Beyonce's Vintage Videos

We are loving the vintage look of Beyonce's music videos, especially in "Why Don't You Love Me?" Here, Beyonce plays a sassy housewife in a color-drenched retro world. The vibrant sets, wardrobe, and make-up definitely wouldn't pop so beautifully on digital video. Hurray for real film!



In case you missed it, a few years ago Beyonce released a sweet little silent film-style, black & white super 8 music video for her song "Flaws and All." We think super 8 is a perfect match for the playfulness and nostalgia that runs through the clip. Beyonce looks like she's having a lot of fun acting like a modern-day Mary Pickford in front of the camera, and that magical super 8 quality seems to really capture her personality. Take a look at the video:

Celebrating Pride Month with a Wedding in Provincetown

June is Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, as declared by President Bill Clinton in June 2000, and Hello Super 8 got to celebrate in probably the best way ever: by filming a lovely same-sex wedding in Provincetown, MA this weekend. According to Provincetown Magazine, hundreds of couples from all over the world have come to Provincetown, "the gay marriage capital of America," to get married since same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in 2004. Between June and October each year, 10-20 couples per day visit the town office to apply for a marriage license. We were lucky enough to get to capture the beautiful, intimate wedding of Sari & Holly on super 8 film, and we were thrilled to play a small role in supporting marriage equality.

It was great to check out Provincetown--a vibrant, gay-friendly community on the tip of Cape Cod--for the first time. Sari & Holly's wedding took place at the Red Inn, as charming a venue as you could ask for. It's nestled right up against the sea and was the perfect spot for a gathering of 55 close friends and family. The wedding featured gorgeous pink and white peonies all over (our favorites), fantastic food (provided by the Red Inn) and two wonderful officiants. One, Sari's rabbi from Chicago, gave a touching speech about how special it was that all of Sari & Holly's loved ones had traveled all the way to Massachusetts so that their union could be legal.

The celebration ended with wedding guests--an eclectic and fun bunch--dancing the night away under the stars. We can't wait to get started editing together Sari & Holly's super 8 wedding film; their joyous celebration will make a wonderful addition to Hello Super 8's collection. Plus, we're so happy to get the chance to show our support for all couples and look forward to the day when Provincetown (lovely as it is!) no longer needs to be the gay marriage capital.

Check out Offbeat Bride's pride week posts, including this amazing feature on Joey & Maxine's "drumtastic" wedding!

Weekly Wedding Round-up: Our fave weddings, venues, favors and more!

This week we came across tons of cool weddings, venues, favor ideas, and dresses. Here's a complete round-up of our favorites in each category:

• A wedding on a family farm in Texas, photographed by The Nichols, comes complete with red cowboy boots for the bride, a mariachi band, horses, and guacamole. Looks like a rootin'-tootin' (not to mention delicious) good time; wish we coulda been there!
  
• Glamorous design + an old factory = one incredible venue. Check out this wedding at Sodo Park in Seattle.
  
• Green Wedding Shoes features some unique wedding favor CD designs; as if making a mix of great songs to share with family and friends weren't sweet enough, these couples have added a super cool artistic touch to the packaging.
  
• Retro wedding gowns from Dolly Couture on The Wedding Chicks look perfect for a Mad Men-themed wedding.
  
• And definitely the best post on any wedding site this week: our musically-themed spotlight on Hi-Fi Weddings. (Yeah, yeah, shameless self-promotion!--but we promise the questionnaire is as fun to read as it was to answer.)

"Meet the Vendor" feature on Hi-Fi Weddings blog

I was thrilled when Ashley, from Hi-Fi Weddings got in touch to A) talk shop about vintage cameras and B) be featured on her awesome website and take her kick-ass music questionnaire. Just to let you know, her site is SO COOL! I happened upon it by way of twitter and was thrilled to find out someone had a dedicated site to music for your wedding! She features awesome eye candy AND great music (my 2 fave topics!). It's a wonderful resource when you're at a loss for what to play at your event. I'm excited to have her great music guide when I'm searching for the perfect track to accompany groovy super 8 images.

Anyway, I could have agonized over her questionnaire, trying to figure out what made me sound cool or what others wanted to hear but I took the old "whatever comes to your head" route and was happy with my answers. Who wouldn't want to see Stevie with Erykah, Lauren, and Jill on back-up with Prince and Snoop opening? Or have a secret fantasy of rocking a mean jazz flute? HA!

Please read the feature here. Thanks to Ashley for including us. We hope to have some excellent clips with equally good music to share on her site in the near future!

Love Note from Hannah

This is the sweetest note from a favorite client last year. We had some additional footage to add to their film and sent it for their anniversary a year later. It makes us so happy to make others happy. :)
Happy anniversary to Hannah and Alan!

If you were here (or I was there!!) I would give you a huuuuuuuuuuuge hug of gratitude!

Our video was perfect before and this latest additional footage has taken it beyond perfection.

Was a fantastic surprise!

I've just watched it ten times and hopefully will not wear it out.

It is amazingly beautiful footage, it seems like those are the best conditions for Super 8 film. The angles and sun flares are so much more interesting than even our photographer managed to capture (as wonderful as he is!!!). Super 8 truly is a magical format isn't it, especially in the right hands ;) . The music of that last song seemed like it was being conducted to our footage too...... you really are super talented.

THANKYOU.... THANKYOU.... THANKYOU! You really have made my day today and made my memories of our wedding day even richer.

Thank-you for taking the time to re-edit our film, I know you didn't have to but I'm so glad you did.

Please keep in touch, and I will continue to read your blog to see all the wonderful adventures you get on this year.

Love,
Hannah
xx

[Image courtesy of Trevor Goldsmith]

Weekly Wedding Round-up: Boutonnieres and Bridal Party Rap

Here's a look at our favorite wedding tidbits from the past week. Enjoy this dose of the unique and fun ways people are celebrating love:

• Romance is in the air at this whimsical greenhouse wedding, complete with floral-print ties for the groomsmen and handmade silk flower boutonnieres, corsages, and hairpins for guests!
• Disney's Up is too sweet for words (especially the "Marriage Theme"), and so is this Up-themed engagement shoot.
• Are you thirsty for eyeball sangria? You might get to try some at a playful DIY Halloween wedding like Rachel & Tom's.
  
• Our inner nerd is going crazy over this sci-fi wedding: raygun boutonnieres!
  
• Last but not least, get down to this hilarious rap tribute to a very lucky couple:

Get Up Close and Personal with Art (we will be!)

Figment NYC is happening this weekend (Friday- Sunday) on Governors Island. What is Figment and why do we think it's so cool? Begun in July 2007, Figment is a participatory arts event that occurs in Boston and New York. For absolutely free, visitors can meet emerging artists and take part in the creative process by jumping into sound installations, riding the Human Weeble Wobble, and hula hooping (just to name a few of last year's exhibitions). Instead of standing behind ropes in a traditional art gallery, you can become an artist or part of the art itself at this innovative event. We think Figment will be a great way to enjoy the warm weekend weather and experience the arts.

We will be heading over with super 8 camera in tow to document all of the colorful fun. Hope to see you there!

[Image: Rose Petal Pool (c) 2008 Joanne Jovinelly]

Stylish Ace Hotel wedding on 100 Layer Cake

Back in March, we captured the sun-drenched and very relaxed Ace Hotel in Palm Springs on super 8. We thought this retro spot would make the perfect setting for a super cool wedding, and super cool couple Andi & Jarret did just that. We were thrilled to find the details of their Ace Hotel celebration on 100 Layer Cake: Andi & Jarret's wedding day featured a photo shoot by the hotel pool while guests were swimming around and custom beach towels as party favors. We love Max Wanger's photographs, which capture the joy and effortless style of the hotel and the couple on their big day.


We hope to see more weddings at this unique location. Check out our Ace Hotel video for more circa-1965 awesomeness:

Featured on CasaSugar

Thanks to CasaSugar, a site devoted to stylish home decor and wedding trends, for awarding our message booths as one of the 10 Great Alternatives to Wedding Guestbooks. Our silent movie-style message booths let guests write fun messages to the bride and groom and get silly in front of the camera. A bit more exciting than just writing a note in a book! The Hello message booths ranked among other film-centric guestbook options, like photo booths and Polaroids, as one of the coolest ways to send wedding day tidings.

Here's our fave sample (thus far):