It’s All In The Details
Did you know that videographers can sometimes shoot where photographers can’t? Jessica Piscatelli Robinson of Jessica Pi Productions explained, “Some religious venues don’t allow photographers to shoot the ceremony because of the camera noise, but video is silent so may be allowed.” It’s little details like this that make a seasoned professional and Jessica definitely brings experience to the table. Whatever restrictions may be in place from your venue or even just your personal preferences, she’s ready to work with you.
When you meet with Jessica to plan your wedding video, she isn’t just thinking about the shots and the backgrounds, she wants to know about the people and the highlights that are most important to you. Read More
Member Spotlight: Jessica Piscitelli of Jessica Pi Productions
I chatted with Jessica Piscitelli of Jessica Pi Productions recently about her wedding videography expertise and her thoughts on current trends.
What makes you unique and different from other vendors in your category?
I don’t do a million weddings a year and I am not a weekend warrior. I love shooting and editing wedding videos and I treat each couple’s video as the most important video because I know that to them, it is the most important video. I truly want couples to have a video they can look back on in a year, 5, 10, 30 years from now, and still love and still be so happy to watch and experience. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure that every video that leaves my office is as perfect as it can be.
What is your favorite aspect of the wedding industry?
It’s happy! I do corporate videos as well, which I enjoy doing, but regular business just doesn’t compare to working on someone’s wedding day. Everyone is so happy that there is just a great energy. I enjoy working with the couples and their families and the other vendors. It is almost always a great experience and a great way to spend a work day!
What is your favorite new trend for summer 2012?
I am seeing more and more people live stream their wedding. A lot of people are having small, intimate ceremonies with just a few family members around and then sharing the event with friends far and near through live streaming. Basically, I videotape the ceremony and stream the footage live, to the internet. Many of my couples have friends setting up streaming parties to watch. It’s great when you have family spread around the world, when you are limited in how many people you can invite, or if you are having a destination wedding.
You can read more about this trend here:
http://www.jessicapi.com/2011/11/live-streaming-in-lieu-of-guests/
What is the most important piece of advice you can offer to engaged couples who are planning a wedding?
Include video in your budget. So much time, energy and money goes in to planning a wedding, yet people often forget to ensure it is all captured with video. Photography is great at capturing still lifes. Video is for capturing life.
Thank you, Jessica!
Common Questions About Videography
I recently learned a little bit about videography from Bliss Collection member Jessica Piscitelli Robinson of Jessica Pi Productions.
Here is some basic information to help you decide whether you need a videographer for your big event!
Photography by Alexander.com.
Aren’t Professional Photographs Enough?
People come to life in video the way they cannot in other formats. There is no better way to capture the sights, sounds, and movement of your wedding than with video. Photography is an art form, and it captures one aspect of the day beautifully. But a video can show you how you walked down the aisle, how long the tears took to come down your father’s cheek when he kissed you goodbye, and what it sounded like when you were pronounced husband and wife for the first time.
Why Do I Need A Professional Videographer?
Just about everyone has a video camera these days. So why pay someone to shoot your wedding video? The answer is simple: quality. You will only have one wedding day. You will only have one chance to say your vows, dance with your parents, and cut the cake.
Not only do you want a professional microphone to make sure the audio quality for the vows is clear and crisp, but you also want the assurance that your videographer has done this before and knows how to capture the important moments without stepping on the toes of the other professionals you’ve hired.
In the end, you want a wedding video that you will want to watch over and over again—and not something you’re going to fast forward through to get to the good parts.
How Do I Choose A Videographer?
Like any other vendor for your wedding day, much of the choice is subjective. Do you like the person? Do you like her work? Does she suit your style? There are, however, a few general questions you can ask to help you make your decision:
How much experience does she have? Live events move quickly and there are no second chances. Experienced videographers know how to avoid making grave mistakes.
What technology do they employ? There are a lot of great professional cameras and mics available. Primarily, you are looking for someone with up-to-date, broadcast quality equipment. You also want to make sure you receive your final product in the format you want, whether it is strictly DVD copies for family, or podcasts for your iPod.
Do you know your videographer? Sounds like a funny question, but a lot of video companies employ subcontractors. Make sure you are getting the videographer you think you are getting and that the portfolio samples you see are actually produced by the person who will be shooting your wedding.
How Much Experience Do You Have?
I’ve been shooting wedding videos for more than ten years. I have a degree in Film and TV Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and have worked with many great directors in New York City’s feature film industry. When I’m not videotaping weddings, I produce corporate videos for my company, Capture Video, Inc.
Will You Interfere With My Photographer?
A lot of brides are worried about their vendors getting along, particularly the photographer and videographer. I work side by side with the photographer and give them all the room they need to do their job. After all, video captures 30 frames in a second, so I have a lot more chances to capture the moment than the photographer.
Will Your Videotaping Be Obtrusive During The Wedding Day?
One of the comments I hear most from the bride and groom is that they didn’t even notice we were there. My crew and I try to capture the day’s events without interfering. We do not interview guests, use bright lights, or get in people’s faces. We take our cues from the bride and groom and their guests, being as involved as they want us to be.
Live Streaming Your Wedding: Is It For You?
If you are getting married and have friends and family all over the world, it is not always practical to expect everyone to attend your actual event. Modern technology now allows couples to opt for live streaming so that nobody has to miss out on all of the fun and excitement of the big day!
Bliss Collection member Jessica Piscitelli of Jessica Pi Productions has begun offering this new and exciting trend. I asked Jessica about a recent wedding that she was able to live stream.
“Thanks to my company’s association with Marry Me Live, we were able to accommodate Areej and Mohannad’s request to live stream their Arnold Mellon Auditorium reception for their friends and family all across the world. The bride and groom looked gorgeous and so in love, and it was a beautiful reception at the fabulous Arnold Mellon Auditorium.
We ended up streaming several hours of footage and the stream got 355 hits during the night. Obviously, we also recorded the video we shot, both from the camera used for streaming as well as the second, more mobile camera, and will be editing it at a much higher resolution, and with the ability to cut out some of the less exciting stuff – like the eating! But for friends and family who were in North Carolina, or Jordan, it was a great way for them to be able to be a part of this once in a lifetime live event!
Marry Me Live recently posted a little blog introducing Jessica Pi to their community. Read it here.
I am sure we will be streaming many more live events over the years. I am excited to help more brides and grooms share their wedding with family members and friends who would otherwise have to wait for the DVD or Blu Ray to be done to experience, firsthand, the joy of seeing their loved ones get married!” Piscitelli commented.
Bliss Collection Honors: Washingtonian Bride and Groom
The members of The Bliss Collection are always so proud when other hard working members are acknowledged for their excellence!
Washingtonian Bride and Groom has listed some of our beloved members in its latest issue! Why exactly is this an important honor?
Well…
According to wedding planner Myrna Hyman, “I found out that one finds themselves on this list based on votes from colleagues in the industry, which I think is pretty special.”
Miles Stiebel of MSE productions added ” MSE Productions is listed in the most recent 2012 Washingtonian Bride & Groom under Music & Entertainment. MSE Productions has been recommended by the Washingtonian as “One of the Best” for over ten years. This publication has become a fabulous resource for brides and grooms planning their wedding.”
So…which members of The Bliss Collection were listed?
Jessica Piscitelli (videography), Kristi Odom (photography), Myrna Hyman (wedding planner), Miles Stiebel (DJ services), Kelsey Thompson (photography, one to watch)
Congratulations, everyone!
More Bliss Collection Honors: Wedding Wire’s “Best Of” List
Great news, Bliss Collection members! Sooo many of us were listed on yet another prestigious list: Wedding Wire’s Best Of!
Susan Smith was listed under the category of Wedding Planners.
Myrna Hyman was listed under the category of Wedding Planners.
Kristi Odom was listed under the category of Photographers.
Kelsey Thompson was listed under the category of Photographers.
Jeanna Hilton of Stonewall Golf Club was listed under the category of Venues.
Miles Stiebel was listed under the category of Music and Entertainment.
Jessica Piscitelli was listed under the category of Videographer.
Congratulations to everyone! This is an awesome honor!
Bliss Member Wedding
By Jessica Piscitelli Robinson
As you can imagine, I have a lot of friends who work in the wedding industry, and only one wedding to go around. Choosing vendors from among my friends was very difficult, but I ended up with the best wedding team a girl could ever hope for.
I have listed everyone I worked with with at the end of this post. They were all fabulous and I highly recommend every one of them, so please follow links to their websites and hire them for all of your weddings.
But I need to say a few words about the Bliss Collection members, because Bliss was a wonderful resource for me for planning my wedding.
In the following video, I made sure to include live audio from both the procession and the recession because Eric Waters, a guitarist with MSE Productions, did such a fantastic job. I married a Robinson so the recession song was particularly key and, even though it wasn’t on his playlist, he learned it especially for my wedding.
As you can see, I shortened the video of the ceremony considerably. Not so in the Blu-Ray disc we have at home. It was such a beautiful ceremony that I kept in almost every moment for our own video.
Jessica Pi and Kristi Odom Team Up
By Jessica Piscitelli, Jessica Pi Productions
In the words of the bride…
“Enlisting Jessica Pi for videography was a last minute “splurge” and I could not be happier with that decision! I’ve heard/read that so many brides regret not having a videographer to capture the day and I decided that was one regret I didn’t want to have.
Jessica was recommended to me by my amazing photographer, Kristi Odom, and I was extremely lucky that she happened to be available on such short notice! Jessica was awesome to work with – even though we didn’t get a chance to meet until my actual wedding day! Upon waking up the morning after the wedding, my first thought literally was, “THANK GOD WE HAVE VIDEO TO RE-LIVE THAT AMAZING DAY AND SEE ALL THE THINGS WE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO SEE/APPRECIATE YESTERDAY!”
Check out this recap of their beautiful day.
Read More
Post Wedding Post
Jessica Piscitelli, of Jessica Pi Productions, explains what happens with your video after your wedding!
One question I get asked a lot is what’s involved in editing a wedding video? The short answer? A lot!
The first thing I do is contact the happy newlyweds. I talk to them, post honeymoon, about the day’s events. Were there any moments that stood out that absolutely have to be highlighted? Were there any people whose actions might need to be downplayed? Did you love every word the priest, rabbi or officiant spoke, or could we cut out that section about exactly how many children you should be having? And, of course, what music do you want for all the montages in your video?
Once I get a few simple, but important, answers to how you want your wedding video edited, I capture and log all the footage. This basically just means I go through all 4, 6 or 8 hours of footage I shot, get it all into my editing system, and organize it by which camera, what part of the wedding day, and what type of footage it is.
Then comes the fun part. When I edit a wedding video, I really am trying to tell your story. I open the first montage with an establishing shot to set the stage – whether it’s a shot of the program, a shot of the church, or a shot of the bride’s house – this is where this story begins. Then we introduce all the main characters and establish what they are doing before the moment when the wedding march begins.
The ceremony pretty much writes itself. After finding out how much and which parts of the ceremony the couple would like included, I just have to choose the best shots for each second of footage, and, of course, level the audio from the microphones on the grooms lapel and around the room.
Check out these two clips from an outdoor ceremony at Whitehall Manor. The first shows just one camera angle and is unedited.
The second one shows the edited version utilizing both camera’s footage.
Read More
Bliss Members in the Washingtonian
The Bliss Collection selects members based on their professionalism and reputation, so it should come as no surprise that several members of the Bliss Collection have been selected for the Washingtonian Bride & Groom Best of 2011 list.
Congratulations to the following members for making the Washingtonian Best of 2011:
Bridal Attire
Maureen Chandler – Blush Bridal Boutique
Videography
Jessica Piscitelli – Jessica Pi Productions
Wedding Planners
Myrna Grosman – For All Occasions
