A few months ago, Cutting Edge Entertainment had the honor of providing the dancer staff for Dave and Sheryl Williams daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. As it happens, Dave and Sheryl are friends, as well as industry colleagues. Their company, CinemaCake,  is one of the top event filmmaker/cinematographers in the Philadelphia market, so naturally they had a lot of video shot at the event (three cameras worth), and generously offered to create an “in action” demo of our staff from the event footage.

Last week, Sheryl gave me a call to schedule a time for me to come and look over the footage with their editor, so we set the date and a week later I was on my way to Wayne, Pennsylvania to check out CinemaCake’s headquarters.

When I arrived I was greeted by Dave and Sheryl, and after a short chit-chat Dave took me into CinemaCake’s command central. I was already familiar with how a videography outfit is run – editing stations, editors, computers, etc – but no matter how many times I see it, I’m always just as impressed. Dave then introduced me to Jeremy, who already had footage from my project up on four monitors (I have two monitors on my desk, so four is already most impressive). While Dave went to grab me a cup of coffee, Jeremy introduced me to Jimmy, who was working on a corporate project at the next workstation over.

So, to start off, Jeremy and Jimmy are great guys, and they really know their stuff. As soon as Jeremy and I started looking at the project, I got the feeling that he knew exactly how to achieve my vision for the video. Like Radar O’Rielly from M*A*S*H, he was finishing my sentences while at the same time giving me the utmost confidence that the finished product would far exceed my expectations. Let’s just say I’m pretty excited to see what Jeremy whips up.

What I think I liked best about my visit was getting an inside peek at the inner workings of CinemaCake and their creative process. I’m fairly certain that clients have no idea what goes into the post production of a video, and the skill level of Jeremy and Jimmy was clearly exceptional. It was easy to see that they were passionate about their work, and although Jeremy intuitively knew what I wanted, he left me with the impression that he was going to create a video that I would love.

When I wrapped up with Jeremy, I went to say goodbye to Sheryl and Dave, who were meeting with their photographers from the event, Sarah and Tony DiCicco. It was the first time I’d made their acquaintance, and after a brief introduction they said they had some great photos of my staff from the event as well, which was like cherries on top of an already outstanding visit (or CinemaCake, pun intended).

I didn’t leave without homework though, but thankfully it was of the musical variety… Come up with music for the demo video. Shouldn’t be too hard for a Disc Jockey, so I’ll have to hit some of my DJ buddies up for some original tracks.

Be sure to stay tuned here to the Cutting Edge DJ blog for what should prove to be some world-class footage of our staff in action, and if you are looking for exceptional video for your upcoming event, be sure to check out the CinemaCake website… You won’t be disappointed.

-Craig

www.CinemaCake.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

I was introduced to my first event filmmaker in 1993. At the time David Stiles was operating out of a small apartment in Northeast Philadelphia under the name “Video Styles” (clever, huh?) that seconded as his editing studio. It just so happened that I was looking for a videographer to shoot some demo video for my fledgling DJ company, but what I found in Mr. Stiles was much more than a simple videographer… I found a filmmaker. The work that Dave was doing was so cutting edge (when the term fits, use it), that he literally blew away anything I’d ever seen before, and after some coercing, Dave agreed to do some “pro bono” work for Cutting Edge Entertainment.

Sadly for us, but good for Stiles, he was SO good that we lost him to N.F.L. Films about a decade later. David Stiles has moved on from the event business, and is now an accomplished editor and film producer (and Emmy Award Winner… Just Google him) for the good folks at N.F.L. The loss was bittersweet.

It took me almost a decade to find another videographer whom I considered to be the caliber of David Stiles… and coincidentally, his name was Dave as well.

Now before I continue, I should probably say that my little story of David and David doesn’t mean there aren’t other great videographers in the Philadelphia market that produce exceptional quality event videos, but few stand out in my mind as to call them filmmakers.

Truth be told, I’d never applied the term “filmmaker” to a video produced for a wedding, bar or bat mitzvah prior to meeting Dave Williams (my second Dave). Williams coined the phrase, and I adopted it… It fit. Having done some video work myself for some YouTube projects, I’m living proof that anyone can just pick up a camera, point, and shoot, but a camera does not a videographer make. Trust me, I’m no filmmaker. To turn a video of a wedding or a bat mitzvah into something so well crafted and carefully shot and edited into something wholly entertaining and, well, totally friggin cool takes serious skills. It’s a way of telling a story using imagery to evoke emotion and capture precious moments, weaving them all together to make something more akin to a major motion picture than a home movie.

So what inspired me to write a blog post all about videography and film making? Well, a few weeks ago Dave Williams sent me a link to a music video he had created to be debuted at his own daughter’s bat mitzvah. I was awed. Now keep in mind, I don’t get to see too many of these, and the last time I remember seeing one anything close to this was ten years ago, by that other Dave who now wins Emmy Awards. I’d almost forgotten how awesome a video could be.

Take a look and judge for yourself. (Dave is “Gus” the bus driver)