On The Lake Movie Premiere

Here we are at the premiere of On The Lake: Life and Love in a Distant Place, a film about about the tuberculosis epidemic in 1900s America and globally today. It was directed by our good friend and wedding videographer, Dave Bettencourt. Here's the marquee! Congrats, Dave!

Here's the director himself! He's behind the camera and in the ticket booth! He does it all...



When I met Dave he was making movies just for the fun of it with friends at URI. After URI it was on to BU for film school. I still remember going to see his movie, Frozen Dead, in Boston. It was about a young man who has to fend off zombies with his groceries. It's pretty amazing to see Dave now, making movies and getting rave reviews! I'm very proud of him.

The design on Dave's tie is fashioned after tuberculosis cells.

How cute is this guy?! This is Joey, one of Dave's three little boys. My husband is trying to adopt him, but Dave and Marisa won't let him go. Darn!

Here I am! I'm doing my signature photo move. When I hear the shutter I immediately start pointing at nothing. I don't know why, but I like it.

Here is Dave and his wife, Marisa. Someone once said that Dave hit the wife lottery. Not only is Marisa thin and gorgeous, but she is also the funniest person you'll ever meet. Everyone loves her including me.

Here's Dave and the co-producer and writer of the film, G. Wayne Miller, during the Q&A after the film.

Congratulations on a successful premiere, Dave! We wish you great success in the future!

Melissa, Trish and Mariah

Snapping it up downtown...

So here we are with another installment of the 'making of the snap!-umentary video'. We were a bit chilly while shooting in downtown Providence, but it's so awesome there. A place once though of as the armpit of New England is now such a hip and happening city. We thought it would be a ghost town on a Sunday but it was bustling, like a real city! I love Providence!

As you can see, the very stylish Josh and Heidi were totally in love and smooching like crazy!!! They were so great to work with and out up with the windy chilly elements to create some gorgeous images! They're not hard to look at...

Here are Mariah and Melissa looking on as the action happens. There is a lot of waiting around in film making. We are used to a go go go kind of pace, this was more exhausting!




Cute as all get-out, right?!






Here's Dave setting up a shot, and there is me 'supervising'. Just what every director wants, a back seat driver!






Providence is chock full of all these great alleys and nooks with the old city charm.

OK, seriously how cute is Melissa? She is sporting a fab vintage coat she scored, love it!

Here's Dave directing his guys on the next move...

Well, this pretty much is perfection for me. Totally in love, standing in a big heart, what more could you ask for???

Check back tomorrow for one more shoot at the Lippitt House, you won't be disappointed!

Snap! on the other side of the camera...

So we spent a very long day yesterday working on a really fun project... a snap!-umentary. We had the talents of Dave Bettencourt and his team working hard to try and make us look good (not an easy task). It's something that we have been thinking about and planning to do for a long time now and it's exciting that it's finally happening. The final project will be a fun video starring the Snap! Girls, so that people can get to know us a little better. It will debut here on the blog and then live on the website. Not sure when but we will let you know.

In the meantime we wanted to share some images from our shoots. Today features the adorable Robin and Patrick at the Botanical Center in Roger Williams Park in Providence. A fantastic location for photos no matter what the weather!

Who made this bouquet??? We did! I think that feathers are entirely underutilized in bouquets!

Here's Mariah doing a little interview, she was really nervous!!!! The sound guy on the other hand was totally relaxed...

Here I am working it with the 'big lens'. It's so fun to use!




Patrick and Robin are so sweet together, very in love as you can tell! You might recognize the lovely Robin from a recent Snap! and Chat about her mad make up skills. Patrick is also a very talented artist but in a completely different way. Check out his website at http://www.patrickmcaloonband.com/




How dreamy is this?! Robin's sister did her amazing hair. I believe that she may also be available for some wedding hair along with Robin for make up.





Here I am again with Dave shooting me in the background. We definitely have anew appreciation for how hard it is to be in front of the camera! But I decided that you just have to forget all the self consciousness and go for it. It's the only way the person on the other side of the camera can get the 'good stuff'. I just have to trust Dave to make me look good (or else!).





Thanks to everyone for pulling out all the stops and going to such effort to make this shoot a success! We are so appreciative!!!!!

Check back tomorrow for another shoot in downtown Providence....

Snap! and Chat with Videographer Dave Bettencourt

Trish, Melissa and I had a fun time hanging out with our friend Dave the other day and learning a little more about his booming business and unique style. Dave is funny (dry and witty - not goofy -silly), artsy, funky and down to earth. I fully expect to be walking the red carpet someday on the way to one of his big film premiers. Pretty smart of us to make friends now right before he really hits the big time right?!

"I want to be the Oliver Stone of wedding videos... just without the controversy and conspiracy theories..." says Dave.






It's easy to see that Dave has a unique style and vision. He started his own business in 2002 after a few less than successful attempts at working for other videographers in the industry. Apparently they weren't really down with Dave's creative genius or fresh approach. Well, no matter- a new business was born and brides all over Rhode Island started having really cool wedding-movies instead of your run of the mill wedding-video.

Dave went from shooting about 5 events per year to the 40+ events that he does now.




Hey there's me... the roving reporter. Tell us a little bit about film verses video Dave...



"I started shooting film at weddings about two years ago. Not too many videographers do it. I really enjoy it and my couples do too. It's cool, it has a different look and feel. I shoot with super 8 and 16mm film cameras. Super 8 is like the great scratchy old home movies, film school students love to use it. 16mm is still used by professionals, it's got really good colors... it's like playing Atari... it's cool again. I shoot film at almost every wedding now, it's my calling card and helps me stand out from the throng. My style is laid back and documentary, I really just like having fun."

How did Dave get into film making?

"Well, my grandpa used to shoot super 8 movies all the time- but I don't like to say that I got my skills from him because he shot everything from the hip! He'd hold his camera at his hip and just start shooting. All of the movies are at this weird waist level. I don't know if he thought he was a cowboy or what..:

Disclaimer: David Bettencourt does not use the from the hip shooting technique made popular by his grandfather.

Seriously though, Dave is really knowledgeable about all things movie... He is a graduate of film school from BU. "For 9 years of my life, I made a living as a movie projectionist- pretty much if you went to the movies between 1994 and 2001, I was the one showing it to you. Basically, I spent a lot of time in the dark by myself."

Awww... poor Dave. We are so glad you've come out and joined us in the light!

Outside of his endeavors in wedding video, Dave has also had several really successful personal projects. He made a film called "You Must Be This Tall" which is a history of Rocky Point Park.

It premiered at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket and got 5 stars in the Providence Journal.

His latest movie is called "On The Lake" and is a story about Tuberculosis, love stories from a sanatorium at the turn of the century. This film premiers February 13th at the Stadium Theatre.

His latest project is a film about the punk rock band Neutral Nation.

That's Dave's mom in the photo below, she's posing in the photo booth at Rocky Point Park.

We actually met Dave through Melissa (snap girl). Melissa worked at a comic book store with Marisa (Dave's future wife). Apparently Dave would come in to the store to visit and one day was browsing around the Star Wars action figures... Marisa said "How come you don't look at me like you look at those action figures?" Dave said, while holding Luke Skywalker with detachable hand, "Because your hand doesn't come off." And the rest is history...

Dave's turn around time (a big question from a lot of our clients) for wedding video is about 12-14 weeks. If he shoots film, that slows him down a little because the process is a lot more involved- worth the wait if you ask me! He loves to use good music in his videos, not "Fly me to the Moon" like everyone else uses... "I like to use as much Rock n Roll as possible... the Kinks, the Beatles, etc. etc."

Does he get specific requests for the "look" of the video?

"I had a bride ask me if I could make her video look like Kill Bill - that was weird. I had another bride ask me if I could make it look like the wedding stories on TLC, I said sure... but your guests will all have to stand behind my crane." (see what I mean about dry and witty?)

What do Dave's clients get? A relaxed, 90 minute documentary style film from their wedding day. The DVD has menus, chapters, and scene selection. They also get a 3 to 5 minute film highlight.

Oh and don't underestimate the value of having a quirky, witty creative genius at your disposal the day of your wedding. You never know when wedding film history might be made!

(think red carpet).

Get in touch with Dave to do your video at: http://www.davidbettencourt.com/

Dave- thanks for chatting it up with the snap girls! You were a terrific subject- and very photogenic too!