Comments on: Literal Truth vs. Emotional Truth in Event Filmmaking

By: Ron Dawson

Ron Dawson — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:59:17 +0000

In reply to JJ Kim. Hey JJ, You're right, if you do a large volume of weddings a year, this style will be more difficult to pull off. But that's necessarily a bad thing. There is no right or wrong method. As long as you're offering great customer service and your clients are happy with their end product, that's a good thing. You could always charge a premium for the cinematic short wedding that have a higher production appeal. Trailers and highlights are great too.

By: Roody Vazquez

Roody Vazquez — Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:21 +0000

Well said Ron! 🙂

By: JJ Kim

JJ Kim — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:48:16 +0000

i find it very hard to do short films when I shot 50+ weddings last year.
Even with 32 weddings this year, I think it will be still hard to make kick ass short film for every single weddings. don’t get me wrong. all of my couples are great, and have a story of their own. I think I can focus more on storytelling on short film when I have less than 20 weddings. We try to document the whole day, but still try to be cinematic with storytelling on trailers and highlights. Hope to make a leap to short film world next year..(crossing fingers).

By: Ron Dawson

Ron Dawson — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:38:05 +0000

In reply to Curt Longacre.

Bingo! That’s exactly it. There’s a lot of debate in the journalism world around this. Should documentary filmmakers go into a disaster scene like Japan and Haiti, create a “cinematic” film that’s emotional and poignant, but to some may seem “manipulative”? Or should they just press “record” and capture the sights and sounds only as they really are?

By: Curt Longacre

Curt Longacre — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:26:16 +0000

Emotional truth is what story-telling is all about. It is something that captures the heart, mind, and soul. I like your emphasis on truth as well. Truth is also important, particularly for non-fictitious narratives. What you are suggesting is something that remains truthful to the sense of the narrative, but but tells the story with imagination, creativity, and passion. I love it!