Storymix media Video... tell me your thoughts

Nati05

So thanks to the videography thread and Bmore posting the Storymix link, FI and I are seriously considering this route for video. http://weddings.storymixmedia.com/

You can check out the site and videos and it has all these FAQs that I’ve already read. But I’d like to get some more perspective on the pros and cons of this. If you don’t want to get all into it, basically what this service consists of is that they send you 3-5 cameras for friends and family to use and record things throughout the day. You could assign certain people to catch certain parts and they can also pass the cameras around between them so that one person isn’t stuck recording all day long. The site explains it much prettier than I do, but that’s about the gist of it. Afterwards you send the cameras back and Storymix professionally edits the whole thing for you with all the important parts you want. Honestly, it looks awesome. What FI and I really like about it, is that with friends and family recording, you get the  chance to catch even the party scenes of the reception… parts where videographers are usually long gone. Friends and family can leave messages and overall it looks fun. However all the cons and “what ifs” are pretty obvious… crappy recording, too much talking in the background, shakiness, bad angles of important stuff… who knows what could happen! But then again, none of this should matter that much cuz I’m at the point where I’m considering hiring a student. It is true that in the end all I want is a live memory of the day.

FI is actually interested in DIYing the whole thing completely, as in buying a camera. But that makes one camera… I don’t know what his plans are for the other cameras. He might be considering this because the $200 package of 3 cameras (lowest deal) isn’t thaaat much of a saving for us compared to US/CAN/ EUR videography costs. I don’t like mentioning this much cuz since the economy is so different, our costs aren’t really relevant to anyone else. But $200 is only roughly half of what pro-video costs. I don’t know if we want to pay just half for something so DIY. Or am I wrong? Tell me what you really think about this..

Nancy00714

Nati!  I like it!  I wasn't thinking of having a videographer at all cause i think it's a waste for something you'll watch like maybe once every 10 years but this service is cute!  And it seems more personal!  Of course the quality of the video isn't great but still. 

I would totally do something like that but I really wonder if people would actually use them. 

BrightFirefly

I actually like the idea.

Instead of just a pretty perfect video - you get a real experience as to what people saw that day...and I'm sure some of the video-camera operators will catch some awesome things with the guests at the reception.

) As long as you can think of people that would have a blast with this - go for it.

MeaganR12

I looked at this for a long time after bmoore posted it. I love the idea in concept. LOVE IT. But I looked at sample videos and didn't really like any of them, they are kinda cheesy to me. I remembered that I had seen another website that did the same thing and I finally found it just now:

http://www.wedit.com/index.html

I like their videos much better. I can't find pricing right now on their website for some reason, but if I remember correctly the pricing is comparable to storymix. 

My concerns are the same as yours, shaky camera, bad quality, windy noise, stuff like that. 

I'm still considering doing it, but I would  probably use wedit instead. That being said, I'm considering it because it will save me 80%. If the savings wasn't as big, I would probably just go with a professional.

Nati05

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_storymix-media-video-tell-me-your-thoughts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:38504244-ea7d-4210-8108-c0e4fb26ece1Post:8bdd5f73-b15a-4545-adf8-140b316b5c3d">Re: Storymix media Video... tell me your thoughts</a>:
[QUOTE]That being said, I'm considering it because it will save me 80%. If the savings wasn't as big, I would probably just go with a professional.
Posted by MeaganR12[/QUOTE]

Exactly. That's the only thing that's kinda holding me back right now... I could probably hire a student for the same price. I don't know if it's worth it then.... would a student still outweigh doing something like storymix? Guess I need to start finding students and see if there is something valuable to compare..

Thanks for the site! I'm going to check out their videos!

BmoreBride311

The thing that holds me back about it most is that you have to ask some of your guests to "work" during your wedding. I'm a little uneasy about that side of things. I'm not that concerned about the quality of the composite video they do, as I'd kind of rather just get the raw footage and make my own video of the day anyway (I'm into that kind of thing).

For those of you considering this... who would you ask to do it? How would you break things down? I feel like whoever does the ceremony is kind of the most critical in this scenario, but it could be weird to ask a guest to stand at the side of the church for an hour filming...

Mizsoccer83

Personally, it was a no-brainer for me when choosing Storymix. My husband and I met them at a bridal expo and fell in love with the personal approach to filming our wedding. Sure, there is room for potential set-backs, but isnt there always?
The packages were cost-effective which helped so much, and the customer service I received from the people there was unparalleled to what I had expected. I got timely responses to every question, calls when needed, and the final video back to be in a real short amount of time! It was GREAT!

To answer some of the questions people had above:
I had my younger sister stand up in my wedding, so while everyone was partying, she didnt have as much to do-I had her and my cousins run around with one camera interviewing people. They asked questions like, "How did yow know they were meant to be?" etc. It was a real cool part of the video to see everyone's responses. My grandpa isnt as mobile as he used to be and he loved the idea of being able to participate in the most important day of my life-I gave him a front row seat and a camera, and he was able to capture the entire ceremony without a porblem. It was nice-because I could trust him to get it done and that was all he recorded. At the end of the night, I had people pass around a third camera and leave us well wishes. Overall, it was an ecclectic video that turned out wonderfully. Sure, there are a few moments that we might not have on camera, but not many-and those are all captured with photos! If you plan in advance and talk with the people you are asking to help out-it should go well...they know it is important to you!

I hope everyone chooses something that works for them, but I wanted to put some input into how this company was a great experience, and gave us a great final product to be able to cherish forever (without breaking out bank account too)!

laow1984

I posted about Storymix on another post recently but thought I'd comment again here. I can't speak highly enough of Storymix Media. They give really great personal attention to each of their clients, and were by far my favorite vendors to work with.  I got a trailer video, a professional edited longer video, plus ALL my original unedited footage back as well.

Plus, they are the only company to offer an iphone app, which personally, I think is just the neatest thing...especially because you can begin using it as soon as you sign up. So you can even video-document parts of your wedding planning process.

My brother-in-law is a real Ham, and he LOVED being behind the camera and "directing", so it was perfect for us..other friends enjoyed taking the reigns and adding their two cents to the video too. Nobody felt like they were "working"

My trailer video is here: http://youtu.be/ScsSMD7GCPI