Michael and LaDonna’s Blog

We were honored to receive a Gold Award from the DFW Professional Videographer’s Association in 2009 for our Valentine’s Day Wedding Highlights video!  This is the 7th Gold award we’ve received from the DFWPVA, among many others (locally and nationally) through the years. I am also proud to be featured in the debut issue of the new DFWPVA magazine!

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We look forward to providing creative, beautiful and award-winning work for our clients for years to come!

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SHH, it’s a SECRET –

            Micki Novak at Dream Weddings is offering special pricing to visitors of our blog site (for LaDonna Visual Artistry)!  For a limited time only, anyone who books the services of Dream Weddings and mentions this blog site (before signing a contract with Dream Weddings) will receive a 15% discount on planning services, whether your wedding is just around the corner or you are planning for 2010!

You can see highlights of many weddings Micki has planned right here on this blog.  Check out “Liz and Richard” from February 09,  “Rachel and Austin” from January 09, the “Kelly Wedding” posted in November 08, and others!  This offer has never been made before and will not be found on any other website. Take advantage of this rare opportunity and contact Micki today! www.dreamweddingstexas.com

The much anticipated fourth volume in the Wedding and Event series from Nightsong Productions is available now!  You can order it by calling us directly, at 866-404-2899.  17 tracks with styles ranging from cinematic to art-house, tender music beds to soaring epics.  Listen to the tracks here.  Check out the Nightsong Productions website for volumes 1 through 3.

We were honored to receive two new awards at our annual Dallas-Fort Worth Professional Videographers Association Awards Banquet (and Christmas party!).  First, a Gold Award for the Landes Wedding Highlights video.  Then a special honor, the Trisha Thompson Spirit Award.  Trisha was the founder of our DFWPVA, and her energy, commitment and dedication helped grow our organization.  She worked tirelessly to educate and advance video producers locally and nationally.  As a person, she was one of the most giving and inspirational people I’ve met; someone who always had a warm smile and embrace.  This award honors her legacy, and I feel so blessed to have known her and appreciate the impact she’s had on my life.  Because of her drive and the success of the DFWPVA, I was able to provide for my two children and do something that I’m passionate about.. creating videos that show the beauty in life and people. My hope is that we can continue to inspire and educate video producers here and worldwide!

Michael took some time off to help his family recover from Hurricane Ike’s devastation.   There was plenty of work to do at his parent’s house, but at the camp house on Oak Island, there was nothing to be done.  It was gone.  The place where he grew up, spending summers catching shrimp and fish, was simply devastated.  We drove through the neighborhood until we got to where their house once stood.  The destruction is unbelievable.  Michael composed the music for this video… what he felt when seeing this chaos (we’ve called it “Aftermath”).

Three weeks before the hurricane, we spent some time there catching crabs, mowing and cleaning up. Here are some pics from then:

I was honored to be asked to present my seminar called “Beautiful Women” to the North Jersey Videographers Association. The NJVA is a special group for many reasons. Special thanks to Robert Allen, who was a great inspiration for me when he visited Dallas in 2000, and to NJVA President Anthony Francese, and VP Dave Marion. AND to my terrific host, Julie Conway! Here’s the write-up:

SAVE THE DATE! Exciting Meeting July 9th!

July 9th we’ll have an exceptional meeting, featuring LaDonna Moore-Aiken from Texas. Her workshop is entitled “Beautiful Women“, and it will help us discover the true beauty women look for in their videos, with an in-depth look into the minds of real brides. Learn the number one fear for most brides, and how to overcome challenges in your shooting and editing. With this insight, you can create a video they’ll rave about!
-Also, just added! Hal Slifer from Newton, MA, will present a workshop entitled “Profiting from Biography Presentation in a Down Economy” at the July meeting. Hal has been an event videographer (he prefers to be called a video historian) for 20 years. Eugene DiFrancisco will present “Tips Like you Read About”, an entertaining workshop that brings a common sense approach to multiple facets of business and production. There will also be a panel discussion with LaDonna, Hal, Eugene, Tim Ryan and Steve Wernick on the state of the industry.

The final cue sheet is in, and the last episode is off to post production as I write. For those who aren’t aware, our music, along with several other terrific composers, has been used as the sound bed for the series “Genesis of Healing”. A beautifully shot, well produced program that not only gives an insight into natural healing and modern techniques, but the histories and origins as well.
When first contacted by longtime friend John Dennis at The Sound Spot in Dallas regarding the use of my material for this project, I wondered, being involved in visual medium myself, how it would best be utilized. I didn’t actually get to see their vision until the wrap party of the first season. WOW! It was amazing. Shot from every corner of the globe, the footage was truly spectacular. I found myself wanting to avoid questions being asked about the music, and ask a few of my own. Like when can I meet either the DP or cinematographer. I got to meet both, they were one and the same Bill Elliot of Brush Fire Films. He was a pleasure to talk to, and graciously took time with LaDonna and I to explain and show some of his camera equipment and techniques. Shot entirely on HD, I swore most of it was film stock. It was that good. He has a camera crew of three or four assisting him, and then of course the entire post production team, who also did an outstanding job. Watching it gives you the feeling there was a marriage between the History, Discovery and National Geographic Channels (my personal favorites). The producer took a particular liking to “Faded Pictures”, which was used as the closing musical theme of every episode. I was very flattered.

And of course, last but not least, the madman of sound design, John Dennis. As always, his job is one of the most tedious; to find or create music and sound then make it fit. It can take me six months to a year to compose and record one CD, and I feel like I am losing my mind every now and then. But to do what John does and under very stringent time constraints, is more than I could bear. You’re the best, my friend.

To catch these shows go to Dish Network’s Veria TV (www.veria.com), or see clips at brushfirefilms.com , or soundspot.com.

Michael

In January we attended Video 08, the 4EVER Group’s annual video convention in Orlando. We were honored to receive an Emerald Award for our memorial video honoring Sgt. Brand. In addition, I presented a seminar called “Beautiful Women”.

This was the culmination of several interviews with our brides, where we focused on those things that make the bride, and her video, beautiful. We had a great response from attendees! They enjoyed hearing the actual opinions and thoughts from brides regarding how they look on video, and those things that are important in the overall finished edit. Beauty is found in the details, the relationships, the emotions, and in the music you choose to edit with.  I see the beauty in my brides, in their day, in their families, and it’s just a joy to show that in their videos.

~LaDonna