Who AM I?

FINDING PASSION

For more than 17 years, I struggled to find a means of expressing myself until one sunny summer Saturday. It was on that day that I bought my first camcorder with the fruits of my labour, and I realized that this was my calling. As a devoted Star Wars fan, I immediately delved into the intricacies of the craft, creating a stunning short film with VFX lightsabres. Two decades have passed since then. I’ve learnt a lot. Today, I continue to create content, from love stories. Some, are set in the Star Wars universe as well. Like this one, from Rae and Brendan‘s wedding day:

My Background

The clarity only came after a long period of uncertainty.

Deciphering my artistic calling over two decades ago marked a pivotal moment in shaping my character and moulding me into the person I am today. However, being aware of the direction to take is one thing; following through is quite another…

Although I understood that the camera functioned as an extension of my arm, determining its purpose remained unclear.

I embarked on numerous endeavours throughout the past twenty years, but only one stood out as truly meaningful and instrumental in honing my storytelling prowess…

Music VIDEOS

In today’s world, there is a high demand for music videos. Every musician wants their music to be accompanied by moving pictures, rather than just a plain track. I have shot music videos of various genres, including Hip Hop, Grime, Rock, Folk, Disco, and Pop ( you can find my recent video here and my showreel here )

This experience has allowed me to master my storytelling skills, gain knowledge about lighting techniques, and work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. It has also helped me develop creative editing skills. But above all, it has taught me one skill that is crucial in my wedding storytelling skillset…

It is the ability to capture the emotion of the music!

AGENCY WORK

When I started Filmate Video Production in 2016 and quit my daily job as a maintenance worker, it became clear that I needed to start looking for work outside of my comfort zone. Dropping a steady contract job to follow a dream and passion sounds like a good idea, but it is not as easy as it seems. As a freelancer, I quickly realized how much more work needs to be done to support my family with passion projects.

Oh, and did I mention that my firstborn was only 6 months old at the time? Well… let’s just say my fiancée wasn’t very happy about my decision.

Luckily, I met Jonathon from North Star Digital. A Video Marketing Agency based in Manchester

In my search for work, I found a website called People per Hour, where you can hire freelancers and freelancers can bid on projects. Jonathan needed a videographer for a few hours and I was available.

Long story short, working for North Star Digital opened my eyes to so many aspects of commercial filmmaking. It was, and still is, a learning curve for me.

The other agency I was hired to work for was Creative Wedding Agency, also run by Jonathon.
This agency focused solely on weddings… and oh man! What an impact it made!

One missing Component

I could go on and tell you in more detail about my first wedding, or about what exactly the emotion of music means for editing. Or how I nearly knocked off a wedding cake on my first job at Creative Wedding Agency. A wedding, from a videographer’s perspective, is a very rapid and intense time, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong. The main thing is to keep it cool and keep going no matter what.

I have shot over 100 weddings for CWA and now over 150 for myself, with another 60 booked for the next two years. Even though I am still hungry for more, I am proactive and create new add-ons to give more to the people I work with. I always want to deliver the best experience possible, and this is working so far…

But there is one key ingredient in all of this: my family…

But this part I will keep for myself 🙂 The only thing I can say is that here is a cool picture of my fiancée, my son, and my daughter from Italy holidays last year.

And why am I not on it?… Well, somebody has to take the picture. Or video…

Chris