We're
back with our monthly vendor interview series and I'm stoked to
introduce you to a talented cinematographer, who will bring your wedding to life with his fresh, modern, and thoughtful approach to film. He has an impressive background in audio engineering, online marketing, and the entertainment business, and his enormous passion for what he does is obvious through his work. See for yourself.
Meet Keller Glass of Caddywhompus Productions...
Q. How did you come up with the
name?
A. I’ve
always had a fondness for wordplay and for strange/old-timey words. “Caddywhompus” comes from the Latin word for
four and is etymologically very closely related to “caddy-cornered.” It means
slightly off-kilter or askew, and is usually used in a slightly comical sense.
It is one of those words that I love in that it describes a fairly complex idea
in a succinct and playful way. My former
business partner and I used the word as a group name for a project when we were
still in school and it lasted several iterations of our collaboration until he
left to work for Apple. I kept the name as I started getting freelance
videography work and the rest, as they say, is history.
Q. How would you describe your
filming style?
A. My
style is to use the medium to tell stories. I try to keep the aesthetic modern without getting too hung up on the
latest fads, and in general I try to deliver clean, uncluttered edits that tell
the couple’s story and match their emotional intensity.
Q. Why weddings?
A. Weddings
are a film-maker’s dream. Beautiful
stories are unfolding in real-time with extremely emotional moments and many
people coming together to celebrate two people that they love. I could not have written some of the moments
I’ve captured at weddings; each one is unique and most are breathtakingly
beautiful. In many ways, I think modern weddings and the moving picture medium
were tailor-made for each other.
Q. What services do you offer?
A. The
typical deliverable is a simple 60-minute edit of the entire ceremony and
speeches, a 15 to 25-minute cinematic edit of the full day, and a 2-minute
teaser for online. We can deliver the
two long-form edits on custom DVDs and we use footage from the videos to create
a slick design for the cover jacket.
We also
shoot engagement and honeymoon shoots as well.
Q. What makes you different/better
than the competition?
A. I shoot
with a three-person crew instead of the typical two-person, and it makes a huge
difference in the quality or our footage. The third crew-member is responsible for capturing audio, communicating
with the planner, keeping track of the schedule, etc. which frees the two
camera operators to do what they are supposed to be doing: capturing moments.
You can certainly shoot a wedding with two or even one camera operator, but
I’ve found that the third crew member makes a demonstrable difference in the
depth and quality of the captured moments and I think that this work-flow
difference sets us apart from most other cinematographers.
Q. Who is your ideal client?
A. It may
sound a little strange, but my favorite clients are couples who think they’re
not photogenic or who don’t think their stories or very interesting, because
they are always surprised by how compelling they are on film and how beautiful
their stories are when set against the backdrop of their wedding day. I think a lot of couples get so wrapped up in
the nuts and bolts of putting on The Wedding that they forget that the whole
day is about bringing loved ones together to celebrate their new lives together
and, in many ways, to reinforce the bonds of family and friendship.
Q. What tips/advice would you give
to engaged couples who are thinking about video for their wedding?
A. A good
trick is to give the videographer photographs of family members and friends
that you would like to include in the final edit. It can be quite difficult for videographers
to tell who the VIPs are during a wedding, particularly those who are not in
the wedding party, and studying a few photographs ahead of time makes it much
easier to know who they should focus their eye on.
Also,
and this may sound overly practical, but make sure that you have worked out the
details in advance. Who exactly will be
shooting the day of the wedding? What is the due date for the film? Can you
request changes to the final edit? How
many? What is the dress code for the videographers? The sooner you get these
details nailed down, the less stressful the entire experience will be.
THANK YOU, Keller for letting us get to know you a bit better - keep on telling those beautiful love stories through your camera lens and we'll keep watching!
To book Keller and his team for your wedding today, check out the different package options they offer, and then fill out their online form. Their films are so much more than wedding videos - don't miss out on a moving memory that will last forever.
If you missed last month's interview, check it out here.
