dammit, it's not a "Love Story" .. also, critique needed at DVinfo.net

Mike Drob · March 24th, 2008, 12:20 AM

I am currently in the business of (mostly) "Love Stories" but what we do isn't what most people think it is...
when my wife and i were getting married, we wanted more than this - we wanted a short movie based on the story of how we actually met since we thought it was funny enough. our videographer quoted us a fairly high price for less than what we wanted, so we decided to shoot it ourselves - with a crappy home camcorder and a half-broken tripod no less ;) (figured if nothing comes out of it we'll just cough up the dough).. long story short, the movie was a huge success and a whole bunch of people asked us to make similar ones for them. since then, we've started a business - Story Tailors (www.story-tailors.com) and have done fairly well with these movies.
the problem is that selling them is monumentally difficult to people who think of a love story as a boring interview (not knocking anyone's work here - i've seen some fantastic ones done - just not my taste - i like my guests laughing).. the only people who understand the type of movies we make are NY based Russian couple since the love story trend (as we see it) is big in that demographic.
so question 1 is - what would you call this kind of movie to someone not familiar with it
2 is - go look at some of my work and let me know what you like/don't like

the original movie that me and my wife made is here
http://www.story-tailors.com/play.php?movieid=1

(this was the first time i ever shot anything and the first time i've ever used any kind of NLE)

Our portfolio which has some more recent work is here:
http://www.story-tailors.com/portfolio.php

my favorites that i'd like to hear some feedback on would be this:
http://www.story-tailors.com/play.php?movieid=6207 (not based on true story - they just wanted "something")
and this:
http://www.story-tailors.com/play.php?movieid=70916 (for a bar miztvah)

most of the other love stories on the site are based on the true story so you may not get all the inside jokes, but take a look at as many as you have patience for and let me know what you think

thanks!

Patrick Moreau · March 24th, 2008, 12:54 AM

Hi Mike,

I've seen this sort of thing before but I think it tends to be what would be considered an older style and perhaps a tad 'cheesy'. The trend in photo/video over the last while has been towards making things more real, in general, and so I think you may not see much of what your doing these days as it is very anti-contemporary in that sense. That also means you have a very unique product and I would make sure your naming reflects that. If you and the audience enjoy these love caricatures, then by all means run with them, and I don't mean to sound derogatory in the least when I reference older styles, but that is what caught my eye first. I can certainly see the entertainment value and how certain crowds would get a kick out of these.

Patrick

Mike Drob · March 24th, 2008, 09:13 AM

Thanks for the feedback - the cheesiness really depends on what the couple wants to do, but the result (at least in our experience) was that the audience reacts MUCH better to these than to the sappy interviews .. could just be the particular clients/demographic we're serving - anyways, any feedback on the shooting/editing/etc would be appreciated as well .. i realize some of the clips on the site arent shot too well but just wanted to hear professionals' opinions
thanks

March 24th, 2008, 12:20 AM	#1
Mike Drob Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Scotch Plains, NJ Posts: 75	dammit, it's not a "Love Story" .. also, critique needed I am currently in the business of (mostly) "Love Stories" but what we do isn't what most people think it is... when my wife and i were getting married, we wanted more than this - we wanted a short movie based on the story of how we actually met since we thought it was funny enough. our videographer quoted us a fairly high price for less than what we wanted, so we decided to shoot it ourselves - with a crappy home camcorder and a half-broken tripod no less ;) (figured if nothing comes out of it we'll just cough up the dough).. long story short, the movie was a huge success and a whole bunch of people asked us to make similar ones for them. since then, we've started a business - Story Tailors (www.story-tailors.com) and have done fairly well with these movies. the problem is that selling them is monumentally difficult to people who think of a love story as a boring interview (not knocking anyone's work here - i've seen some fantastic ones done - just not my taste - i like my guests laughing).. the only people who understand the type of movies we make are NY based Russian couple since the love story trend (as we see it) is big in that demographic. so question 1 is - what would you call this kind of movie to someone not familiar with it 2 is - go look at some of my work and let me know what you like/don't like the original movie that me and my wife made is here http://www.story-tailors.com/play.php?movieid=1 (this was the first time i ever shot anything and the first time i've ever used any kind of NLE) Our portfolio which has some more recent work is here: http://www.story-tailors.com/portfolio.php my favorites that i'd like to hear some feedback on would be this: http://www.story-tailors.com/play.php?movieid=6207 (not based on true story - they just wanted "something") and this: http://www.story-tailors.com/play.php?movieid=70916 (for a bar miztvah) most of the other love stories on the site are based on the true story so you may not get all the inside jokes, but take a look at as many as you have patience for and let me know what you think thanks! Last edited by Mike Drob; March 24th, 2008 at 12:22 AM. Reason: spelling

March 24th, 2008, 12:54 AM	#2
Patrick Moreau Still Motion Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,186	Hi Mike, I've seen this sort of thing before but I think it tends to be what would be considered an older style and perhaps a tad 'cheesy'. The trend in photo/video over the last while has been towards making things more real, in general, and so I think you may not see much of what your doing these days as it is very anti-contemporary in that sense. That also means you have a very unique product and I would make sure your naming reflects that. If you and the audience enjoy these love caricatures, then by all means run with them, and I don't mean to sound derogatory in the least when I reference older styles, but that is what caught my eye first. I can certainly see the entertainment value and how certain crowds would get a kick out of these. Patrick __________________ site // www.stillmotion.ca blog // www.stillmotionblog.com edu // www.stillmotionexperience.com

March 24th, 2008, 09:13 AM	#3
Mike Drob Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Scotch Plains, NJ Posts: 75	Thanks for the feedback - the cheesiness really depends on what the couple wants to do, but the result (at least in our experience) was that the audience reacts MUCH better to these than to the sappy interviews .. could just be the particular clients/demographic we're serving - anyways, any feedback on the shooting/editing/etc would be appreciated as well .. i realize some of the clips on the site arent shot too well but just wanted to hear professionals' opinions thanks