Inspiration

With all of the Holiday excitement, I've neglected the blog! Recently, I've been working on completing the final DVD edits of the past wedding shoots and planning our schedule for next year's events. Once in a while I need to step away from the editing bay for some inspiration. Most of my inspiration comes from commercials, music videos, movies and even photographs. I was flipping through channels the other night and really liked this "Zales Jewelers Commercial". Being the cheese ball I am; I "Googled" it and had to post it!


Love Rocks (String) - Zales Jewelers Commercial -

Happy Anniversary

They say that the "right one" brings out the best in you. Four years ago today, Cathie and I got married! If it wasn't for Cathie's support and belief in my work, Kismet Cinema would never have existed!

From the beginning we always knew that we had a unique connection. I always threw around the word "Kismet" which means "fate;destiny". Hence the name for our business. With our day jobs it was really easy to get stuck in the boring day to day routine. I decided to take my CA real estate exam, passed it, but knew that it wasn't me. One thing that I could never get tired of was editing home videos of our son Aidan.

Then one day driving home from a long day at work it came to me. I couldn't wait to come home and tell Cathie. She fully supported the idea and agreed to work on the business side while I did the fun stuff (editing and shooting). Then my brother-in-law Oliver came on board, then came Ron and Vince and the rest is history!

It's been such an adventure from the birth of our two sons Aidan and Gavin to the launch of Kismet Cinema. I look forward to the future when we'll be that old couple sitting on the porch still cracking jokes until our dentures fall out!

Happy Anniversary

Anna & Shaun Stone

We had the pleasure of filming Anna and Shaun Stone's wedding this past Sunday. One unique feature of their Wedding Slideshow is that the couple was already married! They planned the perfect wedding and renewed their vows at the Tustin Ranch Golf Club. I had a great time putting together the slideshow for the Stone Family. They have two children, Shaun Jr. and Alaysia that I made sure to incorporate into the slideshow and storyline.

Below are two clips from the slideshow, the intro and the portion that leads right into the Same Day Edit.

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We also had the chance to reunite and work with Jesse Weldon Photography. Jesse was at our very first wedding shoot last year for Paul and Desiree!

Kismet Cinema proudly presents The Stone Family Same Day Edit!

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Cheryl and Nick

We had a great time working with Cheryl and Nick! For their pre-wedding day footage they wanted an "urban" street look. Unfortunately, our meeting place was in Temecula where we were limited to track homes and freshly cut grass areas! So we decided to drive around to look for a better location. That's when we found a loading area in the rear parking lot of a "TJ Maxx"! This is what we came up with...

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The wedding was at a great location at the Pointe Winery in Temecula, California. We worked along side with great vendors on the day of the wedding; Atrero Photography were shooting with us and were a pleasure to work with! Christine Lee the wedding coordinator and Warren Nocon the MC, helped us with the wedding reception itinerary so that we could deliver the Slideshow/Same Day Edit on time! And my crew Vince Sangalang and Oliver Ramirez your film footage rocked! Without your help there is NO way I could've finished the Same Day Edit that fast!

Without further adieu, here is Kismet Cinema's latest Same Day Edit...

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Work In Progress

A new post! Sorry it took so long. I finally found some time to post a couple of our recent projects. We've had a lot of fun working on developing new and interesting ways to film our weddings! Stay tuned for more Kismet Cinema Films.

-Manny

Christine and Kris

It was a pleasure working with Christine and Kris. They have a really great "how we met story" that dates back to junior high! We began to film their love story shoot at a nearby park, when Christine mentioned that they met in junior high/high school. The location was not too far from where we were shooting! So we decided to pack up and resume filming where it all began!

This is what we came up with...

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Their wedding ceremony was held at the Orfilia Vineyards. The weather couldn't be any better. Right after the ceremony I found a quiet place to tuck and hide away and work on the Same Day Edit. Here it is...

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They also had a photobooth provided by www.cheesyphotobooths.com we decided to have a little fun with it...

Dream and Warren

Dream and Warren were married in San Diego at the Sheraton Hotel. They were a great couple to work with! We had a great time filming the scenes prior to and during the day of the ceremony!

Dream and Warren are huge fans of the Ocean's 11 series! When they asked us if we could do their wedding video with an "Ocean's 11 theme" I was a bit worried at first since I was so used to our comfort zone and style of shooting. But after Cathie mentioned that it would be great way to test our creative potential and "give it a shot", we did. Keep in mind that this is not an exact scene from the Ocean's 11 series but an intro to their Same Day Edit with an Ocean's 11 theme to it.

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We had a great time shooting their Same Day Edit! Check out the intro, (Thanks to our newest member of Kismet Cinema, Vincent Sangalang) it is the scene from Ocean's 13 between Terry Benedict and Danny Ocean. The photo below was taken during the reception right before we premiered the video. (Great shot Ron!)

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Tamina and Mark's Trailer

Here is another trailer for Tamina and Mark's wedding currently in process and soon to be released on DVD. I had a lot of help by Oliver and Ron here at Kismet who have been working on their editing skills!

Check out this trailer we put together!

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Natalie and Ken's "Teaser" Trailer!

One of the latest projects that I'm working on is about to be completed! I wanted to experiment and make a "Teaser" Trailer. Since Natalie and Ken will be receiving their completed DVD soon I didn't want to give too much away in the trailer.

So here it is...

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Surprise from Kismet Cinema!

If you were one of the couples filmed by Kismet Cinema this year you might recognize the groom in this video! Ron Hipol is one of the cinematographers was married this Thursday, May 29th 2008. Oliver Ramirez, his bestman (another one of our talented cinematographers) decided to take one of our video cameras to document the prep and ceremony.

I knew the reception was going to be Saturday at Ron's home and we were going to be there, so I had an idea. I called up Oliver on my way to work that Thursday morning and told him that I wanted to work on a surprise highlight video and to contact the friends of the Jessica and Ron to meet at my house that evening and to bring old photos and the footage that Oliver got from the wedding that day. When everyone arrived we were able to shoot some interviews in my garage with a black background and one of the chairs from my kitchen! We wrapped up all of the interviews and gathering of photos by 11pm!

As soon as I got home on Friday I began editing. This was a huge challenge for me since I've been spoiled by usually having 3 camera angles to work with when editing. This time I only have shots from one camera to edit into a roughly 4 minute song! I finished by Saturday morning! When Saturday evening finally came, I was really excited to surprise Ron and Jessica at their reception! Another reason for my anticipation was that my wife usually does the booking and scheduling for the weddings and is not able to see the SDE's in person. This time I was able to see the reaction from her and the bride and groom when watching the video.

Congratulations Jessica and Ron!

Click on the link below to see Jessica and Ron's surprise highlight video!

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Click on the link below to see the interview portion of the video. This part is usually shown before the highlight or same day edit. The music in this segment was personalized and chosen by the person interviewed.

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Lori & Alex's Movie Trailer

I can't wait! The DVD for Lori and Alex is almost complete! Here is a movie trailer I put together.

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Family Time!

After filming two weddings back to back on Friday and Saturday, being away from my family for two days in a row felt like two weeks! The rest of the Memorial Day weekend was enjoyed with the family! Stay tuned for highlights from Tamina and Mark's wedding we filmed on Saturday!

Natalie & Ken's SDE

We had the pleasure of filming Natalie and Ken's wedding last Friday at the Westlake Village Inn in Westlake Village, CA. You might remember their bridal shower in the previous post.

The Tuscan Garden, was the beautiful location they chose for their outdoor ceremony; Unfortunately that morning began with a slight drizzle and nothing but clouds in the sky. The weather forecast predicted rain for the rest of the day into the evening! We did not give up hope and remained optimistic in hopes that the weather conditions would improve.

When all hope was lost and a new indoor ceremony site was chosen, the sun came out! The wedding ceremony was held in the Tuscan Garden as planned with not a drop of rain! The ceremony and reception was perfect and we were glad to be a part of it!

Check out the Same Day Edit!

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My Field Trip!

For as long as I can remember I've always got a kick out of watching the behind the scenes features of the DVD right after watching a movie to see how the magic was all done! Today I got to see it in person! I took a trip to Authentic Entertainment Inc. to visit my friend Grayce Lackland.


Grayce Lackland, from my home town of Illinois, is the supervising editor for the show "Ace of Cakes". She was kind enough to take time out of her busy day to show me around her office and give me some helpful pointers with editing! I was amazed to see how much work is put into an episode of Ace of Cakes.

The picture above is a system dedicated only to color correction! I was blown away by all the visual effects this system could do!

Thanks again Grayce!

Lori & Alex's Wedding Highlights

Our last post was the "Same Day Edit" for Lori and Alex's Wedding . While working on the final edit to be released on DVD by the end of the month, my wife Cathie has been doing an outstanding job of scheduling wedding couples for the upcoming months into the new year! With two weddings coming up later this month, my brother-in-law Oliver Ramirez, has been working with me on editing to speed up the process.

The "Highlight Edit" is a segment of the final DVD that covers more footage than the "Same Day Edit" and is a fun way to show family and friends your wedding video rather than watching the whole DVD from beginning to end!

Oliver did a great job of putting this edit together!

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Lori & Alex's Same Day Edit

Last weekend we filmed Lori & Alex's Wedding at St. Francis Church and reception at the Links at River Lakes Ranch in Bakersfield, California. They were such a great couple to work with. Click on the link below to view the Same Day Edit!

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The picture above is a snapshot we got of the couple's reaction to the Same Day Edit.

Test Run!

We traveled to the great city of Bakersfield, CA today to film some exterior B-Roll shots for Lori and Alex's wedding next week. The weather was perfect and we were able to get some great footage to use for the Same Day Edit next Saturday!


We were really excited to test out the Steadicam Merlin! Oliver Ramirez contacted his colleagues thru his office at Compatible Electronics to get us a demo. Oliver, a talented cinematographer made it look so easy! Many thanks to Robert Orf and Dan Ikeda at Tiffen Headquarters in Glendale, CA for lending us the demo model to use for Lori and Alex's Wedding!

Natalie & Ken's Bridal Shower

Last weekend, we had a great time filming Natalie and Ken's Bridal Shower at Cisco's Mexican Restaurant in Thousand Oaks! They are a fun loving couple and we are really excited to film their wedding in May! Check out the clip below!

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Who designed our logo?

I've been asked many times who designed our logo. Dennis Akuin, one of my classmates in college has two very talented and highly creative brothers who both designed and created my logo and business cards. For that we are very grateful!

Check out their blogs:
Oliver Akuin: www.otakuin.blogspot.com

Vincent Akuin: www.viince.blogspot.com

Recy Collection

Our good friend Recy Vales, introduced us to Desiree and Paul David for our first wedding shoot back in October 2007. She now has a website for her wedding coordinating and special event company!

Check out her website: www.recycollection.com

We have an RSS Feed!

If you look at the right column of the page, there is an orange icon/button that looks like a satellite dish highlighted in a blue box... we now have an RSS feed! You can now subscribe to our posts in the podcast section in iTunes(http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststips.html) or use programs like fireant(http://getfireant.com/).

All you have to do is drag the orange icon into your player (iTunes or Fireant, etc.)and every time we put up a new post it will be easily accessible in your player.

Lori & Alex

We are excited about filming Lori and Alex's wedding next month! We had the great time this weekend shooting some footage to use for their slide show. I put together a teaser trailer.

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Besides being such a great couple they are also very photogenic. Here's a couple of candid shots taken by Oliver Ramirez during the video shoot.

DVD Cover Art

Here's a sample of the DVD Cover for Paul and Desiree's wedding DVD.

Desiree & Paul's Wedding DVD Trailer

Back in October we shot our first wedding. We had so much great footage that I had to put together a DVD Trailer for Desiree and Paul.

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Christmas Present

In December we had the pleasure of working with Terry Adamson again to make a slideshow for her parents. Here are two snippets from the video.

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Happy New Year!

With the excitement of the Holidays and spending quality time with the family I haven't posted any recent videos. I thought today would be a perfect opportunity to share some of our current projects.

Everyone is familiar with the 20th Century Fox intro:



I put together this intro for the opening sequence of our DVDs.

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