Wedding Video And Films By Award-Winning Wedding Videographer Ines Telling...    Creative, Artistic, Beautiful

I suppose you could say I grew up exposed to film production - my Mother owned one of the first consumer super 8 cine cameras complete with cutting bench. Naturally creative, I spent most of my childhood making things and writing things and went on to finish school with four A level equivalents, Art being my favourite.

When the cine cam was upgraded to video 8 I inherited the super 8 camera and spent the next couple of years making little animated films. Eventually, I ended up with the video 8 camera and added another dimension to my editing: sound. At this point it hadn't actually occurred to me to turn a passion into a profession.

I did want to travel and work with people, though, so my dream job - then - was flight attendant (or stewardess, as it was known in those days- PC or not, I still like the term). For this some experience in a service-related job was needed, so first I completed a 3 year apprenticeship in banking, still in Germany, then joined an airline in 1989 and moved to England to start flying for Dan Air out of Gatwick. In 1992 I made the move to United Airlines and long haul and also filmed my first wedding for a friend.

This was one of the scariest things I had ever done (and I have ridden a 400cc motorbike from Germany to Wales in one session on my own and single-handedly converted an old Hanomag-Henschel van into a caravanette from scratch), as I had never even been to a wedding before but armed with my Sony camcorder and a lot of advice from one of my friends, who is a bit of a professional bridesmaid (think '27 Dresses!), I made it. There seemed to be an innate sense of composition and a natural skill at putting the whole thing together and it all came easily. Once edited, everybody loved the result and the general consensus was I must turn professional. (so, Davina and Pete: This is all your fault  ;-).

Doing as I was told (as you do), in 1993 I attended and completed the 'Course in Wedding Film Making' by the London School of Photography and was asked by the company running the course to come and work for them. I then spent a year as second camera to learn and another free-lancing for Videoworks, while at the same time securing a few of my own weddings as well. I also became a fully registered member of the 'Guild of Professional Videographers'.

In 1995 I was asked to produce a short film about the world's first passenger flight of the new Boeing 777 by United Airlines - 15th anniversary this year, view the little gem HERE! - and also to produce the official video for the Gatwick Airport Pantomime Society performance in association with British Airways. I have been back every year since to film this charity performance and in 2010 will be filming their 20th anniversary performance, which is my 16th show. (clips of previous shows on my Facebook Page).

In November 1996 I entered the music section of the 'Guild of Professional Videographers' and won the Gold Award. In April 1998 I entered the wedding section and was awarded 'Highly Commended'.

In June 2004 I joined the 'Institute of Videography' and in December 2005 was awarded master membership with fellowship recommendation. I am still a member of both organisations and have just won another 'Highly Commended' award in a nationwide competition run by the IOV (Institute of Videography), in their 'Best Wedding Day Film 2009' category.

I also continued to fly long-haul between London and the USA for 16 years until November 2008, when I took a leave of absence until 2012 to fully concentrate on being a wedding videographer. When I'm not filming or editing weddings I let myself loose on designing and maintaining my website and also designing and hand-making my brochures.

Over the last 18 years my client base has grown, most of my work is now a result of recommendation and I am immensely proud of the long catalogue of wonderful letters I have received from my clients.

Being a perfectionist, I spend at least around 50 hours (or between one and two weeks) editing a wedding and it really gives me a buzz when everything comes together. I have always been very much into the synergy between music and visuals and to me music is an integral part of a wedding film. It is such a personal thing with incredible power to induce feelings or evoke memories and I spend the most time deciding how to use the music the client chose and making sure it sits properly with the visuals. It absolutely has to flow.

My approach on the day is to be as unobtrusive as possible and work with a minimum of fuss. I really try to capture the true atmosphere of the day naturally and reflect the real vibe. I work with the natural flow of the day and will not make you pose or set up shots. As one client wrote to me: 'Thank you for making it look like we felt it was.' Attention to detail is paramount and helps me to exceed my clients expectations in most cases.

Working on my own with an assistant camera man means I retain complete control over the end product, as well as allowing me to remain extremely discreet. I dress well and am told I am quite pleasant to have around on the day ;-) The relationship with my client is as important as the final result, after all I spend the most part of their most important day hot on their heels so there has to be some kind of rapport.

Even though I have successfully filmed several hundred weddings over the last 18 years I continually strive to evolve, improve and find new ways of looking at things. As I see it, complacency would be the death of quality and I'm not ready to let up just yet...

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