendors! From manicurists, hair stylists, makeup artists, dress pressers, and coordinators – there was even another team of photographers and videographers there (provided by Smart Shot Studio). The church was at the very massive and beautiful Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Quezon City. Chris and I were amazed at the size of the church and joked that we would have to run up and down the lengthy aisle just to get a shot (which we actually ended up doing). It was like paparazzi, because there were so many cameras there!
The ceremony began very dramatic with the bride walking alone down the aisle with a butterfly release before joining her parents. Afterward, the ceremony was followed with family photos and a dove release. The dove actually flew into my camera when it was released and hit the ground! Poor dove just didn’t want to fly.
The reception was held at a hall behind the church. It was highly decorated with illumination on the walls and towards the front of the room. The buffet had the usual chicken and fish with the unusual lengua (beef tongue), which I tried and thought was roast beef.
This same-day edit was a big challenge because we had limited equipment and had limited staff. Since there was only Chris and me, we had to work many different roles. He worked on the SDE while I tried to balance filming and enjoying the wedding. Besides not knowing the timeline of the program, we also had the problem of running out of time. The coordinator asked us to show our video 3 hours earlier than she had originally told us. We did not anticipate that the wedding would end so early and the edit was only 50% done! Chris modified his workflow to create something that we would be able to show. Everyone loved it and actually wanted more!
My cousin’s wedding was a wonderful way to kick off my vacation in the Philippines. This was the last time Chris and I would work together for a while (insert sad face). It was a great challenge that we accomplished. And it fittingly commemorates the beginning of a new era…