I was looking at Rob Cordova’s wonderful wedding video (of his own wedding!) the other day, and I told him how much I really loved it. You can see it on his Facebook page. Rob has always had an amazing ability as an editor to dig into the humanity of a wedding. He senses the rhythm and pulse of the footage. Seeing an edit that was all about the people – the things they said, the things they did, and the honest-to-goodness story – was like sucking in some crisp morning air after walking in a smog-filled city in the heat of summer. It was so nice to see a video that was all heart instead of the equipment and technique.
I told Rob how much I liked it, and after thanking me, he proclaimed “I make wedding videos, not commercials!” I loved that statement. I could post that on my wall in front of my computer, I liked it so much. Because everyone else wants to make commercials. Because Rob has it exactly right. You ask the normal person who is more impressive, a wedding videographer or a commercial director, and they say the commercial director. You ask most people what they’d want to call themselves, and you say a commercial director. In the wedding video world, people will do anything to avoid the word “wedding video.” You have cinematography, fine art, and films. Not videos.
So, when I hear someone proudly stating they make wedding videos, I know two things. First, he believes in himself, and it’s not about ego. Second, he believes in what he does. In this one statement, Rob has turned convention on its head and re-positioned wedding video as superior to commercials. And why shouldn’t it be? It’s not just some glossy, vacuous ad. It’s a documentation and celebration of life. What better than that? He sure made me think so. And that’s the amazing thing about belief. It’s contagious. It moves people. It catches fire and inspires others, just like it does yourself. What a fantastic thing.
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